Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Prep-1 classes have been busy practising for their mini-productions of ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Mrs Millen’s class gave us a sneak preview of their performance at assembly last week and they were wonderful. A big thank you to Mrs Welch who has been coming into our school to help teachers with these plays on a Friday afternoon.  Each of the Prep-1 classes will be performing these plays to parents and other classes on the 11^th of December.  It has been wonderful to see our young students on stage boosting their self-confidence and learning the important skill of public speaking!

We are getting to that time of the year when staffing is being confirmed by Learning Services North.  Schools are staffed according to a number of factors such as teacher transfers in, temporary/permanent vacancies that exist along with firming up numbers of students and classes.  I would like to advise that we have some staffing changes confirmed for 2020.  Sadly we will be farewelling Mrs Abby Bent – she has worked in a temporary capacity at our school as a 5/6 teacher this year.  Next year she has been given a permanent part time position, which required a move to Evandale.  We will miss Mrs Bent very much and wish her all the best in her new school.  We will be welcoming to our school Mrs Nicki Airey, as a full time permanent teacher, she is transferring from Mowbray Heights Primary School.

Esk Bank Extravaganza

Last Friday night our students participated in the Esk Band Extravaganza Concert.  It was an amazing event and a proud moment watching our students play their instruments on stage as part of an orchestra after being involved in Esk Band for one to two years.  I am pleased to announce that we will once again be offering the Esk Band opportunity in 2020 and already have 27 students committed to the program.  I would sincerely like to thank Miss Johnson who supported with the backstage management on the night. 

Swimming Carnival 

Last week we held out annual Grade 3-6 swimming carnival at the Riverside Pool, the sun shone and participation was key to its success.  One thing that sets our carnival apart from other schools is the effort taken to ensure all children no matter what their capabilities, are able to participate, either in the shallow or deeper pool.  Congratulations to Mrs Jo Bent and the organising team on a well-run and inclusive carnival.  A highlight of the day was the water slide fun which was offered as an incentive to get children to participate in the day.  It was great to see so many parents and friends there to support our swimmers.  As a school we received lots of positive feedback from our parents about the carnival, which is fantastic.

Devonport Triathlon

On Thursday, 20 children participated in the Northern Primary School's Triathlon Challenge. Congratulations to all competitors who participated in individual and team events.  Our Punchbowl students did a wonderful job with a number of top 10 finishes in both the individual and team events. Thank you to all the parents who supported children to be able to participate in this event.

Dance Fever 

Once again, our school participated in Launceston College’s Dance Fever production.  Our Punchbowl students always shine on stage, learning two very different dance pieces.  Thank you to Miss Bodell who gave up a lot of her own time to teach our students the dances and support them at practices and the event. Congratulations everyone on such a successful night.

 

Basketball State Championships

This weekend, we have two teams representing Punchbowl at the State Basketball Championships. This is a wonderful achievement for our school. Both our girls and boys Grade 3-4 Division 1 teams will take on the best school teams from around the state at Elphin Sports Centre over the weekend. We wish them the best of luck!

 

Celebration Evening

We are well on the way with preparations for the annual end of year celebration evening. This evening will be held on Tuesday 10^th December at the Punchbowl Christian Centre.  Our Grade 6 students will be acknowledged and celebrated in this evening, along with items including Taiko drumming, dancing and a P.E item.  Also, we have musical items from the Prep-1 classes and 1-2 classes as well as our choirs and recorder players.   Parents of our leavers will have designated seating at the front of auditorium, for parent of other grades there will be seating towards the back. If you have young children who are unsettled we ask that you settle them outside the auditorium. We appreciate your support in making this night a great success. We always have a fabulous attendance at this event and look forward to seeing as many families there as we can.

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

If your child is turning 5 in 2020 or you know of someone who is, they are eligible to start Kindergarten in 2020. If you haven’t yet completed an Enrolment Form, they are available from our school office. 

The Department of Education also require us to be provided with original or certified copies of evidence of the following, as soon as possible so your child can attend these sessions

1. The student’s identity – Birth certificate or Passport
2. The identity of the enrolling parent/guardian – Drivers Licence
3. The students residential address – lease agreement, telephone, utility account
4. Immunisation records

(from Assembly 19th November 2019)

P-1 Millen	Whole Class
P-1 Lockwood	William S, Jett B, Jonathan P
P-1 Baker/Peachey	Lockleigh D, Imogen S, Matilda H
1-2 Dunn	Gargi N, Indy P, Indy C, Travis G
1-2 Cameron	Ruby P, Logan C, Kate H
2 Stagoll	Cooper B, Lilliarna D, Flynn C
3 Wells	Tre B, Ella F, Jada R
3-4 Johnstone	Erin W, Mariana Y, Lisa P
4 McCarragher	George W, Molly W
4-5 Shephard/Peachey	Ingrid B, Ruby M, Arabella W, Sophie M
5-6 Sutton/Piper	Kalp S, Iggy M, Layla S
5-6 Bodell	Alicia M
5-6 Frerk/Bent	Oliver W, Claudia L, Taylor P, Madison P

Congratulations

Last Wednesday we held our 2019 Swimming Carnival at the Riverside Pool. There were events running in both the 33m pool and the shallow pool. It was great to see so many students participating in so many events.

Tamar Grade 3/4 students were strong in their events but the Esk Grade 5/6 students managed to get their house over the line. The final house scores including all participation points in both pools were Esk – 984, Tamar – 897.

Congratulations to all students that participated in the carnival, it was so good to see you all "Being the Best Me you can be" and having a go!

A big congratulations to the following 5/6 students who will represent Punchbowl Primary in the 2019 Launceston State Schools Sports Association swimming team; Barney W, Oliver F, Alastair S, Noah R, Mirabella L, Lily H, Sophie M, Poppi S, Eloise S, Oliver F, Jaeger T, Jack F, Logan S, Emily C, Ally W, Sophia A and Olivia L. The LSSSA carnival will be held this Friday, 29^th November at Riverside Pool and Punchbowl will be competing in Division B which commences at 12:55pm.

Jo Bent - HPE Teacher

Our students in Esk Band will be performing at our Celebration Evening on 10^th December at the Punchbowl Christian Centre.  Students will also be rehearsing on Tuesday, 3^rd & 10^th December, so please remember to bring your instrument to school.

Esk Band are also offering a summer school during the school holiday break. If you are currently hiring an Esk Band instrument and you are going to attend the Summer School please keep your instrument and return it on the final day of the summer school.

All other hired instruments need to be returned to school on Wednesday, 11^th December.

We thank you for your assistance with this.

It has been a busy week in Performing Arts at Punchbowl. Last Friday, our Esk Band contingent ventured to the Albert Hall for a day's rehearsal leading up to the Esk Band Extravaganza that night. We have a lot of talented music students at Punchbowl and to rehearse with all the other schools who participate in the program was a satisfying culmination of a year's worth of work. The concert at night was a stunning success and our students were outstanding representatives of Punchbowl.

Last Monday, 1/2 Cameron, 1/2 Dunn and 2 Stagoll performed for parents, friends and 11 of our other classes at the school. Throughout the last Term or so, these students have been working hard on their performance skills in preparation for this mini-musical version of Hansel and Gretel. 1/2 Cameron and 1/2 Dunn performed in the morning while 2 Stagoll did their performance in the afternoon. They did a really fantastic job and a lot of the students showed great courage in presenting themselves in front of an audience. This will be a memory these students will never forget and look back on fondly as they go through their life.

Nelson Tabe - Music Teacher

Icy Pole sales for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students will be every Thursday during this term.

Lemonade Icy Poles    $1.00

Peters Frosty Fruits     $1.20

Students attend school between the below dates in 2020

Term 1 - 5th February to 8th April

Term 2 - 27th April to 3rd July

Term 3 - 21st July to 25th September

Term 4 - 12th October to 17th December

Student Free Days

Tuesday, 4th February

Thursday, 9th April

Monday, 20th July

Friday, 30th October

Easter Break

10th April to 14th April

The Student Assistance Scheme provides assistance for low income families towards the cost of levies.  STAS is provided through school & college resourcing rather than payment direct to families.

If you think you qualify for this assistance, forms are available from the school office and should be completed and returned as soon as possible.

The Department of State Growth wishes to notify schools of changes to general access bus services to take effect in the North of the state from 19 January 2020. Students using these services will therefore be affected from the start of the 2020 school year.

The changes form part of a state-wide review of bus services and follow a broad community consultation carried out from April to June 2019 where the community were invited to provide feedback on the proposed changes which have been informed by analysis of patronage, catchments, routes and times.

Under the changes, some school routes will be combined or removed which may impact the timing of services and mean that students need to change buses in the Launceston CBD. There are also some changes to the numbering of bus services, as well as some changes to where services drop off and depart in the Launceston CBD.

New bus timetables and more information about the CBD stop changes will become available at www.transport.tas.gov.au throughout the month of December, 2019.

Schools are encouraged to let students know about the upcoming changes through their regular channels including their newsletters and Facebook pages and to remind students to keep an eye out on the transport website in the lead up to the start of the 2020 school year.

Specifically the changes may affect:

Students living in Beauty Point, Beaconsfield, Exeter, Legana, Rowella, Riverside that use Manions’ Coaches:

• Students should refer to the new timetables for confirmation of services that travel via Riverside and Newstead schools.

Students living in Scottsdale, Bridport, Lilydale that use Saintys North East Bus Service:

• Students should refer to the new timetables for confirmation of services that travel to Newstead schools.
• Students from these areas needing to travel to St Patrick’s College or Riverside schools will need to transfer in the Launceston CBD.

Students living in Cressy, Longford and Perth that use Tassielink services:

• Students should refer to the new timetables for confirmation of services that travel to Riverside schools
• Kings Meadows High School and Glen Dhu Primary School students that need to travel to Cressy in the afternoon can now complete that journey on the Jacks school bus

Students living in George Town and Low Head that use Lees Coaches (East Tamar bus lines):

• Students should refer to the new timetables for confirmation of services that travel to Brooks High School, East Tamar Primary, Mowbray Heights Primary School and Launceston Church Grammar School Senior Campus
• Students from Low Head going to St Patrick’s College, Launceston College, Newstead College, St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School, Scotch Oakburn College, Queechy High School, Prospect High School and Riverside High School will need to transfer in George Town to/from a student only service. George Town students travelling to these schools can travel direct on the student only service.

Students living in St Helens, St Marys and Avoca that use Calows Coaches:

• Students should refer to the new timetables for confirmation of services that travel to Newstead schools, including school boarders.

Students should always check if there is a contracted school bus services which they can access to travel to school.

Student only services

Please be aware there are also some upcoming changes to non-Metro contracted school services. Notification of these changes will be via a separate process which will be communicated directly to schools.

Metro school buses

Changes will also be occurring for students that use Metro school buses in Launceston. For more information please visit www.metrotas.com.au/timetables/schools/

New Entertainment Memberships that our supporters know and love, will only be available via our App from next season onward. This means that Entertainment will no longer print the iconic Entertainment Book next year. However, our supporters will be able to keep using their current Book offers right up until 1 June 2020!

The 3 new memberships are now available.

Students who are intending to play spring/summer sport may wish to take advantage of this opportunity.

The Ticket To Play initiative provides students whose parents/guardians/carers have a Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card with a voucher of up to $100 to pay for registration/membership of an approved activity provider/sports club.

https://www.communities.tas.gov.au/ticket-to-play/about-ticket-to-play