Friday 14 February 2025

Principal Report

It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the new school year and our first official newsletter for 2025. We are delighted to have over forty new Kinder students and ten new students joining our school community.

We also welcome new and returning staff, including Asha Wright (Prep Intern), Jess Dwyer (Prep), Ruth Goodman (Year 6), Terri Coombes (Year 3), Jayne Johnson (Year 4), and Sensei Anita Wedd (5/6 Japanese). Their enthusiasm and experience are already enriching our classrooms. It has been wonderful to meet new families and see our school community come together so warmly. I look forward to a fantastic year of learning, connection, and growth.

Our Why
During our professional learning days, staff reflected on what makes Illawarra Primary special. Through collaboration with over 50 key stakeholders, we developed a draft IPS Belief Statement focused on connection, curiosity, and opportunity—ensuring every student can shine. We will be sharing this with the community for your feedback soon.

Value Awards and Assemblies

At Illawarra Primary, our assemblies are a time to come together as a community, celebrate learning, and acknowledge the incredible efforts of our students. Due to timetable constraints, and providing co-curricular opportunities including Choir, Band and Marimba/Recorder groups, we will be holding two assemblies per term. One Early Childhood Assembly for P-2 students and one Primary Assembly for 3-6 students and families. We will continue to host whole school meetings on alternate weeks to communicate key messages to all students P-6. In reducing the number of assemblies, it is important for us to reflect on how we recognise and celebrate student achievement. It is important to ensure that our celebrations remain meaningful, authentic, and aligned with our school values.

To achieve this, we will be refining our approach by:

1. Focusing on the School Values – Each assembly, two students from each class will be recognised for exemplifying the school’s Value of the Term. This ensures that awards are purposeful, connected to our shared expectations, and reflective of the qualities we want to develop in all students. Term 1 is Courage.
2. Introducing a Principal’s Award – At each assembly, I will present a Principal’s Award to a student who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to their learning, personal growth, or contribution to the school community. At the end of the year, all recipients of this award will be invited to share in a special breakfast with me to celebrate their achievements.

By streamlining the way we recognise students, we create an environment where awards are more meaningful, and celebrating learning authentically isn’t about ensuring every child receives an award—it’s about ensuring that every child feels valued, challenged, and supported in their journey as a learner. We will be exploring various other methods for celebrating learning as a staff in the coming weeks.

External School Review

Our review will take place during Term 2. At this stage the review is scheduled to take place 10 Jun to 13 Jun.

Every 4 years all schools go through a School Improvement Cycle with a culminating School Review (also known as an External School Review or ESR) taking place. During these four days, DECYP leadership are welcomed into our school to visit our classrooms and meet with key stakeholders including staff, students and families and they will observe, interact, question and pin point areas for improvement to focus on over the next 4 year cycle. We warmly welcome this process and look forward to the feedback to clearly identify our future direction for school improvement. In the coming weeks there will be opportunities for you to be a part of the process.

School Production – Coming Soon! Scheduled for Week 8 (or 9) Term 3.

This year we are excited to announce the Year 5/6 students will be participating in a school production.  Planning for the production is underway with staff beginning the initial stages of what, when and how including – theme, location, staffing, performance/s etc. If you are keen to contribute to this initiative - behind the scenes with hair and makeup, stage work, costumes, props, advertising etc we would love to hear from you and we will be seeking volunteers soon.

Kristy Hay
Principal, Illawarra Primary School

Calendar of Events

SeeSaw Accounts

Dear families and carers,

We are writing to advise you that we have been informed of a technical issue with Seesaw – the platform we use to engage with families. This issue has meant that there have been some errors with connecting families to their child. As a precautionary measure to support the maintenance of student privacy a decision has been made to disconnect all families from Seesaw whilst work is being undertaken to resolve the issue. Student privacy is a priority which is why we are being cautious in relation to this issue.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will update you once we are advised that families can access Seesaw again and provide you with support in reconnecting if needed. Thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards

Kristy

Welcome BBQ - Wednesday 19 February

Dear Families,

You are all invited to our ‘Meet the Teacher – Welcome BBQ’ on Wednesday 19 February.

This is a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, talk to our specialist teachers about 
their programs, enjoy a BBQ with other members of the school community, and pick up second 
hand uniform items!

Lachlan Joyce, the new principal at Kingston High School, will also be at the BBQ and is keen 
to talk to any parents who may have queries about what Kingston High has to offer.

Classrooms are open from 5.00pm – 6.00pm and the BBQ will run from 5:00pm – 6:30pm.
Prices will be:

 $3.00ea -  Beef OR Veggie Sausage in bread (limited gluten free bread available)                                                                 $2.00 - Juice/Milk/Soft Drink
 $2.50 - Icy Poles

If you can help with BBQ sales please sign up at https://signup.com/go/wbrpHzn 

There will also be a second-hand uniform stall. If you have any donations for this, please drop 
them at the office before the night.

Please remember that parents are responsible for the supervision of their child/ren at all times, and that entry will be via the main front gate off the Tinderbox Rd carpark.

The staff and I look forward to seeing you on the night.

Kristy Hay

Principal

Kindergarten 2025

The Kinder Possums and Wombats have enjoyed starting their very first year at school.  They have enjoyed making new friends, learning kinder routines and exploring our wonderful playground.  Mrs Kellie and Mrs Tracey have been very pleased to welcome the kinder children and their families to the school.

School Photos 2025 - Tuesday 18 February

Library Bag Reminder

Reminders from the Office

Please return all forms (Validation, Major Excursion Consent, ICT Agreement, Bus Travel Information etc) to your class teacher as soon as possible.

Uniform shop opening hours are Monday & Wednesday mornings 8:30am to 9:30am. If you are unable to make these times the office can provide you with a Uniform Order Form which we will fill at our earliest convenience.  

If your child is not attending school for any reason can you please let the office know via phone 62 296 295 or email illawarra.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au before 9:15am.

Thank you

Kelly, Carmen & Cassie 

Every School Day Matters (Attendance)  

 As a school we understand that children get sick, family emergencies happen and there are times when a child may be away for other reasons.  In a small number of cases we know that children have significant medical needs that affect their attendance.  

While the occasional absence from school is unlikely to affect your child’s learning, last year nearly half (46%) of our students had an attendance rate below 90%. 

A child with an attendance rate of 90% misses the equivalent of one day of school every two weeks, or 19 days over the year.   If a child has an attendance rate of 90% each year from Prep to Grade 6, they miss about three terms of learning.  A child with an attendance rate of 85% misses a whole year of school between the beginning of Prep and end of Grade 6.  

Missing school regularly means that it is harder for your child to learn and keep up with the curriculum requirements for their grade.  It can also affect your child’s social confidence and interactions with peers.  

If there are any barriers that are affecting your child’s attendance, please let us know so we can provide support, including through our social worker,  or we can recommend services that may be able to assist.  

Michael Hayen 

Assistant Principal 

NAPLAN - 2025

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2025 

Information for Grade 3 and 5 Parents and Guardians

This year, NAPLAN will be conducted from 12 March – 24 March. Grade 3 and 5 students will complete a Writing task, Reading task, Language Convention and Spelling task, and Numeracy task. 

There will also be catch up sessions run for any student who misses a scheduled task.   

The Grade 3 Writing task is done using pencil and paper and will be undertaken in classrooms.  All other tasks will be completed online in the GP room so that we can best ensure devices are properly set up and working correctly. 

NAPLAN provides valuable information on how your child is progressing against national minimum standards of literacy and numeracy skills expected for each year level.  Later in the year you will receive an individual report that shows your child’s results and a comparison of your child’s performance against all other Australian students in their year level.   

Our teachers use the NAPLAN results to inform class and school planning and to allocate resources and support, including informing decisions around targeted programs and initiatives for individuals and groups. 

The best preparation for the tests is a high-quality learning program based on the Australian Curriculum, and this is what we focus on at Illawarra Primary School.  We also recognise that students need to develop familiarity with the testing format and conditions as these are quite different to the way in which our students commonly work.   

In line with this, we are helping our students to develop strategies, so they can perform to the best of their ability on the day.  These include: understanding how to approach the types of questions that may be asked; managing time effectively and checking answers; using effective problem-solving strategies, including working out paper; and leaving a question that is too hard and coming back to it later. 

The best way you can assist your child is by helping them to feel comfortable about the nature and purpose of the tests and assure them that the tests will give them an opportunity to show what they have learned in class.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at michael.hayen@decyp.tas.gov.au or on 6229 6295. 

Michael Hayen 

Assistant Principal 

Netball Roster Grade 3/4 & 5/6

NETBALL

Illawarra is looking to enter Netball teams for the upcoming roster commencing Monday, 17 March to 2 June 2024.  We have one 5/6 team which is already full but if there are any more interested players please see Mr Iles at school to see what we can do. 

Any Grade 3 or 4 students who are keen to continue (or play their first season) please let Mr Iles know and we can try to get a team organised.  Last rosters coaches are unavailable so we would need to find a new coaching team!!  Please let Mr Iles know if you think you can help out!!

warren.iles@decyp.tas.gov.au

ROSTER DETAILS

The Roster is a combined Grade 3 / 4 roster and combined Grade 5 / 6 roster and runs for 10 rounds, with no games played on Monday 14 April and 21 April (school holidays).

There are no Grand Finals for Grades 3 / 4 with the roster finishing on Monday 2 June 2025.  

Grand Finals and final ladder placement games for Grade 5 / 6 will be held on Monday 2 June 2025.

Teams can include players of any sex or gender identity, there are no restrictions.

Games are at the following times (dependent on the number of teams entered):

• Grades 3 / 4 - 4.10pm to 5.00pm & 5.00pm to 6.00pm
• Grades 5 / 6 – 5.00pm to 6.00pm & 6.00pm to 7.00pm

Games are played on outdoor courts at KNA with some games played on indoor courts at Kingborough Sports Centre.

Schools / Coach / Team Manager will need to register the team via PlayHQ – a very easy process.  Once the team is registered, a link will be sent directly to the School / Coach / Team Manager to be forwarded to parents to complete their registration and payment.

https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/6d3687

Teams need to be registered by Monday 10 March – please be aware that there are limited numbers due to court availability. So register early so you don't miss out.

ALL PLAYERS MUST REGISTER AND PAY THEIR REGISTRATION BY Friday 14 March 2025.  No player will be allowed to take to the court unless their registration fee has been paid.

Umpires

Grade 3 / 4 - schools / teams need to provide their own umpire. Due to the limited number of umpires available, KNA are unable to help with umpires for Grade 3 / 4 matches. 

Grade 5 / 6 - schools / teams that are unable to source an umpire, KNA can provide an umpire, subject to the following conditions:

• Your school / team will be invoiced an up front fee of $100.00 for an umpire for the entire roster;
• An umpire will be allocated to your team for the entire season, however it may not be the same umpire each week;
• KNA is unable to provide umpires at the last minute, or for individual rounds;
• KNA cannot guarantee you an umpire, as resources are limited, therefore umpires will only be allocated to teams once the upfront fee has been paid.

If your school / team would like to arrange an umpire for your grade 5 / 6 team, please email the KNA Umpire Convenor at: clarissa.murphy@gmail.com

Any requests for umpires needs to be made by no later than Wednesday 12 March 2025.

Skills & Drills

On Monday 10 March 2025, KNA will also run its popular Grade 3 & 4 Skills and Drills session.

It will be held from 4:30pm to 5:30pm at the KNA outdoor courts.

Any players in the Grade 5 & 6 teams are invited to attend if they are new to netball.

Book Club Issue 1

Scholastic Issue #1 is here to start the school year off for our young readers!

Welcome back to another school year with Scholastic! 

Scholastic is offering lots of promotions as we start the year to encourage us all to buy books for our eager students, with free books and credits for future catalogues to encourage you to use the online LOOP ordering system.

• A FREE BOOK when you spend over $25 in this issue.
• Launch details for National Family Reading Month — lots of prizes to be won!
• A $5 promo code to spend on Issue 2 with any LOOP order on this Issue. 

Remember, ordering books through Scholastic also helps our school library.  In 2023 we added over $1000 of new books to the Illawarra Primary Library shelves thanks to our purchases.

Community Events