28 October 2021

Principal's Report

Dear families,

The first three weeks of term have certainly been interesting, with the lockdown called at the end of week 1, the External School Review this week, today’s Athletics Carnival and the planning and preparation for Springfest tomorrow.

Due to the lockdown, we were uncertain as to whether the External School Review would proceed. However, it has been quite fortunate that it has gone ahead and although this aspect of the DoE’s School Improvement process places extra time demands on a school and its staff, the opportunity to celebrate the school’s successes and review the school’s practices and priorities has been very worthwhile.

All Tasmanian Government Schools are externally reviewed every four years. The Review Team consists of a Review Chair and trained Review Principals, and these panel members evaluate the school performance. The evaluation process includes a scan of the school’s data, confirmation of the school’s level of performance through the use of the National School Improvement Tool, as well as feedback from panel member interviews with students, staff, parents and School Association members.

In brief, the feedback and reporting provided by the panel members was very positive with them making commendations and affirmations that confirm Illawarra Primary School is successfully supporting the learning and wellbeing of all students.  There was also additional advice and recommendations made which will guide and inform the work the school engages in over the next four years. 

Covid 19 Update

I would like to thank everyone for the support the school was afforded last week with the introduction of increased Public Health Covid 19 requirements.  Very few students attended school on Monday of the lockdown, providing staff the crucial time to plan and prepare if the learning from home requirement was to be extended.  It has also been observed that since the lockdown was called, visitors to the school and parents have become increasingly vigilant regarding the need to follow other COVID requirements such as social distancing, ensuring students do not attend school if they have flu like symptoms, etc. 

It was a pleasure to welcome parents to today’s Athletics Carnival, made possible by everyone following the advice provided earlier in the week.  Having parents attend these types of events make them all the more special for the students. 

Similar Covid requirements will need to be followed at tomorrow’s Springfest event, and additional information of these requirements will be emailed and shared via class SeeSaw accounts this afternoon.

Springfest

Although the weather does not look ideal for Friday’s Springfest, the planning and preparation of the small team of School Association members and staff is certain to ensure a great time for all those who attend.  We owe a great deal of appreciation to Yen Chamberlain, Georgia Pearsall and Cathryn Kelly-Bounds for their determination in ensuring, that after a few false starts, the event has been made possible.  Come along for a great feed, plenty of student entertainment, and the opportunity to unwind and relax before the weekend.

To conclude, another highlight this week was the dedication the Kinder teaching and support staff demonstrated in conjunction with the support of Ambulance Tasmania that ensured all students could attend the Kinder Beach Excursion.  It is amazing what can be achieved in schools when everyone shows such great and unwavering commitment to inclusion.

Nick Donnelly

Principal

Calendar of Events

Welcome to our School Health Nurse!

Hello everyone and welcome back to Term Four! 

I just wanted to send through a little bit of information at the beginning of the term to introduce myself to you all and explain a bit about my role in your school.

My name is Joss (Jocelyn) and I am the new School Health Nurse at Illawarra Primary School. I will be working once a week on a Monday. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and getting to know your school. My background is in General Practice as a Practice Nurse, as well as working as a Rural Health Worker for the Royal Flying Doctors Service in the Huon Valley. I am passionate about Primary Health Care.

As I am starting in the later part of the year and understand right now is an extremely busy time for you all, my priorities for this term are to immerse myself into the school by meeting as many staff and students as possible, as well as gain information on how best to service the school in the coming year.

The School Health Nurse Program works under the principles of Primary Health Care by providing 
school communities with health promotion, health education and short-term, early intervention. Our practice is guided by the School Health Nurse Statement of Duties and the nurse’s individual scope of practice. More broadly, School Health Nurses are regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Agency (AHPRA) and we are expected to adhere to the relevant legislations, policies, and procedures to maintain our own registration as a Registered Nurse. 

School Health Nurses MUST have parent/guardian consent prior to working with individual students.

The School Health Nurse Program does not provide direct clinical care or a first-aid service in schools, including staff education that would meet DoE requirements. I can however assist the school with applying the learnings from formal education sessions to the individual student or school.

I will be spending much of my time moving forward in the role undertaking Kindergarten Health 
Assessments as well as referred targeted vision and hearing assessments. School Nurses also prioritise working with students in the preventative space. Some of the programs School Nurses are trained in and can facilitate are:

- Love Bites
- Peaceful Kids
- Rhythm 2 Recovery
- Rainbow Kids Yoga
- SoSafe
- Hey Warrior

As I am new to the School Health Nurse role, some of these programs may not be available to your 
school straight away, however if you believe any of the programs would be beneficial to either your class or to the school please do not hesitate to discuss with me this term and I will endeavour to 
prioritise the service to meet the need in your area.

School Health Nurses can arrange external service providers to provide education sessions, ‘health expos’ and a whole range of other things. I can provide information sessions to students on a variety of health promoting areas as well as the program holds evidence-based resources across the spectrum to enable nurses to do this.

As a School Health Nurse, I can also provide consultancy services to schools and colleges in the 
following areas when required:

- Students with complex medical needs
- Available training options for school staff in managing students with complex medical needs
- DoE requirements for students with medical action plans and/or medical management plans
- DoE medication storage and administration requirements
- Identifying priority health issues in specific school communities, and strategies to address 
these.

I look forward to getting to know you all! I will be commencing at the school from October the 25th. Please do not hesitate to come and introduce yourselves and ask more about the work I can do for your students and in your classrooms. Alternatively, you can contact me on my email: 
Jocelyn.patmore@education.tas.gov.au

Onyas

Marni G for participating regularly in class discussions and always trying her best in everything she does. Natalie O for always trying her best and being organised. Lincoln W-H for a fantastic start to school at Illawarra, and making friends easily. Jack R for showing care to others and with school equipment. Finlay I for his excellent work in mathematics. Solomon C for being a great contributor to book discussions. Campbell L for being a steady worker who does his best. Shanti K for always giving her best. Sam B for insightful sharing in class discussions and supporting his peers to learn. Maggie C for improving her focussing on her learning and completing tasks to the best of her ability. Rory T for persevering with learning when tasks are challenging, and knowing when to ask for help. Sissi Z for always having thought-provoking questions to ask during our class discussions. Charlotte F for demonstrating a positive attitude towards learning tasks and always putting in her best effort. Marcel D B for improving his focus when completing daily tasks like handwriting and mental maths. Tom P for working well and extending himself during activities on fractions. Chelsey L for enthusiasm and creativity when engaging in her poetry writing. Ruby F for the honesty she demonstrates when she is communicating with her peers. Christian T for increased focus and effort in completing tasks. Freya E for taking a mature approach to learning this year. Ashley H for co-producing a brilliant news report about dragon sightings in Huonville. Sanjana K for knowing how and when to be a good friend. Sapphire M for listening thoughtfully (and with a smile on her face!) to feedback and incorporating it whenever possible. James O for writing some fabulous sentences using precise nouns. Zoe P for putting in a monumental effort to her learning every day. Dennis S for collaborating beautifully with a friend. Ruby T for producing some mature and interesting science projects this year. Fin W for being an upstander. Liam W for being a good learning partner. Alice W for finding the humour in procedure writing…who does like crusts? Sophie C for being a friendly, caring member of the class who is always willing to help other students. Abi W for her focus on her literacy targets and improving her writing. Jesse P for being a great role model in class, ignoring distractions and focusing on his work. Haru Y for working really hard to create a well organised, neatly presented science project about tsunamis, which used diagrams and scientific vocabulary to clearly explain his ideas and thinking.  Great job Haru! Rio C for an extremely well thought out and presented science project on natural disasters.  You worked hard to find out lots of information, which was then turned in to an interesting and informative series of posters.  Great work Rio! Illa J for the effort she puts into her work and always trying to improve. Geraldine B for  producing a fantastic assignment on Tsunamis that was well set out and very informative. Raffie B for always being enthusiastic about his learning and sharing his knowledge with the class. Rose C for always being focused in class and engaging with her learning across all subjects. Tom C for going out of his way to be inclusive and caring to others. Jordan W for taking the time to engage, listen and being respectful to others.

Springfest reminders

House Banner Design

Earlier this year, the year 5/6 art classes participated in an art design unit where the brief was to create a graphic design to represent their sporting house- Wattle, Bombora and Waratah. There were many wonderful designs submitted.

Students’ designs were short listed and final designs chosen via student and staff consultation. The short-listed works were created by:

Wattle – Sanjana, James, Cohen, Seamus, Holly and Maia

Bombora – Harry, Rose, Henry, Jarrod, Luka, Aki, Rio, Juliet and Robert

Waratah – Elsa, Aysha, Mai, Ronan, Alice and Millie

The winning designs chosen to represent each sporting house were created by: Rio for Bombora, Elsa for Waratah and Holly for Wattle. Congratulations to you.

Thank you also to our School Association for funding the new banners for our Carnivals.

Mrs P (Art Teacher)

School BBQ Fundraiser

Next Friday (5th November), the Grade 6 students will be holding a barbecue fundraiser to help cover some of the costs associated with their upcoming camp in week 5. Students will be responsible for collecting class orders, cooking the barbecue and serving. Students will have the opportunity to order beef or vegetarian sausages for $2 each, and icy poles for $1. Class order sheets have been handed out to classroom teachers today ready for students to begin ordering from tomorrow. Final orders must be in by Thursday 4^th November. Thanks in advance for your support!

1/2 A and 1/2B Excursion

On November 30, 1/2 A and 1/2 B are going on an excursion to the Playhouse Theatre to see the Christmas Pantomime – The Story of the Grumbly Green Grouch.

The bus will be leaving school at 10:45am and returning to school by 1:00pm.

Only a couple of parents can accompany the group, so if you have your Working With Vulnerable People card and would like to attend, please speak to Mrs Wendy or Ms Barker.

Covid-19 Vaccinations for Students Aged 12 and over

The Tasmanian Government is working hard to provide the COVID-19 vaccination to all Tasmanians aged 12 and above.

As you may be aware, there have been a number of clinics run in colleges to vaccinate students in years 11 and 12. There will also be a small number of regional high schools that will host a vaccine clinic but this is not something that will be occurring at high schools in larger population centres at this point in time.

However, there are a number of different options available for parents to arrange for students aged 12 and above to be vaccinated, these include:

1. At one of the community clinics across the state. Appointments can be made by visiting coronavirus.tas.gov.au/booking or calling the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.
2. At participating GPs - contact your local GP directly to make a booking.
3. At selected pharmacies  - find one near you at findapharmacy.com.au

Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself, your family and the wider community from COVID-19. Don’t wait. Vaccinate.

Young people under the age of 16 are encouraged to attend their vaccination appointment with a parent or guardian.

There are a number of places where you are able to find more information in relation to the COVID-19 vaccine. You may like to look at this information with your child to support them in understanding more about the vaccination:

• Information from the Australian Government about COVID-19 vaccines
• Information from the Tasmanian Government about COVID-19 vaccines
• Information from the Western Australia Government through a video presented by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki which answers common questions and dispel myths about COVID-19 vaccines.

Professional Learning for Staff

Last Friday, all staff had the opportunity to undertake some Professional Learning. For the Teacher Assistants this was a packed day of learning about the So Safe program we support, for some students learning about protective behaviours. Later in the day we watched a Webinar about supporting reading for students with Dyslexia and before lunch we met with Nathan Duhig, our school’s Numeracy Coach, to brush up on strategies to help students with Additional Needs in developing skills in Maths.

We really enjoyed making the most of the day and taking the opportunity to collaborate and learn together.

Canteen Menu - Week 4

Launch into Learning (Pademelons) - Term 4

Combined Primary Schools Annual Concert

Ticket 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 

Community Notices