Dear Parents and Guardians,

This is the last newsletter before the end of Term 3. It has been a busy term with Science Week, Book Week, Fire Education and last weekend the Maths Relay.  I would like to congratulate our Grade 3/4 and 5/6 Maths Relay teams who all represented our school with pride.  A big thank you to both Mrs Frerk and Miss Shephard who gave up their Sunday to support these students.

SINGFEST

Next week, our Choir will be performing in Singfest at the Albert Hall. Singfest is the culmination of two terms of work from our choir. Here they will join with other school choirs from over the North of Tasmania to sing a number of songs in harmony. If you get the chance to go to this production on Wednesday, 25^th September it is always a beautiful night of singing. A big thank you to Mr Tabe for all his work preparing our students for this event.

NBL Blitz

Our school was lucky to be selected to host a team visit from the NBL team "Brisbane Bullets" as part of the NBL Blitz Pre-Season Tournament being held in Tasmania this week. The NBL is the highest level of basketball played in Australia and we had a lot of students very excited about the visit. Our Grade 3-4 students were given Blitz singlets to keep as well as the school receiving some basketballs. Students joined in games and activities with the players along with a very exciting students versus NBL players game/activity being the highlight of the session.

All Northern Primary School students are invited to come along to the Elphin Sports Centre this Saturday where three NBL teams will be holding some signing sessions upstairs in the Mezzanine level.

• 10.00am to 10.20am – Cairns Taipans
• 11.30am to 11.50am – Adelaide 36ers
• 1.00pm to 1.20pm – Brisbane Bullets

Behaviour - showing respect

The behaviour of our students at Punchbowl Primary School is one of the things that we pride ourselves on.  Schools are akin to little communities where our students are given the opportunity to learn right from wrong.  Schools are places where you learn and develop social skills to support children into their adult life.  Rules apply and vary from home to school, children quickly learn what is acceptable and unacceptable in the different environments/contexts.

At Punchbowl Primary School teachers start the school year, spending some time with their students talking about how the class would work and how we need to treat each other.  Teachers talk about important values such as honesty, sharing and helping, responsibility, collaboration (or working together), organisation and respect.

As a school, we believe that respect is one of the most important.  What we mean by respect, how it looks and feels in our school is a concept that all our classes will revisit early next term. At Punchbowl Primary School when we refer to ‘respect’ we are referring to students,

• Having regard for others. That means accepting that other people are different but just as important as you feel you are. Some people may call this tolerance.
• Having a proper respect for yourself. That means that you stand up for yourself and don't let yourself be talked into doing stuff that you know is wrong or makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Not interfering with others (or their property).
• To consider something worthy of high regard. That really means taking all those other values and living them.

 Duty of Care

We are noticing that a number of children are arriving at school very early and often before the school is open (8:30am). The school doors are not open until this time and students should not be on the grounds without a parent or carer to supervise them.  After school students are to leave the school grounds or wait outside the gates with the teachers on duty.  Teachers leave this duty area at 3:15pm.  Students are able to play in the playground only if they have a parent actively supervising their child.

I would like to wish all our families a happy and safe holiday break. We look forward to beginning Term 4 on Monday, 14^th October. Just a reminder summer uniform can be worn and our "Hats On" policy will be in place.