Week 6 has flown! Actually the whole term and 2020 is quickly passing us by. 

I wanted to start by saying an extended and heartfelt thanks to our School Association members for their efforts on Saturday with their BBQ and raffle stall. It was wonderful to see the buzz in the town and the students, staff and I are very grateful. Thank you! I look forward to our next event - the SPS End of Year Celebration evening to be held on Tuesday 15th December for our families. Save the date! More details to follow - please join us on Monday 24th November for our next SPS SA meeting via zoom or onsite from 5pm.

We had a wonderful start to Week 6, with our Grade 2-6 students attending an excursion collaboration between Sporting Schools funding and DoE's School Excursion Voucher Scheme.  SPS was successful and allocated $1000 to get out and about and support local businesses and what a fun day it was.  We started at the Penny Royal where many students pushed their own limits and took healthy risks to challenge themselves.  It was great to hear the comradery and support between all of the students not just their own close friends but the entire group.  Afterwards, we headed to the Launceston Aquatic Centre where students had unlimited rides on the waterslide, which was a real hit and luckily the weather was incredible for our visit.

We have also had Fish care in on Tuesday with the help of Elise our Chaplain (and fisherwoman extraordinaire) who took all students to the Swansea Jetty to throw in a line and hopefully catch a fish!  There were some monsters caught would you believe, and students returned for a cook up and taster session.

We have been selected as one of only two schools in Tasmania to attend a Trial Kids to Farms Day, at Government House.  The Kids to Farms Project a state government initiative, organised by the Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association.  I am really looking forward to this special opportunity and spending the day with the students in this 'garden to plate' experience, with hands on sessions in both the garden and the kitchen. 

I am very excited to report that we have just purchased a significant number of new devices to improve our student: device ratio.  From 2021 we will have 1:1 devices from Grade 1-6 which is a significant achievement in the digital world we live in and one of very few small rural schools with this level of IT infrastructure and hardware.  I am looking forward to implementing more Digital Technologies curriculum in 2021 and would love to hear from any parents who may be able to volunteer to help in this area as an extra-curricular opportunity.  We are currently applying for a CSIRO STEM Scientist in Schools support person to work with us here at SPS.  STEM Professionals in Schools is a national volunteer program that facilitates partnerships between schools and industry to bring real STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) into the classroom.

Thank you to those families who have popped in to see me regarding their plans for 2021, it is very much appreciated, thank you.

Have a wonderful fortnight!

Regards,

Kristy Hay

Principal

End of Year Celebration Assembly

Monday 14th December 2020

11am

Please RSVP by Friday 20th Nov

Grade 6 students enjoying Freycinet

In the Kinder/Prep Class

Our word of the week is “bed” (Lincoln)

The sounds in bed are “/b/ /e/ /d/” (Poppie)

We can spell this word by writing the letters “b.e.d” (Flora)

Are you or do you know of anyone that will be studying and needs free student bus travel in 2021. 

This information is not appliciable to our school bus transport with East Coast Coaches.