Welcome to Term 4, as always this is a busy term, with lots planned.  While we were on holidays our front of office area has had a major make over.  It was an incredibly timely and much needed renovation.  Our office staff are really loving their new workspace.  If you have a minute come through and have a look. 

We planned to have our school swimming carnival in our first week of term, however the weather was not on our side. As a back up plan we held our trials for LSSSA this week.  On Thursday we ran a trial event for those Grade 5-6 students who wished to race for selection in our LSSSA team. It was a great afternoon and we managed to get all trial races completed. The LSSSA Carnival will be held on 5^th November, the team will be announced next week.

This term there are several events coming up each week, please keep an eye out for the term calendar. We are excited to have a change to our end of year celebrations, we will be holding a Carols on the Oval on Tuesday 30^th November in addition to our annual Grade 6 Celebration Evening. Students are busily preparing props, songs, and costumes. It will be a lovely way to mark the end of the year and a very informal way to celebrate a successful year together.

Students are also getting excited about the Spring Stroll that is being held again this term. Students are encouraged to wear something bright. It is a great day and fabulous fundraiser with the main aim being to raise money for a gaga pit for the playground. I know there would be a lot of people that would be wondering what a gaga pit is.  I did some research and found out that a

“Gaga is a form of dodgeball that originated in Israel in the 1970s. Players start in a 'pit', an octagon shaped court, hitting and rolling the ball with their hand to eliminate other players.”

It will be a fabulous addition to our playground.

Staffing

We welcome Larissa Dalton to Kinder Walkinshaw.  Larissa has taken over from Mrs Lyne this term. We also welcomed Mrs Dean back, it is great to see her smiling face around our school again.

We also welcome Brianna Wagner, our School Health Nurse.

Hello! I am Nurse Bri, and I will be working in Punchbowl Primary as the School Health Nurse this term each Thursday. My role includes health promotion and educational activities as well as completing kinder health checks each year. The kinder health checks will be my primary focus this term, which include free vision and hearing screening. Vision and hearing assessments are also available upon request, for any aged primary student where a specific concern has been passed on via a parent/guardian, teacher or senior staff member. All assessments including the kinder health checks require signed consent forms to be completed prior to assessment by a parent/guardian.

Next year will be the first full year Punchbowl Primary will have a School Health Nurse – yay! I will be on maternity leave next year, however, you will still have a School Nurse! Along with the kinder health checks you will find them running educational activities and lessons across all grades, topics might include: growth and development classes, nutrition, personal hygiene, oral care, sun safety and/or mindfulness. Please feel free to contact me via the school office on a Thursday for a chat, or with any health concerns/questions regarding your child’s health or the role of a School Health Nurse.

On Friday, 29^th October we will be saying goodbye to Troy O’Konnah.  Troy has been working as a Teacher Assistant with our school for the last four years.  He has decided to pursue other career opportunities outside of a school.  As a school we will all miss Troy and all that he brings to the role.  He has been a wonderful support to our students, teachers and staff he has worked with.

Basketball Weekends

Last weekend we began the annual Inter-School Basketball Tournaments, with our Grade 5/6 teams competing last weekend. There was some great basketball played by all teams and our Div 1 Boys team played exceptionally well and finished a very strong 3^rd. Our Div 1 Girls team had an outstanding tournament coming away with a 3 point win in the Grand Final against a strong Deloraine team. We were exceptionally proud of all our teams for showing resilience, growth and great sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Both our Div 1 teams will progress through to the State Final to be held over the weekend of the 4^th and 5^th December.

This weekend our Grade 3/4 teams are competing. I would like to thank Mrs Frerk and Mrs Dean for their support with the organisation of the teams and our involvement in this competition.  Along with these staff members I would also like to thank the teachers and parents who nominated to be coaches over the weekend and the many parents who helped with managing teams, supporting on the sidelines, and helping their child get to and from games.  I would also like to thank all the teachers that made the time to come along and support and cheer on our students over the weekend.  I was able to get to three games and it was incredibly pleasing to sit with five other staff members in amongst our parents and students cheering on Punchbowl. It will be great to watch our 3/4 teams this weekend.

Lockdown Procedures

This week we practised what a lockdown would look like if it was to happen during a play time.  We have never practised this before and we were incredibly impressed with the way our students quickly became familiar with the new plan.  We realise there are some students that become very anxious about preparing for plans like this, however it is incredibly important that we do practise for such situations that may only occur on an off chance.  If teachers and students are familiar with what to do in case of a critical incident than we can support everyone’s safety.

Student Free Day

All state schools in the North have a Professional Learning Day allocated to them on Friday, 29^th October. Our teachers will be working on our school’s strategic plan and participating in professional learning, along with working with our colleagues in the Queechy Alliance to moderate writing samples.  The following Monday, 1^st November is a Public Holiday, so we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, 2^nd November. 

School Association

Next Wednesday, 27^th October we will be holding this term's School Association meeting. Please remember that everyone is welcome to attend these meetings.  The meeting begins at 7pm, please enter the school via the pencil entrance.

Covid Check In

Please remember that this is a necessary part of life now.  If you are entering the school buildings, please make sure that you check in beforehand at the gates of the front entrance. 

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

During the last week of Term 3, our Choir performed at the Singfest concert. The Choir have been learning the Singfest repertoire for the better part of this year in anticipation of the prestigious event. Congratulations to all our students on their stunning performance at The Albert Hall. Our students presented beautifully in their school uniforms, represented Punchbowl with pride and sang with confidence and quality. Thank you to Alana Lava who came in to help out on the day rehearsal and evening concert. Also, thank you to all the family members who came along to support their children and who gladly adhered to the COVID regulations that had just come into effect.

• 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.

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

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.

The Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) is now open for 2022.  Applications of 2021 are now closed. Families who were approved for STAS this year will receive written notification regarding their eligibilty (approved or not approved) for 2022 within the coming weeks. Application forms for 2022 are available from the school office.

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) 

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

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.

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

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.