24 October 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome back everyone to Term 4! I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed quality family time and, for those that had a holiday, a relaxing break!

After celebrating our excellent NAPLAN data in the last two newsletters, today we celebrate Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Towns recognition of our wonderful students and the partnerships with the Bicheno Community and Men’s Shed, the Earth Ocean Network and the broader Bicheno community. Our school received two major awards:

1. A Certificate of Recognition for Community Action and Partnership awarded to Bicheno Primary School for: Working with Bicheno Community and Men’s Shed members on projects identified by the children, a genuine and joyous collaborative partnership, and
2. State wide 2018 Winner Certificate in the Tasmanian Youth Award: to KEON – Kids Earth Ocean Network at Bicheno Primary School.

Special thanks to Pam Troode for representing our school and community at the presentation awards in Smithton on Friday and for her eloquent and humorous acceptance speech!

Congratulations to all of our students who had fun, were courageous and gave their best at the 2018 swimming carnival. Due to a clash of dates with the Together We inspire Principals’ Conference I was unable to attend. From all accounts it was a great day with a strong Bicheno swim team being selected for the upcoming East North East Carnival.

I would also like to congratulate Ruby Sparshott for receiving a "Top in School" award in the 2018 state-wide Literacy and Numeracy Monitoring Program (commonly known as NAPLAN awards).  She has been invited to the Awards Ceremony in November.

As part of the ABC’s Don’t Stop the Music campaign, the ABC are making some stories about schools who have built music programs from the ground up. The ABC heard about our fantastic marimbas and junkyard instruments which were made with the help of the skilful hands of Doug Renshaw, Scott Goldsmith and Brian Sylvester. The ABC came and videoed a student performance on our marimbas and interviewed some senior primary students, staff, parents and volunteers about the music program at Bicheno Primary School.

I was very privileged to be a part of the Principals’ Conference in celebrating 150 years of Public Education in Tasmania. Over the year you will be able to hear ambassadors of public education speak at many forums around Tasmania around the theme of: Then, Now and Beyond. They comprise of 12 highly successful adults who have completed their studies in public schools and have demonstrated commendable workplace achievements. One of them Elizabeth Crane State Executive Officer with the Child Health Association of Tasmania spent her early years on the East Coast of Tasmania and attended Bicheno Primary School. There are also 7 student ambassadors who are talented and passionate about their public education learning experience, and also their hopes and aspirations for the future.

Recently, we have been conducting PAT assessments with our students as part of an East Coast Schools of Excellence approach to scan and assess what our students know and also identify any learning gaps we can focus on reteaching into the future. This information, alongside classroom teacher observations, will enable enhanced focus on school improvements in literacy and numeracy and also help us identify what our priorities are for professional learning for teachers across our schools. 2019 is shaping up to be an exciting year for our schools in particular around literacy and the roll-out of the Middle Years Literacy project and also with increased departmental resourcing of literacy coaches across our schools. An important part of our literacy improvement strategy at Bicheno Primary will be enhancing the school/parent partnership around helping our students to become more proficient readers.

I hope everyone has a productive week and is enjoying the warmer weather and great surf!

Rob Presswell

Swimming carnival reports by Grade3/4

On Friday the 19th of October 2018 our school had a swimming carnival at St. Mary’s District High School for grade 3-6.

We left at 8:45 AM, I was sitting next to Elyse on the bus and it was not as bad as I thought going up. We got there at around 9:45 AM and the first race was the grade 3 boy’s 25m freestyle everyone that went in it was amazing and tried their hardest. Then it was the grade 3 girls 25m freestyle and then grade 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s did their freestyle. Then it was the breaststroke 25m then backstroke. After that we did the treasure hunt people threw toys in and you have to pick them up and put them in your teams coloured bucket. Once all the toys are in the bucket the time stops and whichever team has the most toys in wins. When it was grade 3/4s turn there was only 5 Denison and 14 Apsley so two grade 5s came and that’s 7, half of 14, so Denison got to pick up two at a time and Apsley only got to pick up one at a time. I don’t remember who won that. Then it was the 50m swims same order same stroke different length and that went really well. Then it was the relay it was a boys Denison vs Apsley then girls Denison vs Apsley. For the girls it was a tie and everyone came first and with the boys Apsley won. After it was the bucket relay I don’t remember a lot about it and finally for the first time that I know of was the parent race and it was only men. Mr. Woolley, Michel (Eva & Marcel Papa), Dan (Isla & Lola’s dad) and Shane (Finn & Zail’s dad). Shane came first for 25m and Michel came first for 50m at the end of the day everyone did really well and I can’t wait till next year and see all of them trying their hardest and giving it a go for their team and them. Mrs. Slis said, “On Monday we will announce the winning team!’’

By Ariëlle da Graça

On Friday the 19th grade 3/6 went to St- Marys to do our swimming carnival.

We left school at 8:45am and would return at 2:45pm. When we got there the grade 6 boys raced first at the 25m freestyle. We were allowed to do any stoke for the first freestyle. Next we did the 25m back stroke, and again they started with the grade 6 boys. They did the same order of grades for half of the carnival.

Then there was the 25m breast stroke and the treasure hunt, in the treasure hunt some people throw pool toys into the pool.

In your teams (Apsley, Denison), you dive down to the bottom of the pool and collect the items, the team with the most items is the winning team. In 5/6 Denison won, but in 3/4 Apsley won. Next there was the relay. The boys went first, they picked the fastest boys from each grade. Apsley won the boys relay.

Next was the girls relay, they picked the fastest girls from each grade. The girls relay was a tie so everyone got a first ribbon. Most of the time everyone was shouting “GO APSLEY” or “GO DENISON”.

The 50m freestyle was next, this time the grade 3 boys started.

Then we went on to do the 50m backstroke and breaststroke.

After that we did the bucket relay and the Parents race.

The best part of the day was when we did the treasure hunt.

By Molly and Mikayla.

On Friday the 19th of October it was the Swimming carnival. It was at Saint Marys District School pool. We left school at 8:45. On the bus I sat next to Arielle. When we got to St. Mary’s pool we started the races. First it was the grade 6s race then the grade 5 race and then the grade 4 races and then the grade 3 races. For the 25m races I came 3rd in the 25m freestyle and 4th in the 25m backstroke and I won the 25m breaststroke. Mrs Bosua was the speaker.

The teams were Denison and Apsley.

For the 50m races I came 4th in the 50m freestyle and ‘the 50m backstroke I came 4th and in the 50m breaststroke I came first.

By Elyse.

What’s happening in our classrooms?

Kinder

Our chickens have a new palace!! Bernie help Scott put together the new chicken house for Kinder. It is now installed and our Kinders have taken on responsibility for looking after the chickens they hatched from eggs.

Prep/One

English

• What it means to have your own point of view or opinion and how this is expressed in different stories.
• What is the difference between a statement a question?

Maths

• Revising how we use everyday language to describe position and direction of movement eg right, left, up, down in the context of mazes.
• Using doubles and near doubles as an efficient maths strategy e.g. 6+7… think double 6 is 12 and 1 more is 13.

Social and emotional focus

• Using meditation techniques to improve our attention and focus. Why is it important for us to be able to keep our attention on one thing at a time?

Grade 1/2

Grade 1/2 have been identifying and using Australian coins and notes in our Pet Shop, as well as writing lists and information about the different pets for sale. We have been learning about common and proper nouns and when to use a capital letter (dog, Labrador).

We have been working persistently to follow instructions and cooperating when building our new Marble Run (thank you School Association!).

Students have investigated push and pull forces when making a Lego zip line.

Grade 3/4

English: re-read and edit texts for punctuation, experimenting with the use of quotation marks
Maths: solving problems involving purchases and the calculation of change to the nearest five cents
HASS: Celebrations and commemorations around the world

DASH Robots visit Grade 3/4

Last Thursday our school was visited by many little robots called ‘Dash’ – they are a very engaging and a little cheeky robot that can be controlled via a tablet or by coding directly to it. The visit was part of ‘Seniors week’ celebrations and was specifically to engage the over 50’s with technology. Helen Corben and Gerald Martin came in to ‘play’ with the robots alongside the students. This was part of an outreach initiative run by the Rosny branch of the Tasmanian Libraries. Thanks to Helen and Gerald for coming in and to Narissa and Jan for bringing Dash along for a visit.

The Grade 3/4 class now have the honour of naming each of the robots as they were the first class to get to meet them.

Dash robots in action

Grade 5/6

In Maths Grade 5/6 have been learning about Chance and probability by investigating the frequency of numbers being rolled on a dice and recording the results using fractions, decimals and percentages. We have been recording data of our investigations and have been learning about finding the perimeter and area of irregular shapes.

In English we have been looking at what makes a strong argument when writing a persuasive text and have analysed and compared poor and strong examples of an effective persuasive text.

In HASS we have been learning about the evolution of democracy and Magna Carta.

In Science we have been learning the difference between chemical and physical changes to materials by conducting experiments using a range of materials.

Grade 5/6 Science

Last week in science, Grade 5/6 conducted four different experiments to identify the different properties of state of matter. Throughout the experiments we had to observe and identify the physical and chemical changes that took place.

On Thursday we did a balloon experiment. To make the experiment we had to get a balloon, vinegar and bicarbonate soda, a measuring cup, an empty drink bottle, a funnel and a tablespoon. You put the bicarbonate soda in the balloon then put a cup of vinegar in to a bottle, then you put the balloon on the drink bottle and let the bicarbonate soda fall in the bottle. The balloon blew up.

By Polly.

We started by putting the bicarbonate soda in the balloon we then poured vinegar in the bottle. We pulled the balloon onto the bottle. It fizzed and the balloon blew up. Then we pulled the balloon off the bottle and the balloon popped. It was a chemical change.

By Sienna

On the 18th of the October we conducted science experiments. The first one was balloon madness. We had to have a bottle, a tablespoon of bicarbonate soda, white vinegar and a balloon. We filled the balloon with bicarbonate soda and filled the bottle with a cup of white vinegar. We then put the balloon over the top of the bottle and poured the bicarbonate soda into the vinegar. It blew up the balloon and afterwards you could tie it up.

By Tarrant

In science we learnt how to make butter from salt and cream. We are learning about physical and chemical changes. We had to shake the cream for four minutes. Our group thought it was a chemical change.

By Nic

We put five chocolates in a bowl that was on pot of hot water after one minute and a half it started to melt.

By Connor

Our group made a balloon blow up with vinegar and bicarb soda. We placed the vinegar into a plastic water bottle then we put some bicarbonate soda in a balloon. We then put the balloon over the top of the water bottle. Once it was on tight we then tipped it into the water bottle with the vinegar in it. It made the balloon fill up with air.

By Isak

Last week, our class explored chemical and physical changes and their definitions. We were in allocated groups and we moved from station to station doing activities that were to do with chemical and physical changes. One of the stations was melting chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. We put a few chocolate drops in a heat-safe, metal bowl and placed it over a saucepan full of boiling water. After about 3 minutes, the chocolate was soft in the middle but still hard on the top but when we gave it a stir, it became fully melted. We came to the conclusion that this was a physical change.

By Ruby

On the 18th of October the 5/6 class did some awesome experiments for science. We worked in four different rotation groups and did four different experiments. My group (Ruby, Connor and Shae) did the “Hot Choccy” experiment. We boiled water and put it in a pot. Once the hot water was in the pot we put chocolate in a bowl and placed it over the boiled water and watched it melt. After observing it, we identified if a chemical or physical change had taken place. Overall it was heaps of fun and I learnt a lot.

By Bayli Casboult

Our group started with the “Milky Chance” experiment. This included food dye, detergent and milk. The detergent was placed on one side of the plate, and the food colouring on the other. The detergent was so powerful it pushed the food dye to the edge of the plate. After a while the food dye floated towards the detergent and then it stayed there.

By Grace

Our group looked at the “Milky Chance” experiment. We observed that the detergent made the food colouring move away, although after a while it floated back to the detergent.

By Hallie

Last week in Science, our class looked at chemical and physical changes. In groups, we did experiments with various products. Our group did an experiment with milk, detergent and food colouring. We put the milk on a plate and then dropped some food colouring on one side, we then put detergent on the opposite side. The food colouring got pushed around by the detergent, it looked really cool and it was lots of fun.

By Georgie Featherstone

The milk experiment was interesting because when we added the detergent, the food colouring started moving around the plate of milk.

By Ocean

Last week in Science our class looked at chemical and physical changes. We conducted some experiments. My group did one were we got some chocolate, a pot, a bowl and some hot water. We got the chocolate and put it in the bowl and filled the pot up with hot water. We put the bowl on the pot with the hot water in it and waited for a change. It took about 2 minutes for it to melt.

By Shae

On 18th of October, our 5/6 class did Science. In my group we conducted an experiment called “Shake and Bake”. We needed to have a jar, salt and cream. We put some salt in the jar and then we put the cream in the jar, we then had to shake the jar really fast for one minute each. We shook it until it turned into butter! We then had to write our observations and moved on to a different experiment.

By Charli

In Science, we conducted an experiment called “Shake and Bake”. In this experiment you mixed cream and salt in a jar and shook it for four minutes. We then ended up with some creamy butter! Although, because we added too much salt it went stinky and gross.

By Maceo

My group made butter. We put cream and salt into an open jar then we put the lid on. We then shook the jar it for a few minutes. After it was done we looked into the jar and observed that all the cream had turned into butter.

By Caleb

We conducted the “Shake ‘n’ Bake” experiment. In this experiment we had to pour some cream and add some salt into a jar. We then needed to screw the lid on the jar tightly. We shook the jar for a few minutes until the cream started to thicken up and turned into creamy butter.

By Sunny

On Thursday the 18th of October, we conducted some experiments. In the first experiment, our group made butter.

We started by sprinkling salt into a glass jar then poured some cream in. We closed the lid and took turns of shaking it. At first it turned into whipped cream but after a while it started to turn to butter.

It smelt bad!

By Byron

Indonesian

Kinder are continuing with the Indonesian ELLA apps.
Prep/1 and 1/2 are focusing on the names of animals.
Grades 3/4 are describing themselves (saya).
Grade 5/6 are creating a movie about their school (sekolah saya).

Country Gold Reports from Last Term

Country Gold Netball 2018

On Thursday 20th and Friday the 21st, a mixture from St Helens, St Marys and Bicheno kids played netball, at the Silverdome, in Launceston. Our team was called ENE Miners.

There were 2 teams, div 1 and div 2. Hallie Thompson was in div 1 and Grace Briggs was in div 2.

On the first day div 1 played first, they played Midlands East and won by 25 goals. Div 2 played midlands east aswell and won by about 15 goals.

Then Div 1 played there second game of the day against circular head and won by 32 goals. Then div 2 played circular head and won by about 19 goals.

Div 1 and div 2 played there 3rd game and played tamar div 1 won by 30 goals and div 2 by 14 goals.

On the 2nd day div 1 and div 2 played 3 games including the grand final. First we played midlands west and unfortantly we both lost. We then played against eagles and both won. Because we won that game we made it in the grand final against midlands west and div 1 won by 10 goals and unfortantly div 2 lost by 10 goals.

It was a fun 2 days of playing netball and look forward to competing next year.

by Grace and Hallie.

ENE BOYS SOCCER LAUNCESTON

On Thursday and Friday the 20th and the 21th of September, the ENE country gold boys soccer team played in a carnival in Launceston.

The teams we played were Tamar, North East, North Midlands West and North Midlands East.

Tamar came 1st, NME came 2nd , NE came 3rd, we came 4th and NMW were 5th.

In our first game we lost 3-0. In the second game we won 1 -0.

On the second day we lost 2-0 game.

Then we lost 3-2.

The last game for us was a fun Mach against NMW. They had 4 adults playing. We had Michael, our coach, and Dane (from the Library).We won 4-3.

I got a goal in 30 seconds against North East and I got 3 goals all up. I was the only Bicheno student in the team. The other players in our team were all from St Helens.

By Connor Baldwin

ENE Country Gold Football Report

This year 5 boys from Bicheno Primary, 3 boys from St Marys/Fingal and the rest from St Helens were chosen to go to ENE football, selected by our coach Anthony Blunt. Mrs Sliskovic was the team manager. The Bicheno boys were Caleb, Isak, Ned, Tarrant and Axel.

We went to Launceston on the 20th and the 21st of September.

The first 5 games of the tournament had two 20 minutes halves. The final game had four quarters which went for 15 minutes each.

On the first game we lost by 22 points, the 2nd game we won by 28 points, the 3rd game we lost by 18 points. The 4th game we lost by 42 points. We won 1 out of 4 games on the first day.

The second day we had a loss to Tamar by 28 points. In our final we beat North East by 98 points.

After all of the games we finished 5th out of 6. In all the games the Bicheno boys scored:

• Caleb: 4 goals 3 behinds
• Tarrant: 4 goals 1 behind
• Axel: 2 goals 2 behinds
• Isak: 0 goals 1 behind

Caleb Broughan and Tadgh Blunt (co-captains) made it to the All-star team of 2018.

Caleb was voted Best of Tournament and won the 2018 medallion.

by Isak Oswald, Tarrant, Caleb & Axel

Little Blue Sports Sessions

Important dates

Information for parents

A friendly reminder that the school has a duty of care for student from 8:15am, extending to 3:15pm. Students on the school grounds outside of these operating hours must be under parental supervision. The school toilets and classrooms are closed at 2:45pm. There are public toilets located next to Little Penguins Child Centre.

Rob Presswell

School Information

Phone: 63751222
Email: bicheno.primary@education.tas.gov.au
Principal: Robert Presswell
School Business Manager: Sandra Silberberg

Teachers

Kinder and LiL: Eliza Spykers
Prep/One: Emily McCormack and Jen Sliskovic
Grade 1/2: Bron Pierce and Ali Jones
Grade 3/4: Matt Woolley
Grade 5/6: Jill Bosua
Support Teacher: Robert Presswell

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