December 3rd

As we draw close to the end of the 2020 school year, I would like to encourage our school community to take some time to reflect on all the achievements made in each of our day to day lives throughout the year. 

Leading a school through a pandemic is not something that one ever envisions and therefore certainly does not prepare for! However, life is like that and will bring with it continual challenges along the way....some small and others much harder to cope with. How we deal with them and how we take care of each other through the hard times is the key to getting through, and then being able to look back and say 'look what we achieved!'   

I feel so fortunate to be part of a school community that has pulled together so well to support our students and staff throughout this difficult year. It has taken loads of courage and at times the abilty to find what feels like that last bit of resilience we have left!   

During term two, we certainly had in mind that attaining our 2020 school improvement goals was most likely not possible, however, I am extremely pleased to report that we have certainly done much better towards achieving the goals than anticipated at that time. Our end of year data is certainly showing some substantial gain in improved reading practices within the classroom and student reading development. 

Our work in relation to emotional & social wellbeing has been an extremely important focus (particulary given the impact of COVID-19) as we know from a wealth of research that if this is not attended to in a way that works to create an orderly and healthy learning environment where wellbeing is a priority, then the negative impact on learning can be significant. We have much more to do, but we are most definitely committed to working for the most positive impact.

So...well done and congratulations to our whole school community for supporting each other in a way that has helped our staff be focused on their teaching and for children to keep focus on their learning to attain improved outcomes. 

Please be aware that as much as possible it is important that student attendance is maintained right up until the last day. Learning programs continue throughout this time, along with lots of celebration so lets all do that together! 

Students will transistion to their 2021 classrooms and meet their new teacher on Friday 11th December. Reports and 2021 class placements will be given to each student at the conclusion of this day.

I am pleased to also be able to share our class teacher list with you.....

Karen

Grade 6 Presentation Evening

Last night, it was lovely to have a celebration around our grade 6 leavers and be joined by a limited number of family and friends. 

We were able to share our journey across this unusual year and identify challenges, happy times and wonderful learning that has happened in the 4 classrooms, across 4 terms.

Our donors enabled us to recognise strong academic students, quality citizens, leadership and more. The full list is below and we congratulate all recipients on this recognition.

It was a successful event and we wish our leavers every success as they move into high school.

Prize Recipients

Grade 6 Celebration Dinner

Date: Tuesday 15th December at 6:00pm for 6:30pm start. Concluding at 8:45pm.

Venue: Launceston Golf Club. Limited staff in attendance for 2020.

Students are asked to dress smartly for this occasion, and at school, conversations are around neat and tidy, celebration and certainly not about new and expensive.

Arriving at the venue is not public, so normal transport is expected. Students will gather at the back of the venue for photo opportunities, and for the respect and safety of all, adults are asked to please adhere to the social distancing expectation of 1.5M. Thank you for your support here which will avoid embarrassment for many.

The School and the School Association have made a donation towards the cost of the dinner with the cost to families at $25. Payments can be made either in person at the school office or over the phone via card, EFTPOS/Card is the preferred method of payment. Payments need to be made no later than Friday 11th December. If you need a payment plan, the school is able to discuss this – please ask to speak to Nicole. 

Gary Jones

Kindergarten Classes

Who: Kinder House, Kinder Leedham and Kinder Williams

Where: Heritage Forest

When: Thursday 10th December. Leave school at 9:30am and return by 2:45pm

Students will need a big drink, recess and lunch. Don’t forget your jumper, hat and sunscreen. 

Lynette House, Rebecca Leedham and Melinda Williams

Prep and Prep-1 Classes

Who: Prep Green/Gale, Prep Taylor and Prep-1 Paulsen

Where: Riverside Swimming Pool 

When: Monday 7th December. Leave school at 9:05am and return by 11:30am

Students should wear their PE uniform and bring their hat. They will also need bathers, towel, sunscreen, plastic bag for wet bathers, morning tea and a large drink. Sun tops (rashies) are recommended. Don’t forget to pack underwear. Students will be fully supervised by staff and pool lifeguards.

Sarah Green, Caroline Gale, Alison Taylor and Laine Paulsen

Grade 1 and 1-2 Classes

Who: 1 Andrew, 1 Bailey/Hookway-Dare and 1-2 Walker

Where: Riverside Swimming Pool  

When: Wednesday 9th December. Leave school at 9:05am and return by 12:00pm

Students should wear their PE uniform and bring their hat. They will also need bathers, towel, sunscreen, plastic bag for wet bathers, morning tea and a large drink. Sun tops (rashies) are recommended. Don’t forget to pack underwear. Students will be fully supervised by staff and pool lifeguards.

Kate Andrew, Sam Hookway-Dare, Caroline Bailey and Tamsin Walker

Grade 2 and 2-3 Classes

Who: 2 McCoy and 2-3 Youdale

Where: Riverside Swimming Pool  

When: Wednesday 9th December. Leave school at 11:00am and return by 2:00pm

Students should wear their PE uniform and bring their hat. They will also need bathers, towel, sunscreen, plastic bag for wet bathers, morning tea, lunch and a large drink. Sun tops (rashies) are recommended. Don’t forget to pack underwear. Students will be fully supervised by staff and pool lifeguards.

Kate Andrew, Sam Hookway-Dare, Caroline Bailey and Tamsin Walker

Grade 3-4 Classes

Who: 3 Glen, 3-4 Barker, 3-4 Hill, 4 Horkings and 4's from 4-5 Faulkner

Where: Riverside Swimming Pool 

When: Monday 14th December. Leave school at 9:05am and return by 12:00pm

Students can wear plain clothes (no singlets or bare shoulders) and bring their school hat. They will also need bathers, towel, sunscreen, plastic bag for wet bathers, morning tea and a large drink. Sun tops (rashies) are recommended. Don’t forget to pack underwear. The pool kiosk will be open for students to access. Students will be fully supervised by staff and pool lifeguards.

Jacquie Glen, Rebecca Barker, Claire Hill, Amanda Horkings and Emily Faulkner

Grade 5-6 Classes

Who: 5's from 4-5 Faulkner, 5 Faulkner, 5-6 Marshall, 5-6 Poke/Walker, 6 Driessen and 6 Richards 

Where: Riverside Swimming Pool 

When: Monday 14th December. Leave school at 11:30am and return by 3:00pm

Students can wear plain clothes (no singlets or bare shoulders) and bring their school hat. They will also need bathers, towel, sunscreen, plastic bag for wet bathers, morning tea, lunch and a large drink. Sun tops (rashies) are recommended. Don’t forget to pack underwear. The pool kiosk will be open for students to access. Students will be fully supervised by staff and pool lifeguards.

Emily Faulkner, Hayley Marshall, Megan Poke, Duncan Walker, Scott Driessen and Katrina Richards

On Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th December,  Kindergarten students and their parents have the opportunity to have a quick visit to their 2021 classroom from 2:45pm - 3:00pm. The purpose of the open classroom is for students to familiarise themselves with the location of their new classroom, which door to enter through, where to pop your bags etc.  Parents will get to meet their child's Prep teacher, however they will not be available to have specific conversations about children.  

Please be advised that there have been some changes to the 2021 Term 1 school holiday dates.

The end date for Term 1, has been brought forward to allow the school holiday period to commence immediately following Easter Tuesday.

This means that students will not have to return to school for three days between Easter break and Term 1 school holidays, which was previously the case.

The overarching reason behind this decision is to allow for greater learning continuity for students.

The new arrangements are as follows:

With the school holidays falling directly after Easter, it will be an ideal time for your family to take advantage of the extended holiday period!

All Term dates for 2021 can be found on the Department of Education website at www.education.tas.gov.au/about-us/term-dates/term-dates-2021/

As mentioned in an earlier newsletter we ask that you don’t send food items to school with your child - this includes candy canes or other treats inside Christmas cards. This has become increasingly difficult to monitor in relation to food intolerances and allergies. It may simply appear to be a small treat, however, in each classroom this can potentially occur approximately 25 times. 

Levy Payment and Book Pack Collection Day is 27th and 28th January, 9:00am - 3:00pm. 

Last Monday was our Grade 5/6 Swimming Carnival at the Riverside Pool. This year, the Swimming Carnival was optional for our students, as such I congratulate the 50 students who attended and swam their best. With the carnival being used as purely selection for the LSSSA Carnival, the event ran smoothly and at a fast pace. House points were still up for grabs and plenty of blue, green and red were seen in the stand.

The swimming was of a great standard, with many close races putting the judges under pressure. Some outstanding individual efforts were shown, with Ruby S, Tom H, Annie H, Abby S, Casey N and Jack M showing great skill in a number of events. As we got to the end of the carnival and the last couple of events we had numerous students asking to participate in more events, showing strong motivation and determination.

Banksia took a slight lead early in the day and were able to hold on to that lead throughout the day, ending as victors on 73 points. Waratah and Wattle were not far behind, with 66 and 60 points respectfully. Well done and thankyou to all participants.

Ben Humphrey 

PE Teacher

Just 4 days on from our 5-6 School Carnival, the LSSSA Swimming Carnival took place at the same venue. With COVID times and a few changes to scheduling, Norwood were moved into the highly competitive Division A Carnival this year. This provided an opportunity for our students to test themselves against the best junior swimmers in Launceston.

The NPS Swimming team turned up very enthusiastic and willing to show resilience, knowing Division A would be a tough competition. Throughout the day, many strong efforts were shown that probably did not get the recognition in terms of placing that they deserved. We had two top 3 finishes from Ruby S in Backstroke and Zoe R in Freestyle.

I was most proud of the effort and resilience that our students showed even though they knew it would be hard work to get ribbons. We finished the carnival 44 points behind 5^th place.

Ben Humphrey 

PE Teacher

Best wishes to the Grade 3/4 boys team and coach Rick Wyllie for this weekend's championships. All talented teams this weekend with opponents including Burnie, St Virgils and Howrah.

Gary Jones

Daffodil Paintings

The Christmas Grinch

In celebrating our DoE – long-time servants we include a short survey of 2 more of our experienced staff members.

Alison Taylor - Prep teacher extraordinaire

What school other than Norwood do you have a great fondness for?

South George Town Primary school was the first school I taught at. I made some life long friends and have fond memories of beautiful children and their families.

What year did you begin working at Norwood and who was a great support for you in your first year?

2015. Brooke McCoy has been a constant support and is always so welcoming to new staff members.

Describe Norwood and its children in 3 words!

1. Lucky (to have such beautiful playgrounds)
2. Enthusiastic
3. Reliable

What has been a significant change for you during your teaching career?

When I started teaching, Prep was only four days at the beginning of the year. We used to do home visits with families on those days and have meetings with other Prep teachers. It was wonderful. There was no internet, email, Netflix or Stan when I started teaching so I’m not sure what I did in my down time!

What are you looking forward to in your upcoming holidays?

Regrouping and spending time with my family after what has been a very challenging year.

Deb Moore – Facilities Attendant and kick out specialist

Which teachers have maintained a tidy classroom over the years making your job easier? Roslyn Faulkner (simple)

Hallways are now carpeted. What was good about using the floor polishers?  Nothing, not a thing!

Did you work anywhere else before you came to Norwood?  NO

Are you good at keeping in touch with past work colleagues?  Yes I am

A woman of few words our Deb, except when she wants you to vacate your office so that she can get her work done.

Please check the Lost Property basket for anything that may belong to you! The basket is overflowing with unnamed jumpers, containers, hats and even a school bag!

If you have lost one of our 'new' school uniform items please ask at the school office. 

Thank you!

Poppy Drawings

 The Middle Years Literacy Project (MYLP) has been a three year Department of Education funded initiative which the Queechy Alliance (QA) started in 2018. Two weeks ago I attended the State wide celebration of Middle Years projects where 13 Associations were represented, sharing the successes and challenges of their projects. There has been some amazing work happening across the state focussing on reading, writing, student engagement, instructional models and student voice to name a few.

Below is a snapshot of our QA MYLP journey that was shared at the event:

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• Construction and implementation of an Instructional Model
• Development of Support Materials for the Instructional Model – now electronic
• QA PL - Consistent, aligned key messages for all QA staff co-created by In-School Leaders
• Networking and collaborating across schools
• Teacher planning using instructional model
• Consistent communication and processes within meetings and professional learning
• Shared understanding regarding direction, content and an agreed common language
• Access to experts: Pamela Macklin - School Improvement Consultant, Vic Zbar, Anne Bayetto
• Inclusion of Launceston Big Picture School and Newstead College into the QA

DATA

Teacher responses to School Improvement survey:

1 = Not evident, 2 = Sometimes evident, 3 = Often evident and 4 = Always evident

Student responses to Instructional Model interview:

• "The Success Criteria and Learning Intentions have been displayed on a powerpoint or on the board before we start the lesson and we have posters around the classroom to guide us..."
• "We know what to do to succeed in learning..."
• "It makes me concentrate more; I get better feedback on how to improve my reading."
• "I like the feedback that I get and the learning intentions so I know how to improve."

SUSTAINABILITY (2021-2022)

• QA Principals' Agreements: Funding of a Coordinator to continue the work of the QA, organisational processes, creation of a Data Team
• Professional learning focus: Formative Assessment and Effective Feedback; High impact reading approaches
• Key roles and responsibilities: Board of Principals, In-School Leaders, Coordinator and Teachers
• Strategic Plan Goals:
• The Instructional Model is implemented effectively in all classrooms K-12
• Consistent, high quality teaching and learning of reading is implemented effectively in all classrooms K-12

The consistent leadership and clear direction of the QA has definitely contributed to the effective change of teaching practice which supports our students to be more successful learners. Whilst the funding will cease at the end of 2020, the Board of Principals have agreed to contribute finance from their own school funds to employ a Coordinator for 2021. I am excited to announce that the Coordinator for 2021 is Abbi Dean. The work of the Queechy Alliance will continue to perform at a high level due to Abbi’s experience as In-School Leader for the duration of the 2018-2020 project and previously working in the Connect 6 Association. We wish Abbi all the best as she works with the Principals and leads the In-School Leaders in achieving the future goals of the QA.

If you have any questions or queries about the MYLP please contact your In-School Leader.

Norwood – Zoe Marshall

Belinda Simpson

QA MYLP Coordinator

The school canteen will not be open on Thursday 17th December (last day of term 4).

Thank you!

The final day of School Banking for 2020 will be Friday 11th of December. Any unclaimed redemptions will be processed in Term 1 2021. Thank you for supporting School Banking in 2020!

Norwood Primary School Association Executive 2021/2022

The School Association are starting to look ahead to 2021/2022. At our AGM in March all Executive positions will be vacant, these include Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.

We would love people to start thinking about if this is something that interests them and we would welcome any new faces to these positions.

We currently hold our meetings on a Tuesday night, but this could be changed to a day meeting if that would suit the new executive and potential new members better, anything is possible!

If you have any further questions regarding these positions or our meetings please contact us on norwoodpsa@gmail.com or via our FB page.