21 September 2023

Principal Report

Dear Parents

Thank you to everyone who has made time to attend school over the last week and a half for parent-teacher conversations.   These play an important role in ensuring you are kept up-to-date on your child's academic progress as well as the social aspects of their schooling.  They also provide an opportunity to discuss any concerns, and for the school and parents to work collaboratively to address any specific needs. 

This has been a busy term, with some important events still scheduled to take place.  On Sunday, eight of our Grade 5-6 students will be participating in the Tasmanian Maths Relay against other primary schools from across the state.  The competition tests problem solving ability and the capacity to work effectively in a team.   Then, next Thursday, we are holding our annual Kidsmatter Afternoon.  Students have opted into a range of cross grade activities, including ICT, craft and sports, that they would not ordinarily have the opportunity to experience at school.

Next term, we have our Grade 6 camp at Dodges Ferry and our Grade 5 Challenge Week at a range of venues.   The camp provides students with an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone, and spend time with their peers undertaking a variety of challenging and rewarding activities. Challenge Week similarly encourages our Grade 5 students to work collaboratively and consider how they can step into the role of being our school leaders in 2024.

We will also be undertaking our Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT) during Term 4, in order to collect data on individual and whole school learning progress.  The information that we get from testing assists us in a number of ways, including helping us to determine which students require additional support in 2024.  

Term 4 also brings a lot of events, such as a disco night, Christmas stall, and excursions to plays and pantomimes.   Please remember, if you would like to assist with these activities you need to hold a current Working With Vulnerable People card.   Information on how to obtain a card can be found at the Service Tasmania Website and the process generally takes around 6 weeks.

Finally, with the weather hopefully warming up, students need to wear school hats from the beginning of next term.  With 430 heads in the school, it helps if hats are named so that we can reunite lost ones with their rightful owners.

Regards

Michael Hayen

Assistant Principal

Calendar of Events

ONYAS - Monday 25 September

Congratulations to all of our ONYA award recipients. These awards will be handed out at the next assembly which will be held on Monday 25 September 1:50pm start. 

Please note change of time for Monday's assembly due to the Australian Maths Competition certificates being handed out.

Family Members are welcome to attend. 

Noah O - Noah makes thoughtful contributions while we are reading class novel. Well done, Noah!

Milla P -Milla used a rubric well to bump up her procedure writing. Milla made sure all required features were included in her writing. Well done, Milla!

Baz R - Baz is beginning to use feedback constructively to make his work of an even higher standard. A seriously good effort Baz and much appreciated- Keep this up!

Xavier S - Xavier's resilience is really improving and he's really pushing to give his best in his tasks. He is editing his work and taking on feedback to continually improve. Well done, Xavier!

Ellis B - Still working with focus and purpose and still cheerful and happy to help out. Ellis is continuing to work very well and to the absolute best of his ability. Superb work, Ellis!

Sam B - Sam just keeps on showing a mature and focused approach to work - whether it's contributing to class discussions or getting on with his tasks, he is always keen to show his best. Phenomenal effort Sam!

Ella B – For the extra effort and focus she put in to catch up on work she had missed after she had been away.  Well done, Ella!

James C – For his excellent attitude and focus towards his learning in the recent HASS and Literacy projects.  Excellent work, James!

Ocean L – For being the most helpful helper.  Ocean always offers to helps others, volunteers to organise items in class and sets an excellent example to others.  Keep up the good work, Ocean.

Ruby R -  For thinking outside the box in all areas and sharing her thinking with the class.

Lucas H - For displaying great courage when presenting his Geography research to the class.

Oliver M -  For his thorough research when exploring his chosen country.

Felix F - For inspiring the class to create amazing stop motion movies in Science/ HASS.

Ryan S - For being an outstanding speller and for assisting others during our phonics lessons.

Archer J - For always striving to create his best work and for improved spelling and punctuation. 

Tyson B - For being a ray of sunshine, an excellent helper and for being a kind and caring class member.

Belle P - For her positive attitude to complete tasks, especially when writing. 

Brooke B - For reading her home reader every night and practicing her maths skills at home.  Your effort and dedication to your own learning is to be congratulated.

Leuca W - For improvement in her creative writing and perseverance with editing her work.

Luca G - For excellent improvement in his understanding of decimals in maths.

Audrey M - For her drive to do her best with learning, and giving insightful, respectful, and mature contributions to discussions.

Toby A - For striving to improve his writing and focussing on using different tools to help him edit his work.

Willow B -  For her conscientious approach to her learning and enthusiasm in maths.

Imogen F - For excellent participation and engagement in all learning areas.

Quinn H - Quinn is keen and curious about his learning and a great contributor to discussions.

Seoras N -  For outstanding contributions to literacy and numeracy discussions.

Chelsea O -  For excellent participation in our fractions discussions in maths.

Cooper H - For improving his ability to make accurate predictions when reading more complex texts.  

Nina L - For always being a kind and respectful student who tries her best with all learning tasks. 

Ben M - For his inquisitive nature and always asking critical questions about his understanding.

Ollie B - For the way he has participated and engaged in our spelling inquiry.

Haven S - For reading with increased description and expression when reading aloud.

Grade 6 - Important Dates

A few important dates to add your your calendars:

* Grade 6 Camp - Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 November

* Leavers Dinner - Wednesday 20 December - Brookfield Shed Margate

* Leavers Assembly - Thursday 21 December - Kingston High School 

Canteen Week - Week 10

Crazy Sock & Hat Day

This Friday, September 22nd, is wear crazy socks or a cap day to raise money for the Story Dogs Program.

If you are wearing crazy socks or your favourite cap, bring along a gold coin donation to support this fantastic program.

Red Ball Tennis Competition

On Thursday the 7th a group of 24 Grade 4’s headed up to the Kingston Tennis Club to participate in the Annual Huon & Channel Red Ball Tennis Competition for Grade 3/4 students.  We competed against 3 other schools in divisions named after famous tennis players.  We had a beautiful morning session, then got rained on a little bit, before the sun came out again and we are able to finish our games.  Illawarra had a very successful day winning the Barty  & De Minaur divisions and coming runner up in the Stosur division.  

Well done to everyone who participated!!

A big thanks to George Nisbett who came along to help manage our teams.  Also to Jordan from Tennis Tasmania who ran the event along with a number of other coaches.

Well done, Illawarra!!

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Triathlon Reminder

A reminder that Triathlon entries are due this week.  See Mr Iles or Mr Waugh if you need any extra information!!

Thank you to our amazing Teacher Aides

Small Boxes Needed

Prep Oldmeadow will be needing some clean boxes (smaller than cereal boxes please) for our Kidsmatter day in week 10.

You can drop them off to our class or at the office. Thank you!

Save The Date - Discofest

Combined Primary School - Ticket Update

School Satisfaction Survey

Every year the Department of Education 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 complete our online survey about Illawarra 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 pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/Cxi7YXJiCY 

 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 of Education staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

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

Launch into Learning - Remainder of Term 3

Free childcare for 3 year olds in 2024

Community Notices