Today is the last day of Term 1 and it has certainly flown.  We hope everyone has a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday 26th April for another wonderful term of learning.

This Term Prep-One have been inviting several creepy crawlies into the class and I don’t mean Molesworth Primary Students. Unexpectedly, a few spider friends have accidently found their way inside our classroom which led to many interesting and curious conversations about where spiders live, how many legs they have and what types of spiders to do we have in Tasmania. Our fascination with Spiders continued during our first MEC excursion for the year. We spent the day exploring bushland and water-based environments looking for evidence of living things. We discovered that Spiders are classified as ‘Arachnids’ and are related to scorpions. A special thank you to our fabulous Parent Helpers – Mrs Angela White, Mrs Brittany Hayden, and Mrs Kristie King for giving up their time to help us learn.

During the term, Prep One have been enjoying communicating with Lani and Trish in the Molesworth Environment Centre via letters and email. After reading the story ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell we sent our own letter to Lani and Trish to find out if they had suitable pets.

Our first furry friend that arrived was not at all what we expected. Since learning about its meaty diet and main features, Prep One students have come to the conclusion that a Tasmanian Devil is a dangerous, noisy and strong marsupial that could cause havoc in our classroom if its powerful jaw breaks through the metal cage.

Our second pet was another native creature, a Blue Tongue Lizard. Students have noticed their incredible patterned scales help them to blend into rocky and bushland surroundings. We look forward to receiving a more suitable pet in the future and would like to kindly thank Mrs Young and Mrs MacGregor for sharing their resources and expert knowledge with us ?

What a lovely way to end the term for our early childhood classes. On Tuesday 4^th April, both classes separately visited the New Norfolk Golf Club! How lucky we are to have an amazing golf club in our backyards!

Both classes were able to practise the golf skills we have been learning in PE! We started our excursion with a visit into the building to check out what was inside. We saw a dance floor and were able to go out onto the deck to look at the gold course below! We then practised our putting and our wedging.

Here are some comments from some golf superstars:

• Deegan – I enjoyed hitting the golf balls far! I have been to the Golf club before with my Pop.
• Harper – I enjoyed putting!
• Luna – When we got to hit the balls far, mine went very, very far.
• Max – I liked hitting the balls at the end!

We would like to pass on a huge thank you to Mr Glenn Heron from the New Norfolk Golf Club for assisting in organising our excursions and allowing us to use the clubs, putters, golf balls and facilities at the New Norfolk Golf Club. Thank you to Mrs Kaitinis, Mrs Duncombe, Mrs Watson and Mr Watson. As an avid New Norfolk Golf Club member, Mr Watson even shared with us some information about the golf club!

Squash is not just a fruit; it is also a popular international sport played in over 150 countries by 20 million people including our 5/6 students!

As part of our racquet sport focus this term, both of our 5/6 classes travelled to Parsons Sport Centre in Derwent Park which are the closest Squash courts to the Derwent Valley! The students were able to transfer their racquet skills from badminton and tennis to the sport of squash! Both classes did a fantastic job trying something new and having a go.

The activities we participated at the centre included a fun new ball game warm up, serving, round robin modified squash games and a wall target games.

• Maia – It was really fun. I learnt to play squash!
• Amber – I learnt how to serve the ball. The ball has to be above the middle line and below the top line.

We would like to thank Josh, Jacinta and Jack from Parsons Sport for assisting us with how to play this game! A big thank you to Mrs Watson, Mrs Kaitinis, Mrs Duncombe and Mrs Barber for accompanying us on our excursions.

Whose making all the racquet at the Southern Tasmania Badminton Association Courts? All the 3/4s are!

Today our 3/4H and 3/4MB classes travelled to the Southern Tasmania Badminton Association in South Hobart to put the badminton skills they have been practising in PE to the test. We had 6 courts all to ourselves, how amazing is that!  Our students were mixed into groups and played modified games and we were able to sit in the umpires chair and practise scoring. Lots of fun was had!

Thank you to coach Ryan for assisting us with our Badminton skills. Thank you to Mrs Duncombe, Mrs Watson and Mrs Browning for accompanying our group!

If you need some assistance with your badminton game, be sure to ask one of our 3/4 badminton stars!

Last Thursday 31^st March, a team of 45 of Molesworth greatest athletes hopped on the bus bound for the Hobart Domain Athletics Centre. When we arrived, we were the first school there and it was pretty special to be able to run a practise lap lead by our 3 sport leaders around the 400m track before the other schools arrived!

It was the coldest interschool carnival we have had in our recent years but that didn’t deter our young athletes who represented our school superbly! I want to say a congratulations to each and every one of these students, they tried their very best in their events and it was a joy to watch them compete. The encouragement and teamwork we had in our team was amazing. Listening to the final scores on the day, for such a small school we finished 5^th and were only 7 points away from coming 4^th. An awesome effort!

A massive thank you to Mr Peter Jelkic, Mrs Mandy Richardson, and Mrs Laura Duncombe for volunteering as our school officials. Thank you to our school community for being out there with us encouraging our students!

A firefighter from the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) is visiting our school the week of May 1st to the 5th to present a Home Fire Safety Program to our Prep to Grade 6 students.

Kindergarten students, whilst not receiving a structured lesson, can expect a visit from the firefighter who will leave some free fun activities for the students to complete.

The age appropriate program is designed to raise fire awareness in children and includes fun in class activities, videos, activity books, giveaways and a new kid’s website tfskids.com.au.

Parents and other family members are also encouraged to participate by reading the information and assisting your child with the after school activities.

The TFS aims to deliver appropriate fire safety education to every primary school child in Tasmania and is part of the TFS’s ongoing commitment to create a fire safe Tasmania.

Key Fire Safety Messages include,

• Wake up - Install a smoke alarm in every bedroom
• Plan and practice a home fire escape plan with the whole family
• In a fire crawl low and go, go, go to the nearest exit
• In an emergency call triple zero
• Keep flammable material at least two metres from the heater
• If your clothes catch fire, stop, drop, rock and roll
• Keep matches and lighters away from children
• Cooking - Turn it off before you turn away
• Cool a burn under cold water for at least 20 minutes
• Most house fires can be avoided. Make your home fire safe

Complete an online home fire escape plan - https://www.tfseducation.com.au/tfse-escape-plan-user/add

More information for parents, carers and teachers tfseducation.com.au.  Visit our exciting new website just for kids tfskids.com.au or SUBSCRIBE to our free bi-monthly newsletter.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

TFS receives regular requests from preschools and child care centres asking for firefighters to visit and teach children about home fire safety.

TFS does not deliver structured fire safety programs to children below primary school age. This decision was made based on research carried out by the Mental Health Services of the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Melbourne. This research indicated that:

• Children under the age of five had low retention of the information they had learned; and
• In some children, the information had actually stimulated their curiosity about fire and they had begun to play with fire.

TFS believes that parents and caregivers are the best people to make sure that very young children are safe from fire. To help with this, TFS has a fire safety website for parents, carers and teachers.

Playgrounds help children develop movement skills that set them up for life.   Can your children climb like a monkey or slide like a snake? 

Watch this video for ideas to keep your child moving these holidays.

https://fb.watch/c3CWQdJEEU/

You can also visit Keep it Moving - Great Start

Adventures with Jack the Jumper

Join Tasmania’s cheekiest ant at basketball clinics designed to teach children the basics of basketball, in a fun and supportive environment, whilst having fun and playing games. These clinics are split into sessions designed for 5-8 years old, and 9-12 years old. Jack the Jumper and his team of community coaches are coming to a court near you!

Each session runs for one hour and includes a basketball (size 5 or size 6) plus plenty of great prizes, and don't forget your post-basketball snacks provided by Banjo's, our proud community partners! $50 per child. (Please note that appearances by JackJumpers players are not included at these clinics.)

School holiday clinics

The JackJumpers school holiday basketball clinics are led by the JackJumpers community coaches, and of course include plenty of games with our fun-loving mascot Jack the Jumper! The clinics, held either over a full day or a half day, are designed to teach children the fundamentals of basketball, and give them a chance to build and improve their basketball skills.

Each session includes a basketball (size 5 or size 6) plus plenty of great prizes!

Links to dates and times: https://www.jackjumpers.com.au/pages/basketball-clinics