Punchbowl Primary School eNewsletter

Dear Families,

We have had a terrific start to Term 3! Our children have returned to school refreshed and eager to learn.

Our week has included our students starting to learn about the Paris Olympics, the commencement of the Growing Up Program, a Japanese teacher, from Ikeda, visiting and taking back to Japan letters from our students, the continuation of Chess Club, a wonderful Kinder excursion to Hagley Farm School and our Grades 5 and 6 students learning about Tournament of the Minds and being invited to submit applications for this competition. Our teachers have also been involved in two very informative workshops this week focusing on PDA (pathological demand avoidance) and Fluency in Reading.

Staffing Update

At the end of last term unfortunately, we said goodbye to Mr Pat Symes, our acting School Business Manager, as he moved to Legana Primary School to become their new SBM. Following our recruitment process we are very pleased to inform you that Ms Nataasha Jamieson will be joining us as our new acting SBM for Term 3. Nataasha will be starting her new role at the beginning of Week 3. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Taleah and Mary, our administrative clerks, who are assisting with the SBM responsibilities during weeks 1 & 2.

We also welcome back to our school this term, Ms Zoe Stagoll, who will be providing literacy support in the Grade 1/2 area. It is lovely to have Zoe back and we wish her all the best for an enjoyable term.

Chess Club

Following a very successful pilot project last term, we have decided to continue and also expand Chess Club. On Wednesday afternoons we will be having Chess Club for interested students in the Grade 3/4 area and our Grade 5/6 students will have the opportunity to participate in a new group, commencing on Thursdays. We are also very excited as we have been invited to host an interschool competition later this term.

Tournament of Minds

Tournament of Minds, more commonly known as T.O.M. is an extension and enrichment problem-solving challenge for primary and secondary students. The tournament’s aim is to enhance the potential of our students by developing skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a challenging and competitive environment.

This week any interested Grades 5 and 6 students were invited to submit an application to join a Punchbowl Primary School T.O.M. team to participate in the state competition. Our students will find out today who has been successful!

Congratulations to our Futsal Team

Our special congratulations are extended to our Futsal Team who have been invited to play in Hobart at the Champions of Champions in September of this year. Well done to Liam, Jasper, Cooper, Isaac, Angus and Bray. We wish you all the best for this event.

Student Achievements

It is very important that we acknowledge our students’ achievements at school but also their successes in other activities that they are involved in when out of school. We would like to invite parents to please send to the office, details of any special events that your child has been involved in so these details can be included in our newsletters.

Finally, this term there will be many opportunities for families to join us at a range of different events, including our Grades 3-6 assembly in Week 3, our Prep-2 assembly being hosted in Week 4, our Book Week celebrations, the School Association’s Trivia Night and our Open Classrooms. We look forward to seeing you at these events!

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful term ahead.

Kind regards,

Jane King - Principal

Yesterday, 3-4 Beckett-Butler were very fortunate to have a visit from Ms Akiko Ikeda who teaches at an elementary school in Launceston’s sister city of Ikeda in Japan.

Our students had written letters to the students in Japan, and we presented these to Ms Ikeda to take back to Japan with her. Our students watched a video presentation made by the students at Ms Ikeda’s school to learn more about school life in Japan. Our students were also very lucky to be shown some origami. They were taught how to make paper hats, and they learnt how to use a kendama which is a wooden Japanese toy.

We also received some kendamas to enjoy in our classroom. We are extremely grateful to the Launceston City Council for assisting in organising this visit and to Ms Ikeda for teaching us more about Japan and providing us with lovely gifts. We look forward to building our relationship with Ms Ikeda’s school in Japan and are planning on making a video in the coming weeks about our school to send to the students in Japan.

3-4 Sutton/Jones are inquiring into our history in HASS. In groups, they looked at what the land looked like before colonisation and sequenced pictures from a beautiful book 'Our Country Town'.

We are excited to share with you information relating to our upcoming Book Week 2024. The theme for this year is Reading is Magic. To celebrate the magic of reading we are inviting you to share a photo of you and your child or family reading together. If you could please email the photo to your child's class teacher along with the title of the book, these will then be displayed as part of our Reading is Magic display in our main corridor.

Our Dress Up Day for Book Week, where students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character, will be on Thursday the 22nd of August. We will also be inviting families to a Reader’s Picnic on this day between 12.20pm and 1pm. More details will be shared with you closer to the event.

Meeting dates for 2024 are as follows and will all be held at 7:00pm:

31^st July

11^th September

23^rd October

4^th December (TBC)

A reminder that our School Association Trivia Night is on Friday, 6th September. Please book via this link: https://www.trybooking.com/CTIDA

2024 Term Dates

Term 3: Monday 22^nd July to Friday 27^th September

Term 4: Monday 14^th October to Thursday 19^th December

Friday 1^st November – Student Free Day

The Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) provides assistance to low income families towards the cost of levies for students enrolled in a school from Kindergarten through to Year 12.

STAS is provided through school and college resourcing rather than payments direct to families.

Applications for 2024 will be open mid November

Eligibility

Parents who have a current concession card as listed below can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS:

Services Australia – Centrelink Health Care Card
Services Australia – Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
Services Australia – Pensioner Concession Card or
Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card.

Families who were approved for STAS last year should have received written notification regarding their eligibilty (approved or not approved) for 2023.

Application forms for 2024 will be available from the school from mid November.

To apply for STAS please complete the Student Assistance application form.

For further information please view the Frequently Asked Questions.

Financial assistance

Families on low incomes who meet the eligibility conditions of the Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) will not be required to pay school levies. Grandparents raising grandchildren may also be eligible for STAS.
Families who are not eligible for STAS, but who may experience financial hardship should talk to the school about payment arrangements and other financial assistance which may help.
School staff understand that financial matters are highly sensitive, so your questions will remain completely confidential.
These matters will also be dealt with directly with you and not through your child.
Your child’s participation in learning will not be affected.

Where can I get more information?

Talk to the school business manager or principal at your child’s school.
Contact the Department for Education, Children and Young People, Finance and Budget Services on 1800 827 055 or email stas@decyp.tas.gov.au
For information on Centrelink assistance programs, contact Centrelink’s Youth and Student Services on 13 24 90 or visit the Services Australia website.

Alternatively, parents/guardians who have not applied for STAS previously (and do not have an existing STAS file) can apply online for STAS 2024 at Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) or simply Google STAS to be taken to the link.

Letters advising of STAS approval (or otherwise) will be posted to all families with existing files in the STAS database in mid-November.

If a parent/guardian has received STAS in 2023 and wishes to add a new/additional student to their STAS record they simply need to email their name, the student’s full name, date of birth, school, and grade in 2024 and we will add them to the existing STAS file.

For queries please contact stas@decyp.tas.gov.au

Busy_Babies_flyer_Term_3_2024.pdf

Busy_Babies_flyer_Term_3_2024 _pdf 158.29 KB

Play_and_learn_flyer_term_3_2024.pdf

Play_and_learn_flyer_term_3_2024 _pdf 184.98 KB

LiL_pre_kinder_flyer_term_3_2024.pdf

LiL_pre_kinder_flyer_term_3_2024 _pdf 168.39 KB

Kinder Leedham & Kinder Baker began Term 3 continuing to inquire into winter. This was enhanced this week by a generous donation of snow to explore and play in. The students were great researchers posing and answering questions about snow including, What is snow made from? Why is it white? Why can it still be a sunny day and there is still snow on the ground? We then made some predictions and observations of where our snow would melt the fastest and why.

Thank you very much to our parent who made the exciting donation!

30th July	Subway Lunch Day
31st July	9.00am - 10am - Lauching into Learning Group 1 10.30am - 11.30 - Launching into Learning Group 2 7.00pm - School Association Meeting
2nd August	9.00am - 10.30am - Pre Kinder 11.00am - 12.30pm - Esk Band Dance Fever Rehearsals No 5-6 Sport Launceston Sport Exchange - selected students only Bookclub Issue 5 due back to the office
5th August	2.00pm - Primary Assembly
6th August	Subway Lunch Day Terrapin Puppets - all K-2 classes
7th August	9.00am - 10am - Lauching into Learning Group 1 10.30am - 11.30 - Launching into Learning Group 2 National Tree Planting Day - 2 Richardson & Big Picture Students Queechy Transition Visit 12.00pm - 2.30pm - Esk Band Continuing students at Combined Schools Rehearsal at Newstead College
8th August	9.00am - 11.00am - Grade 5/6 Maths Competition 11.30am - 12.30pm - Grade 3/4 Maths Competitin
9th August	9.00am - 10.30am - Pre Kinder Sessions 11.00am - 12.30pm - Esk Band Dance Fever Rehearsals 5-6 Sport
12th August	3/4 Excursion to QVMAG for Science Week
13th August	2.00pm - ECE Assembly
14th August	9.00am - 10am - Lauching into Learning Group 1 10.30am - 11.30 - Launching into Learning Group 2
16th August	9.00am - 10.30am - Pre Kinder Sessions 11.00am - 12.30pm - Esk Band Dance Fever Rehearsals 5-6 Sport
20th August	Subway Lunch Day
21st August	9.00am - 10am - Lauching into Learning Group 1 10.30am - 11.30 - Launching into Learning Group 2
22nd August	Book Week Dress Up Day
23rd August	9.00am - 10.30am - Pre Kinder Sessions 11.00am - 12.30pm - Esk band Dance Fever Reharsals 5-6 Sport

E-SAFETY RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

As parents and carers, you play an important role in protecting your child from harm in the digital world. Thankfully, there are many resources available to support your child to safely navigate this world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences.

Online resources include advice sheets, home learning and family activities, webinars and videos to help you talk with your children about online safety.

Here are just two recommended eSafety resources for further information and support:
· eSafety Commissioner Australia – https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents
· ThinkUKnow Australia – https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/resources-tab/parents-and-carers

Congratulations to the following students who received a Merit Certificate in our Primary Assembly on Monday, 1st July & our ECE Assembly on Tuesday, 2nd July.

Primary Assembly - 1st July

3-4 Jones/Sutton - Sienna & Shelby B

3-4 Walkinshaw- Zarlia, Hima & Penelope

3-4 Beckett/Butler - Campbell & Poppie B

5-6 Airey - Coooper, Amelia, Polly & Jonathan

5-6 Spangaro - Cilla, bray, Oliver T & Poppy K

5-6 Marshall - Lachie, Poppy H, Ayla, Jasper & Henry K

ECE Assembly - 2nd July

Prep Peachey - Neve, Logan & Amara

Prep-1 Wilson - Seth, Isabella, Xavier M & Darcy

1-2 Millen - Oliver F, Lana, Indie, Hunter & Bridie

1-2 Cameron - Ivy, Zoe & Elana