Liz O'Donahue - Principal

On Friday 3^rd September, 14 students from Grade 5 – 6 took part in the Tamar Tales writing event at Newstead College.  Schools across the Queechy Alliance participated and there were over 100 students from Grade 5/6 all the way to College age working in teams to write a book in a day.  The event started at 8:30am and all students were welcomed and given their writing instructions and parameters.  Their books had to include the following:

• Grade 5-6 – 1550 – 2500 word limit
• Illustrated front and back cover
• A blurb
• A targeted audience of ages 10-16 years
• A Tasmanian identity – setting, characters or issue
• Characters: 3 main characters as well as a hypochondriac, an explorer and a photographer
• Setting: a small town
• Issue: extreme weather
• Words: glasses, family, scissors, ring, windmill

The first part of the day was spent brainstorming and planning.  We were very lucky to have student helpers from Queechy High School and Newstead College stopping by regularly to support teams create a structure for the book and organise their ideas.  The rest of the day was spent drafting, writing, editing, illustrating and publishing.  A highlight was using the Newstead College campus, eating in the college café and all you can eat pizza for afternoon tea.  By the end of the event, our teams were tired but very excited with their final product.  Everyone gathered back together at the end of the event to share their blurbs and it was great to hear what other teams had written.  Here are the blurbs from our Punchbowl teams.

A huge congratulations to our hardworking students, you should be incredibly proud of what you achieved!

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.

In Term 4 we are excited to offer again a school lunch platform www.subsforyou.com which Punchbowl Primary School would like to offer all our students on the below Thursdays

14^th October

21^st October

28^th October

11^th November

18^th November

25^th November

2^nd December

The online order portal will be open from Monday, 11th October.

Subs For You is a convenient, web-based system to provide a healthy and affordable lunch option for your children.

In six easy steps you can order your child’s lunch:

1. Sign Up at subsforyou.com
2. Log into subsforyou.com
3. Select your details and then add student
4. Select order lunches and highlight student
5. Select order day and lunch pack

All orders must be placed by 11.30am the previous day!

Lunches will be delivered to the school on lunch day at the regular scheduled time.

If you have any questions or queries regarding your account, please email info@subsforyou.com 

To assist parents who require more information or assistance setting up their account on the subsforyou website please contact the school.

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

• 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.

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:

27th October

1st December

We are currently taking Kindergarten enrolments for 2022. If you have a child, (or 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. 

We are in the process of organising 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

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.

The Primary School’s event will again be held in Devonport on Thursday, 25th November.

This year Punchbowl will not be involved in the event, therefore, will not provide transport or supervision. 

Should your child wish to participate in the Schools Triathlon Challenge, spare entry forms are available from the school office or printable via www.schoolstriathlonchallenge.com