April 28th

Welcome back for term 2. It has been wonderful to see children returning to school well rested and enthusiastic! 

A big thank you to our school community for your patience and understanding with the implementation of the Pick up & Drop off Zone. This is now working much more effectively. Please remember to keep moving upwards as the cars in front of you move on. Children will generally only be sent to cars as they approach the top end of the zone as entering cars further down results in congestion at the end.

External School Review

As part of our continuous school improvement, we will be involved in an External School Review with a Review Team. The purpose of External School Reviews is to support schools to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build public confidence in government schools.

All Tasmanian Government Schools will be externally reviewed every four years. The focus of the Review is to evaluate school performance. The Review Team consists of a Review Chair and trained Review Principals. The review will occur on 3-5^th May.

We will find out the aspects of the school’s improvement that have been verified through the Review processes as well as the improvements that we need to make in the future.

During the External School Review, some students, parents, School Association members and staff will be asked to provide information to the Review Team in a number of ways. These include:

• individual interviews
• group discussions (with students or staff or parents)
• meetings (usually School Association, staff meeting)
• visits into classrooms.

This week randomly selected families will receive an email in regards to this with the times that a panel member may call. There is also an option for yourself or your children to opt out of being interviewed if you prefer not to be involved. 

In addition to our Grade 6 Leadership team, we are very pleased to announce our Student Parliament group for the remainder of the 2021 year. Badges will be presented at our Assembly tomorrow afternoon. 

It was an absolute pleasure to attend the ANZAC Ceremony at Royal Park with three of our Senior School Leaders on Sunday. Although schools were unable to participate in the annual March this year, they were invited to attend the Ceremony with 2-4 students. 

Connor sent his apologies as an injury to his knee on Saturday resulted in him requiring medical attention preventing him from attending.

Karen

Coming into the cold and flu season, it’s important that we all continue to keep healthy and safe. To ensure we can keep on top of COVID and also cold and flu, make sure you:

• Be alert to any symptoms of cold or flu that you or your child may exhibit
• Get tested for COVID if you or your child have symptoms
• Practise good hygiene, such as covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands
• If you or your child do get sick, stay at home until symptoms has passed, even if a COVID test is negative

Remember, symptoms include fever, tiredness, cough, headache, sore throat, sniffling and sneezing.

To keep our school safe, we are still:

• continuing with increased cleaning
• making sure there is plenty of soap, sanitiser and tissues available
• applying restrictions to large gatherings of adults and encouraging physical distancing
• requiring visitors to check-in on our sites

The school will now be using the Check in Tas app in conjunction with our usual sign in process to assist with contract tracing in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.  Contact tracing is a vital tool for health authorities if an outbreak of coronavirus occurs. It allows rapid tracing of the movements of people who may have been infected, as well as providing timely advice to businesses they visited and people they spent time with.

Check in Tas provides a contactless, secure and convenient way for customers to check into your venue. The data is stored on a Department of Health platform and is automatically deleted after 28 days. Your patrons can be assured that it will only be accessed by authorised Department of Health staff conducting contract tracing if required in the event of an outbreak.

We appreciate your cooperation with contact tracing by registering to use Check in Tas. 

On Thursday 20th May, we are holding our Cross Country Carnival for all grades. Kinder to Grade 2 students will run in the morning block, 3/4 students between recess and lunch while the 5/6s will run in the afternoon. All students will need to bring a large drink bottle, spare shoes and socks and wear their sports uniform. House colours in the 3-6 Carnival are encouraged. Banksia: green, Wattle: blue, Waratah: red.

All students will run a school-based track. If the Cross Country needs to be postponed, we will place a message on our Facebook page and send a text message to parents.

We are pleased to say that spectators are able to attend the event, however you must adhere to the following COVID Safe Procedures. Parents and guardians who are on the school grounds after having dropped their children to their class will still need to sign in.

• Maximum TWO spectators per family 
• ENTRY MUST BE via NORWOOD AVENUE BETWEEN LADY GOWRIE AND KINDERGARTEN
• Staff will be manning the entry point and all spectators must sign in on arrival by either handing in the completed slip (to be sent home next week one form per family please list both names)or using the sign in sheet at entry point and using the Check in Tas app.
• Spectators must stay in the designated spectator area and must physical distance 1.5 metres at all times from other families
• Spectators must only stay for their child's race leaving promptly at the end exiting via the bottom oval through the gate into the Lady Gowie car park
• If you are unwell or have symptoms of a cold, cough or fever you must not attend the event.

Students will be training for the carnival during PE lessons for the next few weeks. With some dew and rain around at this time of year, it might be a good idea for students to pack a spare pair of shoes and socks on PE days.

Ben Humphrey

Kids2Farm Excursion

Hagley Farm School - Leaving school at 9:15am and returning by 3:00pm.

More information in our next newsletter.

3 R Certificates

The following students received certificates in our final Whole School Assembly in Term 1 for following the 3 Rs.

Levies are one of the many ways that families contribute to our school community. Levies support student learning by contributing towards the cost of essential items and services.

When setting school levies and charges the school:

• Considers inclusive education, community expectations and family financial constraints
• Sets levies at the lowest amount possible
• Consults with the School Association of the school

Payment for school levies are due, if you are unable to pay in full we are happy to take instalments, please contact Nicole on 6344 2533 to arrange.  Payments can be made at the school using cash or card or online via BPay. Families with a Centerlink Health Care Card are eligible for financial assistance click here to apply online Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) (education.tas.gov.au)  

As students progress through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics – skills that will set them upon the path to success as adults.

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress. Senior Leaders use NAPLAN results to inform school planning and to allocate resources and support including informing decisions around targeted programs and initiatives for individuals and groups.

This year our Grade 3 and 5 students will be participating in the online Australia wide NAPLAN testing from Tuesday, 11^th May through till Friday, 21^st May. All children in Grades 3 and 5 will complete online tests in the areas of Numeracy, Language Conventions and Reading.

By now you should have all received the parent information regarding NAPLAN. If you have any questions around this please contact the school.

Luke Padgett

All of us have strengths that can get us through difficult times, but we sometimes have to remember they are there and that we can draw on them. In 5-6 D, we drew our strength hands to remind us that we all have positive qualities and strengths that can help us in any situation.

• If your child requires non-prescribed ‘over the counter’ medication at school you must sign an 'Authorisation for Administration of Student Medication Form A'.
• If your child requires prescribed medication (eg. antibiotics) you must have an 'Authorisation for Administration of Student Medication Form B' completed by a doctor, pharmacist or practice nurse.
• All medication must be handed into the school office in the original packaging. Students can only have their asthma medication in their bags.

Please Note: All medical action plans (eg. asthma plans, allergy plans) need to updated yearly.

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.

Research clearly shows that children who can understand and cope with emotions do better in school, form stronger relationships, have fewer behavioural problems and generally lead happier, healthier and less stressful lives.

From kindergarten to grade 6, as part of our focus on respectful relationships and wellbeing, we are supporting students in their social and emotional development. We extend children’s abilities to recognise and manage their emotions and to recognise and respond appropriately to other people’s emotions. 

Throughout the school we use the Zones of Regulation, a social-emotional learning framework created to teach children self-regulation and emotional control. The Zones of Regulation uses four colours to help children self-identify how they’re feeling and categorize it based on colour. The Zones of Regulation also helps children better understand their emotions, sensory needs, and thinking patterns.

They learn different strategies to help them cope and manage their emotions based on which colour zone they’re in.

“Additionally, the Zones of Regulation helps kids recognize their own triggers, learn to read facial expressions, develop problem-solving skills, and become more attuned to how their actions affect other people” (Kuypers, L.M, 2011).

The Green Zone

The green zone is used to describe when you’re in a calm state of alertness. Being in the green zone means you are calm, focused, happy, or ready to learn. This is predominantly the state you want your child to be in.

It’s also the state most needed in the classroom in order to learn.

The Yellow Zone

The yellow zone describes when you have a heightened sense of alertness. This isn’t always a bad thing, and you still have some control of your actions when you’re in the yellow zone.

Being in the yellow means you may feel frustrated, anxious or nervous. But, it could also mean you’re feeling excited, silly, or hyper – which is okay in the right situations.

The Red Zone

The red zone describes an extremely heightened state of intense emotions. When a person reaches the red zone, they’re no longer able to control their emotions. This is the zone kids are in during meltdowns.

Being in the red zone means you’re feeling anger, rage, terror, or complete devastation and feel out of control.

The Blue Zone

The blue zone, on the other hand, is used when a person is feeling low states of alertness or arousal.

When you’re in the blue zone you may be feeling down – sad, sick, tired, or bored. You’re still in control, as you are in the yellow zone, but with low energy emotions.

One of the most important messages that parents can give their children is that their feelings are real and okay. Just as we encourage our children to talk about their feelings when they are feeling happy or excited, we must also encourage children to talk about their emotions when they are feeling anxious or angry. Talking about emotions will help children to understand them and by doing this you will be teaching your children the important skill of figuring out what’s going on and how to deal with difficult emotions.

Some thoughts from our children who have participated in Mrs Wyllie’s Zones Groups throughout 2020-21:

Billie: “use your tools so that you don’t get out of control. My pea in a pod is my favourite fidget toy. I use it in the Blue Zone.”

Lenny: “it helps people feel better if they are in the Red Zone. If you are in the Yellow Zone, you can talk to Mrs Wyllie. It would be harder to use your tools in the Red Zone. My favourite tool is shooting the basketball cause it makes me feel calm.”

Briah: “it is most important not to hurt people or property. It doesn’t matter which zone you are in - there are no bad zones.”

Ruby:  “It’s ok to be in every zone, just don’t hurt yourself, other people or property. Use your tools anytime you need so you come back to the green zone and don’t stay angry or frustrated.”

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

If your child is born in 2017 and you live in our Norwood Primary School area, we would love to hear from you so that we can invite you and your child along to our Pre-Kindergarten programs. Children who participate in our Pre-Kinder groups find the transition much smoother when they come to start kinder the following year. Please contact our school office via phone (6344 2533) or email to add your names to our list.

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

Tip of the week:

Reading at home with your child/children is so important. However, equal importance should be given to drawing and talking to your child about their drawing.

Sometime this week why not encourage your child to do an Autumn drawing. When they have finished sit down with your child and ask them to tell you all about it. Are there any questions you can ask them about their drawing? Maybe some new words have come up like ‘deciduous’ and ‘evergreen.’ If your child is younger maybe you could write what they are telling you so they can make the connection between word and print.

“A child’s drawing (and talking) can provide a powerful connection betweem home and school and offer both motivation and scaffolding for early writing.” (Dr Noella MacKenzie)

MOTHER'S DAY STALL 2021

The Mother's Day Stall will be held next week on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th of May in the Library. Please see the below timetable for which day your child will have an opportunity to purchase a gift for someone special.

If your child wishes to participate, please send along their shopping money in a sealed envelope or snap lock bag with their name and class clearly written on the outside. If possible, could you please send along a shopping bag for your child to carry their gifts home in. Gifts will range in price from $1.00 up to $6.00. 

We understand that some families have more than one special person that children wish to purchase for, and we have catered for this by making sure there will be plenty of gifts to choose from.

Each class has a basket of gifts assigned to it, so even if your class is the last one to shop, they will not be disadvantaged.

We also invite families who wish to make purchases outside of class allocated time, to pop into the library on Friday 7th May between 8:30am and 9:00am.

Thank you to the families who have donated items and also to those who have volunteered to help run the stall - without your help the stall wouldn't go ahead.

I hope all of the Mums, Grandmothers, Step mums, Aunts and other special people all have a wonderful Mother's Day.

For any queries relating to the stall, please contact Savanna Moore on 0438774669

Next School Association Meeting

When:           Tuesday 11^th May

Time:             7:00pm

Where:          School Library

Agenda:

• Winter Festival
• Entertainment Book
• Mother's Day Stall report
• Election Day BBQ report
• Easter Raffle Report
• Canteen Menu

Please send all additional agenda items to norwoodpsa@gmail.com

Everyone is welcome to attend!

If you can’t make it, don’t worry, you can still be involved. We can send you a copy of the meeting minutes, just contact us at the above email address.

Ent_Book.pdf

Ent_Book _pdf 545.68 KB

Easter Raffle

A big thank you to everyone in the school community who donated Easter chocolate or bought tickets for our Easter Raffle this year.

Thank you also to Josh Hart, One Agency, Anvers, Coles and Woolworths Supermarkets who donated generously to our prizes for the Easter Raffle.

Congratulations to the 30 prize winners this year, it was so exciting to see you all collect your prizes.

We have raised a total of $2539.75 from the Easter Raffle this year. Amazing effort. Thankyou.