This week at Whole School Prayers so beautifully led by Sassafras we were reminded about the need to pray.  To pray is just to be in conversation with God.  It can be anywhere you like.  It could be singing, talking, writing or thinking. It is important for us to pray and God is always listening for our deepest thoughts.  This message from our Prep class was amazing not only for the content but also in it's delivery.  I was so impressed with the confidence and ability of our students to speak in front of the whole school community and their loved ones. It made me very proud of each of them and all of the work our teachers do with your children each day.  

It is hard to believe that we are at another end of term, although I am guessing we will all benefit from having some rest.  It has been a very busy term and it has been one of many celebrations.

These include:

• Cross Country
• Mothers Day
• LOTE sign language song in assembly
• Return of Mrs Thompson
• Mrs Sally Wilson, Thea Hoyle, Sarah Myers joining us
• Excursions to the radio station and the library
• Yellow Day
• Liturgies
• Visits to Lyell Wing
• Anzac Day March
• Walk to School Day
• Beat Box Incursion

In fact there are way too many to recall. Life at a school is very busy, so vibrant and so diverse.  We are lucky to be able to work in such a community to offer a range of learning experiences.  

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

We hope that you have been able to access your child's/ren’s report.  These are available on Compass through the reports tab.  We look forward to meeting with you this week at Parent Teacher.  These are perfect opportunities to reflect and celebrate the progress made in learning and setting goals for the remainder of the year.

Premiers Reading Challenge

All students have been registered to participate in the Premiers reading challenge.  Their task is to read 10 books in 10 weeks.  All students should be able to achieve this in our school if we plan for it.  A reading log has been given to each child, one is kept at school and hopefully you have seen the one at home.  Some suggestions for parents/carers to encourage success for your child are below: 

• Keep reading all kinds of books to your child. They will learn new words and hear what a fluent reader sounds like.
• It’s okay for your child to read from memory. This is part of learning how to read.
• It’s okay to read a book to your child first and then ask them to try to read it aloud by themselves.
• Try taking turns, you read a page and get them to read a page.
• If they are reluctant readers, find a book that taps into their interests – are they interested in cars, basketball, horses, dolls – your school or local library can help.
• If they are getting too frustrated, take over and read with them until they feel calm enough to try again.
• If you are both getting frustrated, stop reading and try again the next day.
• Figure out the best time of day for you and your child, is it breakfast time, bedtime, late afternoon?
• After you’ve finished reading, talk about what happened in the book.
• If you are reading a book to your child that is difficult for them or about an unfamiliar topic, get them to follow the words with their eyes.

If you would like further information https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge/for-families/

Handle with Care

Please read the caption below.  Communicating the three words could help in ensuring that we are in the best position to supply what is needed for our students each day.

Children’s University

Coming events – please stay tuned for formal notification about the following activities:

• CU children on Campus day for children and family members (Cradle Coast) 18th July (school holidays) – flyer to follow shortly;
• Zeehan Museum Open Days – 19th/20th July – July school holidays and CU children attending can earn an extra 3 hours in their passport – entry is free on both of these days and there will be learning and fun activities for children – flyer to follow shortly;
• Young Tassie Scientists – I believe they may have been in contact already but they will be here during science week on the West Coast – there will be potentially subsequent activities over lunch or after school for CU children – details to follow shortly;
• Bitlink – Will be on the West Coast in Queenstown week of 11th September – details to follow and will include opportunity for CU lunch events as well.

Staff changes

Mrs Joanne Thompson has resigned from her Friday position on Leatherwood.  Her last day with 1/2 will be August 11th.  Mr Dylan Semmens will be the teacher on Leatherwood for the remainder of the year after his return from World Youth Day. Mrs Sally Wilson will teach King Billy whilst Mr Semmens is away as well as on each Friday.  We will be providing time for teachers to connect and become familiar with their new roles throughout the remainder of the term.  Mrs Thompson will still be working Wednesday and Thursday as a specialist teacher of Art and LOTE.

World Youth Day

The Archdiocese of Hobart will be taking a group of young pilgrims to the next World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal in 2023.  The pilgrimage  will be led by Archbishop Julian Porteous and Sam Clear.  Archbishop Julian said he had been on many WYD pilgrimages and found them to be wonderful experiences of faith and joy.  We are very excited that Mr Dylan Semmens is attending World Youth day this year.

Take care Dylan, safe travels, our prayer for you whilst you're away…

“May it be an experience never forgotten. May you see the face of the Church as alive, young and full of hope and energy.  Return to us safely”

Happy Everything,

Teresa McLeod

Principal

Term 1: 3rd February - 6th April

Term 2: 26th April - 7th July

Term 3: 25th July - 29th September

Term 4: 17th October - 13th December

Blue Gum

Term 2 has gone so fast in Blue Gum, we have been so busy exploring, learning and building connections with the whole school community. We have enjoyed taking our learning into the library as we make connections between sounds and letters, and then into the adventure playground and sports hall which has given us opportunities to develop our gross motor skills. In the classroom we have been learning about Jesus and his mother Mary, we have been learning how to be kind and caring towards each other just like Jesus. Can’t wait to see what we achieve next term. 

Sassafras

In Sassafras this term we have been learning about adding and subtracting as well as how to measure how long things are in Maths. In Geography, we have been learning about different places we go to and belong to and what makes them special. We are learning how things move in Science and have been doing some investigations in groups. Our class has come a long way in our reading and working hard to read new words and learn our tricky words. Students have learnt lots of new sounds and letters and are working on their sentence writing. It's been a term full of learning and fun!

Leatherwood

Term 2 has seen Leatherwood enjoy a wide variety of learning experiences. We have been focusing on understanding our emotions and building strong relationships in Health. In Maths, Mrs Thompson has been helping us develop our understanding of measuring length, mass and capacity. Our History learning has seen us explore local First Nations sites and places special to Queenstown. We are excited to finish the term with a visit to the Galley Museum next week! In Religion we have learnt about the Sacraments, and our local Church community. We thank Mr Semmens and the SRC for their help in our idea to support Vinnies with the Donation Drive. We are looking forward to seeing where Term 3 will take us! 

Myrtle 

Myrtle has had an awesome time learning in Term 2. In English, we have been learning about sentence writing. In Maths we have learning about multiplication, division, surveys, data, fractions, length and mass. We have been learning about melting and freezing in Science. In HASS we have learnt about different Australian emblems and flags. In Religion we have been learning about Christian Life and God.

We have really enjoyed going to Lyell Wing, singing and showing our work. We made our bark canoes for Design and have programmed the Microbits to help us count our skipping during Daily Fitness. We have been to the Library to learn about Antarctica. We had our own Liturgy at the Church and the theme was God. We have read lots of Roald Dahl books, James and the Giant Peach, The Twits and Matilda. A great term of learning!

King Billy

This term in King Billy students have enjoyed experimenting with the order of operations in Mathematics and creating number sentences for their peers to solve. We have constructed poems and analysed news reports in English. We especially loved our visits to Lyell Wing and joining with Leatherwood for library this term. We created bracelets with residents of lyell wing and have read lots of books with Leatherwood.