Newsletter - 9 August 2023

Principal's Highlights

Mount Nelson Primary School uses, among other ways of learning, an Inquiry approach to help our children be independent, engaged and curious learners. I have recently had a number of great conversations with families asking, "What are the benefits of an Inquiry approach to teaching?".  There are many!

Preps are so curious about life!  Here, in Prep Fox, they have the opportunity to record questions that interest them for further investigation. 

When beginning a new mathematical concept such as measurement, we always start by asking, "why?".  This adds context to the learning and piques curiosity. 

In Prep, our learning zones identify the focus for the area.  The students are responsible for identifying what kind of learner they need to be in that space.  This is empowering and ensures a sense of ownership for all.  

This tuning in task in 5/6D demonstrates the teacher seeking to discover what prior knowledge the students might have before starting their Inquiry, and also demonstrates how the students are using the skills that have been explicitly taught in reading and persuasive writing to identify key features of the text and use these to justify and explain their thinking.

Please talk to our teachers about their current Inquiry and stay tuned for more evidence of how we power up our learning through our Inquiries in our newsletters as the year proceeds.  Next fortnight we’ll have some examples of the Inquiry cycle for you.

We are also updating our school mission statement and as a first step would love your input into what type of learning community you would like us to be.  Please follow the link below and reflect on 6 words that you feel are important to us as a community of learners (around how we want our learners to learn, do and be), so we can document our first thinking.

https://www.menti.com/alwdn1g47ixg
We will share the results in our next newsletter.

Please also see the School Association report for more details of our working party to discuss how we can support the School with our School Improvement Plan.

Catherine Grace
Principal

Attendance

Our attendance rate is currently at 89%. 
Going to school every day gives your child every chance to learn, grow and connect with their mates and teachers. It’s where bright futures start and where they’ll benefit the most.  When your child goes to school every day, it helps them to:
• learn better
• find interests
• make friends
• connect with teachers
• be happier
• have a brighter future

We have lots in store for this term, you can find our school calendar in this Newsletter or on SZapp. 

If you’re struggling to get your child to school, help is available. Please talk to us at school about your situation. We’ll support you, in whatever way we can.
To find out more, visit the Anything can happen website.  Anything can happen - Department of Education, Tasmania.

Science Week

National Science Week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. Running each year in August, it features more than 1000 events around Australia, including those delivered by universities, schools, research institutions, libraries, museums and science centres.

AT MNPS National Science Week is an opportunity for everyone to talk science, see science and do science. Special thanks to Mick and our wonderful parent Amelia who have planned some wonderful opportunities for our students this week to get our students further engaged with the sciences by encouraging our younger people to be fascinated by the world we live in.

Navigating Friendships Seminar

Last Wednesday, 2 August 2023, over 70 parents, teachers and teacher assistants from Mount Nelson Primary came together to hear Lisa Ford present her talk, ‘Navigating Friendships’.

This Friday, 11 August 2023, Lisa will begin working with our Grades 4-6 on the same topic, ensuring that the same messages are being heard by our students and adult community.  Later in the term, Lisa will work with our Grade 4 and Grade 5's on building resilience.  The feedback from people who were able to attend the parent workshop has been extremely positive and we are lucky to have Lisa revisiting Mount Nelson Primary again in Term 1 where she will be running another parent workshop titled ‘Building Resilience in Children.’

Some of the key take aways from Lisa’s ‘Navigating Friendship’ parent workshop:

• Friendships help children form connections, make sense of their world and themselves and disputes are usually developmentally normal and necessary
• Friendship dramas provide children with an opportunity to practice emotional regulation, problem solving and perspectives.
• The role of parents is to support their child through the experience and not to fix the issue/problem for them as it is important that they become problem solvers in life.
• Cross age play is valuable – children seek similar social development and they learn a lot from their older peers
• Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child
• Uncomfortable situations are important opportunities for growth

Lisa also discussed the term bullying, which has three elements:
An intention to be hurtful
Involves a power imbalance
Is repeated over time

When someone says or does something unintentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s RUDE.
When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s MEAN.

Celebration of Learning Assembly - Group A

Our next Celebration of Learning Assembly will be held tomorrow, Thursday, 10 August 2023 at 2.15 pm
We are welcoming parents, carers and family members to join us in our school hall to watch the performances from Kinder Echidnas, Prep Fox, 1-2R and of course to congratulate those students receiving a learning award. 

Student Voice

Welcome to Week 3 Term 3!
Well done to everyone one who had swimming for the last 2 weeks, we’re sure you have all improved a lot.

This week on Thursday, 10 August 2023, we have our Celebration of Learning Assembly for Group A, parents are welcome to join us at 2.15 pm in the hall.

Also, this week we have Lisa Ford coming in to discuss how to navigate friendships with Grades 4 to 6. We look forward to hearing what she has to say.

Jasmine, Maddi and Amber
Part of the School Executive

Class Spotlight - 3/4G

As part of our HASS unit in 3/4G, we independently researched an African country of our choice. We learnt all about their culture, natural and manmade landmarks, native animals, and lots more!

Here are some interesting facts we learnt:

Botswana
Maia: “I learnt about the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans which are located at the Northeast of Botswana. They are the largest salt pans in the world as they span up to 30,000 square kilometres.”

Chad
Bruno: “I learnt that Chad is high in gold, uranium and crude oil which are its main exports.”

Tanzania
Brianna: “I learnt that Tanzania has a unique species of tree climbing lions.”

Egypt
Hugo: “I learnt that there are over 100 pyramids in Egypt.”
Louis: “I learnt that the Great Pyramid of Giza was not built by slaves.”

Zambia
Eva: “I learnt that giraffes are native to Zambia. They are the tallest mammal in the world and can stand half an hour after being born.”

Nigeria
Peter: “I learnt that Nigeria has a population of 211 million people, which is largest population out of any African country.”

Front Car Park Reminder

To improve safety and traffic flow at school pickup time in Tangara Road and the front carpark, we 
introduced a new “Park and Sit, Pick Up” strategy.

Reminders for parents/carers when picking your child or children up:

• Please do not park in the 15-minute parking spot during the rush period (2.50 - 3.10 pm). 
  Unless, you need to park there for a reason which extends beyond the rush period time. 
• Please do not leave your vehicle while in the “park and sit” lane.  If a car in front of you exits 
  the carpark or moves forward, please drive shuffle forward so other cars behind can fit in. 
• If the “park and sit” lane is full, please use the right-hand lane to do a block until a spot becomes available. 
• We encourage parents/carers not to park on the right-hand side of Tangara Rd (indicated on 
  the diagram)
• If you are the first car in the carpark for pick up, please drive right through the carpark and 
  begin lining up from the top (indicated as spot number 1 on the diagram) to avoid congestion. 

Reminders to students when arriving or leaving school:

• In order to keep everyone safe, you need to walk your bike through school and only begin 
  riding once you are off school grounds. Parents/carers, please remind your child of this if they ride their bike to school.
• Please do not wait on the corner of Tangara Road and the front carpark as this blocks traffic 
  going up and down Tangara Road (including for residents). We encourage students to wait 
  outside the office so you can see your parent/carer drive past, wait for them to stop, and 
  then you can head up to your car.

Green markers are “park and sit” spots in the left lane.  Please wait in your car for your child/children to meet you there. 
Yellow lane is a no stopping lane from 2.50 pm - 3.10 pm to help cars flow easier. 
We have a staff member on duty at these times in high vis vests - please follow their instructions.

External School Review

As part of our continuous school improvement, we will be involved in an External School Review from Tuesday, 5 September to Wednesday, 6 September.

The purpose of External School Review is to support schools to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build public confidence in government schools.  A letter about the External School Review will be emailed to all families this week.  

Winter Wellness

COVID-19 Update

Just a reminder as we are in the colder months and flu season:

• Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) are still available from the school office for students
• Maintain a supply of RATs in your home in case your child becomes unwell
• If your child is unwell, it is important that you keep them at home
• If they have COVID-19 symptoms, they should be tested for COVID-19

Winter has certainly arrived! Unfortunately, there are quite a few nasty bugs around. Please make sure that you keep your children at home if they show signs of COVID or the flu (coughs, sneezes, fever, sore throat, upset tummy).  It is also a good idea to get some RATs which are available at the school office.  However, if your child is requiring support with school engagement, please reach out to your child’s class teacher or advise senior staff.

We would like to thank our wonderful families for the kindness and understanding that you have shown to staff throughout this year.  We have had a lot of teachers away due to illness and due to other schools being in the same situation, finding relief teachers is proving very difficult.  I would like to commend students on their resilience in dealing with change and the respect they have shown to teachers coming to help in our school. 

Before/After School Hours - Duty of Care

Mount Nelson Primary School staff have duty of care from 8.30 am with school finishing at 3.00 pm.

Mount Nelson Primary School's hours are 8.30 am through to 3.00 pm.  It is important that parents/carers do not bring children to school before school hours because there is no supervision of students at that time.  Prior to 8.30 is also an important preparation time for our teachers.  Similarly, it is important parents/carers either collect their children at the end of the school day, arrange for them to catch the bus home or make other collection arrangements so students are not left unsupervised at the end of the school day. 

Unsupervised students may engage in dangerous play or put themselves in dangerous locations.  Parents/carers are responsible for their child outside school hours unless they have accessed school based child care during these times.

OVERDUE Invoices

Reminder to those parents who still have not finalised any payments to the school.  All payments are NOW OVERDUE.
PAYMENT IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY.

Please contact Michelle if you need to discuss payment plans.
Thank you

2024 Kinder Enrolments - NOW OPEN!

We are now starting to look at enrolments for Kindergarten 2024 (born in 2019) from families within our school catchment area.

We encourage all families with children who will be starting Kindergarten in 2024 to fill in their details below!

UPCOMING EVENTS

From the School Association

There's lots happening for the School Association this term...!

Tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, 10 August 2023), all parents and carers are welcome to join Mrs Grace and us to discuss how we can support the school with the School Improvement Plan.  It would be great to hear all different ideas and understand how we best we can encourage parent/carer engagement in our student's learning at school and home.

On Wednesday, 30 August, we are hosting a Father's Day Stall with fun socks and chocolates for students to purchase something for their Dad or special person in their life.  These are already available on Qkr! to purchase.

SAVE THE DATE!  On Saturday, 9 September, we are hosting our first big parents evening out for a couple of years.  We have great live music from our very own, Casey Kostiuk, and some other local Hobart musicians, woodfired pizzas, desserts, prizes, and an exciting Mount Nelson Signature Cocktail on offer!  Tickets will soon be available for purchase on Qkr! and we will be seeking donations of 'Tassie goods'.  This will be a great opportunity to come together for some fun!

Canteen News

Canteen this week - Friday, 11 August 2023

Vegetable Spring Rolls and Vegetable Fried Rice!
Order on Qkr! by Thursday, 9 August 9.25 am

Soccer Wrap - 29 July 2023

The weekend of 29 July brought some beautiful sunshine, the best weather for soccer. 

The Ninja turtles fought valiantly but went down to Friends, (though they played two players down)
The Wolves took on Waimea and did their best to reenact Australia (Matildas) vs Nigeria. (for those watching the world cup)
The Puggles put up a great battle against Hobart United, taking home the win.  Vinnie wouldn't back down!
The Fireballs had one of their best games with Alex scoring two quick goals to bring home the win, Max showing off his big boot skills and Andy showing off his goalie skills!

Reminder to get your whole team photos to your coach and its time to start thinking about end of season catch ups as well. 

Kind regards
Jaymie Barwick
Mount Nelson Soccer Club President
jaymiebarwick@gmail.com

Little Athletics - Come & Try!

Australian Childhood Anxiety Treatment Study