Newsletter - 14 August

Principal Report

NAPLAN

We have much to celebrate following the release of this year’s NAPLAN results. These outcomes are a strong affirmation of the collective efforts of our staff, who have thoughtfully adapted their practice, used data to monitor and support student progress, and maintained a clear focus on ensuring growth for every learner.

Last week, we sent home individual NAPLAN student result sheets to families of our Year 3 and Year 5 students. These assessments measure student knowledge and skills in Numeracy, Reading, Writing, and Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar, and punctuation).

Each student’s performance is presented on an achievement scale: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, or Needs Additional Support, with a shaded bar indicating how their results compare to the middle 60% of students across Australia.

Here are some highlights from our grade 5 and 3 data!

For Year 5 - In Year 5 Reading, 50% of our students had high levels of growth, 25% higher than the state average and, 15% higher than similar schools!

In Numeracy, 40% of Year 5 students had high levels of growth, 25% higher than the state average and 6% higher than similar schools.

In Writing 19.2% were rated as exceeding compared to 13.5% in similar schools and 5.9% across Tasmania

For Year 3 - We cannot show growth for Y3 as it is their first NAPLAN test, but we can celebrate the great results shown by our students.

Reading – 89.3% of our students are in the strong band, 50% of these students are in exceeding. These are excellent results, particularly compared to similar schools – 32.1% of students are in the exceeding band and in Tasmania – 17.7%.

Numeracy-  82.1% of our students are in the strong band, 17.8% of these students are in exceeding. These are excellent results, particularly compared to similar schools –15% of students are in the exceeding band and in Tasmania – 7.2%.

Spelling – 75% of our students are in the strong band, 21.5% of these students are in exceeding. These are excellent results, particularly compared to similar schools – 16.6% of students are in the exceeding band and in Tasmania – 11.3%.

The table below highlights our school’s mean scores compared to similar schools, showcasing the strength of our academic program and the positive learning culture we continue to foster.

Safeguarding

The Tell Someone initiative is a Tasmanian Government program designed to support families and young people who may have experienced something that is making them feel unsafe, scared, or worried.

It encourages children and young people to speak up and seek help from a trusted adult, friend, or professional.

Parents and carers are encouraged to talk openly with their children about the importance of respectful relationships and knowing where to go for support.

If something is happening that makes you feel unsafe, scared, or worried – you can Tell Someone - That “someone” could be a teacher, parent, friend, or another trusted adult.
It’s always okay to ask for help. You have the right to feel safe and be treated with respect.

We encourage families to visit the link below to find out more information on how to access various support providers.

Rachel Viney - Assistant Principal

Science Week

What an inspiring week it has been! We are deeply grateful to all of the incredible scientists who generously shared their time, knowledge, and passion with us. Their visits sparked curiosity, encouraged questions, and opened our students’ eyes to the wonders of science in action.

Throughout the week, our students embraced their learning assets as thinkers and researchers, diving into new ideas and exploring the world around them with fresh enthusiasm.

Hands-on experiences like these are invaluable — they not only bring learning to life, but also inspire our young minds to dream, investigate, and imagine the possibilities for their own futures.

Georgie Field - AST

Book Week

This year, Book Week runs from 16-23 August, and the theme is 'Book an Adventure'. During Book Week, students will celebrate by reading stories and exploring the amazing power of books, appreciating how they can take you on amazing adventures through time, lands and your imagination.

2025 is also a milestone year as we celebrate 80 years of Children's Book Week! For 8 decades, CBCA has been dedicated to inspiring young minds to journey through the countless worlds that books offer.

Our Book Week Parade will be held on Wednesday, 20 August. Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 are encouraged to dress as their favourite book character and bring along the book they are featured in. If students do not want to wear a costume, they can just bring their favourite book along.

Keep an eye out for photos on Facebook and Seesaw!

Marg Crosswell - Literacy Coach

Parent Information Session

School Planning for 2026

School planning for 2026 is now well underway.

In order to assist us in planning for next year, please inform the office if your family is anticipating a move away from Mount Nelson. 

Kindergarten 2026 - A reminder also to families of children who were born in 2021, please complete and return all kindergarten enrolment paperwork as soon as possible so that we can plan and prepare for our Term 4 Pre-kindergarten sessions. Enrolment forms are available through the school office if you haven’t already collected them.

Home Reading Challenge

At Mount Nelson Primary, we know that regular reading is one of the most important habits a child can build for success at school and beyond. That’s why we’re excited to launch our Home Reading Challenge – a simple and fun way to build strong reading routines at home.

A notice was sent home with students today, with detailed information on what's involved.

At the end of the challenge, students who have completed all requirements will be able to enjoy an afternoon, celebrating their hard work, with some pizza and a book!

Let's get reading!!

Family Engagement

Welcome to the latest edition of Engaging & Learning Together!

Use the conversation starters below to get those little minds thinking, and to find out more about what's been happening during Science Week.

Lisa Ford Resilience Seminar

School Association

There is a School Association meeting this evening from 6:30pm. Join us in the school staffroom to hear all about upcoming events, future planning and to share ideas on how we can best support our students.

Everyone is welcome!

Student Voice

This week is Science Week and would like to thank all the scientists came to our school to help inspire us.

On the 20^th of August we have Book Week and we are so excited to share the magic of reading with you and to see your beautiful and creative costumes. This year our theme for Book Week is Book an Adventure.

We have some more exciting new to share! We going to Canberra in 2 weeks! All the grade 6s are so excited and ready to go. We will be visiting Parliament House and many other fun and fascinating places.

This term, to help people accelerate their reading, we are throwing a pizza party. Students need to read four times a week, then log it.  If you have all five logbooks by the end of the term you get pizza.

This Friday, we have a Winter Woollies fundraiser - for a gold coin donation -  where you can rug up and wear your winter woollies, oodies and slippers. You can also purchase a milkshake for $3.  Money can be bought on the day.

Winter Woollies Fundraiser

Our SRC, together with Prep/1, are holding a special fundraiser tomorrow to support our sponsored Tasmanian Devil, Christopher!

Students are invited to come dressed in their Winter Woollies – think Ugg boots, beanies, scarves, gloves and oodies – and bring along a gold coin donation.

There will also be a milkshake stall on the day, with chocolate, caramel, and strawberry milkshakes available for $3 each.

Dress up in your winter woollies and help support a great cause! 

*This will be a cash only fundraiser.

Tasmanian Science Talent Search

This term, Grade 4 students have been given the opportunity to participate in the Tasmanian Science Talent Search, led by our STEM teacher Virginia Fleming. The Tasmanian Science Talent Search (TSTS) is an initiative of the Science Teachers Association of Tasmania. It has been operating for the last 60 years and has involved over 60 000 students across Tasmania.

The TSTS aims to inspire a lifelong interest in science, promote high quality teaching and learning, and highlight a national path to Science and STEM excellence.

There are a number of different challenges, and we have chosen to participate in the Innovation Challenge.

Each project should:

• Identify a problem in the community, environment, or daily life.
• Explain how a natural pattern, process, or system inspired their idea.
• Design and describe a solution based on this inspiration.

Prep & Prep/1 Tree Planting

Last week, Prep and Prep/1 were invited to participate in Schools Tree Day, an annual event celebrated in collaboration with Sustainable Timber Tasmania and the Forest Education Foundation. 

Students had the opportunity to take part in planting native trees and shrubs that were donated by Sustainable Timber. The foresters also explained the importance of caring for our environment and helping our local wildlife. Our students are very eager to continue caring for these plants and observe the changes as they grow. This wonderful gift will make a lasting difference to our school grounds and provide benefits for years to come.

We are very grateful for Sustainable Timber’s support in helping us grow a greener, healthier future for our students and community.

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Out & about

Over the past fortnight, we have had a number of classes head out & about on excursions. 3/4 & 4/5/6 attended the Taroona High School Science Fair and our 2/3 students along with 3/4 & 4/5/6 were 'wowed' by the amazing Wizard of Oz production by Hobart College. Our students have written a recount of their experiences below.

Science Fair Excursion

Sophie and Violet 4/5/6 - On the 6^th of August 2025, our class 4/5/6SR and 3/4M caught a bus at 11:05 to get to the Taroona High School science fair. Once we got there, we were led to the science part of the building. Then we put on some lab coats and glasses and got put into groups of five.

Our group went to the dry ice bubble experiment first. Dry ice is negative 78 degrees and can burn you. The people displaying the experiment to us, filled a bowl a third of the way with water and used tongs to put the dry ice in. Then used a cloth with bubble mix on it to make a bubble on top of the bowl. The gas from the dry ice made the bubble inflate and then you could pop it.

Another experiment we did was the Elephant Toothpaste explosion. They had a thin, see through tube in a plastic tub. They added this dangerous liquid, food colouring and washing detergent to the tube. Then added this powder that made it explode.

They also had fun experiments like the fake arm trick. Where they put one of your arms under a box the other through a white lab coat, they also had this fake arm acting like yours. They brushed the fake hand and asked you questions to distract your brain. Then “bang” someone else brought out a hammer and smacked the fake hand.

There were also things like bouncy eggs, dry ice cannons, fire snakes and much more. This was a super fun place to visit and to see all the cool experiments.

Wizard of Oz

Lara 4/5/6 - On the 13^th of August 2025, I attended the Wizard of OZ with my class. My class and I went into the theatre and sat down. In fact, Frank L. Baum made the Wizard of OZ in 1900. I loved the costumes and the choreography. On the roof there was pictures. My favourite part was the jitterbug, and the jitterbugs costumes were amazing. The main actors were Dorathy, Toto, Glinda, Wizard of OZ, Tinman, Scarecrow and Lion. The music was fantastic, and the yellow brick road was so pretty and colourful.

The makeup was SO SO pretty . I am so happy I went to the Wizard of OZ. My favourite actors were Toto and Dorathy.

I wish I could see it again and thank you Hobart College!

Science Fair

Wizard of Oz

Prep/1

Young Archies

Congratulations to Lyra, Phillip, Freddie, Bob, Luca, Jed, Poppy W, Daria, Leah, Elka, Boomer, Brianna, Adelin and Ariel whose wonderful portraits have been selected to be displayed in the Young Archies Exhibition.

The Young Archies Exhibition is open to members of the public at UTAS School of Creative Arts & Media, Hunter Street for two weeks from Thursday 21 August – Friday 5 September 2025. Opening times are 11.00pm-4.00pm. Families might like to visit this exhibition together, it displays artwork from students from Kindergarten to year 12 and is a great experience.

I would also like to congratulate all Mount Nelson students for creating such a wonderful portrait gallery in our hallways. Your attitude, effort and creativity creating our artworks was outstanding and we are proud of all of your efforts. Make sure you take a moment to wander the main corridor of our school to see all of the wonderful paintings, sketches and collages created for  our Mt Nelson Primary portrait exhibition.

Sarah Chiu - Art Teacher

Nominated Portraits

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Highly Commended

Winter Carnival

Every year students from Grade 5/6 are invited to attend trial sessions to represent their region in the SPSSA Winter Sports Carnival. This year we have had Tommy, Kai and Tom R selected to represent the Sandy Bay region for soccer, Molly and Emily O selected to represent South Blue Netball team, and Eva, Bronte and Eliza selected to represent our school at the AFLW Carnival. Well done to everyone on being selected and good luck next week!

Declan West - HPE Teacher

Grade 6 Fundraising Update

Grade 6 Canberra Trip Fundraising – Thank You!

A huge thank you to our Grade 6 teachers, Grade 6 parent group and the support of our school community for all their fundraising efforts. Together we have raised a total of $8,595.00!

The money raised means we were able to reduce the cost of the trip for families. In addition, funds raised also helped reduce the cost to families for the Grade 6 Hoodies and will also cover some extras on the trip, such as fruit for snacks etc.

We are so grateful for your generosity and support in helping make this a memorable adventure for our Grade 6 students.

We also thank you for a fantastic Movie Night!

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our staff who supported this event, to everyone who donated items, purchased tickets, helped with setting up, running the BBQ, and packing up, and for the wonderful behaviour of our students – we couldn’t have done it without you! Events like this truly show the strength of our school community.

Movie Night

Reminders

Online Safety

As technology continues to play a larger role in our children’s lives, it is more important than ever to ensure they are safe and responsible when online. The internet offers wonderful opportunities for learning, connection, and creativity, but it also comes with risks such as cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and privacy concerns.

The eSafety Commissioner provides a range of resources, tools and advice for parents and carers around ways to keep children safe online. We encourage you to have regular conversations with your child about safe online behaviour. Simple steps like setting clear expectations, monitoring device use, and encouraging open communication can make a significant difference.

Visit the link below for more information.

School Calendar

Futsal