Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week I met with some of the grade 6 students, and we reflected on how the first term of their final year of primary school has begun.  Many talked about how they are enjoying the opportunity to put their leadership skills into practise by taking on the role of leading Daily PE classes each day, being community minded, helping out with school wide organisational jobs and being positive role models for the younger students.  They are feeling that the Grade 6 cohort are embracing new challenges and confidently trying new things that will support them well into their high school years.

I also talked to some of our youngest students from Kinder to gain an insight into how they have begun their primary school journey. They told me they have learnt to do puzzles, write their name, make things, use gentle hands and “read, read, read”.  All very important building blocks for the future. One new learning had me intrigued, “we have learnt how to hang on the monkey bars”.  He told me this will be helpful in the future as he is going to be ironman and he needs to be able to hang for ages and ages.  

Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all students for your participation in our recent Grade 3-6 and ECE Athletics Carnivals.  We were very lucky with the weather both days and it was great to see so many parents, carers and family members supporting students to participate. I was very impressed with students showing courage and stamina to have a go at different events.  

Thank you to Zane and Louise for supporting Miss Bannon with the running of our   3-6 Carnival and the Newstead College students and Felicity for helping facilitate the ECE tabloid sports events. 

A big thankyou to the School Association members Adele, Megan, Nikki and Melissa for running a very successful sausage sizzle on the day. We are so lucky to have the support of many community members.

LSSSA Athletic Carnival

Congratulations to the students who made the LSSSA carnival team and represented Punchbowl Primary School yesterday at the interschool carnival at St Leonards. 

2023 Reporting and Communication

Today, all Prep to Grade 6 students will bring home a ‘Primary Progress Report’ which provides a tick box snapshot of how your child has settled into the school year and alert you to any concerns.  It focuses on application to learning concentrating on attitude, effort and behaviour. If you have any concerns about how your child/children has started the year after this first progress report, please contact your child’s teacher.

A big thankyou to Kinder parents and carers who have attended scheduled conversations with our Kinder teachers over the past two weeks. I know Mrs Leedham and Mrs Baker have appreciated the time to share about your child’s progress in transitioning to school, examples of successes and evidence of learning and areas for future focus. 

Easter Raffle

A big thank you for the Easter raffle donations on our free dress day on Tuesday, 7^th of March. The Easter items have been divided up and each class has an Easter basket to raffle.  Tickets were sent home on Tuesday,  21^st March. Just a reminder to please return all raffle tickets sold or unsold to the school office by Monday, 3^rd April so the lucky winners can be drawn on Tuesday, 4^th March.  We greatly appreciate your support with this fundraiser and all money raised will go towards school improvement.

Anzac Day

Once again, our school is pleased to be involved in the ANZAC Day Parade on Tuesday, 25th April 2023. This date falls during our Term 1 school holidays. It would be wonderful to have Punchbowl students, wearing their uniforms with pride representing our school.   Mrs Frerk, Mrs Jones and I will accompany students on the march and stay for the 10:30am service at the Cenotaph, where two members of our Student Leadership Board will lay a wreath.  A permission note with important details was sent home earlier this week with interested students and needs to be returned by Monday, 3^rd April if your child wishes to join us on the day.

What’s new at Punchbowl?

You may have spied our new bright hop scotch outside the Multi-Purpose Room painted by Annie Fleming. They look amazing and it has been great to see students playing there at break times.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Cooper Harris for his selection in the Australian U11 Boys Futsal team. Cooper recently represented Tasmania in the National Futsal Championships in NSW and from this he was selected into the Australian U11 Boys Futsal Team. Cooper and his family will be travelling to compete in The Montesilvano Cup in Pescara, Italy this June.

As this tour is self-funded they are holding a trivia night in May to fundraise for the huge cost to get Cooper to Italy to compete for Australia.

Best of luck Cooper! We look forward to following the teams progress.

The final day of Term 1 for students is next Wednesday, 5^th April.  Teachers will be working together around Moderation the following day on Thursday, 6th April. Term 2 starts for students and staff on Wednesday, 26^th April. 

Wishing you and your family a relaxing holiday break.

Maree Duggan - Acting Principal

Due to many parental requests we have decided to add long sleeve polo tops to our selection of uniforms.  These will be available in all sizing options and we are hoping that they arrive at school for purchase in mid Term 2.  We will let you know once they are available.

Assemblies will be held on the below dates during Term 2 and will commence at 2pm. Parents are most welcome to attend.

Monday 15th May - Grades 3 to 6 - Hosted by 3-4 Dykman

Sharing Classes: 3-4 Dykman, 5-6 Airey & 5-6 Marshall

Monday 22nd May - Prep to Grade 2 - Hosted by 1-2 Millen

Sharing Classes: P-1 Wilson, 1-2 Millen & 1-2 Cameron

Monday 19th June - Grades 3 to 6 - Hosted by 3-4 Faulkner

Sharing Classes: 3-4 Faulkner, 3-4 Walkinshaw, 5-6 Hartley/Sutton & 5-6 Spangaro

Monday 26th June - Prep to Grade 2 - Hosted by Prep Stagoll

Sharing Classes: Prep Stagoll & 1-2 Richardson

ICYPOLES AND FROSTY FRUITS

Icypoles and Frosty Fruits will be available for students to purchase each Thursday throughout the year.

Lemonade Icypoles $1.20

Frosty Fruits $1.50

HOT FOOD DAYS

Wenesday 10th May - Pizza

Wednesday 24th May - Chicken Burgers

Wednesday 31st May - Party Pies & Sausage Rolls

Wednesday 7th June - Sausage in Bread

Wednesday 21st June - Pizza

Wednesday 28th June - Chicken Burgers

SUBWAY DAYS

Subway will be avaialbe for students to order via Canteen Hub in Term 2 on teh following dates;

Tuesday 2nd May

Tuesdy 16th May

Tuesday 13th June

Tuesday 4th July

Please update your child's class when you place their order.

The new prices for 2023 are as follows:

6inch & Wraps Lunch Packs

Veggie Delite - $8.00

Ham - $8.00

Roast Beef - $8.50 - possibly not available to order 

Turkey - $8.50

Falafel - $8.50

Chicken Strips - $9.00

Footlongs Lunch Packs

Veggie Delite - $12.00

Ham - $12.00

Roast Beef - $12.50 - possibly not available to order

Turkey - $12.50

Falafel - $12.50

Chicken Strips - $13.00

Hello! I am Nurse Bri, Punchbowl Primary’s School Health Nurse, and I will be here every Friday for the first part of the year. My role includes health promotion, health education and Kinder Health Checks. Consent forms for the Kinder Health Checks are going out this week and I’m looking forward to getting these started in term 2. Vision and hearing assessments are also available upon request for Primary students of any age, where a specific concern has been passed on via a parent/guardian, teacher, or support staff member. All assessments including the kinder health checks require consent forms to be signed and completed by a parent/guardian prior to assessment.

I will also be running educational activities and lessons across all grades. Topics will vary but might include: growth and development classes, nutrition, personal hygiene, oral care, sun safety and/or mindfulness. Please feel free to contact me via the school office on a Friday for a chat, or with any health concerns/questions regarding your child’s health or my role here.

Kind regards, Nurse Bri

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

Uniforms can be purchased via the school office between 8:30am and 3pm each school day.

If you are unable to visit the office wish to purchase uniform, orders can be placed and payment made via the telephone.  Office staff are happy to assist your child try on clothing if you are uncertain as to what size is required.

Clothing purchased and a copy of receipt will be sent home with your child. 

The Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) is now open for 2023. 

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 2023 are available from the school office. 

Launching into Learning sessions are held between 9:00am and 10:30am each Wednesday in our Kindergarten yard. If you have a child aged from birth to 4  years old you are most welcome to bring your child along to these session.

• 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

The Australian Government will start its program in Tasmania to vaccinate residential aged care and disability care staff and residents at the same time as the Tasmania Government’s roll-out program commences.

I recognise that you may have questions about the vaccination program. I encourage you to visit www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/vaccine for the latest information on the vaccination roll-out. Additionally, you can visit the Australian Government Health website for further information at www.health.gov.au.

Keeping yourself and others safe

We must all continue to play our part in being COVID safe. While the vaccine is an important measure in our response to COVID-19, it is part of a suite of things we need to do – including maintaining our COVID-safe behaviours:

• Stay at least 1.5 metres away from others;
• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water;
• Stay at home if you are unwell;
• Get tested for COVID-19 if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms; and
• Be aware of, and follow, current gathering, business and travel restrictions.
• Practise good hygiene, such as covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands
• If you or your child do get sick, stay at home until symptoms have passed, even if a COVID test is negative

Remember, symptoms include fever, tiredness, cough, headache, sore throat, sniffling and sneezing.

To keep our school safe, we are still:

• continuing with increased cleaning
• making sure there is plenty of soap, sanitiser and tissues available
• applying restrictions to large gatherings of adults and encouraging physical distancing
• requiring visitors to check-in on our sites

For the latest updates on the COVID-19 restrictions in Tasmania and across Australia, visit  http://www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au.

Term Dates

• Term 1: Wednesday, 8^th February to Wednesday, 5^th April  

     (Tuesday, 7^th February & Thursday, 9^th April) – Student Free Days

• Easter: Friday, 7^th April to Tuesday, 11^th April

• Term 2: Wednesday, 26th April to Friday, 7^th July

• Term 3: Tuesday, 25^th July to Friday, 29^th September

                       (Monday, 24^th July - Student Free Day)

• Term 4: Monday, 16^th October to Thursday, 21^st December

                      (Friday, 3rd November – Student Free Day)

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 committee meets in the school staffroom approximately once a term at 7pm and everyone is invited to attend as all parents are members of the School Association.

Please see below meeting dates for the remainder of the year:

3rd May - AGM and General Meeting

26th July

18th October

13th December

Students  have the opportunity to purchase books via Scholastic Bookclub. Catalogues are sent home throughout the year.

Orders can be placed either via the school office or via the Scholastic website.  If you wish to place an order via the office, please enclose named order and money in an envelope and hand to either the class teacher or to the office.   

Closing dates for Bookclub orders will be stated in the newsletter.