24 October 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to Term 4!

We have had a fantastic start to the school term with students returning to school refreshed and ready for learning. As always Term 4 is a very busy term with many extra-curricular events happening. Some of these include Dance Fever, Esk Band Extravaganza, Optional Swimming, Questacon and our annual Swimming Carnival.

Zones of Regulation

Last year we introduced the Zones of Regulation Program. This program is designed to teach children to understand more about their own emotions and help them to build strategies with which to recognise and manage their own emotional responses. Now that we are a year into the program we are seeing the results of this program every day. Students are now using appropriate words to describe how they are feeling, using tools to manage themselves, and teachers have a broader range of strategies with which to support students. This has resulted in calmer classrooms, greater student responsibility and less demand on senior staff to manage behaviour. In a recent student survey we found that most of our students were able to articulate which Zone they were in and how they felt and could identify at least 2 strategies in their tool box to help them self-regulate.

Welcome New Families

It is lovely to be able to welcome 3 new families to our school community this term. Zoe and Tayla Lane, Lucas Jarman and Dylan Kennedy in Kinder and Marlie Kennedy in Grade 1. We look forward to getting to know these families and wish them a warm welcome to our community.

Welcome Bronwin Bridge

We are also very pleased to welcome Bronwin Bridge who was successful in her application for our Admin Assistant position. Bronwin is highly skilled and will be a great asset to our Administration Team.

Class Placements 2018

Thank you to the families who have contacted me with information to support 2018 class placements. If you would like to have input into this process please contact me via email: or in writing via the school office. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss any aspect of this process. Information will be taken until Tuesday 7 November.

Kindergarten 2018

To support with our planning for 2018 please let us know if you have a child eligible for Kindergarten next year, if your child was born in 2014 they will be eligible for Kinder next year. If you have not yet completed your enrolment forms it is important that you do so by Tuesday 7th November so that our Kinder classes can be finalised.

It has been a pleasure to see so many families coming along to our Launching into Learning Programs. We have had a great turnout to Gym Fun, Book Fun and to our new program, The Music Tree with Tonya Norris. These experiences are extremely valuable in preparing your young child for school and provide them with opportunities to mix with other children in a fun and educational context. It is also a great way to meet other parents. I look forward to meeting more families over the coming weeks.

It was great to see so many of our Pre-Kinder parents enjoying morning tea together and catching up with our Kinder teachers last Friday as their children began their first Pre-Kinder session on their own. This is always an exciting time of the year and we look forward to seeing these young children grow and develop as they continue their journey to formal schooling.

Halloween Social

Don’t forget our annual Halloween Social next Thursday 2 November. Please see the flyer in this newsletter for more information.

Lift

Assembly Awards

Class Awards

We congratulate the following students:

Launching into Learning

At Launching into Learning we provide interactive learning environments that offer children and families a variety of opportunities to engage in the school community. These initiatives allow parents to make choices about what they would like to participate in each week, enjoying a variety of activities. This term families are welcome to come and join Tonya Norris with Music Tree and enjoy singing and dancing with children 0-4 years of age. Our babies, toddlers and pre-school children love to move and sing together. Music helps to develop co-ordination, balance and muscle strength as well as improving listening and speaking through singing and instrument work. We hope you can come along and join the fun with our educational Music Tree sessions.

Our Learning Community Sport

3/4 Gala Day

Last term our Grade 3/4s played round robin matches in the sports of soccer, netball and basketball. This was an opportunity for Grade 5/6 students to take on leadership roles and for the Grade 3/4s to commit to trainings, develop team skills as well as learning rules and strategies in games. It was also a good opportunity to get outside and have fun. Well done to all the students for a great day. A special thanks to these Grade 5/6 students who ran trainings and coached/managed teams on the day.

Country Gold Report

Congratulations to all the students who competed in the Country Gold Carnival last term. I hope you gained a lot of experience from trainings, competition and enjoyed using the quality venues. The Tamar teams were strong in all sports.

The netballers won Division 1 with a nail biting 2 goal win over North East and the Division 2 team finished 3rd. Congratulations to Will Radford (Div. 1) and Alexandra Dickenson(Div. 2) on making the All Stars Teams.

The Tamar Football team won 4 of their 5 round robin matches to finish second on the table to make the final but got soundly beaten by Northern Midlands West in the final. Congratulations to Daniel Jordan and Lachlan Berwick on being selected in the All Stars team.

The boys and girls soccer teams won both their finals in a dominant display.

In hockey, Circular Head narrowly finished ahead of Tamar in Division 1 winning 1-0 in the decider while our Div. 2 team finshed 3rd.

Representatives:

PSST State Primary Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to Exeter’s 19 representatives who competed for the Tamar Association at the State Athletics Carnival on the last Friday of Term 3 at St. Leonard’s. Thanks to Haydn Chick and parents for support on a traditional cold, wet and windy day for the State Athletics Carnival. With 8 teams competing our students had some fierce competition from approximately 550 athletes. Tamar finished fourth in our contest against the other 4 smaller regional teams.

All results and times can be viewed on the Athletics Tasmania website or see me to look at a copy.

Combined Team Scores - 1 Major Associations Division

Place Team Points

1. Hobart 437
2. North West NW 375
3. Launceston LTN 367

Combined Team Scores - 2 Country Associations Division

Place Team Points

1. Northern Midlands NM 406
2. Huon and Channel H&C 385
3. East North East ENE 343
4. Tamar TAM 229
5. Circular Head CH 124

Representatives:

L.O.T.E – German

Shortly after starting work at Exeter Primary, I heard about competitions organised by the Goethe Institut (an organisation that promotes German language learning worldwide) for school learners of German in Tasmania. Most of my classes were year 3/4 and for this age group this year’s competition title was “Im Museum”. Pupils had to draw a poster and write 10 words of German. Although complete beginners of German, I thought it would be something my pupils could attempt. Classes worked hard and produced some wonderful work, but unfortunately, I could only send 5 entries to the competition. A period of waiting followed, but I was delighted to receive an e-mail recently informing me that Exeter Primary had two third prize winners – Alice Dangerfield and Princess Feely – and one honourable mention – Claire Beams. Well done! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Frau Nelson.

UTAS – Service Teachers

UTAS Pre-service Teachers

Exeter Primary enjoys a strong relationship with the University of Tasmania and provides Pre-service Teachers with the opportunity to increase their familiarity with the school context and to further develop their understanding of teaching practice in relation to the Australian Standards and managing a busy learning environment. Pre-service Teachers are provided with opportunities to observe classroom practice and build their understanding and knowledge of student learning with the support of an experienced colleague teacher to guide them.

This term we will be supporting several Pre-service Teachers in their third and final year practicum. We are pleased to welcome, Charlene Milner in Prep Upson, Jennifer Hannon in Prep Simpson, Erin Johnston in 1/2 Radford/ Koch, Amelia Wyllie in 3/4 Gee, Jim Brunskill in 3/4 Duncan and Holly Bligh in 5/6 Alcock.

Parents

Hats for Term 4

Term 4 will see Exeter Primary getting back into wearing hats and being Sunsafe for all outside activities. Most students have been wearing hats since the start of term and we thank them for their efforts. If a student still has not located their hat a new one can be purchased from the Uniform Shop which is open on Tuesdays from 8-30 am until 9-30 am or Thursdays from 2-30 pm until 3-30 pm. Hats cost $9-00.

ADVANCE NOTICE – Mark your calendar!

The Shell Questacon Science Circus exhibition is coming to Exeter Primary School on Friday 27 October and all our Prep to Grade 6 students will be visiting the demonstration style show. Students will be receiving a free ticket to attend the show that will be held at The Albert Hall, 47 Tamar Street, Launceston on Saturday 4 November 2017. The show will run from 10-00 am until 4-00 pm. You may like to mark this date in your calendar so you can attend. We have had the Shell Questacon Science Circus in previous years and our students have loved the show with many of our families attending the follow up session at the Albert Hall!

Book Club

Book Club Issue 7

The seventh issue of book club for 2017 has been sent home. If you would like to place an order, please put your child's and teacher’s name on the front of an envelope, place the order sheet with money inside the envelope and bring to the school office. Last day for ordering is Wednesday November 1st. If any special, secret orders are required, ‘please say keep at office’ on envelope or attach a note inside.

Community News

West Tamar Little Athletics Club

The Count down to the 2017/2018 Season has started!
Training every Tuesday from 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Where: Exeter Primary School Oval
All old and new friends welcome.
More Information please call Paul Scott on 0409 971 887
Find us on Facebook @WestTamarLittleAthleticsClub