Dear parents, families, students and community members, 

Welcome back to Term 4! 

Over the next two weeks, students from Prep - Grade 6 will be taking part in Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT). PAT is a standardised test and takes place annually at the end of the year. Students from Prep - Grade 6 will be assessed in Reading and Maths. Students in Grades 3 - 6 will also be completing Science and Spelling assessments. Assessments take place online and data helps us to inform teaching and learning for next year. 

We are excited to welcome a Community Artist, Samara McIlroy to Swansea Primary School next week. Samara has been commisioned to work with the school to inspire the design of new entry and exit features in Swansea. These art works will welcome everyone to Swansea and share what we love about our town. Students from Grades 2 - 6 will be taking part in these workshops over the next week. Thank you to Donnalee Young for organising these workshops. 

From the 3rd November - 5th November, we will be taking part in an External School Review. All DECYP schools take part in this review process every 4 years. I am excited to participate in this process, celebrate our achievements and reflect on areas of improvement. Some students will be asked to provide feedback for this review, please contact me through the school office if you would not like your child to be interviewed. I am also in the process of contacting some family members to provide feedback for the review. If you are interested in being called by the reviewers, please contact me through anna.knowles@decyp.tas.gov.au

Kind regards, 

Anna Knowles
Principal

Splash and Play

Amelia: My favourite part was when I learnt to lay on my back with a noodle.

Llewyn: I liked to go under the water.

Wyatt: I like the swimming pool. We played basketball.

Arlo: My favourite thing  going underwater.

Indi: Piper and I played a game where we ran and slid on kickboards. It was fun.

Ellie: My favourite thing about Oatlands Aquatic Centre was when we got to swim some laps. It was so fun. I wish we could go again.

Jaxon: I liked the swimming pool and playing with friends. I played basketball and it was fun.

Grace: I liked playing with the sinkies. I went under the water. It was fun.

Lucy: I played with my friends in the swimming pool. I like playing with the sinkies.

Daisy: I liked getting the sinkies. It was verry very fun. I loved Oatlands. All of it was fun but getting the slinkies was the best.

It's been a great start to Term 4, with lots of different activities happening!

Grade 3's loved participating in the swimming carnival.  Lots of new things happen in Grade 3, and although students were a little nervous, they ended up having a fantastic day with lots of exciting new challenges.

We've got student work on Limericks and Flags of Australia to share, plus we also had a visit from a sweet little lamb that is being looked after by Rydae's family.

Sunshine and smiles, 

Mrs Sparshott

Grade 456 have had a truly fantastic start to Term 4!

It was lovely to welcome our new student Jheriane into Grade 456 and it was fabulous to watch the other students show her just how things work here at Swansea Primary School.

We started the term with our first ever Swansea Primary swimming carnival and the students enthusiastically participated in all events. It was great to see some competitive rivalry in the pool but most of all it was awesome to see how supportive everyone was of each and every other swimmer.

As far as learning is concerned, we’ve jumped straight in there too! We’ve been practising lots of fractions these last two weeks and I’m pleased to say that there has been a huge amount of success in our classroom with this concept. The Grade 456 students have worked with mixed fractions, improper fractions and fractions with different denominators.

In English we’ve started reading ‘The Twits’ as we’re looking at characterisation this term. The Grade 456 students have been given a copy of the two plays that we will be performing at the end of the year and have been asked to start practising their lines. We’ve also set up our new recycling bins in the different classrooms and around our school.

Lots of fun and exciting learning is happening already and there’s lots more to come this term!

Thank you to everyone who participated in Footy Colours Day at the end of last term. We raised $99.50 for the Fight Cancer Foundation. 

SWAN VS OYSTER SWIMMING CARNIVAL

We had a fantastic Grade 3 - 6 Swimming Carnival at the Oatlands Aquatic Centre. This is a new event for us, and it was fantastic to be able to use the wonderful facilities at Oatlands to run the carnival. Well done to students for displaying our school value of Courage for trying their best at the carnival.

From this carnival, students have been selected for the SPSSA Division F Carnival, to be held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre. This Carnival will be held on Monday 10th November. Between now and then, students will be participating in Squad training with Melissa to work on their swimming strokes. As always, a big thank you to Andrew and Camilla for allowing us the use of their pool for Squad training. 

Well done to Oyster for winning the carnival. 

Swansea Primary School is part of something special!  

Next week, Swansea Primary School students will help celebrate what makes Swansea unique through art and storytelling workshops with community artist Samara McIlroy.  

Their creations will inspire the design of new Town Entry Features - artworks to welcome everyone to Swansea and showcase what we love most about our town.  

What to bring to school   

• A small natural object (like a shell, leaf, or pebble) to use for textures and inspiration, (if however, a student forgets, there is an opportunity for them to collect a natural object at school).  

• A photo or drawing of a favourite Swansea place or a special memory (optional)  

How families can join in  

• Talk together about growing up or living in Swansea. What’s special about the beaches, people, history, wildlife or traditions?  

• Help find an old photo of Swansea   

Workshops held Monday 27 – Friday 31 October 2025 during class time. For more information, contact the school. 

*Look out for the “Postcards from Swansea” post boxes at local cafés and shops — draw or write about what makes Swansea special and post your card*    

This project is part of the Celebrate Swansea Town Entry Features Project by the Swansea Chamber of Commerce, Community and Tourism Inc., with support from local community groups and the GSB Council.