25 September 2019

Newsletter Articles

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From the Principal

Highlights

1. Student Safety

With the holidays fast approaching it is timely to reinforce the importance of road and bike safety. Chris Richardson from Tasmania Police is speaking with our students today about staying safe strategies.

Recently we have had many reports of children riding bikes in a dangerous manner. We need our whole school community encouraging all students to use:

1. the appropriate school crossings
2. walk their bikes around the IGA and other shops areas where pedestrian and car parking creates dangerous situations
3. not riding through carparks where bikes are often hard to see
4. walk bikes across major roads where there is no pedestrian crossing
5. use bike paths and not ride bikes on the major and busy roads, and finally
6. wear a safety helmet everytime you go for a ride

Could all school leaders, staff, parents and school community members please be vigil in promoting student safety, particularly when riding bikes around busy areas. Also, it is crucial that adults model correct bike riding safety when riding with your child/ren.

2. Our New Logo!

Many thanks to our school community, and particularly our students in the collaborative process of design concepts and finalising our new logo. It is a great outcome for us all! I would also like to acknowledge Carl Noonan, Ros Wharton, our School Leaders, our staff and our School Association in their major contributions and ideas.

3. 2019 NAPLAN results

Over the next few newsletters I will share our NAPLAN achievements and future focus as we review our data, our 2019 School Improvement Plan and start the process of building our 2020-2021 School Improvement Plan.

Today I share our Grade 3 results. Although our results are strong in Reading, Writing, Grammar and Punctuation, and Numeracy when compared to Tasmania and Similar Schools we do have work to do in Spelling. We also have to remember that our small numbers of students sitting the NAPLAN tests results in cohort fluctuations. Our teachers have been analysing our NAPLAN outcomes for 2019 and identifying what our students have done well in and also areas which require explicit teaching focus.

A Sad Day for our Little Penguins

As a Wilds’cool that values our wildlife preservation I was very upset to see approximately 12 dead little penguins on the road between the Blowhole and the Gulch this morning. I have reported the deaths to Tasmania Parks and Wildlife and they will investigate further. If anyone does know anything about how these animals died please contact Tasmania Parks and Wildlife.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone in Term 4!

Best regards

Rob Presswell

What’s happening in our classrooms?

Prep/One

Social/Emotional:

We are learning to be honest and tell the truth.

We are learning to encourage each others success.

Reading:

We are learning our set 11 sounds.
We are learning to help each other use our reading strategies in buddy reading

Writing:

We are learning to add detail in our writing.
We are learning to re-read our writing to check for errors.

Numeracy:

We are learning numbers to 100 and 1000.
We are learning about place values thousands, hundreds, tens and ones.

Science:

We are interested in learning about different planets and stars.

HASS:

We are interested in learning about different places around the world.
Prep/One have also been working on the SMART goals this week

Grade 1/2

In English we are continuing to explore differences in our words and developing an understanding of verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and pro-nouns. We will finish this term exploring Articles, Lower Primary children need practice using the articles the, a and an appropriately.

Articles can be either definite or indefinite. For example (a) The is the definite article. It is definite because it is referring to a specific thing.

Examples: The man who lives next door. The dog is outside. (b) A and an are indefinite. Rather than referring to a specific thing, they refer to anyone of a group of things. Examples: A man lives next door. A dog is outside. An is used instead of a in front of words that begin with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u). Examples: an apple an egg an igloo an orange an umbrella an hour but a hotel.

ACELA1452, ACELA 1468.

In Maths we are looking at larger numbers and being able to recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least up to 1000.

Group, partition and rearrange collections up to 1000 in hundreds, tens and ones to facilitate more efficient counting

ACMNA028, ACMNA027

In HASS, we are continuing to develop our research skills. Some of the skills to help us do this are; Stay on topic when speaking or writing; Develop awareness of dictionaries. Use a dictionary, atlas and their have-a-go-book for spelling; Use and record information from simple figures. Draw simple maps with legends, labels and titles; Recall significant information orally and in writing. We used the topic of pirates as a vehicle to explore this skill and will use this further in our work of investigating marsupials.

To sort and record information and data, including location, in tables and on plans and labelled maps. Collect data and information from observations and identify information and data from sources provided.

ACHASSI035 ACHASSI036.

Grade 3/4

English:

• We are learning the letter cluster “or” and “ar” the two sounds it makes. E.g. part/sport.
• We aim to identify the purpose, intended audience and subject matter of a poem
• We are exploring the common literary devices found in poetry.

Maths

• We are exploring strategies for division
• We are learning to recall multiplication facts up to 12x12
• We are representing and solving problems involving multiplication using efficient mental and written strategies and appropriate digital technologies

Grade 5/6:

What a very busy two weeks Grade 5/6 have had. Five of the ten days were taken up with the Swimming and Water Safety Program. All of the students can be extremely proud of how they challenged themselves and worked with integrity. Both of the swimming instructors commented on the wonderful attitude of the students and the progress made. Many of the students have also competed in the Country Gold sporting carnival in Netball, Soccer and Football. At the time of writing this, we were looking forward to hearing how they all went.

Also:

In English

• Speaking and Listening – students have been working collaboratively with others in Science and Reading (listening and valuing the contributions of others)
• Reading – the class is enjoying our Class Novel; Holes by Louis Sachar
• Comprehension – students are learning how to conduct Reciprocal Teaching groups to gain a deeper understanding or comprehension of a range of texts. Students are learning to work together and become the facilitators of their groups learning. Ms Harrison has been guiding us through this new concept and has been blown away with how well the students have applied themselves to what can be a challenging learning strategy to master. The students are already demonstrating a greater depth of understanding of each text.

In Maths

• students have been practising previous topics covered in online platforms

In HASS

• we have been learning how a person, group or event can impact on how society can change or develop?
• Students are researching a significant Australian for our independent research projects.

In Science

• Students have been working in groups to plan a model that will demonstrate their understanding of Earth’s place in the solar system.
• Researching a significant Australian for our independent research projects.

Indonesian dancing

Swimming and Water Safety Program

Pat TESTING

During October students from Grades 2 to 6 will be participating in online PAT Testing for reading and mathematics. The Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) give us valuable information about progress in student learning over the past year. The data we collect helps us to know what is working really well for student learning and in what areas we need to change or improve upon.

This is really important information for our teaching and learning and we encourage students to participate in a positive way and to do their best.

If you have any questions about PAT testing, please don’t hesitate to contact the school.

Terrapin Puppet Theatre Performance @ BPS

An eco-adventure for all ages!

Mashing puckish pranking and wide-eyed wonder, Tasmania’s own Terrapin Puppet Theatre brings this quirky little fable to schools in 2019.

Across a dry and dusty desert two tinkers, Clyde and Horse, drag an enormous egg. They can’t remember how long they’ve been dragging it, or why they’ve been dragging it, or where they are dragging it to. All they know is that it’s really important. Life on their big bald egg of a planet depends upon it. So there’s nothing to be done but to go on! Let’s tug this great big googy into the future. And who knows? Maybe something wonderful will hatch!

A tale of two forgetful fellows yoked to a yoke. Silly and funny and a little bit cracked, Egg is filled with clowning, puppetry, hope and the promise of renewal.

ENE Football

On Thursday 19th and Friday 20th of September the East North East football team went to Windsor Park in Launceston to play football. We had a team of 18 students from St Helens, Scamander, Bicheno and St Marys.

There were four games on the Thursday and two games on the Friday. It was great to play against other competitive schools. Even though we lost every game it was fantastic to have the opportunity to play against the five best Tasmanian school teams. The highlight for me was being one of the shortest players on our team, going up against 6 foot players as a ruckman. One of our closest games was against Scottsdale which we lost by 3 points in the last quarter.

By Forest.

ENE Soccer

Country Gold Soccer 2019

On the 19th and 20th of September, the East Coast teams, Soccer, Football and Netball, travelled to Launceston to play in the Country Gold Tournament. The Soccer was held at Launceston Grammar’s field; Faulkner Park. The East Coast girls’ team had a bit of a rocky start on day one but really pulled together and worked as a team on day two. Our first team we played against on day one was Northern Midlands West. They were a strong team and they won, 2-1. Our next game was against North East who also worked very well together. They defeated us, 2-0. The next day, we really found out feet, defeating our first team and arch rivals, Tamar, 4-1. Our final game was quite a lot more challenging. This team was Northern Midlands East, who we beat 7-0 last year. They certainly improved but the final score was 1-0 to us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get us to the Grand Final, but put us in Third overall. We scored six goals through-out the carnival, two of which were mine. We were very happy with ourselves and knew we did the best we could and that was all that mattered.

Written by Ruby Sparshott: Captain of the East Coast Girls’ Soccer Team, 2019.

ENE Netball

On Thursday 19th and Friday the 20th, of September, a mixture of players from St Helens, St Marys and Bicheno played netball at the Silverdome, in Launceston. Our team was called ENE Miners. There were two teams; Div 1 and Div 2. We [Hallie, Polly and Grace] were all in Div 1.

On the first day Div 1 played first, we played Midlands East, it was a very close game and fortunately we won by one goal. Div 2 played Midlands East as well but unfortunately they lost.

Div 1 played their second game of the day against Circular Head and won by about 20 goals. Then Div 2 played Circular Head and won by about 20 goals.

Div 1 and Div 2 played their 3rd game of the day. We both played Tamar, and it was a really tough and rough game and we both lost by about 15 goals.

On the 2nd day Div 1 and Div 2 played two games. First we played Midlands West and unfortunately we both lost. We then played against the Eagles and both lost by about 10 goals. We didn’t make it into the finals but Grace got into the All Star team for Div 1.

It was a great couple of days and we have learnt so much from Country Gold.

By Hallie and Grace.

Medi-Vac helicopter visit to BPS

Adult Choir

Can you sing? Would you like to join a parent choir?

We are hoping to get a parent choir happening in Term 4. This choir would rehearse at least three times over the term and perform with the students at our End of Year Assembly on Tuesday 17th December. If you are interested or would like more information please contact Eliza Spykers or Ros Wharton.

Important dates

LiL calendar

All Playgroup sessions start at 9am and finish at 10:30am, meeting at Little Penguins. Please don't forget to sign in and out.

School Association Update: Trivia Night

1) Trivia Night

The Trivia night run by BPSA recently was a huge success with over 100 people attending and raising $10,000 for our school. Thanks to all the generous businesses, individuals and other organisations in our community that donated gifts, prizes and produce that made for a fantastic night.

2) Kids Biz Rally

Last Friday, BPSA hosted the Kids Biz Rally. Kids Biz is a recurrent rally that aims to raise money for sick children. The Rally recently purchased kids play equipment for the Burnie hospital. Last Friday, 33 cars arrived at BPS for kids and parents to peruse while our canteen provided breakfast for 66 drivers & 40 students & families. It was a great turn out and school community spirit was high. Kids biz have gifted our students a dozen books for classrooms & a peak hat each!

We have set-up an email address for the association to enable parents and community members to get in touch with us more easily.

The address is BichenoPSA@gmail.com

Footy Margin Tickets – results

Winner of round 21 was Lindy Mckenzie
Winner of 1st Semi Final was Martina Omenka

A special mention to Corinna who made sure people had their tickets and did all the groundwork on behalf of the School Association.

Information for parents

A friendly reminder that the school has a duty of care for students 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

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