FROM OUR PRINCIPAL MRS LEANNE SMITH

A very busy 2 weeks as we settle into the term.  There have been lots of conversations about the Olympics and the history of the sports at the games. 

All classes have begun their preparation for our first assemblies for the year next week.  If you have not let the office know and are able to come please send a note or give them a call.  Mr Hay has been busy practising a whole school song to share and Miss Gourlay will present the dance from the mini Olympics last term with all the students, as well as each class sharing what they have been learning.

Next Tuesday is our School Association meeting which all parents are welcome to attend.  If you have any questions or have something you would like discussed, please talk with our parent reps. 

HELP NEEDED:

As the building is now complete we are looking at what we can do to improve the school grounds.  Mr Brendan Rogers our EFA has been very busy tidying and improving all our garden beds around the school.  The new garden beds in the asphalt area are full of rich healthy soil ready to be planted once the frosts are over.  Thanks to Mrs April Watt for her guidance and organisation of suitable plants for this area.  We have new footpaths at the front of the school being organised at the moment and the improvement of the entrance gates for the top of the school. 

We are looking at ways to add alternative play spaces for our students to further develop imaginative play.  We are wanting to set up a space that allows children to create obstacle courses and has alternative height play.  We are looking for a few short parts of tree trunks.  If anyone knows where we can get these from can they please let the office know (as shown).

We are also looking for anyone who might have a couple of hours to spare to build an open box out of a couple of palettes that we can store the large plastic interconnecting blocks we have moved in to the playground.

We are also looking for a mud kitchen type station that can also be made out of palettes.

If you have any ideas, thoughts or can help please contact myself or the office.

Last term in the 5-6 classroom we have been learning about Australian history and how Australia is run by the leaders who represent us. We wrote letters to the mayor about our concerns, ideas and suggestions. It is an extension to the persuasive work we have been doing. The students have expressed the ideas with deep thought, hoping for a change to our community.

Excerpts from the Year 5-6 student's letters to the Mayor:

Our 5 Cent Fundraiser was very successful last term and we would like to thank everyone that joined in and participated.

Overall, we raised a total of $700.00 which is fantastic given that we only did the fundraiser for a term. Half of the money we raised will be going to the children’s ward at the Royal Hobart Hospital and the other half of the money will go to our year 6 gift to the school at the end of the year.

The winner of the challenge was Kinder, as they raised the most coins in the school.

Stay tuned for more information from the SRC's this term.

Kinder Superstars were very excited to be back at school after our holidays.  It had been a busy last few weeks of term 2 for us and we were all looking forward to some sleep ins over the holiday break.  Before heading off on our well earned holiday rest, Kinder Superstars had been busy getting out and about in our playground, building campsites, discovering and smashing ice, cooking up treats in our kitchen and constructing sandpit cities.

We also had our first Molesworth Environment Centre (MEC) excursion.  We had a blast heading out into the bush, discovering scats, fungi and tasting Trish’s bush damper for the first time.  We were all excited and proud of taking on the challenge of the rope bridge.

A highlight of term 2 was collecting the 5c pieces and Kinder Superstars embraced this challenge with gusto.  It was with great delight we took out the top honour and raised so much money for such a good cause.

Term 3 has started busy, and with great enthusiasm.  Our special cushions have been sent home.  Children have hand sewn their initial into hessian, as well as frayed the edges and used the sewing machine to put it altogether.  They are very proud of their efforts.

We were also greeted with a surprise visitor - the ‘egg’ had returned to our class.  But it was so much bigger than before. Children were adamant they could hear scratching from inside the egg, and that it surely must be close to hatching.  We were excited to see how much it had grown, and got thinking about how much we have grown since being a little baby.  

Children shared their ideas about what people need to feel safe, happy and healthy … so they can grow to the best of their ability.  We also spent the week curious about the size of things around us.  So we got busy measuring - of particular interest was how tall we all are.

It’s been a wonderful start to term 3, and we are excited to see the continued growth and confidence of our amazing Kinder Superstars.

On the Student Free day at the start of Term 3 all staff had an absolute ball participating in a Taiko Drum session.  Was a fantastic way to re-group after the holiday period.