16 September 2021

Principal's Report

Dear Families,

Thank you everyone for your support during this term.  COVID-19 still requires schools to be vigilant with regard to planning and how we support student health and wellbeing, but when we reflect on the experiences in other states of Australia, we continue to have a great appreciation of the efforts made by everyone to keep Tasmania coronavirus free. 

Throughout the year there have been many activities organised to ensure a sense of normality at Illawarra Primary School, and last Friday’s Kids Matter afternoon, promoting the importance of student wellbeing, continued the term’s focus on providing learning opportunities that cater for the diverse needs of all students.  The inclusive nature of the activities ensured the successful participation of all Prep – Grade 6 students, and the benefits of the afternoon were so obvious it left many of us wondering how the school could dedicate more time to this approach. Thank you to Mr Chris Waugh for his organisation of the afternoon and to the School Association for their funding of many of the activities.

NAPLAN

This year’s NAPLAN results were very pleasing. The Grade 3 and 5 high and medium gains were significantly above the state average gains, and each cohort’s mean score for each domain was either at or above similar schools and for some domains significantly above similar schools. Students and staff should be proud of these achievements as they reflect the school’s dedication and commitment to the continual improvement of education outcomes.

Staffing Changes

Last Friday we farewelled Mrs Monika Glover.  As mentioned in the last newsletter, Mon has been a most important member of staff and contributed greatly to the school community as a parent, teacher, and colleague and although Mon’s leadership will be missed, I am pleased to announce that from the beginning of Term 4 Mrs Lisa King will be joining Illawarra staff as an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST).  Lisa is presently on staff as an AST at Mount Stuart Primary School, but through the DoE’s transfer process has agreed to join the school early rather than at the beginning of the 2022 school year.

Fundraising 

I would also like to acknowledge that over the past fortnight a great number of students have made the effort to raise funds for charity.  Members of the SRC were not only very successful in raising awareness and money for Legacy, but were also great ambassadors for the school whilst rattling collection tins at the Blackmans Bay Shopping Centre.  The school’s Jump Rope for Heart fundraising approach this year has gained a lot of support from the school community with $3772 being raised.  Thank you to Mrs Nanna Jansen-Munday, Ms Charlotte Genford and the Jumping Jacks for inspiring everyone, with the funds raised easily exceeding the school’s target.

Kindergarten 2022

To conclude, if anyone knows of families in our local community that have children that will be of Kindergarten age next year, could you please encourage them to contact the school to enrol their child/ren.  We are at the stage of the year where we need to plan for the school’s pre-kinder sessions, and these are much more supportive of families and their children if the school has been able to identify the majority of next year’s kinder enrolment before these sessions are held in Term 4.

Have a great end of term and a safe and happy school holiday.

Regards,

Nick Donnelly

Principal

Calendar of Events

Onyas

Hugo J for being a kind and caring classmate.  Hugo looks after his friends and makes sure everyone is OK. Pascal L for working hard at his writing. Pascal is doing a great job thinking of sentences to write and then putting them on paper! Jayden L for working hard at his English tasks.  Jayden has recently done some awesome writing because he is a brave writer who tries his best. Marshall Y for being a good listener during important learning times. Lily S for always being respectful towards her teachers and her peers. Georgia J for always taking a keen interest in all aspects of our learning. Liam E for displaying the school value of being Fair.  Liam is a kind and considerate learner. He tries his best and allows others to do their best when around him.  Thank you for being so conscientious Liam! Kiah M for displaying the school value of Care.  Kiah is a kind friend to everyone in the class.  She is respectful of others and their belongings. As a result, everyone loves playing and working with Kiah.  Keep up the excellent work! Luka M-A  for displaying the school value of being Safe.  Luka is always respectful of others and follows the rules accordingly. As a result, the children in the class enjoy working with him. Thank you for your diligence Luka! Emily W for amazing story writing. You have a gift with words, Emily! Seren L for wonderful story writing. You are very talented, Seren! Zuhaa B for incredible story writing. Your stories are so delightful and interesting to read, Zuhaa! Edan G for caring about his learning. You are always a thoughtful, careful worker with every learning task, Edan. Louie B-McL for his positive attitude towards his work and the kindness he always shows other members of the school community. Thank you for being such a friendly, considerate and conscientious person, Louie! Valentina C for being a kind and thoughtful member of our class. You show care in everything you do and have such a fun sense of humour. Thank you, Valentina! Isabelle C for the conscientious way she applies herself to all work tasks. Isabelle’s effort and enthusiasm in all areas of the curriculum hav seen her make excellent progress. Thank you, Isabelle! Violet K for her hard work and positive attitude in all subject areas. Thank you for always trying your hardest and approaching tasks with a smile! I have been particularly impressed with your Geography work, Violet! Emily W for being a thoughtful and caring classmate. Archer J for working really hard and achieving great results with his reading, writing and numeracy. Felix C for demonstrating friendly and respectful ways of being with his classmates. Molly S for always doing her best in class and achieving great results with her learning. Zoe S for always doing her best in class and being a caring friend to other girls. Tanner C for being very settled in class and completing his work. Thank you for your help on our recent excursion to Molesworth. Helen R for having a positive and happy relationship with the girls in our class. Thank you for trying your hardest with your school work. Stella R for being a kind and caring student towards her peers. We love your happy and positive outlook in our class.

School Disco

Don't forget the Disco tomorrow night! Tomorrow (Friday 17 September) is also a Free Dress day to coincide with the disco (no donation needed).

School Satisfaction Survey

Each year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys in Tasmanian Government schools, to gain feedback on what you think our schools do well and where you think we may improve.

We encourage you to complete the survey about Illawarra Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision-making.

You can complete the online survey at any time until Friday 17 September 2021.

Survey link: https://ncv.microsoft.com/mH1IL5gf2P

All responses are anonymous and confidential with the survey carried out on a secure website.

Feedback is only accessible to the school principal and teachers and relevant Department of Education staff, in online summary report formats with no individuals or families identifiable.

For any assistance please contact Education Performance and Review by emailing: schoolsurveys@education.tas.gov.au.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey. 

Term 3 Wrap Up

Although we are in the final stretch of the term,  there are a number of activities and events happening between now and next Friday that we want to make parents aware of.

Talent Show – Two students in 5/6WL have been busy organising a talent show to be held this Thursday and Friday at lunch in the GP room. Acts signed up two weeks ago and are busy preparing for their turn to light up the IPS stage. Students wishing to attend the show as an audience member are asked to donate a gold coin, which will permit them entry on both Thursday and Friday. All donations received will be generously donated to the RSPCA to continue the great work they do caring for animals.

Roll Cycles Fun Run – This Sunday 19^th September, a team of dedicated IPS runners will be participating in the Roll Cycles Hobart Fun Run around the Hobart waterfront. I will be handing out sports shirts this Thursday to students and parents who have already registered for the run. Registrations close 5pm Friday 17^th September, so please feel free to join the team if you haven’t already done so.

Sports Colours Day – Next Friday 24^th September, we are celebrating the end of the term by having our annual Sports Colours Day. We are encouraging students to dress up in their favourite athlete’s uniforms or favourite team’s colours. We are asking students who would like to participate to donate a gold coin to help us raise some funds to purchase some new resources for our beach days and courtyard activities.

PE News

COME AND TRY DAY

On Tuesday 31^st August approximately 50 of our Grade 5/6 students attended the Huon Channel Volleyball Carnival and Come and Try Days.  These events were held at the Kingborough Sports Precinct, and despite some fairly windy conditions were a great success.  Our students did a great job representing Illawarra Primary School and were able to experience activities such as Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby Union, Badminton, Judo, Indoor Cricket, Little Athletics and Table Tennis as well as the SpikeZone Volleyball tournament.  A big thanks to Mrs Brancher and Miss Catterall who came along to supervise our groups.

Some of these activities will be holding Holiday Programs, and various flyers are attached to the newsletter today or students can see Mr Iles for more information on a  particular activity.

SCHOOLS TRIATHLON

The amazing Schools Triathlon event is back on this year and will be held on Friday December 10^th at Bellerive Oval/Beach.  A flyer with plenty of information is attached to the newsletter and interested students can see Mr Iles for a permission form and also the Official entry from.  These, along with the $25 entry fee, BOTH need to be returned to the School office by Thursday 23^rd September so that Mr Iles can submit the School Entry form to the organisers before the Holidays start.  All the information you need is either on the forms or can be obtained from the website https://schoolstriathlonchallenge.com/

LAWN BOWLS

With a bit of wet weather over the past few weeks we have been fortunate enough to have Ross from Lawn Bowls Tasmania come in to show us a few of the finer points of the game.  Classes from Prep right up to 5/6  have had great fun playing lots of different games to try and improve their rolling accuracy and develop an appreciation for the skill level required to play the game.  Thanks Ross!!

Library News

Canteen Menu - Week 10

Lego Club

Earlier this week, Harri, Tom, Benny, Ethan, Jack and Nathan created lots of different builds from LEGO.  Tom finished building his nuclear reactor, Benny built characters from Mario’s World.  Harri joined in and entertained the other boys with Pikachu and Rabbit. Jack built a robot the Rover who landed on Mars, whilst Ethan and Nathan were busy creating their own creations.  Lots of wonderful conversations, sharing of ideas and supporting of each other took place over the lego box.

Kindergarten 2022

PRE-KINDER SESSIONS STARTING TERM 4!!

Pre kinder sessions will run from 9.00-10.30am on Thursday 28^th October and Thursdays 4th, 11^th, & 18^th November 2021. More details will be sent out early next term.

Covid Check-In information

School Zine App

Please click on the link below for instructions on how to access the Newsletter via the School Zine app. Contact the Office if you have any issues downloading the app.

https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation 

Adventure Patch Vacation Care Program

Community Notices