It is hard to believe we are over halfway through our last term of school for 2022. The weeks are getting busier as we prepare for some major events and celebrations. We have our Carols on the Oval, Grade 6 Leavers Dinner, the Grade 6 Celebration Evening and our End of Year Picnics to look forward to. Along with this, we still have lots of learning to do!

Two weeks ago we held our Sensational Spring Stroll and this year, a popular addition was the colour run.  I was incredibly proud of all the work that our Student Leadership Board had undertaken to make this part of the Spring Stroll happen. These students originally developed a proposal which included a slip and slide. Unfortunately, due to many risk factors with this scenario, I went back to the students and suggested that they work towards another proposal. They came up with the idea of a colour run. They ordered materials and equipment, requested teachers to help out with time and asked staff to donate bread and sausages. They then worked together to set up the obstacle courses and equipment needed on the day, with the help of Mrs Airey. In doing so, the SLB came up with one of the happiest of days that was enjoyed by all. This event raised close to $7500 to go towards upgrading our playground equipment.

Students throughout the school have commented that it was the best day ever!

Carols on the Oval

Once again, we will be holding Carols on the Oval on Thursday,  8^th December.  The event will begin at 5.00pm aiming to finish by 7.30pm.  Bring your own picnic blanket or chairs as there will be designated areas for both. Our School Association will be running a BBQ which was a huge success last year, along with a licenced bar. We will also have a Christmas Craft stall, soft drinks and lollies.  There will be an option of both Eftpos & cash payment systems.  If you can help support the School Association by donating some time to cook on the BBQ or man a stall, please give the office your name and contact details and we will gladly pass it on to the committee.

Each class is busy preparing an item to share. Along with this, we will have a performance from our Taiko Drummers, our 3-6 Choir and our instrumental players from Esk Band.  We hope all our families and friends can join us on the night. We have everything crossed for beautiful weather.

There will once again be parking available below the Kinder on school grounds.

To help with the cost associated with putting this event on, we are asking families to support the event with a gold coin donation upon entry.

LSSSA Swimming Team

Mrs Frerk accompanied our LSSSA Swimming Team to Riverside where they competed in the Division 1 Swimming Carnival.  It was a great effort to get selected to compete in this division amongst the bigger primary schools in the north.  Our students demonstrated courage and aspiration throughout the event and we are really proud of all their efforts.

Remembrance Day

On the 11^th of November, I accompanied the Student Leadership Board to the Remembrance Day Service at the Launceston Cenotaph.  Our students were once again incredible leaders and represented our school respectfully.

Grade 6 Orientation Day

On Wednesday, 23^rd November, local state High Schools ran their annual Grade 6 Orientation days.  I wish all our Grade 6 students well in exploring these new environments. This is an exciting time, which can be met with some nerves and trepidation.

Dance Fever

On Thursday, 25^th November, our Grade 5 and 6 students participated in the annual Dance Fever production. They were involved in both a matinée performance for school students and an evening performance for parents, all held at the Door of Hope. 

I would like to thank Georgia Poxon from Launceston College for working with our students. It was a wonderful show and it was great to see so many of our students involved.

Triathlon

On Thursday, 25^th November, we had 10 students represent Punchbowl in the Northern Triathlon Challenge at Devonport.  A big thank you to all our families who have supported their children to attend this event, it is great to see student’s passions and interests being supported.  Well done to all those involved and thankyou to our students who represented our school.

Congratulations to Liam and Grayson

Grayson and Liam were invited to attend the Australian Maths Competition based on their outstanding results and were asked to attend an Awards Ceremony in Hobart. A wonderful achievement for them. Both students are outstanding representatives for Punchbowl Primary School! 

School Association Meeting

Our last meeting for 2023 will be held on Wednesday, 14^th December at 7.00pm. 

Student Leadership Positions for 2023

Last week our Grade 5 students wrote an application to the Principal and the Leadership Team nominating to be a Leader in 2023. The Leadership Positions available are Outdoor Leaders, Kindergarten Leaders, ECE Leaders, Daily P.E Leaders and ICT Leaders. Each of these roles require students to be organised, have good time management skills and support others. I am pleased to acknowledge our leaders for 2023.

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

Subway have changed to a new ordering platform which is through Canteen Hub

If you wish to order please register via the below link:

app.canteenhub.com.au/register-customer

Subway dates are;

29th November

6th December

13th December

20th December

For those families that did not qualify for STAS this year, 2022 school levy's are still required to be paid. Applications for 2023 will be available in the near future. 

On the 2nd and 3rd November, the Grade 5-6 students went on an awesome camp to Camp Clayton! The camp included many fun activities and many memorable moments. We had a chance to participate in 4 activities which included, the Giant Swing, the Flying Fox, Indoor Rock Climbing and a Team Challenge. All the activities required encouragement, teamwork, and a chance to try out new and scary things.

The Giant Swing was 12 meters high. We got to sit on the swing with a harness on, then others would pull you up as high as you want. You didn’t need to go to the top if you didn’t want too. When you were where you wanted to be, you would pull the red rope. As you pull it you would feel like you were floating, and you wouldn’t be able to feel your legs. It was AMAZING!

The Flying Fox was also lots of fun. It was about 50m long with a fast downward speed. The beautiful landscape below was a large pond that had an awesome view to look at while you flew down the line. The helpers at camp were great at assisting us and teaching us how to use and put on a harness.

The rock-climbing wall and the team challenge course is an activity that requires strength and encouragement. There were 3 different levels of difficulties that we

could all try. There were other sports that we could play while we where waiting our turn or if we didn’t want to have a go. The challenge course included many teamwork activities. For example, we had to balance a seesaw to make it not touch the ground. We also had to cross a wire without touching the floor using teamwork.

Camp had many food options for us to choose from. There was lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, breakfast and morning tea. All the meals included, some sort of protein, something healthy/greens and something filling for example rice or chips. There were drinks to keep everyone hydrated.

At night we stayed in cabins that had around 4-9 people in each cabin. The cabins had 9 beds that included 4 bunkbeds and one single bed. All the cabins had most of your friends so that we could all have lots of fun. All the cabins had toilets and showers connected to the room.

Overall, camp was amazing, and everyone had heaps of fun! We all had many great and awesome memories! It was AWESOME!

We would like to thank our teachers and teacher assistants for taking us on camp. Thanks to Mrs Frerk, Mrs Jones, Mrs Airey, Mrs Kirk, Mrs Marshall, Miss Shephard, Mrs Kaine & Mrs Dingemanse.

By Japhia and Jess

A reminder to families that end of year reports will be distributed on Friday, 16^th December.

The report will show your child’s learning achievement on a 9-point visual scale which replaces A-E ratings for students in Prep to Year 10.

The 9-point scale shows more specifically where your child’s learning achievement is against the expected standard for their year level.

There will be no teacher comments on the report.

For more information about the changes to reports:

• School Reports FAQs
• Understanding the 9-point scale
• Reporting - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)

COVID SYMPTOMS

Thank you to our entire school community for your cooperation this term by practising COVID-safe behaviours.

Please refer to COVID-safe school plan for information as to how we are managing COVID within our school.

As you know, an important COVID-safe behaviour is to stay at home if you’re unwell and get tested for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test.

Public Health tells us that the number of cases of COVID-19 in children is low, and they’re likely to have milder symptoms.

It’s a good reminder to be mindful of the symptoms of COVID-19 in children. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children are cough, fever, runny nose and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

On 1st October 2022 the Department of Education joined some function from the Department of Communicities to form a new Department.

If you wish to purchase any uniform items for your child, to limit the number of adults we have on site and congestion in the main corridor, we would greatly appreciate orders and payment via telephone.  Clothing purchased and a copy of receipt will be sent home with your child.  Office staff are happy to assist your child to try on clothing if you are uncertain as to what size is required.

• Mobile Phones are to be handed into the office at the beginning of each school day.
• Please name your childs clothing as a lot of our lost property is not named.   
• Please remember to bring your water bottle to school each day.                                        
• If your residential address has changed or have a new telephone number, please contact the office to request a change of details form.

• Please notify the office if your child test positive to COVID-19. 

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

If you currently hold Volunteer Working with Vulnerable People Registration,  please bring your card to the school office so we can record your registration.  Teachers will also ask to see your registration prior to initially doing Parent Help, as it is a requirement to carry your card 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. Please update your registration status via the below link to update and advise all organisations in which you volunteer.

If you wish to register, please complete the online application via the below link:

http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children/application

We have a lot of jackets/jumpers etc in our lost property baskets. If your child has misplaced an item of clothing please make sure they check the baskets located out the front of the office and outside 5-6 Frerk/Marshall. 

We also have 2 x watches at the office. If you are missing a watch please see the office and describe the watch so we can return it to it's owner. 

An update on face masks

It’s important to continue to:

• stay at home if unwell, and get tested
• practise COVID-safe behaviours such as frequent handwashing and sanitising
• be up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations.

Students, staff and visitors are supported to continue to wear face masks if they choose to. Face masks are still available at our school if you need them.

When face masks are required

If you’re a close contact, you are still required to wear a face mask indoors as per current Public Health advice.

From time-to-time our school might identify activities or situations where masks are required to be worn. We ask for your support when this happens and know that it is in the best interests of our students, staff and our school.

Our staff will continue to wear masks when working closely with students who are vulnerable to COVID-19.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly to discuss.

For more information about COVID-19, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

Are you ready to get out and about to enjoy the best things in life? Buy an Entertainment Membership to support our fundraising and your next adventure could be around the corner. Buy a Membership and Punchbowl Primary receives 20% of the purchase.

To order: https://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/2406h04