Dear Parents and Carers,

Next week sees the winter solstice (21st June), the day of the year which has the least amount of sunlight. The upside of this is that from here we start our journey back to Spring and sunshine! In the last couple of weeks, the winter colds have started to take hold and we appreciate our school communities support in keeping children home who are sick.

On the last Wednesday of Term 2, the 30th June, you will be receiving your child’s mid-year report. Teachers have spent many hours moderating work samples, having collegial discussions and writing reporting comments in order to provide families with the opportunity to see how their child is progressing against the Australian Curriculum. I would encourage parents to share reports with their children as a celebration of their learning, in particular their approach to learning as indicated by their ‘effort’ rating.

In the last two weeks, I have dealt with two issues within our Grade 5-6 cohort that have involved inappropriate use of online chats, one with the popular game Fortnite and the other with Snapchat. It is extremely difficult for a school to manage these issues that are occurring outside of school hours and then becoming problematic at school. I think we would all like to trust that we know what our children are doing online, however we know that the statistics tell a different story.

Our school is very fortunate to have Susan McLean, Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety visiting our school to work with our Grade 3-6 students and also share her knowledge with parents about being safe in a cyber world. Susan was a member of the Victorian Police Force for 27 years, widely known as the ‘cyber cop’ she was the first Victorian Officer appointed to a position involving cyber safety and young people. I have personally attended one of Susan’s presentations at Queechy High School and couldn’t recommend it more highly to all parents.

During her session, Susan discusses:

• What are kids doing online?
• Online Grooming
• Cyberbullying
• Sexting
• Potential dangers and safety tips
• Problematic Internet

Please consider attending this event, our school has worked hard to enable this to happen and to support parents by providing free child supervision for the session. Please RSVP via the link so that we can ensure we have numbers correct for catering and child supervision.
TUESDAY 29th June
RSVP Essential
3:00 - 3:30 – Open Classrooms
3:30 - 5:30 – Cyber Safety Presentation (including FREE Sausage Sizzle & child supervision)
Please RSVP via the link
http://bit.ly/CyberSafetyRSVP

Our Grade 3-6 students will participate in a workshop session with Susan McLean on Wednesday. As part of this
workshop, they will be discussing:
• Rules & Laws – why do we have them and what happens if they are broken?
• Cyberbullying- what is it and how/when does it happen?
• Online ‘friends’- how strangers find us online….
• Sites & apps- who is using what?
• Staying safe online – how can we ensure we say safe and what to do if we have a problem
• How to be a good Digital Citizen

100 Nights of Reading
This year we have had a whole school focus on every student gaining ‘100 Nights of Reading’. The participation of students from Prep – Grade 6 has been fantastic with over 150 students reading both 25 night and 50 night rewards.
We have two more upcoming celebrations and we are hoping to have even more students involved. Make sure you encourage your children to read at home, 20 minutes is all we ask, three times per week!

High School Transition

Our Grade 6 students will be involved in a number of transition activities over the remainder of the year. The majority of these take place with our primary feeder high school, Queechy. On the 1^st July, our Grade 6 students will be having their first visit to Queechy where they will be participating in activities to get to know students from other feeder schools and on the 18^th of August our Grade 6 students will be participating in Science Week activities at Queechy. This is a fabulous opportunity for our students to get a taste of what Queechy will have to offer in Grade 7. Kings Meadows High School is having their annual Challenge Day on 24^th of June, students who have indicated that they will be attending for Grade 7 will be involved.

Upcoming events
On the 22nd June, we will be sending vis bus, approximately 40 students to the All School Cross Country at Symmon’s Plains. This is an optional event run by Athletics Tasmania. It is always a popular race for many of our Grade 3-6 students. More information about the event can be found at https://www.tasathletics.org.au/home/

The Bright Sparks Electrical Safety Program will be held from 28th – 30th June for all our classes including Kinder. The program is delivered by Tas Networks and focuses on educating primary-school aged kids across Tasmania about the safe use of electricity.

Oodie/Hoodie Day will be held on Thursday 1st July, this is a much anticipated event!! We are really looking forward to seeing all the Oodies and Hoodies on display!! I am sure it will be the only day of the year that we are all hoping for a really cold start to the day! A reminder that students will need to be dressed in full school uniform with their oodie/hoodie over the top. Don’t forget to bring your gold coin donation.

Hot Food – Wednesday
A huge thank you to all the parents (and grandparents) who are giving up their time to enable us to have hot lunches each Wednesday. I am sure I am not the only parent that is incredibly grateful for one less day to make school lunches! We would still appreciate more help in Term 2, even if it is for just one week. No experience is required and our team of helpers are extremely kind and friendly! Please contact the office if you can spare a few hours.

Road Safety Reminder
In recent weeks there have been several near miss accidents due to cars doing U-turns outside on Punchbowl Road and outside the school. For the safety of all, please refrain from doing U-turns. Also I would like to remind parents to appropriately use the drop off zone for its intended purpose.

Teachers on Leave
In Week 11 of this term, both Mrs Millen and Mrs Dunn will be taking some well-earned Long Service Leave. We are incredibly fortunate that Ms Lisa deDeuge (1 Millen) and Ms Kate Wells (1 Dunn) are able to teach these classes for the week. We wish Mrs Dunn and Mrs Millen an extra special long holiday.

In Term 3, Ms Lauren Shephard will be taking some extended leave. During this time, she will be replaced by Ms Emma Attard who will be teaching 5-6 SS on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. Mrs Jacky Hartley will be joining us on Thursdays to cover Ms Shephard’s specialist day.

Abbi Dean - Acting Principal

If you wish to purchase any uniform items for your child, to limit the number of adults we have on site and congestion in the main corridor, we would greatly appreciate orders and payment via telephone.  Clothing purchased and a copy of receipt will be sent home with your child.  Office staff are happy to assist your child try on clothing if you are uncertain as to what size is required.

A very strong School Association supports our school. In addition, a fundraising committee operates under the umbrella of the Association and works extremely hard to raise money for equipment. Many parents give much time to support school activities which is greatly appreciated.

The Association meets in the school staffroom approximately once a term in the evening and everyone is invited to attend. Please see proposed dates below:

28th July

27th October

1st December

Instead of a Hot Food Day in the last week of this term, the School Association will be making plain Popcorn for $1.50 per bag. As pre-orders will be required order slips will be sent home with students next week and need to be return along with payment by 9am Friday, 25th June. Students will receive their Popcorn order on Thursday, 1st July.

The Department of Education has expanded the Student Assistance Scheme for 2021.

A set of Frequently Asked Questions has been developed to assist with any questions you may have. 

Parents who have a current concession card as listed below can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS:

• Services Australia – Centrelink Health Care Card
• Service Australia – Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
• Services Australia – Pensioner Concession Card or
• Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card.

Please note that if you received student assistance in 2020 you do not need to complete a form.

For 2021 a new on-line form has been developed to assist with processing applications for new applicants.

The online form can be completed here:  https://stasonlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au/ 

Once a validated form is completed the Department of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing, this process takes approximately 14 days.

We understand this online option may not be possible for all families, so if you require a hard copy form please contact your school or stas@education.tas.gov.au or 1800 827 055.

Thank you to Paul Coghlan and her team of helpers who assisted with providing Hot Food for our students of a Wednesday. Unfortunately, Paula will not be continuing in this role in Term 3.

Term 3

In order for Hot Food to be available for your child of a Wednesday, we need a co-ordinator to undertake the role.  This entails collating orders and counting the money of a Friday morning, ordering food and organising helpers to assist of a Wednesday.

If you are able to assist and are willing to undertake the co-ordinator role, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please contact the school office by the end of Term 2. 

Should no-one wish to take on the co-ordinator role, unfortunately, Hot Food days of a Wednesday may not continue in Term 3.

Subway will still be available to order during Term 3 on the below dates.

Please see below proposed Special Food Days for Term 3, should a co-ordinator  undertake this role.  

The Student Leadership Board have been busy organising some fun fundraising events for Term 2, please pop this date into your calendar.

Thursday, 1^st July – Oodie/Hoodie Day – students to come dressed with either a Hoodie or Oodie as well as their school uniform and bring a gold coin donation (we are NOT expecting parents to purchase new clothing for this event) and bring a gold coin donation – this is an SLB fundraiser for Punchbowl Primary School. 

If you have any questions please contact Bec Frerk or Nicki Airey.

• Mobile Phones are to be handed into the office at the beginning of each school day.

• 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.

The Australian Government will start its program in Tasmania to vaccinate residential aged care and disability care staff and residents at the same time as the Tasmania Government’s roll-out program commences.

I recognise that you may have questions about the vaccination program. I encourage you to visit www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/vaccine for the latest information on the vaccination roll-out. Additionally, you can visit the Australian Government Health website for further information at www.health.gov.au.

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.

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://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/2406h04

Promotion offer of FREE upgrade from Single to Multi City has been extended to 30th June, 2021. 

Purchase a Single City Membership and go into the draw for a chance to win a 5 night Port Douglas holiday package for two, thanks to Discover Queensland.  Valued up to $3798

• Return economy class flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or Auckland to Cairns
• 5 night accomodation at Siklari Lagoons Port Douglas
• 5 day compact rental car hire
• Green Island full day tour including lunch

We are currently taking Kindergarten enrolments for 2022. If you have a child, (or indeed know of a child who lives in our local area), who turns 4 before 1st January 2018 (born in 2017), please contact our school office to collect an enrolment form.  Proof of your child's birth, immunisation records, proof of residential address and parent identification will also be required. 

Later in the year we also offer three Introductory Sessions for children who have enrolled in Kindergarten next year. These sessions will be held on a Wednesday morning. Parents will be advised of these sessions closer to the date.

We look forward to commencing our partnership with you and your child.

SCHOOL INTAKE AREAS

New updated school intake areas will only apply to families who enrol a child in a government primary or combined (district) school for the first time from the beginning of 2021.

This means that for parents with children already enrolled in our school, the updated intake areas do not apply to your family. If your child has a brother or sister who hasn’t started school yet, they can still enrol at our school.

Our school’s updated intake area map can be found here https://publicdocumentcentre.education.tas.gov.au/Documents/Punchbowl-Primary-School-Intake-Area-from-2021.pdf.  This map is the same as the Proposed Map released by DoE last year in stage two of the Intake Area Review consultation process.

Why do we have intake areas?

Intake areas ensure that every Tasmanian child can enrol at a high quality government school close to where they live. Attending a school close to home helps children feel part of their local community. Intake areas also help ensure schools have the facilities and staff to best support their students’ learning.

Where to get more information?

If you would like more information about our school’s intake area, or help finding out whether a particular address is within our intake area boundary, please contact us directly.

Alternatively you can contact Learning Services Northern Region: phone 6777 2440 or email Learning.Services.NR@education.tas.gov.au) 

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