Dear Parents and Guardians,

I can’t believe we are at the end of Term 3 already. What an exceptionally busy term we have had with some major events such as Science Week, Book Week, Recorder and Choir Competitions, Maths Relay, and transition visits to local High Schools as well as many class excursions.  Along with this we held our first ever Open Classrooms as a way of students sharing their learning progress with parents. It was so wonderful to see more than 80% of our families take the opportunity to come and share in the learning that has taken place. Class teachers supported the students to review their work and learning goals and plan which pieces of work best demonstrated learning growth. Parents had an opportunity to give feedback to their child/children in A positive and constructive way. Our students have loved having the opportunity to read these special notes from parents. We would like to thank everyone who made a time to come and be a part of this sharing of evidence.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Singfest production where our Choir performed with other schools. It is always a beautiful night of singing. A big thank you to Mr Tabe for all his work preparing our students for this event and to Mrs Faulkner for helping to support our students backstage on the night. I would like to congratulate our students on a fabulous performance.

The last two weeks of term have been all about the Swimming and Water safety Program for our Grade 3 to 5 students.  As a result, there are many organisational and logistical elements that needed to be changed and worked through to ensure alternate play times, lunch times, specialist timetables are modified as teachers and classes are in and out throughout the morning. These lessons are incredibly worthwhile with students becoming more confident, skilled, and safer in the water.  They will also support our students at the upcoming Swimming Carnival in Week 1 of Term 4.

Micro Forest Planting

This term Grade 3/4 Dykman in partnership with Big Picture School planted a micro forest in our school grounds. A micro-forest is “a dense pocket of urban vegetation that cools the landscape.” These projects are popping up all around the Australia and began as a response to climate change. Brock Kerslake (a parent at PBPS and teacher at Big Picture School) met with Miss Dykman and myself to discuss the possibility of developing one at our school. Brock was able to get trees donated and together the students from both schools have developed our own micro forest. In time this will become a lovely patch of garden where children can explore and discover along with the benefits of supporting climate change. A huge thank you to Brock Kerslake and his team of students from Big Picture for connecting with our school.

Playground Soccer Games

Over the last couple of weeks there have bene some disappointing displays of un-sportsperson like behaviour and remarks during recess and lunch time soccer. As a result, we asked our grade 3-6 students to stop playing for a couple of days and take the time to write me a note or email me their thoughts about what they think has been unacceptable and needs to change.  This has been a powerful way of giving students agency and a say of what needs to change and how. As result soccer is back again with some parameters and suggestions from students. Feedback from our students was that they wanted it to be a fun play time and not playing competitively, they wanted to ensure that the games were inclusive and safe. Grade groups are now rostered on for different days and some guiding principles of fair play and acceptable behaviours have been developed by students.

Kinder Enrolments for 2024

A reminder to parents of students who were born in 2019 that they are required to enrol in kindergarten for 2024. We would ask that any parents who are yet to enrol do so as soon as possible as shortly we will be organising groupings for classes.

If you know that you will not be attending our school in 2024, can you please let the office or Principal know in writing as soon as possible as we are beginning to configure our staffing and every number counts.

Thank you – Hot Lunch

Every week in Term 2 and 3 our School Association through the dedication of a few parents, have arranged hot lunches. This would not have been possible over the last couple of years without the help of Adele Davis. Adele has been the main organiser and contributor who has led a small team of hard-working parents to deliver and prepare hot lunches every week. Adele has notified the school association that this will be her last year as our hot lunch organiser. We can’t thank you enough Adele, you have been amazing. We look forward to hopefully having other volunteers that offer to help next year and keep this much loved lunch option that is highly appreciate by many families.

Save the Date School Association Fundraiser – Parent Get Together – Friday 20^th October.

We are eager to build parent connections within our school community. If you would like the opportunity to come and meet other parents and friends from our school community, and support our fundraising efforts, please come along.

I would like to wish all our families a happy and safe holiday break. We look forward to beginning Term 4 on Monday 17^th October. Just a reminder it will be summer uniform and our ‘Hats On’ Policy will be in place. Please remember that we do not allow caps from home, students must wear a school sun safe hat. These can be purchased at the office and staff will assist with clearly naming these if purchased and worn on the day. 

Safeguarding Children and Young People

I would like to let the Punchbowl School community know that Rebecca Frerk has recently taken over the role of Safeguarding Lead at Punchbowl Primary School.  Rebecca is our acting Assistant Principal and has worked at our school for several years gaining a good knowledge of both our students and the community.

Safeguarding Leads have been appointed in all Tasmanian state schools to help ensure all children and young people in Tasmania are known, safe, well and learning. Rebecca will support the wellbeing of all our students and help us all understand that keeping children and young people safe is everyone’s responsibility.
Please support Rebecca in this new role!
For further information on Safeguarding in Schools please click here

Safeguarding Children and Young People - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

 Congratulations on sporting achievement.

Arleigh - Rhythmic gymnastics

Arleigh was part of the LPCYC Level 3 Rhythmic Gymnastics State Championships winning team and was also the Runner Up Level 3 State Champion at the Rhythmic Gymnastics State Championships in Hobart on the 9th & 10th of September.

Here are some of her acheivements from the weekend;

Part of the Level 3 Team - State Champions

Level 3 Overall - Runner Up State Champion

Level 3 Freehand - Runner Up State Champion

Level 3 Rope - 6th place

Level 3 Hoop - 4^th place

Bray, Jasper, Liam & Cooper - Schools Futsal Nationals 

This week, Bray, Jasper, Liam & Cooper headed off to Brisbane to compete in the Schools National Futsal Competition.  The boys had a good first few days where they had a win, a loss & a draw.  The U11 Tasmanian Team came away finishing 5th place overall which is a great acheivement. Congratulations to these boys for being part of the Tasmanian team. 

Annabelle - National Cross Country Championships

Congratulations to Annabelle who competed in Canberra at the National Cross Country Championships in August.  Annabelle was lucky enough to be selected as Team Captain for the Tasmanian Primary Girls Team. Congratulations Annabelle.

Leni - National Primary School Swimming Championships

Congratulations to Leni who competed in the National Primary School Swimming Championships at Olympic Park in Sydney. There were 370 kids in the Primary competition. Leni finished with some great PBs and finished 12^th overall in the 50M Backstroke and 50M Breaststroke, she was 18^th in the 50m Freestyle. She swam in two relays, with their 4x50m Freestyle finishing 7^th. What an amazing experience for Leni, pushing herself physically but also engaging with kids from all other states.

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

On Wednesday afternoon, 27^th September, 3-4Dykman invited our book buddy class, Prep Peachey to have fun on an obstacle course that we set up in the Kinder playground.  We started by getting all the equipment from the kinder storeroom. Then we set up the equipment starting at the ramp path to enter Kinder. We went up a small bridge, jumped off onto a mat, then went into a tunnel and over a yellow triangle. Then we had to jump onto some tyres, we also had to go around a cylinder stuck in a tyre, balanced on 4 foam balance beams, through another tunnel, then on the balance beams again. Lastly, we went up a tunnel that had bars to hang onto, down some stairs, across the monkey bars, finally you would shoot a basketball into a basketball ring. It was so much fun! Thanks for joining us along the way.

By Jack & Lachlan

ICYPOLES AND FROSTY FRUITS

Icypoles and Frosty Fruits will be available for students to purchase each Thursday throughout the year.

Lemonade Icypoles $1.20

Frosty Fruits $1.50

SUBWAY DAYS

Subway will be available for students to order via Canteen Hub in Term 4 on the following dates;

17th October

24th October

7th November

21st November

28th November

5th December

12th December - Grade 6's please do not order on this day

19th December

It would be greatly appreciated if Grade 6 students do not order Subway on Tuesday, 12 December as they will need to provide their own lunch on this day as they will be at Newstead College for a Celebration Evening rehearsal.

Please update your child's class when you place their order.

After lunch once a week for 3 Thursday’s, 3-4 Dykman went down to a spot at the bottom of the ECE playground to make an eye-catching place to plant trees. We worked with Mr Brock Kerslake and some of his students from the Big Picture School to plant 120 trees.  We measured out a 25m2 space to make a micro climate. It’s also a space where you can have time with yourself around nature. There is also a narrow walk way like an alley in a city or town, but is way more beautiful. This will also definitely help nature grow and other plants around it bloom. When we do things like this, it helps people our age to learn and have fun. It’s also good for health to do things like this.

Our first session was about just helping moving mulch and flattening it out. The Big Picture students  and Brock showed us what to do which really helped. Brock laid out some blocks to mark out the walk way so you could walk through. Our second amazing tree planting lesson was about planting small 2-5m native trees and shrubs that were all different. We started digging a small hole to plant the tree we chose with a partner. Once we had planted it, we got cardboard and a pair of sticks. After we put the cardboard around the plant and got the sticks and put them in the cardboard, there were holes in the cardboard to make it easy. Once our class had done that, we all hammered the sticks in so the cardboard wouldn’t push through the wind and blow away. In our last lesson we had loads of trees left so we just planted the left over trees in an empty space near the boundary fence. In the end we got a tree to take home and plant in our own gardens.  We hope you go and check out our new school micro climate garden and enjoy it for many years to come.  Thank you so much Brock and the students at Big Picture School for organising the planting and Mrs Shaw for organising the mulch!

BY LAVIN.

Football Tasmania will be commencing their "Football in Schools" progam each Friday afternoon after school on our school oval.  Each child who registers will receive a soccer ball to the value of $39.95

Cost: $100

Time: 3:10pm to 4:10pm

Start Date: 20th October 2023

Finish Date: 15th December 2023

Are you ready to get out and about to enjoy the best things in life? Buy an Entertainment Membership to support our fundraising and your next adventure could be around the corner. Buy a Membership and Punchbowl Primary receives 20% of the purchase.

To order: https://subscribe.entertainment.com.au/fundraiser/2406h04

Uniforms can be purchased via the school office between 8:30am and 3:00pm each school day.

If you are unable to visit the office and wish to purchase uniform, orders can be placed and payment made via the telephone.  Office staff are happy to assist your child try on clothing if you are uncertain as to what size is required.

Clothing purchased and a copy of receipt will be sent home with your child. 

Long sleeve polo shirts have arrived and are available to purchase from the office for $35 each. 

• Mobile Phones are to be handed into the office at the beginning of each school day.
• Please name your childs clothing as a lot of our lost property is not named.   
• Please remember to bring your water bottle to school each day.                                        
• If your residential address has changed or have a new telephone number, please contact the office to request a change of details form.

• Please notify the office if your child test positive to COVID-19.

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR A PERSON TO WORK OR VOLUNTEER AT PUNCHBOWL UNLESS REGISTERED!

If you currently hold Volunteer Working with Vulnerable People Registration,  please bring your card to the school office so we can record your registration.  Teachers will also ask to see your registration prior to initially doing Parent Help, as it is a requirement to carry your card with you at all times. 

If you nominated another organisation in which you volunteer when you registered, unfortunately at present we are unable to check you are registered. Please update your registration status via the below link to update and advise all organisations in which you volunteer.

If you wish to register, please complete the online application via the below link:

http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children/application

If you require any RAT tests please contact the school and we can send some home with your child, alternatively they are available for collection from the school office.

Keeping yourself and others safe

We must all continue to play our part in being COVID safe. While the vaccine is an important measure in our response to COVID-19, it is part of a suite of things we need to do – including maintaining our COVID-safe behaviours:

• Stay at least 1.5 metres away from others;
• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water;
• Stay at home if you are unwell;
• Get tested for COVID-19 if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms; and
• Be aware of, and follow, current gathering, business and travel restrictions.
• 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 have 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

For the latest updates on the COVID-19 restrictions in Tasmania and across Australia, visit  http://www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au.

Term Dates

• Term 4: Monday, 16^th October to Thursday, 21^st December

                      (Friday, 3rd November – Student Free Day)

All parents are welcome to attend School Association meetings. These meetings are held at the school and commence at 7pm

Please see below for remaining meeting dates:

18^th October

13^th December

Call for donations - wine & chocolate wheel
The Association are calling for donations for a fundraising wine and chocolate wheel, to be held as part of the upcoming Paint and Sip event on Friday 20 October.

Donations of bottles of wine (yes, that bottle at the back of the cupboard looks perfect!), and boxes/bags of chocolates to include in the wheel prizes.

This is a great way to support the important fundraising the School Association does, and all contributions are greatly appreciated.

Please drop any donations off at the school office the first week back for term 4m by 10am Friday 20 October.

If you’re eager to offload during the holidays, please contact Naomi on 0439 336 511 for drop off/pick up coordination.

Paint & Sip Fundraiser
The School Association are delighted to announce a Paint and Sip fundraiser to kick off Term 4.

Hosted by Paint the Town Red, come along with your friends, sip your favourite beverage and enjoy step-by-step instructions with an experienced and passionate artist, and come together as a school community to raise funds for the playground redevelopment.

No art experience required! Paint, sip and laugh while creating a one-of-a-kind painting that you get to take home!

Date: Fridy 20 October
Time: Doors open at 6:30pm, painting starts at 7pm!
Location: Multipurpose Hall
Cost: Tickets are $50pp, and include all materials.

BYO food/platter, and bar sales available on the night.   

Book tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/CLBYJ

Students  have the opportunity to purchase books via Scholastic Bookclub. Catalogues are sent home throughout the year.

Orders can be placed either via the school office or via the Scholastic website.  If you wish to place an order via the office, please enclose named order and money in an envelope and hand to either the class teacher or to the office. 

Assemblies will be held on the below dates during Term 4 and will commence at 2pm. Parents are most welcome to attend.

Are you making every school day count?

We are half way through Term 3 already!

As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging.

It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits though.

Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn, and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future.

If you’re having trouble getting your child to school, please talk to us. We’ll listen to your situation, and help in any way we can.

If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.

There are still families who are not benefitting from the NBN in Northern Tasmania.

The Australian Goverment has committed to the School Student Broadband Initiative and has asked NBN to implement the Government's initiative to provide internet access, via participating internet service providers delivered over nbn's wholesale broadband network.

The School Student Boroadband Initiative aims to boost education opportunities by providing up to 30,000 Australian eligible familes with school aged children (K-12) with free nbn-powered broadband internet at home for 12 months. 

To be eligible for the School Student Broadband Initiate, familes must:

• Have a child living at home that is enrolled in an Australian school in 2023.
• Not have an active nbn network internet service at hoem. Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibilty.
• Be referred by a nominating organisation.
• Live in a premises that can access the nbn network.

Should you wish to apply, please contact the school office and they will forward on your details. 

Red Nose is Australia’s leading authority on safe sleep and supports research into the causes and prevention of sudden infant and child death.   Red Nose has a range of safe sleeping resources and factsheets for Parents, Health Professionals and Educators.  Fact sheets are available in a range of languages. 

The Red Nose Safe Sleeping Guide for Parents promotes six safe sleep recommendations to help reduce the risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy.