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.