February 10th

Welcome to our first newsletter for the 2021 school year!  

What a fantastic settled start we have had to the year.  It was wonderful to see students coming in on the first day with smiles and lots of enthusiasm for the new year. 

A huge thank you to our families for your preparation and support in having children well presented and emotionally ready for school. 

As always it is important that we remind the school community at the beginning of each year about our duty of care in relation to starting and finishing times.  

• School's duty of care for students begins at 8:30am daily....students should not be at school before this time unless they are going to Before School Care or are accompanied by an adult.  
• Students arriving after 9:00am must sign in at the office. 
• Students must be picked up as close to 3:00pm as possible unless attending After School Care or waiting for a bus. School staff are rostered on to supervise bus duty. We understand that there may be times when family members are caught up on the way to collect children from school. If this happens please give the school office a call. Children still outside waiting after the outside duty person has completed their duty, will be asked to wait in the office foyer to be collected from there as teaching staff often have meetings to attend after 3:00pm. This is a matter of our duty of care. 

A few things about road traffic & pick up.....

• If picking up from the 'Pick up | Drop off' zone, please be aware that this is a strictly no parking area.
• This means that you must only use this area to pull in and pick up or drop off
• Cars arriving early for pick up, must not park in this area to wait...the idea is to keep the flow of the traffic going. 
• Students are being asked to wait at the steps closest to the roundabout and access their 'pick up' from there. Please remember to keep moving up as cars leave so that cars are not lined up down the road waiting. 

This works very well when everyone follows the process. 

Car Park 

Our school car park is reserved for staff, school visitors and for disabled parking only. Use of the carpark for general drop off and pick up is a safety hazard for our students.

Thank you in advance for helping us keep our students safe by following these processes. 

Karen 

Date: Thursday, 11^th March

Time: 9:30am -1:30pm

Venue: St Leonards Athletic Centre

The Primary Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 11^th March at the St Leonards Athletic Centre. This is our first sporting carnival of the year and the first opportunity to display house spirit and determination.

To ensure a smooth start to the day, students will need to present at school by 8:55am, to allow prompt departure of buses. We are aiming to start the carnival by 9:30am. All students need to ensure they are wearing their sports uniform, hats, a large drink bottle and sunscreen. Students are also encouraged to support their house by wearing ribbons, zinc cream, etc. of their teams colours.

Wattle: Blue              Waratah: Red               Banksia: Green

Children with asthma are reminded to bring their puffers for the day.

All children must participate in at least 2 running events, with a number of other events such as long jump, relays and novelty events available as well.

Students who compete strongly may be invited to participate in the LSSSA Athletics Carnival which is to be held on 17th or 18th March, also at the St Leonards Athletic Centre.

COVID safe procedures will be in place at the venue. At this stage, parents and spectators will be permitted to attend the event, however there will be restrictions. More information to follow.

Structure of the day:

9:30am: Grade 3-6 400m; Grade 6 Long Jump

10:00am: Grade 3-6 200m; Grade 5 Long Jump

10:30am: Grade 3-6 100m; Grade 4 Long Jump

11:15am: Grade 5-6 800m; Grade 3 Long Jump

11:45am: Tug o War

12:15pm: Grade 5-6 H2O Race; Grade 3-4 Egg & Spoon; Grade 3-4 Sack Race

12:30pm: Grade 3-6 Relays

1:15pm: Close of Carnival

Ben Humphrey

Please return Validaiton forms to the school office asap.

If you have a change of address we require evidence of the new address through one of the following documents:

• Bank/Financial statement
• Utility bill (phone, electricity, gas) unable to accept rates notices
• Lease/Rent Agreement
• Australian Tax Office Assessment form from the current or last financial year
• Certificate of Title

If you have a change on your child's immunisation record please provide evidence in the form of one of the following:

• Updated Child Health blue book
• Medicare print out
• Letter from Doctor

Thank you!

Get creative as we would love to see photos showing you as a family reading together!!

Developing an interest in books from a young age is so crucial in the journey to becoming lifelong readers. At school your child’s teacher/s are reading to your children daily simply to develop a love of reading.

We are inviting you to send in a photo showing you enjoying reading at home or out and about! Prizes to be won!!

Please send your photos to the following email address - norwood.primary@education.tas.gov.au by 1^st March, 2021

Please note: You must have given consent for your photos to be uploaded to school publications such as our school Facebook page and the school newsletter.

Prize winners will be announced in the 10^th March newsletter.

Please speak to Mrs Fankhauser if you have any questions.

We look forward to seeing your amazing photos!

Our grade 5’s and 6’s were really fortunate to be able to participate in a full day seminar with JCP which was aimed at empowering and inspiring them to be the best version of themselves. Our students enjoyed taking part in lots of energetic and engaging activities that focused on Leadership, Teamwork and School Spirit.  They spent time learning about their own leadership potential with a focus on resilience and relationship building among their peers. Each week our students will receive a brief key message from JCP throughout the year reminding them of key messages from yesterday’s session. Please talk to your child about what they remember from the day and what they thought was a key message for them personally.

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

This year we will be using email as the method of written communication between teachers and parents/guardians. Using email is the primary communication tool throughout the entire Department of Education and it is much easier for teachers to keep track of messages and information. We are unable to use Dojo as a form of communication as many classes did last year, however, we are investigating different apps for within the school. It is now a DoE regulation that these apps will not be used for messaging parents/guardians.

Every teacher has sent home their welcome letter including their email address. We ask that you please be aware that teachers may not be checking their email outside of work hours. If the matter is urgent and during class time, please contact the school office.

If you have any questions please contact the office or speak to your child’s teacher.

We recommend you download and subscribe to the SchoolZine App and follow the Norwood Primary Facebook page for regular updates and links to the school newsletter.

Just a reminder that you can check our school calendar for upcoming events on your Schoolzine App or via our newsletter when viewed online. Just click on the 'Calendar' button in the App or view Upcoming Events down the side of the newsletter. 

Date: Friday, 26^th March

Time: 9:15am -10:45am

Venue: Norwood Primary School   

The Prep-Grade 2 Athletics Carnival will be held on 26^th March. This will be held on school grounds between 9:15am -10:45am.

Students will need to be wearing their school uniform, school hat, a large drink bottle and apply sunscreen before coming to school. Students will be competing in a number of running and novelty events throughout the morning.

COVID safe procedures will be in place at the venue. At this stage, parents and spectators will be permitted to attend the event, however there will be restrictions. More information to follow.

Ben Humphrey

Norwood Primary School will not be offering the Esk Band program in 2021. This was a difficult decision that we did not make lightly, however, due to many contributing factors we are unable to facilitate the program this year. 

As noted in our newsletter at the end of 2020, we have Michela Pinner conducting private piano lessons at school on Fridays, and we are exploring options for other instrument tuition.  Michela’s timetable is now full, however, you can make contact with her for her waitlist. michelapinner@gmail.com

Karen 

Great news for children coming to our kindergarten in 2022 and their families.

This year we will be providing all children with smaller, more intensive groups of pre-kinder in terms 1 and 2 to enable teachers to get to know the children more and respond to their individual needs. Each of these groups will run for approximately 5 weeks. Term 3 will have all our pre-kinder children divided into three larger groups. Term 4 will see the children allocated to one of three groups according to whom their teacher is likely to be in 2022.  

Round 1 of the small pre-kinder groups will start March 3rd.

Round 2 will start at the beginning of term 2.

Letters will be sent out in coming weeks inviting you into round 1 groups.

If you know of any families who are in our school zone and have children starting kinder in 2022 please ask them to contact the school office.

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

Forest Fun!

Children (0-4 years) and their families are invited along to ‘Forest Fun.’

Date: Every Monday Starting 15^th February 2021

Time: 1:40pm - 2:40pm.

We will meet in the Kinder playground at 1:40pm and then walk up to the forest together.

Your child will need to wear old clothes, appropriate footwear, a hat and bring along a drink. If it’s raining be sure to wear a coat. Get ready for some fun outdoor learning! 

Tania Fankhauser

Our School Canteen will start next week Thursday 18th February. Orders can be made via the Qkr! App prior to 9:00am. It is a good idea to do your canteen orders the night before. If for some reason you need to cancel your order (eg. sick child) this can be done via the Qkr! App before 9:00am. Cash and counter sales are not available. 

Canteen Volunteers Needed

Our school canteen would be unable to operate without the wonderful volunteers who help out on a Thursday and Friday. We are in need of more volunteers to join our roster. If we do not have sufficient volunteers the canteen will no longer be able to operate two days and will offer a limited menu. Please contact the office on 63442533 if you are able to help. Thank you!

Canteen Price List

Our most recent school uniform items are looking fantastic!  Please be aware that Midford are having some difficulty keeping up with stock so it might be wise to give them call and see what is in stock prior to going in.  

They have currently sold out of sizes 6, 8, 10 and 12 of the new green polo’s. The next order is due mid March. Contact Midford on 6331 4622 to place your order.

A copy of our most recent uniform policy is attached below. 

Brochures for our Issue 1 of Book Club for 2021 have been sent home. Orders can be placed online,  or by returning your order in a sealed envelope or bag with Child’s name and class to the school office no later than Wednesday 17^th February.

Thank you.

Are you really good at covering books with contact? 

We are seeking volunteers to help cover lots and lots of brand new library books in contact. Attention to details is a must!!

Please let the office know if you can help! Thank you!

A reminder to parents and carers if your child will be absent please notify the school by 9:30am. You can do this in person, email school at norwood.primary@education.tas.gov.au, (please do not email individual staff members), phone (63442533), text message (0407 665 749) and via the Schoolzine App. If student attendance remains unexplained after three days, parents will receive a follow up text message for them to please notify the school of these absences. Thank you!

Just a reminder to parents and carers that Norwood Primary School is an allergy awareness school. Please do not send any food to school that contains nuts or nut products. Thank you.

If your child requires ‘over the counter’ medication at school you must sign a parent permission form.

If your child requires prescribed medication (eg. antibiotics) you must have an ‘Administration of Prescribed Medication Authorisation’ completed by a doctor, pharmacist or practice nurse. These forms are available at the school office or from the Department of Education website. Medication - The Department of Education Tasmania  

All medication must be handed into the school office in the original packaging. Students can only have their asthma medication in their bags.

If your child has Asthma and requires Asthma medication (eg. Ventolin) at school we will need an Asthma Action Plan signed by a doctor and parent. These must be updated annually.

Please ask at the School Office if you have any questions.

School Banking will return for 2021 this Friday, February 12th. Reward Information Packs will be distributed as soon as they are received from the Commonwealth Bank. If your child hasn’t banked before and you are interested in joining, please feel free to come and chat to us in the library from 8.50am on Friday.

Norwood Primary School Association AGM

When:       Tuesday 9^th March

Time:        7:00pm

Where:      Staff room

Agenda: Principal’s report, Chair report, Selection of Committee, Selection of Office bearers

Positions declared vacant: Four School Committee positions including: Chair, Vice- Chair, Secretary and Treasurer

If you are keen to join the committee, we love new faces!  To be eligible for a committee position you must complete a nomination form and return to the school no later than Friday 19th February.  Nomination form attached below or available from the school office.  

Bulb Fundraiser is COMING…..

Your child will receive a catalogue and order form in their bags soon.