8 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Principal Report

Congratulations and Thank you to our many wonderful school volunteers. Last week we held our annual Volunteers Morning Tea to acknowledge the vital work our volunteers undertake to support our school community. For those who could not make the morning tea I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your time, expertise and commitment to our school. Exeter Primary School is very fortunate to have such an active and supportive volunteer community.

Halloween Social

What a fantastic night we had last Thursday at our Halloween Social. A big thank to all our families who supported this event and for going to such effort to create the amazing array of costumes. As always I can report that the behaviour of our students was exemplary and it was a pleasure to spend the evening with them. I would like to acknowledge our Student Leaders who organised the event and helped things run smoothly on the night. The money raised will go towards a permanent BBQ and eating area, a project currently being undertaken by our Grade 6 Sports Leaders. A big thank you to Mrs Emms for supplying the music and to Mrs Sims for supporting our Student Leaders.

Scaffolding Literacy

During this year we have been investigating the Scaffolding Literacy Program. The program is based on research from the University of Canberra and follows a direct instructional approach using high quality picture books. The purpose of the program is to use excerpts of literacy language to teach students to read and write by understanding the grammatical structure of a sentence and how an author deliberately uses language to convey his or her intention. Each student is supported to access the text and make responses. The Grade 3/4 team of teachers have been working intensively on this program over the last 2 terms and other grades have been trialling this approach. It is still early days but teachers have been seeing an improvement in student understanding of grammar and in their ability to write more sophisticated stories and sentences.

Class Placements 2018

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our class placement process, your input has been useful. We will now begin to construct our classes. This process will take a few weeks as we are still to finalise our teaching staff for 2018. Information about your child’s class for 2018 will be sent home with your child’s end of year report.

School Satisfaction Survey

The results of our recent School Satisfaction Survey have provided us with some important information about how our school is perceived by Parents, Students and Staff. Some areas in which respondents feel our school is doing well include:

• Students feeling safe at school
• Students feeling their opinions matter
• Students making decisions about school rules and activities
• Teachers motivating students to learn
• School is preparing students for the future
• Parents can talk to their teachers about their concerns

Some areas for consideration and future improvement include:

• Management of student behaviour
• Parent involvement in decision making
• Parents being supported to help their child with literacy and numeracy learning at home
• Parent participation in literacy and numeracy learning at school

This information is valuable for informing future directions for our school community. If you would like to view the survey or have any questions please contact the office to make a time to speak with me.

School Association and Parent and Friends Meetings

A reminder to all parents that the School Association Meeting will be held in the Staff Room this Thursday at 6.00 pm. All parents are invited to attend. This meeting will be followed at 7.30 by the Parents and Friends meeting. These forums are a great way for you to be part of the school’s decision making process and provide an avenue for parents to express their ideas or concerns.

Swimming Carnival

Our 3-6 Swimming Carnival will take place this Thursday at the George Town Pool. This is always a great event and Mr Habel provides opportunities for students of all swimming abilities. Parents are welcome on the day and we encourage all children to participate on the day.

Remembrance Day

This Friday November 10 our school will be recognising Remembrance Day with a brief ceremony at the flag pole at 10.55 am. This ceremony will be conducted by members of our Student Leadership Team.

Sport Leaders BBQ Project Poll

The Sports Leaders are really keen to establish a permanent BBQ and eating area within the school which can be used for school and family functions, like our Welcome BBQ and Grade 6 Celebration Day BBQ. This group of motivated students have been doing a fantastic job fund raising and approaching local businesses for support. We are currently trying to decide where is the best site to locate the BBQ area and have 2 proposed sites. In order to make this decision we invite your input and ask that you use the voting poll located in this newsletter to give your opinion on the best location. The poll closes next Monday so be sure to get your vote in early.

Assembly Awards

Growth Mindset Award

Recipients:

Emily Rossiter
Stella Allport

Class Awards

We congratulate the following students:

Lift

Canteen

Birthdays

We wish the following students a very happy birthday during November.

Launching into Learning

Launching into Learning is thoroughly enjoying the new indoor and outdoor spaces in Kinder Howell for our B4 School Playgroup sessions this term. Families have quickly adjusted to this new environment and have become more familiar in using the better equipped facilities in their B4 School Playgroup experiences.

Our Learning Community Arts

Sport

2017 Exeter Swimming Carnival Thursday November 9th

Rain Day 10/11

Student/Staff/Parent Relay(if teams):

4 Student Teams – First 4 from Div. 1 in Gr. 5 Girls/5 Boys/6 Girls/ 6 Boys
25m Freestyle Events
Up to 3 Parent Teams – Make own teams-Let me know if you have a team.

Points Allocation:

Strokes:

Backstroke: Any stroke performed on back

Breaststroke: Circular underwater arm pull and continuous
Attempted breaststroke kick

Relays: Any stroke, next swimmer must enter water after previous swimmer has touched wall.

Starts: 25m pool-children can start from blocks, beside blocks or in the water. 15m races, children start holding rope that is across pool.

Finishing: Must touch hand on wall (both hands together with Breaststroke and 1 hand touch behind head in back position for Backstroke). No leaping to wall/pushing off bottom.

Note: Due to safety regulations enforced by the West Tamar Swimming Association in charge of the George Town Pool, with regard to the number of lifeguards employed for a Carnival, we are unable to provide the opportunity for students to have a free swim or slide at the end of the carnival.

Tamar Carnival 15/11, Rain Day 17/11

What’s Happening in Our Classrooms?

1/2 Wheatley – Book Covers and Blurbs

During the Premier’s Reading Challenge students were asked to create a new cover and blurb for their favourite book. We focused on the importance of making the cover and blurb interesting to encourage others to want to read it. Here are some examples of our wonderfully creative ideas.

School Association

Our next meeting of the School Association will be held on Thursday 9th November at 6.00p.m in the Staffroom.

Our committee for 2017/2018 is:

Chairperson: Cindy Dunn
Vice Chairperson: Louise Scott
Secretary: Ally White
Treasurer: Sheryl Turner
Parent Representatives are: Amanda McEvoy, Carol Bracken, Liz Strange and Susan O’Leary
Staff Representative: Helen Peart
Community Representative: Louise Scott

If you would like to have an item added to the agenda please contact one of the committee members.

All welcome to attend this meeting.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS

Following the School Association meeting a Parents & Friends meeting will be held at 7.30p.m in the staffroom. All welcome.

School Uniform On-Line Ordering

Not only do we have on-line ordering for our canteen but as of Monday the 13th November you can order on-line from our Uniform Shop by using the App Qkr. Check it out.

If you have not installed Qkr on your android phone or iPhone do so now, it is so much easier to use.

Just select our school and if accessing our school for the first time you will be prompted to add a student profile for your child. This allows you to make orders and payments for them.

Order your uniform requirement and these will be delivered to your child’s class on either a Tuesday or Thursday.

If you haven’t used our on-line ordering system for the canteen try it out, it reduces the need for your child to bring cash to school and ensures they are having a healthy lunch.

Community News

Camp Tasmania

Football Development Program for 10-15year olds

To all Junior Footballers.

We will be running an Australian Rules football programme in the area to aid and develop skill and knowledge.

Our aim is to prepare and help each individual to become the best footballer they can be.

At this time we have the aid of senior footballers as well as regular visits from state league players who will help with fitness and skills to get you ready for the next season.

This programme is free and open to 10-15year olds regardless of where you play.

Thursdays 4.15pm
Date 16th Nov
Venue Beaconsfield to start with
Years 10- 15

For any questions
Contact Jason savage 0408008321

Farm Gate Festival

Tours are available on Saturday and Sunday November 25 and 26. For more information please log on to the website listed.