Welcome to the 2021 new school year.  This year marks the hundredth year of Swansea Primary School, as it stands, at 25 Franklin Street, Swansea. This year has started with a bang for us, with 13 new students comprised of 11 Kindergarten children and 2 new enrolments, which takes our total enrolments to 59. A very special welcome to all of our new families and students, it is great to have you here!

This is the year of Mathematics. On Monday 1st February our staff started 2021 with our first shared Professional Learning Day with the southern, East Coast Cluster Schools. The day was held at The Spring Bay Mill, and what a wonderful venue it was. Triabunna District School, Orford Primary School and SPS primary teachers, TAs and principals, united for a day of Mathematics Education facilitated by Rob Vingerhoets, a Mathematics educational consultant. I have seen and heard the spark and excitement of learning Maths in our classrooms this week and look forward to building upon our knowledge, and working more closely with our East Coast cluster schools.

As well as Maths, 2021 has been shared with staff as ‘looking through the lens of cleanse’. A significant amount of work has been done over the break, in preparation for our students to return to new, fresh, learning environments and our spaces are looking fantastic. The 456 class have received $6000 of new furniture and they seem to be enjoying their new seating options. 

We are looking forward to celebrating our 100^th Birthday on Wednesday 31^st March.  As part of the celebrations we will be hosting a Heritage Fete onsite between 3pm-8pm. There will be a horse and cart, spit roast, Petting Zoo, Jumping Castle, Mini Jeeps, Salvation Army - Fairy Floss, Toffee Apples, a BBQ, age old games, entertainment and some good old country music by our very talented and very own Ange Boxall! We are in need of some donations of wine barrels, meat for the spit roast and volunteers to help on the evening. If you can contribute to the event in anyway - please make contact with us.  It is going to be a historic and fun evening. 

The day will be filled with lots of fun activities for the students. With guest speakers being past students and staff and our students will be hosting a special assembly ceremony, reflecting on the past hundred years.  Due to COVID restrictions this will be an educational event for our current students and past staff. There will have a cake cutting ceremony to mark this moment in history.  If you know someone who should be invited or if you think that you are someone who could contribute to our special event, or if there is someone in your family or a neighbour close-by, we would love to hear from you!  We are looking forward to dressing up in old fashioned clothing and professional photographs will be available to create memories that will last forever. Over the next few weeks, we will be creating a 100th year reflections magazine to be distributed at the event. We are hoping that there are people out there with artefacts they might like to share with us for this magazine. We would also like to make a display in the foyer of Swan Hall with photographs and old uniform or memorabilia and we welcome any contribution you may have floating around at home. 

We are looking forward to seeing you at our welcome back barbecue on Wednesday the 10th of February from 5 o’clock to 6:30pm. We will gather in Swan Hall for a yearly overview before visiting classrooms to meet with the class teacher for a quick introduction and plan for the year ahead before finishing with a free BBQ and time to mingle. 

It is a very significant year in the history of our community and in our school and we are looking forward to sharing it with you all. 

Kristy Hay

Principal

Welcome to Kinder

Dear Families,

Well done to everyone for a fantastic first week of Kindergarten!  Yesterday I mentioned in the ‘Communication Pouch’ notice that both Mrs. Gadd and I were feeling both proud and thrilled by the amazing levels of courage every child has shown the last two days!  I would now like to add ‘Growth’ to this statement!  Our Kinders are already showing increased levels of independence and resilience around the classroom and it is only week one!

Please give yourself some time to read the information below.  It is quite long.  You might need to put the kettle on.  If you have any questions or would like some more information, please let me know.  Chances are, if you are wondering something, other families will be too.

Eating Times

We have three mealtimes: Healthy Snack Break (HSB), Recess & Lunch. 

We will do our best to ensure your child consumes enough food and drink during mealtimes.  However, sometimes children can be distracted and/or refuse to eat items in their lunchbox.  For this reason, we will leave this food in their lunchbox so that you can check and monitor what has/has not been eaten and have a conversation with your child about this at home.

Morning Routines

The Kinders have adapted very well to their new morning routine of carrying their own bags into school and placing them on the benches in the P/1 outdoor play area.  We will continue to stick with this routine unless it is raining.  If we are having a wet weather day, please bring your child straight to the Cottage.     

After School Arrangements

After school pick up is also starting to run more smoothly.  Please ensure you let both the office and your child know if your afterschool arrangements are going to be different.  As we all know, children love their routines and if those routines suddenly change, it can become a very upsetting experience.

Timetable

Next week, we will send home a laminated timetable of what each day in Kindergarten might look like for Term 1.  We recommend displaying this somewhere visible for your child (e.g. the fridge) so that you can have plenty of conversations about their day.

Below is a summary of our week:   

• Wednesday is Music Day
• Thursday is Library Day
• Friday includes Whole School Community Inquiry, Canteen and Art sessions
• Every day we engage in Daily Fitness and Literacy/Numeracy based learning experiences.

Labelling

Please check that your child’s belongings are labelled e.g. drink bottles, clothing items, lunchboxes (including the smaller containers inside lunchboxes). 

Change of Clothes

Please put a change of spare clothing in your child’s bag.  If you would like your child’s spare clothing to stay in their bag, we will do this for you (please advise).  Otherwise, we will keep the change of clothes at school to help free up some space and weight in your child’s bag. 

Jackets

Please help your child to pack a jacket in their bag each day even if it is a warm morning.  Tasmanian weather can change very quickly, and we want to ensure our children have everything they need to feel comfortable each day.

Drink bottles

We are a ‘water only school’ so please only fill your child’s drink bottle with water.  If a drink bottle becomes empty, we encourage our children to refill them. 

Sun Safety

Please encourage your child to begin applying their own sunscreen in the morning, so that they can develop the independence to apply their own sunscreen at school.   

Bringing Toys from Home

Please do not let your child bring their special belongings from home.  As much as it is wonderful to meet their special friends, they can become a distraction, hazard, damaged or even worst, disappear.  Rest assured, there will be some opportunities to bring along our special friends later in the year.    

Schoolzine

Hopefully by now, you will have had a chance to download the Schoolzine app.  This is a great place to view upcoming events on our school calendar and our fortnightly eNewsletter.  If you need any help with setting up this communication platform, please contact the school.     

Welcome BBQ

Today (Friday) we sent home invitations for the Welcome BBQ.  This will be held on Wednesday the 10^th of February, 5:00-6:30pm.  After a quick assembly with Mrs. Hay at the beginning, we will then make our way to the Kinder Cottage, where your child will have the opportunity to take you for a tour of their new learning space.

School Webpage  

Next week we will upload details of our Kindergarten learning program and what learning might look like in Kinder this year.  You can access the school’s webpage via the Schoolzine app.   

Once again, thank you for a great first week of school.  Please do not hesitate to make a time to speak with me if you would like to have a chat about anything else regarding your child’s learning journey. 

Warmest regards,

Kate Pearce J

Week one has been great fun!  Everyone has settled back into school routines with ease and there has been a positive vibe about learning and aspirations this year.

Our classroom has been refurbished with new tables, chairs and couches.  Students have been enjoying the new break out spaces where individual or small group work can happen.

Over the coming weeks in Science, we will be investigating materials and matter.  In HASS, there will be a focus this term on finding out about the history of our school and region in preparation for the school’s 100^th year celebration in March.

Grade 6 students are encouraged to prepare and deliver leadership speeches for a chance to be elected to represent our school as a Student Council representative or Sports Captain.  Speeches will take place next Thursday and election results will be announced on Friday 12^th February. 

Homework will start in week three.  New work will be set on Monday, which can be handed in on any day after completion.  Students will be expected to complete weekly spelling activities, maintain a reading log and finish any other set tasks. 

We are looking forward to first term being full of challenging work and growing together.

Our Sustainable Learning has started wonderfully this term! Mrs Wells has discussed many different types of celebrations with students, beginning with an inquiry into what children celebrate with their families. We then created a bar graph to display this data. Children also learned about Diwali, which is a celebration that Arcena and Arnab participate in at home. Mrs Sparshott took small groups out to plant seedlings to boost our school garden. We look forward to our seedlings thriving so that we can make use of our home-grown vegetables in our cooking and school canteen.

Mrs Sparshott and Mrs Wells

SCHOOL LUNCH ON FRIDAYS

Every Friday a cooking group will work with Beth to prepare and serve lunch to the whole school. All students and staff will sit down and share lunch together.
Our Sustainable Learning "Community" project and food is subsidised by Bendigo Bank and as such, there will be no charge for the food offered. Please continue to pack your child some lunch for these days as they may still be hungry or may not be keen on the menu!
Gluten free and vegetarian options are available but will only be prepared if a student is going to eat the alternative. If your child is gluten free or vegetarian, please let us know in advance if there are any dietary requirements for the menu below. A whole terms notice would be terrific for our planning preparation and grocery order. Thank you for your support of this initiative.

Swansea Primary School

Swan vs. Oyster

Athletics Carnival

Tuesday 23^rd of February 2021

Commencing: 9:30am

SRC BBQ Lunch and Icy Poles Fundraiser

All Welcome

Events:

Track:

• 800m (Grade 3-6)
• 400m (Grade 3-6)
• 200m (Grade 1-6)
• 100m (Prep-6)
• 50m (Kinder)
• Parent Race (100m)

Field:

• Vortex (1-6)
• Bean Bag Throw (K-P)

Relays:

• Kinder/Prep RElay (50m)
• Grade 1-6 Mixed Relays (100m)

Novelty:

• Sack Races (K-6)
• Tunnel Ball (K-6)
• Clothesline Relay (K-P)
• 3-Legged Race (1-6)
• Egg and Spoon Race (K-6)