Newsletter - 7 September 2023

Principal's Highlights

I hope the week has been serving you well and you are enjoying the brighter and warmer weather!  Spring is a great time to stop and be grateful for many things.  Stopping and noticing the blossoms, blue skies, and the warmth in the air, helps our students understand the importance of gratitude. Research tells us that by being thankful for the small things in life helps develop greater happiness and appreciation for what we have.  I know you would join me in being grateful for being part of this wonderful school.  I would like to thank our great teachers who work long hours to provide a high-quality program.  They are ably supported by our dedicated Teacher Assistants, Office staff, Education Facilities Attendants and you, as parents and carers, you all play the most important role in your child’s education.

At Mount Nelson Primary School, we really appreciate, in particular, the strong sense of belonging our students, families and staff communicate that they feel.  In particular, we welcome the chats with families at drop off in the morning and pick up. These conversations about the weekend, the sharing of learning and news, your participation in a word or maths game of a morning all help to create calm, connected, learning environments where our students can flourish.  Please remember I am also on duty before and after school and am available for a chat.

Catherine Grace
Principal

NAPLAN

I would like to congratulate our students, families and teaching staff as we have done exceedingly well when compared to both Tasmania and Australia in Naplan.

We continue to work in Year Level Professional Learning Teams to unpack this and other data, student learning and learning needs.  We emphasise student growth and development.  Our knowledge of the Australian Curriculum with an emphasis on what to teach, how to teach it and how to assess the learning supports this process.

NAPLAN Results

Highlights
2023 Writing Year 3: 100% of students achieved a rating of strong or above, compared to a similar school (89.3%)

2023 Spelling Year 3: 81.5% of students achieved a rating of strong or above, compared to a similar school (66.7%)

2023 Grammar and Punctuation Year 3: 85.2% of students achieved a rating of strong or above, compared to a similar school (64.5%)

2023 Numeracy Year 3: 88.9% students achieved a rating of strong or above, compared to a similar school (76.8%)

2023 Reading Year 5: 41% of students showed high relative gain, compared to a similar school (33%)

2023 Reading Year 3: 88.9% of students achieved a rating of strong or above, compared to a similar school (79.7%)

2023 Spelling Year 5: 38% of students showed high relative gain, compared to a similar school (28%)

2023 Grammar and Punctuation Year 5: 41% of students showed high relative gain, compared to a similar school (34%)

Future Focus
2023 Writing Year 5: 22% of students showed high relative gain, compared to a similar school (31%)

2023 Numeracy Year 5: 33% of students showed high relative gain, compared to a similar school (34%)

Student Voice

This week, we had our External School Review.  They came in for two days to look at our school and see what and how we are learning.  We also had Daniel from Money Talk come in to explain to all the 5/6’s how to manage our money as kids.  We are happy that Mr West has returned from paternity leave, thank you Miena for taking us for PE while he was away.

Jasmine and Amber, Part of the School Executive

Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey

School Satisfaction Survey

The 2023 School Satisfaction Surveys is open!

Every year, the Department for Education, Children and Young People conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about Mount Nelson Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school-planning and decision-making.

The survey is open from Monday 28 August 2023 until Friday 22 September 2023 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Take the online survey by clicking this Link. or typing/pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/ANpHc87XHK 

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools.  Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department for Education, Children and Young People staff.

Please contact the school if you require any assistance.
Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

School Association Workshop

A couple of weeks ago, we held a Family Workshop as part of a School Association Workshop where we brainstormed ways of further developing family involvement.

Some of these included:
- Greater clarification of why Inquiry?
- How Inquiry empowers our learning in general…
- What is an asset?  How do they help?
- Families would like to be invited in for class room support e.g. see-saw, or a roster outside the classroom as per prior to 2021
- More information from individual class teachers about what is going on in rooms e.g. newsletter articles, see-saw etc.
- Info sessions for early years on ways of supporting children as they are learning to read
- Information for middle and upper primary including advice on book choices, questions to ask
- Resources to be used at home e.g. Reading Eggs
- A Literacy library where families can borrow resources, language games etc.
- An open morning our families can see Reading as Inquiry and differentiation in action e.g. playing games with high frequency words, students explaining how they use graphic organisers etc.
- A display of what the reading of Inquiry cycle looks like
- A revitalised foyer that privileges wonder and curiosity that is inviting and informative for families and visitors

This group was very invested and very creative!  We will keep you updated with priorities and actions!

Class Spotlight - 3/4/5S

Excursion to the Mount Nelson Oval Reports

On Friday, 1 September, 3/4/5s and 2/3CR and 8 adults walked to the Mount Nelson Oval.  We left at 9.15 am and when we got to the Mount Nelson ovel we found a place to sit down and have a little snack.  After we all had a bit of a snack we got a clip board, white piece of paper and a pencil.  Then we all found a place to sit down and have a draw of our surroundings.  We were comparing our environment to the environment in the book Mallee Sky.  We drew for a while and then we had a play in the playground.  After we had a play, we all got a partner and started walking back to school.  When we got back to school it was after recess, we took a photo and went back to class.

Kai, 3/4/5S

On 1 September 2023, we walked to the Mount Nelson Oval as part of our learning around Mallee Sky, focusing on inference.  We went with 2/3CR, Finn and Hannah.  The walk was fun, but we were a bit tired when we arrived, so we decided to have a snack.  After the snack we got out some paper and we sketched the landscape.  We have made some paintings of the mallee and we want to compare the mallee landscape with our landscape.  We spent about 10-15 minutes drawing and then we spent the rest of the time playing.  I personally enjoyed the walk because we got to interact with all the nature, and it was interesting seeing how nature adapts to how we use the bush. I found one of the highlights just looking at the nature.

Antonio, 3/4/5S 

On Friday, 1 September 2023 my class, 3-4-5S went to the Mount Nelson Oval.  We also went with 2-3CR.  We went to the Mount Nelson oval because in our literacy lessons, we have been focusing on a book, called Mallee sky, and we wanted to observe the nature and compare it to Mallee sky.  When we had finished our walk to the park, we sat down, and everyone had a piece of paper.  We all had to try and find a landscape, or a stick, a leaf, just some part of nature that we could draw.  We could either just sketch it and not colour it in, or you could colour it in.  The only colours we had brought were greens, browns, blues and yellow.  Because we had two classes combined, we had to have eight adults, we had, Hannah, Finn, Christie, Erica, Miena, Carolyn, Mark, and Mrs Burrell.  I really enjoyed the walk, but I was really tired from walking up and back.  My favourite part was the drawing because you could sit down and just observe the nature and draw whatever you like.

Bonnie, 3/4/5S

Book Week 2023!

It was great to celebrate our love of books last week.  It was great to see students, and their families, make an effort to re-create special book characters through dress ups.  It was wonderful to see so many children use things they might have found at home and re-used and re-puposed these ranther than buying something new.  Thanks Sheree and the team for an amazing job!  And thanks to all our staff who took the time and trouble to join in the fun! 

We have attached a number of photos so that we can share with you this special event!

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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. 

Pre-Kinder Program 2023

Our Pre-Kinder program will run every Wednesday for 3 weeks in Term 3 starting Wednesday, 6 September 2023 and will continue into Term 4 until Wednesday, 6 December 2023.  It will be held in our Kindergarten Classroom and run by Sarah Chiu, our Kindergarten teacher.  Session times will be from 9.15 am until 10.15 am.

This is an excellent opportunity for children to familiarise themselves with the school environment and also provides a great opportunity for parents and children to meet each other before school begins.  Since the focus of these sessions is on the children who will be starting school in 2024, it is preferable that younger siblings do not attend.  Only 1 adult will be able to attend with their child at each session.

We understand that some families may be unable to attend these sessions due to other commitments.  If this is the case for you, please let us know and we shall endeavour to provide as much information as we can by mail.

School Intentions 2024

School planning for 2024 is underway.  To assist us with this work it would be greatly appreciated if Kinder to Year 5 families could give us an indication via email to mount.nelson.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au if you may be moving elsewhere or changing schools for 2024.

Swimming Carnival - Change of date!

The Mount Nelson Swimming Carnival has been moved to Tuesday, 17 October 2023 due to the pool being double booked.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, however this was out of our schools control.  The carnival will now be the first Tuesday of Week 1, Term 4. 

Where   Clarence YMCA Pool
Time       10 am - 2 pm 
Who       Grade 3 - 6

Please find the link below if you wish to volunteer on the day! 

School Hours

Mount Nelson Primary School hours are from 8.30 am to 3.10 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.

Similarly, it is important parents/carers either collect their children at the end of the school day or arrange for them to catch the bus home/make other collection arrangements so that 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 such as car parks being used by buses and cars during school drop off/pick up. Parents are responsible for their child outside school hours unless they have accessed school-based childcare during these times.

If you are unable to make drop off/collection during our school hours, Lady Gowrie hold Before and After School Care in our school hall.

Please contact them directly to book your child in -
(03) 6230 6800 Home - Lady Gowrie Tasmania (gowrie-tas.com.au)

Supporting Readers In Your Family

Do you need support with online safety?

eSafety is Australia's independent regulator for online safety.  They educate Australians about online safety risks and help to remove harmful content such as cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse and intimate images or videos shared without consent. There are lots of resources available on their website to support you and your family to be safe online.

Online safety | eSafety Commissioner

Our Safeguarding Commitment

Lisa Ford - Parent Workshop

UPCOMING EVENTS

From the School Association

A huge thank you to this year's soccer coordinators, Jaymie Barwick, Steph Lubach, Emma Miley, and Cam Fitze for all their work running the soccer season.  All the best for the students playing netball for Mount Nelson in the upcoming roster!

We had a great Association meeting last week, continuing to consider how we support the school with its reading focus, organise our event on Saturday, and the school's 60th birthday celebration.  Our next meeting is 2 pm on Friday, 22 September and we hope this different time slot mean other parents/carers may be able to come along!

Uniform Coordinator
A huge thank you to Ruth Wilson who is now the Uniform Coordinator for the school!  Having a volunteer run the uniforms enables us to sell uniforms from the school and keep costs down.  Ruth will be filling and delivering qkr orders on Tuesdays and will be in touch with times the uniform shop will be open. 

Parents/Carers Night Out!!  Saturday, 9 September 2023
We are really excited about this Saturday night and hope to see lots of you!  We have great music, delicious wood fired pizzas, cheese boards, drinks, and desserts!  Please pre-order your tickets, pizzas, and cheese boards so we can have enough for everyone.  We are still seeking donations for the raffle, please put these in the box outside the office.   If anyone would like to volunteer on the night, a couple of extra pairs of hands would be great!  Please let Mary know on mnpsassociaiton@gmail.com

Canteen News - Final Week of Warm Milo!

Mild Beef Sausage & Potato Curry!
Kid-friendly curry recipe with coconut milk.  Served on a bed of white rice.  Qkr open now!!

Soccer News - Hobart Cup

On Saturday, 2 September and Sunday, 3 September, one brave Mount Nelson team entered the U9 division for the Hobart Cup.

4 games over two days, the team was a combination of Fireballs and Tornadoes led by coach Josh.

They fought hard and played well, even winning one of their games under the lights of Soldiers Memorial.

Some incredible sportsmanship on display and the two teams melded together. Alex helping Hugo score a goal, Jamie and Angus rallying around Andy after an impressive goal, Andrew charging up the feild to congratulate Angus on a fantatic goal. We saw lots of cheering on their teammates, sideline encouragement, moving positions mid play.

Aiming to play the boys playing to strengths, Ollie and Ky had some impressive work in goals and Andrew showed his big boot in defence.

The entire team taking on some really tough teams.

Day Two saw some green and gold zinc (provided by Alice) and one last game in incredible weather, some of the players even sticking around to cheer on some MNPS children who play for a club team, congratulations Norbu and Archer on your division win.

Overall it was such a great effort by our school team for their first time playing the Hobart Cup. We are so incredibly proud of them.  A special shout out to the parents for coming along and supporting the team.

We are so glad to be able to provide the children with this opportunity and it would not be possible without the support.

Students Report - Hobart Cup

Last weekend, it was the Hobart cup and the U11 Wolves played in it (with Kai, Tommy and Buzz too).  We had 4 games to play 3 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday, the first game was at 9.30 am, the second one was at 12.30 pm, the third on was at 4.30 pm and the last on Sunday was 8.30 am.  The first half of the first match we scored a goal and were feeling good, but we couldn’t get are hopes up because they were a strong team.  In the second half the other team scored two goals but at the last second, we scored again we all realised that we only had two hours to recharge.  The second game was hard, the team had really precise kicks!  The other team scored two goals in the first half but so did we.  But in the second half they scored two more again we had lost but we were still confident for the next match.  Before we played the 3^rd match, we did some drills to warm up for the game.  When we had started the match, it was intense.  But we were a powerful team!  The other team had scored the first goal, but we weren’t giving up that easily.  Then we scored a goal just before the half time timer went off the other team’s parents because they thought the half time timer had gone off, but the ref said it counted.  In the second half we scored 3 more goals then we went home to get a good night sleep for tomorrow’s game.  When we got to the ovel we had to warm up because it was cold when the game started the other team scored a goal, but we weren’t giving up now.  After a little bit we scored!!!  We were really proud of ourselves but the other team scored but we couldn’t score again but we felt like we couldn’t of done any better.  Thanks to Cam and Steph for coaching us and to all of our families for supporting us at the games.

Kai and Tommy, 3-4-5S Students

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