Welcome to Term 3!  We are back in full swing.  Parent Teacher conversations are currently taking place and although unfortunately student attendances have been lower than usual due to COVID-19 isolations and staying home when unwell, there has been some exciting things happening at SPS.

This term already, we have participated in a flag raising ceremony where our leaders raised the Australian, Tasmanian and Aboriginal flags for the first time in this our 100^th year, on this site.  It was a historical moment and the students have enjoyed raising the flags each day.

Today is National Tree Planting Day and we celebrated yesterday, planting trees at Jubilee Beach with members of the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council.  Special thanks to Mandy, Jarrod and Nona.

Today I had the pleasure of visiting classrooms to observe some wonderful maths lessons as part of our ongoing commitment to “Maths Power Hour”.  We are changing things up on a Friday facilitaing our Maths lessons before Literacy.  It was exciting to see the wonderfully engaging lessons happening across the school. The students were highly motivated and engaged and most importantly they could articulate their learning goals and were successfully working towards developing their mathematical mental computation strategies.  It was great to see the Prep/1s using number charts, calculators and metacognition to successfully count in groups of twos to thirty and recognising, extending and experimenting with number patterns.

In the 2/3 the students were using poppets as a tool to support their understanding of arrays.  It was a great way to gather formative assessment of individual student growth and further develop their understanding of multiplicative thinking. I’m looking forward to next week’s Gala Day at Bicheno, Ride to School Day on Tuesday and the Mini Olympics at Triabunna District school on the 12th August.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Kristy Hay

Principal

Last week we completed our Aboriginal Flag Inquiry. Students have enjoyed developing a deeper understanding of the Australian Aboriginal flag.  Building the capacity to identify the colours that make up the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the capacity to understand what the colours on the flag represent and why it is important. Students are now able to successfully recognise the Aboriginal flag both inside and outside Swansea Primary School. They are excited to see our new Aboriginal flag flying along with the Australian flag and the Tasmanian State Flag.  

Next week we look forward to beginning our Inquiry about Bees with Mrs Sparshott and apiarist Rob Barker from Wild Hives Honey, whom many of you know Melody’s Dad.  During this Term, Swansea Primary school will have a special visit from Rob and look forward to asking him lots of questions about bees, honey, hives, plants, and much more.  

We had our first Health and PE lesson with Miss Van Galen yesterday. We started learning about the Olympics and made our very own Olympic torches.  Miss Van Galen is helping us to get ready for the East Coast Cluster School Olympics on Thursday the 12th of August at Triabunna District School.  At the East Coast Cluster School Olympics, organised by Miss Murray, we will be learning more about the Olympic values and participating in lots of traditional and crazy Olympic style activities in teams.  

Power Hour in the Grade 2/3 Class

During our maths power hour time, the Grade 2/3 class have been doing a lot of work with number charts (10 by 10 grids with 100 numbers and starting from different points). Using these charts is very beneficial for our understanding of the number system as it makes the quantity of 100 clear, it allows students to count and check, it allows us to share strategies and the number charts can be adapted easily (can start from any point) to match our current learning goals.

As a class we now know that when we move up or down the chart, our number is increasing or decreasing by tens and when we move left or right on the chart, our number is increasing or decreasing by ones. We can use this understanding to fill in blank spaces on a number chart and we can recognise patterns created when we are skip counting. We can recognise when numbers are in the incorrect spot and what we need to do to determine the correct number. We have also been using our understanding of place value and sharing a variety of strategies for determining which number would belong in a particular place.

We are excited to welcome Miss Emily Van Galen to the team at SPS.  Emily is completing her 4th year of a Bachelor of Education at UTAS and is currently working as a TA and HPE specialist in a relief capacity as Miss Murray has university commitments this term.  Welcome, Miss Van Galen! - Kristy Hay

This week in Health and Physical Education students shared their prior knowledge of the Olympics. Students learnt about the twenty-eight sports included in the event, shared their experiences of watching the events and the history of the Olympic torch. Students designed and created their own Olympic torches and chose an Olympic athlete to write a report on. Students investigated the personal bests of their athlete, the total of medals won in prior Olympic events and three interesting facts.  We are looking forward to competing in our very own mini Olympics within the East Coast Schools at Triabunna on August 11^th at TDS.

                                

Prep/1 students creating the Olympic Rings

• Miss Van Galen.

On Wednesday the 11^th of August Swansea Primary will be participating in a Ride to School event. For Health and Physical Education on the 10^th of August, students are encouraged to bring their bikes to school on arrival. Students will be practising how to ride their bikes safely in a group environment within the school, in preparation for the Ride to School event the following day.

Students are required wear their helmets.

Regards,

Emily Van Galen

Health and Physical Education, Swansea Primary

At Swansea Primary School, sanitary products for students are available in an emergency or as an ongoing supportive provision for students who may require assistance.

After consultation with our students, these products are available through the school office.

For further support and information about this please contact the school office.

Please remember to complete all sections of permission forms before returning to them to school.

Please notify us of absentees via the SZapp, email or contacting the school office before 9am.

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.

Cooking with Beth

Last year staff at Swansea Primary School had the idea to make a cooking group with children from the 4/5/6 class.

Beth makes a roster with all the 4/5/6’s names and each week we have 3-4 people from the roster to cook on Fridays. Today the 30/07/2021, Shyla, Ivy and Millie cooked a pork and lamb roast with vegetables and gravy. We like cooking with Beth because it teaches us life skills we need to learn. It is also fun because we make hot lunch for the whole school.  

We are very lucky to have volunteers come to the school to help us cook lunch. Lately Anne and Suzanne have come to help in their spare time.

Swansea Primary School are lucky to have lots of vegetables donated from places like The Salvation Army, Kingborough Mission and other places around Tasmania for our cooking. We also have a garden at school that is full of healthy produce that we can use for cooking.  We are also very thankful to have Swansea Bicheno Community Bank supporting our sustainable learning cooking program.

Some of the food we have cooked so far includes soup, spaghetti bolognese, pizza, scones, meatballs, roast, quiche and lots more. We are very fortunate to get to cook during class time and community because most schools don’t get that opportunity at school. Beth is very good at helping us learn to cook and teaching us good kitchen hygiene.  Beth has taught us how to cook safely and responsibly and we have learnt a lot from her.

Thank you, Beth and all of the volunteers, and also thank you for helping us.

From Shyla, Ivy, Millie and Chloe

Dear Owner/Manager,

Due to high demand and a sell-out of the First Aid and CPR courses scheduled for August 6th in Swansea, ProMED Tasmania will hold another session of courses on Saturday, August 28^th 2021. The following courses are available:

• Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (HLTAID009) - $65
• Provide Basic Life Support (HLTAID010) - $85
• Provide First Aid (HLTAID011) - $135
• Provide First Aid in an Education & Care Setting (HLTAID012) - $160

Bookings can be made via Our Booking Portal or email to info@promedtas.com.au

As a mark of our appreciation for accepting our offer to train with us, we are still offering a 10% discount on quoted pricing; simply enter the promo code "THANKYOU10" to receive the discount!

Do you need on-site first aid training for your business, organisation, or group?

Any of ProMED Tasmania's high-quality training courses can be customised and tailored to specific activities and environments and be delivered on-site at your workplace or location. We collaborate with our clients to ensure that the courses are offered at their convenience and the best possible price! We can accommodate any group size or number of people and provide engaging training through qualified and experienced instructors.

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