Term 2

We did it! 

Well done Team Swansea Primary School;  families, students, and all staff!  Term two has been a most challenging time for us all as we negotiated COVID-19 restrictions. Our ability to work together to continue learning while ensuring positive student wellbeing is an achievement worth celebrating! It is wonderful to report that our students are happy, healthy and resilient learners. 

Learning form home earlier this term was a steep learning curve for many in the team. Everybody’s efforts in problem solving technological issues with patience and understanding is truly appreciated.  

The gradual return to school has been managed extremely well.  Our teacher assistants have played a special role by being flexible with timetables and endeavouring to deliver quality programs alongside the classroom teaching and learning – thank you Janine, Beth and Rikki.  Wayne and Stuart have adapted skilfully to everchanging regimes for cleaning and hygiene.  The students have taken on hygiene routines with good grace and families have done a wonderful job in adhering to physical distancing measures, such as school drop off locations.  

We are indeed fortunate that we have this sense of teamwork, community and care – feeling good at school helps everyone to be able to teach and learn.

Uniform

It has been wonderful to see many families making the effort to ensure students are coming to school wearing full school uniform.  Uniform brings us together and there is a feeling of Team Swansea when we see the students in the playground.

Interim Reports

It is important to remember that there has been disruption to the usual learning program this year.  Schools have had to juggle upheavals and changes with the curriculum.  Interim reports will be sent home during the second week of term 3.  These are a modified version of the usual midyear report due to the amount of disruption associated with COVID-19. 

Student Free Day

After the term holidays, Monday the 20^th of July will be a student free day.  Teachers will be training for a whole school spelling approach. 

The first day of term 3 is Tuesday the 21^st of July.

Term 3

Next term parents and carers will be able to drop children off at the classroom door, while observing physical distancing.  If there is any need to stay beyond 5 minutes, to meet with teachers for example, there is a requirement to fill in a Health Screening Form.

Holidays

Wishing everyone a wonderful term break.  With so many holiday activities once again compromised due to COVID-19, remember that the library is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Stay safe and we look forward to starting up term three refreshed and ready to learn. 

Mrs Sophie Wilson

The Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) challenges students from Prep to Year 6 to make reading a fun part of their day and read 10 books in 10 weeks. This can be integrated with existing classroom reading programs. Students can negotiate with their teacher to have a large chapter book counted as being more than one book. Whilst reading 10 books means the student has completed the Challenge, they can read more.

Log books and extra pages can be downloaded from the PRC website.

These websites may help students choose books to read:

Libraries Tasmania – Kids Reading page https://libraries.tas.gov.au/kids/Pages/default.aspx

Good Reading Magazine – For kids www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/just-for-kids.html

Reading Time – children’s book reviews and news http://readingtime.com.au/

My Place Competition

“Australian children find themselves living through a historically significant time. The coronavirus pandemic has reshaped their lives, and historians of the future will want to know how this looked and felt for children, their families, and their communities. The 2020 My Place Competition asks students to reflect on this moment in time and share their thoughts, observations, and experiences through creative writing.”

https://actf.com.au/teaching_resources/id/10402/my-place-competition

Here are some excerpts from students’ entries;

Since there’s been covid 19 I have been sad that I can’t have sleep overs with Tia or Alice. And I missed my Poppy’s birthday because of covid 19.  I didn’t go to school because of covid 19 for three weeks and had to do home school, I was so happy to see my friends that my smile touched the sky! Abby Lyne

In my front yard there is this big fig tree

If you could climb if you would be able to see the world!

You look at it and you can just imagine being on top - wind blowing

Through your hair. In my spare time I like to play a video game The Legend of Zelda

And go on the trampoline. In LEGO I built this really big ship and it is my favourite  

Thing I have built. I like to go the beach and take Jackson too! Alex Maclaine

Before all of this there were the bushfires. It was what I thought would be the last crisis In Australia. I guess I was wrong. This corona virus thing is making our lives really hard but the warm fire is always there. It makes me feel warm and cosy and life-like - I guess it’s my place. Alice Calder

Hi! I’m Ava and this is my place. My place is music, it’s my happy place. Music is like a magical medicine for me! I always sing or listen to music, I play my ukulele too. I want to produce music too! I’m nearly eleven. I have two brothers and my mum and dad. I live in a town on the East Coast of Tasmania, Tasmania has some of the freshest air in the world!   I

love nature and I want to protect it from any harm. Recently, I re-decorated my room! It’s a beachy room.  I like going to the beach, the waves are always crashing onto the shore. When I’m older I’d like to take photographs at beautiful places, like the sandy beaches, tall mountains and unbelievable natural things! Ava Melling

Hi my name is Courtney and this is my place.

I am 11 years old and I was born in Queensland but now I live on the east coast of Tasmania.

My place is playing with my best friend in the whole world Ruby.

We like to go to lots of places but my favourite is the bridge. It’s this bridge at the duck park where I usually go feed the ducks and look at the fish go by. At the Duck Park there is a big creek that runs all the way down to the sea. Courtney Atkins

This year has not been a normal year because there has been a virus going around. The virus is called the coronavirus or Covid -19 for short. Covid 19 has affected me because it meant that children including me couldn’t go to school. We had to do online schooling and all of our learning was online so we were on our computers and ipads all day for school.  I didn’t like online school because I couldn’t see my friends in person. At school my favourite subject is writing and drawing because It’s fun and I also love doing art on Fridays. Ivy Hay

At dinner mum and dad make the best food it’s like the best chef has made it. We have 2 animals a ragdoll and a golden retriever. The cat is called Sassy.  The dog is Indie and when I get a tennis ball she jumps everywhere but Sassy sleeps a lot! School is now open and I get  to see my friends again.      Kade Rigg-Fox

Hi! My name is Kyeasha I’m 12 years old. I have lots of animals but I have to say my horses are my favourite! Horse riding is my passion.  Some people call me the horse whisperer.  I also love gymnastics and I live just across the other side of the beach.  The beach is my happy place! I go horse riding most weekends with my little sister. 

Lately there has been a deadly virus going around called covid 19! It’s a virus that’s killed many people around the world. So kids had to do online learning, like me! I thought that online learning was good fun but sometimes it could get lonely and challenging! Kyeasha Simpson

The waves crashing on the sand, ringing in my ears.

Seagulls jumping up and flying away

The sand hitting my legs feeling like pins

My hair flying in the wind as I run along

[Although sometimes I don’t like it when sand gets all over me!]

Hi I’m Lilly and this is my place. I live in a small town on the east coast of Tasmania. Lilly Whelan

This year they’re has been bushfires, floods, droughts and now there is virus called COVID- 19. We could not go to school we were home schooled so we had to do online learning. I could not go to Hobart, in stores there was a thing called social distancing. You could only buy limited amount of items.

When I am older I want to be a very good skateboarder. But I don`t know what job I want yet though. When I get home from school I go skateboarding and I do my favourite trick which is doing a turn half way up the ramp. Summa Jacobson

Reading Challenge!

Mrs Wilson set a challenge for every student to read for 1 hour at home every week.  There was incentive to participate as Mrs Wilson promised a reward for ever 50 hours of reading that the class accumulated as a group.  Yesterday the class were thrilled to be rewarded with lunch of hot chips from the Horny Cray, an ice-cream and a science fiction movie (Don’t worry, this links to our space unit of work and sci-fi writing!).

Lewis, Naoimh and Eva adding to their reading hours while waiting for the bus.

 Sustainable Learning Groups

Next term we will be reviving sustainable learning groups on Wednesday.

Students from Kinder to grade 6 will be put into 3 groups – Freycinet, Schouten and Maria.

Each group will spend three weeks at an activity, then rotate to the other activities through the term.

Mrs Wells : General Capabilities through Community Service, including lunch preparation for the whole school.

Miss Murray: STEAM challenges (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics)

Mrs Sparshott: The science of Sustainability

Week 10 = celebration of learning / assembly TBC

SCHOOL LUNCH ON WEDNESDAY

Every Wednesday a cooking group will work with Beth to prepare and serve lunch to the whole school.  All students and staff will sit down to share lunch together. 

There will be no charge for food.

Please let us know if there are any special dietary requirements for your child and we will accommodate this in our planning and preparation.