From the commencement of Term 2, 2020 all Tasmanian Government Schools from Kindergarten to Year 12 will need to implement restrictions on the use of mobile phones by students at school. The Minister for Education and Training announced this policy in November, 2019.

Kindergarten to Year 12 – “Off and away all day”

The decision to restrict the use of mobile phones by students during the school day will support schools to minimise distraction from learning and encourage healthy and positive personal interactions.

The policy has been developed in consultation with schools, School Associations and students.

From the start of the school day to the end of the school day, students must have their mobile phones switched off and handed to the school office to be safely stored. All communication with students during the school day must go through the school office.

This policy applies to all students, unless they meet the requirements of an approved exemption.

Exemptions may be considered where students require the use of their mobile phone for educational adjustments, monitoring health conditions or other extenuating circumstances. There may also be instances where teachers permit students to use their mobile phones for educational purposes.

If you would like to discuss an exemption for your child or have any questions about the policy please contact Elizabeth O'Donahue. 

LOST PROPERTY

The lost property basket is located near the main office. Please ensure your child’s clothing is clearly named.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

“Reading for pleasure is the single biggest factor in success later in life, outside of an education. Study after study has shown that those children who read for pleasure are the ones who are most likely to fulfil their ambitions. If your child reads, they will succeed – it’s that simple.” Bali Rai

You may have noticed that your children are being encouraged to participate in ‘100 nights of reading’. Through this initiative we are encouraging all our students to aim for 100 nights of reading, but we are hoping that students don’t stop there and strive to reach 200 or even 300 nights.  Teachers will be recording students' reading sessions on a weekly basis and will be giving out certificates as students reach key.  Once a term, students that have reached the goal of 100 nights reading, will be given a larger reward which may include a trip to the Punchbowl Reserve. We will also celebrate our readers through a photograph board outside the library. We appreciate your support with this new whole school initiative and look forward to seeing how many nights our students can reach. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to talk to your child’s teacher.

Happy reading! And remember - “The more you read the more things you know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go!” - Dr Seuss.

Prep-1 Reading Afternoon

On Monday, our P-1 teachers invited parents to a sharing afternoon about supporting their child's reading at home. Teachers provided some ideas to help families learning about letter sounds, sight words, reading and comprehension strategies. It was wonderful to see such a large turn-out of families. Thank you for supporting your children in this important skill.

Our Values & Be the Best Me

Most of our parents, and all of our children will be familiar with our approach of ‘Be the Best Me’. In 2020 we are revisiting at our approach to align with the Department of Education’s values of;

• Aspiration – a culture of high expectations and high achievement
• Respect – respecting ourselves, others, our past and our environment
• Courage – accepting challenges and embracing opportunities
• Growth – improving by always learning and finding better ways to do things.

Our first focus will be around Respect. Teachers will be working with their class to look at how we show respect with others, with our past and with our environment. For Term 1, our Aussie of the Month award (presented at assembly) will be focused on students who demonstrate the value of respect in all that they do. We want our students to ‘Be the Best Me, by being respectful’. We would appreciate our families talking to their children about what respect means to them and hopefully they will be able to share what they have been discussing at school!

New Kitchen

We are very excited to finally have our new kitchen area signed off and ready for use. It looks fabulous and we are very grateful for the support of the School Association in providing some of the funds to allow this to happen. Our hot lunch helpers are also keen to test out the new space and we look forward to starting hot lunches in Term 2. A number of teachers are in the process of planning learning experiences in this space which was something that was very challenging previously without access to adequate facilities.

P-6 Athletics Carnival

Our school carnival is fast approaching and will be held on Thursday, 19^th March. Mrs Bent has been focusing on skills associated with the event with all students having a practice during their PE lessons! We always have a wonderful turn out of parents and supporters at this event. Students are encouraged to wear their house colours (Esk- Yellow, Tamar- Green). Children who are unsure of their houses will be informed shortly. 

P-6 Parent Teacher

In the coming week, you will receive information about our upcoming parent teacher meetings. We purposely time these towards the end of Term 1 so that teachers have time to get to know your child as a learner. This is the time where the teacher will share progress and an opportunity for you to discuss any concerns or celebrations. Dates for the meetings will be, 30^th March, 31^st March, 1^st April and 2^nd April. This year, we will again be using the online portal through Schoolzine for bookings, this opens on Monday, 16^th March. Kindergarten parent teacher meetings will be held during the first week of June.

Student Wellbeing Survey

All parents in Grade 4-6 should have received information about their child participating in the Student Wellbeing Survey for 2020. If you did not wish your child to participate in the survey, please return the form which was attached to the information. Our students will be completing the online survey from Monday, 16^th March.

Free Dress Day & Easter Raffle

Thank you to all the students who bought along Easter eggs and Easter gifts for the class raffles.  It was wonderful to see the assortment of Easter things arrive.  Tickets will be sent home next Thursday and we ask that tickets and money are returned to your child’s teacher. The raffle baskets will be drawn on Tuesday, 7^th April.

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

Students are allocated to either Tamar or Esk as their House for our school sporting carnivals.  Students are invited to wear sun safe sport clothing in their allocated house colour at these carnivals,  however, it is not necessary parents purchase clothing in these colours should they wish not to do so. Teachers will advise students of which house they have been allocated to prior to our first carnival.

TAMAR – GREEN

ESK – YELLOW

Esk Band rehearsals will commence on Tuesday, 10th March for those students who have previously participated in the programme. Beginning students will join the programme on Tuesday, 17th March.

Invoices will be sent to those parents who children are participating in Esk Band in the near future.

Icy Pole sales for Grades Prep-6 will be every Thursday during this term.

Lemonade Icy Poles    $1.00

Peters Frosty Fruits     $1.20

Lucy Meech, former director of Life Centre Music, has vancancies for private keyboard/piano lessons for students in 2020.  Lucy has had years of experience working with young children, both in the area of piano and beginning violin, and is eager to share her skills with private students. 

For further information and questions please contact Lucy on 0408 443 436.

(from Assembly 3rd March 2020)

In accordance with current advice, children should not attend school if they:

• have been told by Public Health to stay in home isolation;
• have been in close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus; or
• have left or transited through mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan) or Iran in the last 14 days.

In each of these cases, the child must be isolated at home for 14 days from the date of the event. Any unwell child should also not attend school.

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A very strong School Association supports our school. In addition, a fundraising committee operates under the umbrella of the Association and works extremely hard to raise money for equipment. Many parents give much time to support school activities which is great appreciated. The Association meets in the school staff room approximately twice a term in the evening and everyone is invited to attend. 

Proposed School Association Meeting dates for 2020 are listed below.  Please note that  these will be confirmed at the first meeting.

• 4th March
• 6th May AGM followed by General Meeting
• 22nd July
• 9th September
• 28th October
• 2nd December

Annual General Meeting

Nomination forms have been sent home with the eldest child in your family.  

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 6th May, 2020 and at this meeting all seats will be vacated and the new committee will be elected to take up positions such as Treasurer, Chairperson, Secretary and Committee Members.

All Members of our school are welcome to attend any of our open meetings, however, Committee Members are the only people who are permitted vote when required at meetings.

It would be greatly appreciated if nominations could be received by the 6th of March.

WORKING WITH VULNERABLE PEOPLE

Other - Working with Vulnerable Peoples Registration

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR A PERSON TO WORK OR VOLUNTEER AT PUNCHBOWL UNLESS REGISTERED!

If you currently have a Volunteer Working with Vulnerable People Registration, could you please bring your card to the school office so that the school can record your registration if you haven’t already done this.  Teachers will also ask to see your registration prior to initially doing Parent Help, so this is a requirement to carry it with you at all times. 

If you nominated another organisation in which you volunteer when you registered, unfortunately at present we are unable to check you are registered.  Could you please update your registration status via the below link to update and advise all organisations in which you volunteer.

Complete the online application http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children/application

Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure show has been educating Australian children since 2006, providing them with personal safety tools and strategies while supporting positive self-esteem and resilience-building. 

Parents & Guardians are welcome, please come along and watch the show on the day and see for yourself what a fantastic and worthwhile program it is.  The time and date of the show are:

DATE: Thursday 12th March 2020

SESSION TIME/S: First Session @ 1.30pm & Second Session @ 2.15pm

PARENT INFORMATION SESSION: 12.45pm

The program is highly effective and great fun too - kids love Ditto!

Independent evaluation of Braveheart's Ditto Show suggests the principles of personal safety embedded in the program can reduce the incidence of child sexual assault as well as other forms of abuse, including family violence and bullying. 

The Ditto show is a live, interactive 40 minute performance starring Bravehearts' mascot 'Ditto'.  It includes song, dance, and easy-to-remember messages about personal safety.  These songs and messages were written by Bravehearts' professional  educators and child psychologists and are developmentally appropriate for your chil's age group. 

What will your child learn

The show is underpinned by the following six principles of personal safety:

• Differentiating 'yes' and 'no' feelings
• Recognising the bodies 'warning signs'
• Identifying 'private parts' and 'privacy'
• Helping children identify language and feelings associated with secrets
• Reinforcing  that there is no secret that children cannot tell someone
• What to do if you feel unsafe or unsure

Your child will learn these essential principles through songs such as 'Run and Tell (someone you can trust)' and 'Private Parts (they belong to me)'.  They will also learn 'Ditto's 3 Rules', which are:

1. We all have the right to feel safe with people
2. It's ok to say NO if you feel unsafe or unsure
3. Nothing is so yucky that you can't tell someone about it

As part of the program, children are each given a Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure Activity Booklet to take home.  We encourage you to look at he booklet with your child, using the activities to help cement the personal safety messages from the show. 

PLEASE NOTE: Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure show and accompanying resources are NOT SEX EDUCATION.  'Private parts' are explained as being "our mouth" (as in kissing), "our chest", "between the legs" and "our bottom".

How you can learn more

If you would like to learn more about how to talk to your child about personal safety, download Bravehearts' FREE PERSONAL SAFETY PARENTS AND CARERS GUIDE from the Bravehearts website.

Just go to: bravehearts.org.au/personalsafety

See the COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD situated in the walkway outside P-1B Millen classroom for all upcoming community events

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Corona Virus

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