Upcoming Events

2022 Term Dates

Term 4 - Concludes Wednesday December 21

2023 Term Dates

2023 Book & Uniform Sales

2023 Professional Learning & Public Holidays

Welcome to our final newsletter that has class content for 2022. The final newsletter will have general information and list the staff for 2023. We would like to thank everyone for their support. 

Progressive Achievement Test (PAT)

Early this term we conducted Progressive Achievement Test, commonly known as PAT and student in Prep to Year 6 completed PAT reading (Pat-R) and PAT mathematics (PAT-M). Our PAT Reading data shows an increased of 15.2% which is outstanding. PAT maths was below but above similar schools. In 2023, a whole school focus on mathematics will commence and we should see strong learning growth. The key to success is attendance and with all of us learning to live with COVID, our current attendance rate of 83% is extremely disappointing. We aim to be above 90% in 2023. Mrs Karen Whish-Wilson and Mrs Woodberry will be following up on poor attendance. Best to avoid a difficult conversation/meeting in 2023 by ensuring your child/children are at school everyday.

TasPort Art Expo

The Art Expo was an outstanding success, showcasing students’ ideas of what future boats and ships will look like. The Premier, Mr Jeremy Rockliff was an apology, calling in sick. TasPorts representatives, Ms Michelle McGinity, Mr Sam Wilson-Haffenden and Mrs Carolina JafrePinto presented the prize winning students. Congratulations to the students whose art work won a prize. The prizes were:

• 1^st Maritime Museum with afternoon tea (permission letter will be sent out next week)
• 2^nd $10 Voucher at the school canteen
• 3^rd $5 voucher at the school canteen

Every student received a TasPorts Colouring Book. The TasPorts Colouring in books will be handed to all East Devonport LIL students and to children who attend the East Devonport CFLC. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Tasports in 2023.

I wish to acknowledge Mrs Merrilyn Mahoney and Ms Kylie Clinton for the endless hours they put to display the student’s work, along with teachers, TAs and staff and volunteers.  A special thank you to Mrs Rebecca Henricks (our Aboriginal Education Officer) for all the fishing gear; it captured the theme. A thank you morning tea for those involved in the set up will be held on this Wednesday. 

This morning, the Advocate contacted the school and their photographer visited, taking a photo of five students from the Early Years. The article should be published tomorrow.

Communication with Families (reports)

Students in Prep to Year 6 will bring home their report this Friday afternoon. Kinder student will bring home their KDC report on Thursday afternoon.

Parent teacher meetings will be held next week – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00pm each day.  Booking can be made by the following link: https://eastdevonportps.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/6

Year 6 Big Day Out

Students will received their official Big Day Out invitations tomorrow. These students have met all the requirements and have been officially invited. The next and final round of invitations will be handed out on Monday 12^th of December. Parents who need to pay monies at the office please do so by Monday 12^th of December. Year 6 students new to the school and those that didn’t participate in the fundraising activities will incur an additional cost. Students with poor attendance will not be invited.

Choir

On Sunday our Choir attended the Devonport Carols by Candlelight. I would like to congratulate students on an outstanding performance. 

Hillcrest Primary School

As the end of the school year approaches, we want to acknowledge the impact of the tragedy that happened at Hillcrest Primary School in December 2021. We extend our thoughts and condolences to the families, staff, and community at Hillcrest and in the Devonport area during this difficult time. 

On Thursday 15 December at Market Square there will be a commemorative event from 5.30pm.

COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses (like the flu) are still circulating in Tasmania. The official COVID-19 risk level has been raised to ‘Moderate’.

Together, we need to keep practising our COVID-safe behaviours to manage the risk.

Simple things we can do:

• do not come to school if unwell – stay home and test
• stay at home while you have symptoms, regardless of the result of a rapid antigen test (RAT)
• cover coughs and sneezes and wash your hands with soap and water, or alcohol-based sanitiser
• try to stay a reasonable distance away from others when you can
• consider wearing a face mask if you wish to – they are readily available for use at the school.

All students should ensure they have access to a quantity of RATs. If you need RATs, please ask for them at the school office so they are in your home ready for use if symptoms develop.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

For any COVID-19 enquiries, please contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

On Tuesday 20 December the final House winners will participate in an activity during the afternoon. As this is the day of the Year 6 assembly students will NOT be able to wear their colours. The final Thumbs Up draw will be done this Thursday to determine the winning house. Which house will it be?

On Tuesday 13 December we will be holding an end of year disco in the GP Hall. Students will be able to wear casual clothes (no cost). 

Kinder - Year 2: 11.30-12.30

Year 3 - Year 6: 1.20-2.45

Kinder students have been transitioning down to the preps room over the last couple of weeks so that they can get familiar with the area of the school they will be working in next year.

In LiL last week we were lucky to be able to watch a science experiment the lovely Mrs Whish-Wilson was doing with her students. It was even more exciting for a few of our participants as they got to see their older siblings doing the experiment. The students were making paddle boats and testing them in water. Mrs Whish-Wilson left our group two of the boats for us to play with.

On 15^th December in the LIL session on Thursday 1.30 – 2.30 we are going to have a Christmas party. We are asking parents who attend to bring along a plate to share. We are a nut aware school and we have a child in LiL who is allergic to nuts so no nut products please. The students who attend will receive a Christmas present.

We are working on our Early Learning timetable for next year but are excited to share our Wednesday afternoon PreKinder, our Thursday afternoon Playgroup and our Friday morning Kangaroo Kids will be going ahead in 2023.

In Science students were given a kit of equipment to design a contraption which will have a series of reactions to end with a ping pong ball landing in a cup.

Students in 4 Sherriff have been working on some Christmas Art.

Today students from 4 Sherriff, alongside year 4 students from 3-4 Scott made their way to Mount Montgomery. We walked to the summit and the view from the top was spectacular! 

On Thursday, the 24^th of November 2HP celebrated Fairy Bread Day!

We learnt that Fairy Bread Day is not only about celebrating the iconic triangles of white bread covered in butter and covered with hundreds and thousands but it also about spreading kindness. The message behind Fairy Bread Day is to ‘sprinkle’ a bit of kindness. In Literacy block we read a book called ‘Millie Muffin’ where Millie was kind to all the other characters. One of the characters was Frida Fairy Bread! The story taught us that it doesn’t matter what people look like on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that count. Afterwards, as a class, we reflected on what it means to be kind and began creating a ‘kindness quilt’. During Math we were learning about fractions. Following on with the concept of kindness we pretended we had a slice of fairy bread that we were going to share. We chose a fraction from the ones we have been learning about and cut a pretend piece of fairy bread to represent our fraction. After lunch we finished off our Fairy Bread Day celebrations by revisiting our procedural writing and followed the steps to make our own (then eat!!) slice of fairy bread.

Our school Choir was asked to perform at The Devonport Carols by Candlelight. Choir members have been working hard in the recent weeks with Mrs Whish-Wilson and Ms Lee to support their performance.

We are excited to be walking to Melaleuca on Monday to share some Christmas cheer.

Where has 2022 gone. It only seems like yesterday that the school year began. Whilst students are working hard till the end of the year, secretly, after the taster and orientation day, they all want to be in high school. 

Some things 6C have learnt this year is to be kind, be friendly and to always have a try at learning new things. Whilst we all have grown a centimetre or two, some students have jumped a few growth spurts and towering over the rest of us - and for proof we measured Shani from 6C against Cobi from 6D.

6C have also tried to see the funny side of things such as Mrs Crossin’s lack of coordination, people sitting at the wrong desks, tripping over air, not knowing what day it was, getting obvious answers wrong in Kahoots and even spilling our lunches, like Juno did with her noodles.

To all the students in 6C, good luck next year and I hope you enjoy your high school experiences. It has been a pleasure to have been your year 6 teacher.

In 3-4 Scott we have been conducting science experiments. Our inquiry question was, ‘What is the quickest way to melt an ice cube?’

We wrote our aim, hypothesis, materials and procedure. We then put our hypothesis to the test.

Some things we trialled were; putting the ice cube in the sun wrapped in black paper, putting it in hot water, using a hair dryer and putting salt on it. One group also tried to smash it into smaller pieces with a rock. Putting it in hot water was definitely the quickest.

Trinity has been working hard all year to achieve 200 nights of home ready! Wow! Well done Trinity.

Anniversary of the Hillcrest Tragedy

As the anniversary of the tragedy at Hillcrest Primary School approaches, there will be increased discussion in the community and schools.

Discussion of the anniversary will be welcomed by some and unwanted by others.  This information is designed to support parents and students during this time.

What to Expect

The anniversary of a significant traumatic event can trigger intense feelings and reactions in children and adults. How people feel and what they need is likely to be different for each family and individual.

Some children and adults may find the anniversary and some of the events planned around this time very stressful, with the potential for symptoms of traumatic stress to be triggered. On the other hand, some children and adults will feel this is an opportunity to reflect and connect with others. All of these responses are normal and predictable.

Some people may experience increased feelings of sadness, anxiety, fear, anger, or grief around this time.

These strong feelings can impact on how children and adults behave and cope in some situations. Some of these changes include:

• An increase in disruptive behaviour
• Reduced concentration
• Withdrawal from people or activities
• An increase in fearfulness or general distress
• Overreactions to smaller problems more than normal

In most cases, these symptoms will resolve with support, reassurance and revisiting healthy coping strategies.

It is important that you and your family are aware of the possible impact so you can make decisions about what is best for your child and family. Remember, there is no right or wrong decision here – it’s about thinking and deciding what is best for your child and your family.

Community Events and Activities

There will be events held in the Devonport community leading up to and on the anniversary. You and your child’s attendance at these events is voluntary. You decide whether it is right for your child and family to participate.

Media

There will be increased media coverage leading up to and after the anniversary. The media will likely replay and show pictures and video from December last year.

Watching and revisiting coverage may cause increased distress for some people – children and adults alike.

What you can do to help your child

Some important things to remember and things that you can do to support your child include:

• Children and young people are best supported when somebody important to them knows what is happening to them. It is important to let them know you are available and interested in talking to them about their thoughts and feelings
• Understanding your child’s specific trauma reminders and triggers helps them feel more settled.
• Talk to your child about upcoming events so they know what to expect before attending school or a community event.
• You may also be feeling anxious about the anniversary. We cannot hide our emotions from children. It is important to show them how we cope with these challenges. Talking to and showing your children how you cope with anxiety and distress is very helpful.
• Turn to your adult support networks when needed.
• Call the school if your child will be absent on a school day.
• Warn your children about the presence of media where possible and help them to avoid lots of exposure to reports and stories in the newspaper and on TV.

The school and your child’s teacher will support your decision to not participate in school or community events.

If you have questions or would like to access support for your child, please contact the school or the following:

Lifeline Tasmania (available 24/7)               P: 131114

Mental Health Services Helpline (Tas)        P: 1800332388

Kids Helpline                                              P: 1800551800

Please also contact your GP for support or for a referral for a Medicare Mental Health Care Plan