5 July 2019

Newsletter Articles

How to set PUSH notifications on SZApp

Make sure you check that Notifications are turned on under the Manage tab

From the Principal

Our Motto: Friendly Respectful Courageous Learning

Our Commitment: With courage we learn, connecting to people and place. Striving for excellence by being curious, creative and resilient.

We have been very fortunate to have had such an amazingly warm autumn, but with the recent snowfalls in the ranges it is that time of year to remind everyone to bring warm clothes to school each day as our weather cools and becomes more unpredictable. Many students, particularly those with shorts have been complaining about being cold in the playground.

Over the next fortnight we will be commencing the development of our school logo. Local design teacher, Carl Noonan, will be guiding the students through the redesign of the logo in a staged, collaborative process. This is a wonderful opportunity for our whole school community to be involved in the redesign, so keep an eye on the Western wall of our library as we capture the essence of what Bicheno primary means to us all!

This Thursday is our Cross Country carnival and I know Mr Kelly has been training all students to be courageous and run the distance to the best of their ability. I am certainly looking forward to cheering all students. All family members are most welcome to be part of this wonderful day as we select students who will represent our school at the regional carnival. We are also approaching selection trials for the ENE Country Gold netball, soccer and football teams and we wish all students all the best with their ‘try-outs’.

This year the 2019 camp for Grades 3 to 6 will be at the Hagley Farm School, with both accommodation and meals provided onsite. The camp will be held from the 7th to the 9th of August for 3 days and 2 nights. Hagley Farm is situated on a mixed dairy farm of 63 hectares, and forms part of the Hagley Farm School. The farm is located approximately 20 minutes from Launceston. All activities are organised and implemented by two teachers, who provide extensive environmental, farm, heritage and mapping experiences for children from Kinder to Grade 6. They also provide cottages which accommodate up to 72 students, parents and staff in cottage style accommodation. All cottages have full kitchen facilities to assist with supper & drink preparation. As part of our Wilds’cool partnership Grade 5/6 students will, if weather permits, travel to Cradle Mountain for a day trip on Thursday 8th of August and engage in a range of activities, including a bush walk, organised through Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife rangers (very warm and waterproof clothing required). To all our Grade 3-6 parents keep a look out for a letter coming home with your child with more detail.

Currently teachers are busy finalising the 2019 Mid-Year Reports for all students. This is a really important time of the year where teachers have assessed student progress across curriculum areas. We aim to have these reports out to parents in the second last week of school so that parents have time to read them and also make an appointment for parent teacher interviews. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what students have achieved and also identify areas for future learning focus. When the partnership between home and school is strong and focussed on improving student learning we maximise the opportunity for student learning improvements.

We are excited to have Colin Williams as a UTAS 3rd year Masters of Teaching practicum placement at our school. He will be completing a 4 week placement in our Grade 1/2 class. Some of our school community may already know Colin as his current work placement is a Teaching Assistant role at St Mary’s District School. We welcome to our school community and wish him well as he approaches the completion of his teaching qualification.

We hope everyone has a wonderful week and that you stay warm!

Best regards

Rob Presswell

Three levels of Government in Australia

In HASS, the 5/6s have been learning about the levels of Government in Australia. We explored the levels of Government and the people and places involved with them. In our projects, we had to include something visual. Most people chose pictures but some did drawings too. We then had to display our research in our own creative way, such as a poster, PowerPoint or diorama. These are our finished presentations.

Ruby and Ocean

What’s happening in our classrooms?

Grade 1/2

In English, we are learning to accurately spell words with regular spelling patterns and words with less common long vowel patterns. For example, long vowels: ai/ay, oa/o_e, and ee/ea.

We are also learning to use punctuation accurately, and write words and sentences legibly using unjoined upper- and lower-case letters.

In Maths, we are learning to recognise increasing and decreasing number sequences. For example, we have been counting on and back in 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s from any starting point.

We are also learning to recognise patterns in number sequences, such as adding and subtracting 10 always results in the same final digit. (e.g. 74, 84, 94, 104, 114 …)

In Science, we are learning about mixtures in our chemical sciences unit All mixed up. We are learning about materials that don’t mix well, and others that are difficult to separate.

Prep/One

Social/Emotional:

We are learning to be put our hands up on the mat.

Reading:

We are learning to recognise and say letter combinations such as ‘sh, th and ch’ and the sounds they make.

Writing:

We are learning to use write sentences using finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.

Numeracy:

We are learning the days of the week.

Science:

We are learning to understand how the weather affects everyday life.

HASS:

We are learning to describe places we live and belong to.

Grade 3/4

English:

• We will define and explain what informational writing is.
• We will identify types of informational writing.
• We will describe text features and text structure found in informational writing.

Maths:

• We will recognise and use formal units of measurement including centimetres, metres, kilograms and litres.
• We will use scaled instruments to measure temperatures, lengths, shapes and objects.

Grade 5/6

In English we are learning

• about the different reasons we use commas
• about irregular plurals such as: one “antenna” two “antennae” and “curriculum” and “curricula”
• about the fantasy genre in reading

In Maths we are learning

• how to add and subtract fractions with related denominators
• recognising patterns and identifying the rule for how the numbers are changing

In HASS we are learning

• about the 3 levels of government : federal, state and local and the services that fall under their jurisdiction

In Science we are learning

• about the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas

Indonesian

• In Kinder we are using the ELLA apps and learning how to count to 10 in Bahasa Indonesia.
• In prep/1 and 1/2 we are discovering a cultural specific practice.
• In 3/4 and 5/6 we are participating in shared reading experiences using Indonesian big books and authentic readers.

Bicheno Primary logo redesign project

This June the school community will be collaborating on a brand refresh project, beginning with the redesign of the school logo.

Local design teacher, Carl Noonan, will be guiding the students through the redesign of the logo in a staged, collaborative process.

The western wall of the library will be used as a design process wall where research and design ideas will develop, so that the students will see their work and the work of other students, parents and teachers as it develops.

The three design territories we will explore are

• The local environment
• Education and learning
• School values.

Students will be learning about the design process, the concept of collective identity and understanding audience. Carl will coach the students through simple, practical ways of graphic symbolism.

Input from parents and members of the local community is very welcome.

Carl Noonan

Kinder Enquiry: Bees

Kinder used the enquiry circle to investigate bees and honey

Information for Parents – funding for
schools

Work is continuing on the implementation of the new Educational Adjustments funding model for students with disability in Tasmanian Government schools, which will deliver funding to schools from 2020.

The new Educational Adjustments approach will support inclusive practice in schools and align supports to the educational adjustments teachers make in the classroom to assist students with disability access, participate and engage in quality learning programs.

To support this critical work we have now launched a new website which provides important information and resources for schools and parents on this new approach.

Please visit the website at the link below.

Fence panels for sale

We have some old fence panels (which were used on the top oval) for sale. They are 2400 x 900 in “rustic” condition. $10 per panel.

Important dates

LiL calendar

School Association Update

Election BBQ

Thank you to everyone to came along and supported our Election Day BBQ. The BPSA raised $402.60.

Lions Park

Representatives from the BPSA will be attending a community meeting focussed on the future of the Bicheno Lions Park. In particular we will be looking at the boundary fence and what the future might look like for the park. As the BPSA represents our school community we would love to hear from you. Please send us a message through Facebook or speak to us at school if you would like to share your concerns/ideas/suggestions about the Lions Park.

Dates for your diary:

Committee meeting : August 1st, 5pm @ school

Walk for a Cause update

On April 11 2019 our students gathered to raise funds for The Bali Children’s Project at our Walk-For-A-Cause. 49 students raised $2,426 through sponsorships!

The money has been donated to The Bali Children’s Project and will be used to support students in Bali’s most remote and poorest village, Subaya Village. 100 children live in Subaya Village, which is located on the very top of a mountain and accessed only by one tiny road. There is no internet, no clean water, no new clothes and no money for the basics required for schooling. Half of the children living in Subaya Village will not complete their elementary (primary) school education.

The funds raised by our students will be used to provide essential materials that will allow these students to pursue an education. Our donation will be used to purchase school clothes, socks & shoes, backpacks, school supplies (books, pens, pencils etc) and additional items as needed by each child.

Lachlan and Sienna Coelho travelled to Bali and met the team behind The Bali Children’s Project. They learnt about the struggle of these children and were able to see first-hand the difference our donation will make. Thank you to everyone who helped raise money for this vital charity – you have made a world of difference to the children in Subaya Village.

A thank you letter from The Bali Children’s Project:

Photos of Subaya Village (thanks to Google Maps)

Circus Workshop – 8 June

Footy Margin Tickets

Round 9 winner was Lee-Ann Kennedy

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: Bronti Cooke and Bron Pierce
Grade 1/2: Bruce Campbell and Jen Sliskovic
Grade 3/4: Sam Kelly
Grade 5/6: Jill Bosua
Support Teacher: Bron Pierce

School Calendar

Choose how to add this event to your calendar:

Apple Calendar iPhone, iPad, Mac - Download .ics file

Outlook Desktop Outlook - Download .ics file

Android Calendar Android devices - Download .ics file

Other Calendar Google Calendar, Yahoo, etc. - Download .ics file

Download Event