March 16th

Dear NPS Families

As noted in our recent email to NPS families, Primary Progress Reports (PPR) are being sent to families this Friday. However, due to the additional workload on the Administration team because of the increase in COVID-19 cases, (and the process of getting reports from the system to have them individually emailed is quite time consuming), we have made a decision that PPR’s will be handed out to students on Friday afternoon. PPR’s for students who are absent will be posted. We hope that these will arrive to you by mid next week.  Below is some information from the department relating to what to expect for this year. 

Changes to reporting in 2022

This year, you will notice some changes to reporting in Tasmanian Government Schools.

Firstly, you won’t see A-E reporting any more for Prep to Year 6 students.

Most families in Tasmanian Government Schools have told us that A-E reporting isn’t meaningful enough for them. So, the Department is introducing a new 9-point visual scale.

Along with the visual scale a worded description will be included to help you understand how your child is going against the expected standard for their year level. The 9-point scale will show more specifically where your child is at with their learning.

The second main change you’ll see is that teachers will be communicating with you more regularly throughout the year, instead of providing written comments on reports.

This more regular communication might be through online communication, telephone calls, or face-to-face conversations.

By having more regular information about your child’s learning progress you’ll get a better understanding of how your child is going across the entire school year (not just twice a year).

What you should expect across the school year:

Families will be supported to understand the new reporting requirements and the changes to mid and end of year reports as they are implemented.

Watch the video introducing the changes: Changes to reporting in 2022

If you’d like to know more about why these changes are occurring, visit Review into Reporting to Families - The Department of Education Tasmania

Coping with 'worries' at school....

The new year at school can come with all sorts of emotions for any child, and particularly for those starting Kindergarten, Prep or a new school. This year, I feel that many of us were hoping for a bit more 'normality', however, we recognise that this is not the case for any of us, and therefore a possible increase in worries and stress related behaviour may be more apparent. The message below was originally put together for our Kindergarten students, however, in the current environment I felt that it was appropriate to share this across our school community.

When children are at school they are learning a lot all the time, but particularly at the beginning of the year. New friends, a new teacher, new classroom, new ideas, new skills – it is such a busy and important time, and they are often asked to step out of their comfort zone on a daily basis. New learning can be stressful. Stress is not necessarily bad for us, in fact, moderate and predictable doses of stress are just what children need to build resilience.

Every child’s experience before coming to school is unique and so their response to stress is too. What is manageable for one child may overwhelm another. There are many possible reasons for a child to be overwhelmed.  As kind, supportive adults, when we see a child who is stressed, either our own or another child in our school community, we can play an important part by using words and actions to help them to feel safe and secure.

What may help?

Allowing children to de-compress at the end of the day. For example; ask 'what was your favourite thing at school today?' rather than 'how was your day?' or 'what did you do today?'

Provide some chill out time after school. For example; a favourite activity...may involve a small amount of time with a favourite TV program, a book, quiet game, craft or construction etc. 

Having difficulty separating...

Provide a small special object with children to remind them of you during the day. Even a small stone with a happy face that you have drawn on etc.

Put a special note in lunch boxes, and/or make lunches together.

Recognise and talk about emotions and work on strategies for dealing with their emotions.

Validate and re-assure... 'I know that you will miss me, but it is important that you stay here and I will be back this afternoon to get you.' 'I will be thinking of you during the day and know that you are being well looked after'.

Help them identify people that they can go to talk to if they are upset or worried, e.g. teacher, teacher assistant, senior staff etc. 

Model calm behaviour (even when you may be feeling overwhelmed yourself).

You can find a wealth of information at this site from a psychologist with up-to-date information continually being added.

Children Archives - Hey Sigmund

Kind regards, Karen

The NPS School Association are holding a free dress day on Friday 25th March. Please send along an Easter egg to donate for their Easter raffle prizes.

Thank you.

The Grade 3-6 Athletics Carnival last week was a little different. With less events, social distancing of classes and no spectators, the vibe around the St Leonards Athletic Centre was a little quiet at times.

Participation was really good from the students in attendance, with house spirit on display. It was excellent to see so much house colour and encouragement from all participants.

The Carnival has not quite been completed yet, as we have some field events to complete later this week. All students participating have helped to give their sporting house points. Waratah is in front at this stage followed by Banksia and Wattle.

Students who have performed really well will be invited to represent Norwood at the upcoming LSSSA Carnival. All students who have participated should be congratulated for participating to the best of their abilities.

Ben Humphrey

Exciting news!  After a long wait State Growth will be extending our 40 km/h zone and installing new electronic signage. Work is expected to commence Monday 21st of March, they will be working between 7:00 am and 5:00pm but will stop during peak pick and drop off periods. There will be some temporary changes to traffic to ensure the safety of workers, road users and pedestrians. Please keep to speed limits and follow all directions of traffic controllers and signs.  

School Photo Day is Thursday 24th March.

As was the case last year, ordering will be online only, which eliminates the need for sending cash to school with your children. If your child is unwell do not bring them to school, we may offer a catch up session later in the year. 

To avoid mixing groups of students this year we will not be offering family photos.

All students will have an individual photo taken on Photo Day regardless if they are ordering or not. Individual student ordering will stay open after Photo Day.

Orders placed after printing the bulk of orders will be sent directly to parents and will incur a postage charge per order.

 If you have any questions please contact Leading Image or the school office.

Last Wednesday was our first Forest Fun session for the year. It was wonderful to see so many smiles, new friendships and learning taking place in nature.

Our next Forest Fun session will be Thursday 24th March 1:45-2:45. We hope to see you there!

We are very excited to finally be able to run outdoor LiL sessions for the rest of Term 1.

Mrs Fankhauser will keep you posted week by week on what is being offered.

Next week:

• Pop up playgroup at Punchbowl reserve Tuesday 22^nd March 9:30-10:30am
• Kindy Gym- Wednesday 23^rd March 9:15-10am in the Kinder yard at Norwood
• Forest Fun- Thursday 24^th March 1:45-2:45pm- meet in Kinder yard

Hope to see you soon!

Tip of the Week

Does your child lack confidence?  Below are some quick tips on how to boost your child’s confidence.

Next School Association meeting including AGM:

Please Note: It is a Department of Education requirement that anyone attending School Association meetings MUST be FULLY VACCINATED.

When:           Tuesday 29^th March 2022

Time:             7:00pm

Agenda: Election of vacant executive positions, fund raising calendar including Easter raffle, Hot cross bun drive and mother’s day stall.

If you have any further agenda items please send  to norwoodpsa@gmail.com

Wow we can’t believe we are already in week 6.  Welcome back to returning families and an extra BIG welcome to our new families, hopefully everyone is settling in well into the school year! 

We are looking forward to another fabulous year of fundraising and consulting with the school in order to enhance our children’s learning.  We have a number of fund raising events in the pipeline but we need your help.  Please complete the volunteer survey

https://norwoodps.schoolzineplus.com/form/27

All are welcome to attend our meetings, you do not need to commit to be a regular member or attendee, you can also just be a volunteer.  Please come along or contact us at  norwoodpsa@gmail.com to see what it’s all about and have the chance to make a real difference to your school community.

Fundraisers for this term will be the Easter raffle and Hot Cross Bun drive.  A free dress day will be held Wednesday 23^rd March, we encourage the children to bring along Easter eggs to donate for the Easter raffle prizes.