Dear parents, families, students and community members, 

Each week on a Wednesday at our morning Brekky and a Book, I hand out Certificates of Merit to one student from each class. These certificates are chosen and signed by class teachers and focus on one of our five values: Connection, Courage, Growth, Responsibility and Respect. This is an important celebration of success and students look forward to the presentation each week. 

One of our Grade 6 Student Leaders also choose and hand out a Kindness Award, which is in line with the b kinder foundation school program. 

Well done to Arlo, Hudson, Piper and Llewyn for receiving values certificates this fortnight, and to Tarragon, Rydae and Cooper for receiving kindness awards this fortnight. 

We have a busy next fortnight with lots of activities occurring and we are looking forward to celebrating the end of the term with students. These activities are: 

• Tuesday 16th September - Aboriginal Education incursion
• Wednesday 17th September - Touch Football incurson 
• Thursday 18th September - Bicheno Sports Gala Day @ Bicheno Primary School
• Thursday 18th September - School Association Meeting @ 3:00pm
• Friday 19th September - Talk Like a Pirate community event @ the Swansea Motor Inn 
• Tuesday 23rd September - MAST incursion (boat safety)
• Wednesday 24th September - East Coast Cluster Dance Day at Orford Primary School
• Thursday 25th September - End of Term Assembly and Art Exhibition from 1:30pm at Swansea Primary School
• Friday 26th September - Footy Colours Day & last day of term

We are looking forward to bringing these curriculum opportunities and community events to students and having a positive finish to the term. 

Kind regards, 

Anna Knowles
Principal

Just a reminder for families to check the schoolzine calendar which is a great tool to keep up to date with what is happening at SPS!

Please see the link below. You can also sync the events that apply to your child to your personal calendar.

- Swansea Primary School

What I love most about my Dad.

“My dad is kind.” Lucy

“I love my Dad because he gives me cuddles.” Daisy

“I love playing with him.” Maggie

“I’m going to the beach with Dad.” Hazel

“Dad is wearing a crown hat and taking us to the beach.” George

“I love that he works hard for us” Llewyn

“I love going to the beach with Dad on Father’s Day” Caleb

“ I love jokes with my Dad.” Wyatt

“What I love about my daddy is when we go hiking.” Amelia

“I love my Dad’s pizza.” Arlo

“I love fishing with my dad.” Jaxon

“I love being together with my dad.” Eowyn

“I love playing football with my dad.” Indiana

Another fortnight has flown by!  It won't be long and we'll be saying, "Happy Holidays."

UFLI Literacy

We've been very busy focusing on our UFLI writing this fortnight.  We have been learning about prefixes and suffixes, and how these morphemes change the meaning of a base word.  Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word and suffixes, to the end.  Students have been learning about the meanings of these affixes. For example:

pre = before   A preview is watched before the actual movie.

un = not or opposite   A shoe that is not tied, is untied.

Students have been very engaged with this learning, with pleasing results!

Father's Day Biscuits

As all the dads will know, we made biscuits last week!  We hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed making them for you!  Our class team hope you all had the most wonderful Father's Day and that you enjoyed your family time together.

Study of our local buildings in HASS/Maths

We've been researching the original Swansea School building (now the East Coast Heritage Museum) and the Morris's building in our HASS studies.  We are busily creating our PowerPoint presentations and are now making models of our buildings too.  We've combined this with our learning of 3D shapes and how we can create these to bring our buildings to life.  We can't wait to share our PowerPoints and buildings with you on our assembly day!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Visit to TDS

On Tuesday the 9th of September, we visited Triabunna District School to watch the production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It was a wonderful performance, and we loved connecting with our Triabunna friends at lunchtime. Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you for having us along!

We look forward to welcoming our families to our end of term assembly in Week 10. 

Sunshine and smiles, 

Mrs Sparshott

Since returning from our fantastic Canberra camp 456 have been busy integrating lots of our trip memories into our learning. During our HASS lessons, we researched and incorporated lots of fascinating facts about the significant places that we visited into resourceful and creative sessions. We even created some innovative cross stitch Canberra pieces in our Art lessons. Even when some of us were injured from playing soccer, these students persisted with their art and completed it, recovering on the couch in the office.

In Mathematics the Grade 4’s have been working with the many various ways to investigate multiplication and division. The Grade 5’s experimented with fractions with different denominators and practised placing them in ascending order. Exploring angles has been fun and challenging for the Grade 6 students. Working together as a team, assisted each learner to get the most out of our hands on angle learning.

456 attended a ‘What is Waste?’ incursion and learnt lots of interesting ways to deal with waste. We got to handle and work with some composting worms. We’re currently designing a campaign to introduce our learning from this great incursion to the rest of the school. Stay tuned and we’ll let you know how we change the way we deal with waste here at Swansea Primary School.

Attention: Parents and Carers of students in year 4,5 & 6

Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey

At Swansea Primary School, the wellbeing of our students is a top priority. We want to hear directly from our students about how they’re feeling and what’s happening in their lives.

Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 will soon be participating in the Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey. This important survey helps us build a clear picture of our students’ current wellbeing and identify ways we can better support them to thrive and engage in learning. The more students who take part, the more meaningful the insights will be.

This survey is part of the Department’s Child and Student Wellbeing Strategy.

Survey Details:

When:                                     Wednesday 17^th of September

Who:                                       4/5/6 students

What do I need to do:           You and your child don’t need to do anything. The survey will be done in class time and will not require your child to prepare in any way.

A letter with more information has been sent home with all Year 4/5/6 students. This includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions and a form to return if you do not want your child to participate.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Anna Heath anna.m.heath@decyp.tas.gov.au

Thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure every student feels safe, supported, and ready to learn.

Lilibet has been having fun-filled days with her paw friends at Swansea Primary.  She has become part of the furniture inside and out.  Students are really taking on board the prompts of getting Lilibet to listen before engaging with her, and this is becoming embedded into daily routines.

Lilibet has been busy in the sandpit, and enjoying the Library with the 456 and 23 classes. 

Last week was her first art session with the 23 class, which resulted in her snoozing on her mat for the session.

Lilibet at recess is enjoying being brushed by students and spends most of her time feeling pampered, hanging out at the buddy bench.

At the moment, Lilibet is going through the process of mat/place training.  This will be implemented into the Library sessions first, and the 2/3 art sessions, reminding Lilibet that she needs to be on her mat.  Potentially, the flower power mat will need to be upgraded quickly, as she is already hanging over the sides of the mat!

Lilibet at home is also starting the routine of teeth care and learning to have her teeth brushed, as a Labrador's teeth care is vital from 6 months of age, so they don't have poor teeth health the older they get!  

Who knew you could get dog toothpaste and toothbrushes, and that you put them on the end of your finger to clean their teeth. This is usually a two-person job, with most teeth-cleaning adventures resulting in a lot of toothpaste licking.  Lilibet still needs to learn that toothpaste is potentially not a treat or food!

A lot of Lilibet's paw friends are asking the question of why Lilibet eats ice blocks or frozen Greek yoghurt treats.  

Lilibet eats ice blocks when she is in the Library and during Art, this assists with not only teething, it also keeps her focused if Lilibet is starting to become distracted or unsettled and she gets the wiggles. By feeding her ice blocks this resets her brain to focus only on being able to eat the ice block, she then forgets what potentially may have had her focus before to get the wiggles or become unsettled.

The yoghurt treats are a healthy and rewarding snack to change the treat reward.

Lilibet is busily getting her football clothes in order, ready for Footy Colours Day on the last day of term.  

The big question is, which AFL team is Lilibet going to come dressed in?

Lilibet has a colouring lucky draw for all her paw friends at Swansea Primary School for Footy Colours Day.  Students can collect their colouring page from the school office if they would like to colour in Lilibet's team colours.  These colouring pages will go on display in the office, along with all students who participate being added to a lucky draw.

Fun facts for a Puppy Labrador at 6 months old

Understanding Your 6-Month-Old Labrador

Physical Growth and Development

A 6-month-old lab will experience significant physical growth and development during this stage. The lab will continue to grow in size and weight, with noticeable changes in its body proportions. The bones will continue to develop and strengthen, allowing the lab to become more agile and coordinated. The muscles will also continue to develop, giving the lab more strength and endurance. The lab's coat will also change, becoming denser and more protective. Overall, the physical growth and development of a 6-month-old lab is a crucial stage in its life.