External School Review

Last week our school was involved in an External School Review and I am pleased to say it was a very positive experience. The review panel finished by sharing with teachers some commendations and affirmations and lastly concluded with some recommendations of where our next 4 years of work should go. See below the feedback from the panel.

Commendations:

• The school promotes and maintains an environment reflective of high expectations that all students will learn successfully.
• All school staff are united in their commitment to improve the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school.
• There is a strong collegial culture of mutual trust and support among staff and school leaders.
• The staff of the school demonstrate an understanding of the importance of positive and caring relationships to successful learning and work to build respectful relationships across the school community.
• All students have an obvious sense of belonging and all parents believe their children are in a safe, trusting learning environment.
• The school works to create an attractive and stimulating physical environment that supports and encourages learning.

Affirmations:

• The principal and other school leaders lead and model professional learning in the school.
• Teacher’s value working together to improve on their current teaching practice.
• The school uses whole school data to identify starting points and monitor for improvement.
• Developing an inquiry approach in classrooms is valued by teachers to increase engagement and foster creativity.
• Participation in the numeracy pilot project is valued and evident in every classroom.
• The Queechy Alliance instructional model is used in planning and practice.
• The school has clearly articulated and documented whole school approaches in the teaching of synthetic phonics, guided reading, spelling, writing and reading strategies, high frequency sight words for reading and writing, expectations of teachers in the teaching of English Prep - Grade 2, Zones of Regulation, and the instructional model (IM) developed in conjunction with the Queechy Alliance.

Recommendations:

• Work on Professional Learning Team structure
• Provide further opportunities for teachers to receive feedback on their practice.

Kinder Enrolments for 2023

A reminder to parents of students who were born in 2018 that they are required to enrol in kindergarten for 2023, i.e if your child is 4 by the 1^{st of} January and will turn 5 in kindergarten. 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 our Pre-Kinder sessions beginning in Term 4.

Save the Date Fundraiser – Trivia Night 23^rd September

Tickets have gone on sale. Please either get a table together or come along and we will set you up on a table.  This event is about getting together as a school community once again.  It feels like it has been a long time since we have been able to do this, and we want to connect again.

Click the link to get your tickets

https://www.trybooking.com/CBYVO

Lots of prizes and money goes towards rejuvenating our playground.

Swimming and Water Safety

This week we began our two week Swimming and Water Safety program with students in Grade 3-5.  It is wonderful to witness their growth and development over the two weeks.  Thank you for all your support in getting students organsied and prepared for these lessons, we really appreciate it.

Deck refurbishment

In Term 1, we applied for a Government Grant to refurbish our Grade 5/6 deck and was fortunate enough to be successful in this process. The work began this week and has resulted in some areas being out of use during the refurbishment including the ramp access.  We appreciate your understanding with this.

Growing Up Program – last 2 weeks of Term 3 - Parent Sessions

Every second year our school participates in this externally run program by professionals that are trained in the content. This program will be offered in the last two weeks of Term 3.  A flyer went out this week with your child which outlines the content.  A parent meeting has been scheduled from 8.30am – 9.00am on Monday, 19^th September to answer any questions before content is presented to students. If you are at all concerned, please make sure you come to this meeting.

Grade 5/6 Camp

Letters went home yesterday about the upcoming 5/6 overnight camp. Please return the camp form as soon as possible.  Please remember that this is not a compulsory school experience and classes will be available for students not attending. As it is not compulsory there is additional cost of $110 to cover meals and overnight expenses along with the activities on the days at Camp Clayton. Please ensure that the complete payment is made by the end of the first week of Term 4. We look forward to offering this experience again.

Inquiry and the Learning Assets at Punchbowl Primary

Teachers have been involved in Professional Learning around how to teach our students to be learners in the 21^st Century. As a school, our current focus is on Self-Managing. Students are being encouraged to make positive decisions about themselves as learners, to be resilient, set achievable goals and to reflect on their learning and challenge themselves to improve. I encourage you to continue this conversation at home when your child is unpacking their swimming bag, or getting their home reader out independently – there are many opportunities for them to be self-managing at home.

Here are some examples of how we are learning to self-manage at school.

Dangerous driving behaviour outside school

Once again, we have had complaints passed onto the school about dangerous driving that could cause serious injuries to students and families. Notably the amount of U-turns taking place near the crossing or turning into driveways is increasing and is dangerous. We have notified police of these concerns and asked that more surveillance is carried out at these times. Please take care on our roads and be mindful of children’s safety.

Student Absences

The Education Department is monitoring student absences closely, school are only able to approve student absences based on illness. Other absences must be marked as unauthorised or unexplained. Please remember to phone the office or your child’s teacher every day your child is away to ensure absences are marked correctly. Parents can advise absences via phone, email punchbowl.primary@education.tas.gov.au (cc teacher) or the Schoolzine messaging platform.

JackJumpers Basketball clinic

This week we were fortunate enough to have the 5 members of the JackJumpers basketball team come and run a clinic for students competing in the basketball tournaments. The students were thrilled when they were allowed to get autographs. A big thank you to the JackJumpers!

Liz O'Donahue - Principal

For those families that did not qualify for STAS this year, 2022 school levy's are still required to be paid. Applications for 2023 will be available in the near future. 

TRIVIA NIGHT!

SAVE THE DATE
We are delighted to announce that there will a school Trivia Night, being held by the Fundraising Committee on Friday 23rd September 2022 from 7:00pm.

Tickets are $20 each and available for purchase via https://www.trybooking.com/CBYVO

Tickets can be purchased for any number of single tickets, and the committee will group attendees by year group.

The Trivia Night will be a wonderful opportunity for our parents, teachers and friends to gather socially, meet other parents, both new and old, for a night of fun, prizes, raffles and entertainment while raising important funds.

The funds from the evening will go towards a Playground Redevelopment.

The School Association will run a bar on the evening. Bring along your favourite snacks and treats and enjoy a wonderful night with other Punchbowl Primary families, staff and friends of the School.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

WE NEED YOU!

The school Fundraising Committee are desperately seeking some more volunteers to assist with the organising in the lead up and on the Trivia Night.

• Set up & pack down
• Clean up crew
• Bar staff
• Door staff -meet and greet
• Auctioneer
• Raffle coordinators
• Assisting to sort out donations/prizes

And the most important job …. Buying a ticket, attending and having a great time! 

If you have a couple of hours you can spare, please contact Naomi Will on naomi@eventsphere.com.au or 0439 336 511.

CALL FOR DONATIONS
Do you own or work for a business or organisation that could donate a prize, voucher or even make a financial contribution to the Trivia Night? We are on the lookout for all donations!

If you can assist with anything, large or small, please contact Naomi on naomi@eventsphere.com.au or 0439 336 511. All donations will be acknowledged and receive recognition through various platforms such as newsletters, social media and of course on the night.

Please dig deep – we have an ambitious fundraising target of $10,000, and all contributions to assist to reach this are greatly appreciated!

Upcoming Fundraising and School Association Meetings

General Meeting - Wednesday 19th October commencing @ 7pm at school

General Meeting - Wednesday 30th November comming @ 7pm and School

Everyone is welcome to attend!

• 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. 

• Term 3: Tuesday, 26^th July to Friday, 30^th September    

• Term 4: Monday, 17^th October to Wednesday, 21^st December

                      (Friday, 4^th November – Student Free Day)

The health and safety of students and staff has, and always will be, our top priority.  Our Term 3 approach to manage COVID-19 is outlined in our COVID-safe schools operational plan. The Plan builds on everything we’ve learnt since the start of the pandemic.

The Department of Education (DoE) has worked closely with Public Health to ensure schools continue to be safe places for learners.  Many COVID-safe measures that you are familiar with continue to be in place to limit the impact of COVID-19 in our schools. 

With increased COVID-19 cases in our community leading into Term 3, our staff and visitors are strongly recommended to wear face masks when indoors, or if they are unable to physically distance. Wearing a face mask is not a requirement for students, however it is strongly recommended by Public Health indoors as well as when they cannot physically distance.  Students will be supported to wear masks by their school when they choose to.

Face masks and Rapid Antigen Tests continue to be readily available for students and staff at all Tasmanian Government schools.

It is common to see increased illness at this time of year, so it remains important that we all continue to practise our COVID safe behaviours, stay at home if unwell and get tested.

As always, when your child is well, the best place for them to be is at school learning with their friends and teachers. 

We will need to continue to be flexible as some elements of our plan may change during the Term. We will continually monitor the situation, make changes as necessary and keep school communities informed.

COVID SYMPTOMS

Thank you to our entire school community for your cooperation this term by practising COVID-safe behaviours.

Please refer to COVID-safe school plan for information as to how we are managing COVID within our school.

As you know, an important COVID-safe behaviour is to stay at home if you’re unwell and get tested for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test.

Public Health tells us that the number of cases of COVID-19 in children is low, and they’re likely to have milder symptoms.

It’s a good reminder to be mindful of the symptoms of COVID-19 in children. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children are cough, fever, runny nose and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

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

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.   

Closing dates for Bookclub orders will be stated in the newsletter. 

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.

School Beanies

We now have school beanies available from the office to purchase at $15.00 each.

During the past few years, we have had many students from Grades 3-6 participate in the annual Primary School Triathlon event at Devonport.  This event is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle choices to school students, regardless of ability, sporting background or current lifestyle.  Participation and enjoyment are the foundation of this event. Students can participate in a team, an individual or both.

The Primary School’s event will again be held in Devonport on Thursday, 24th November.

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

Unfortunately, there is a date clash with when our Grade 5-6 students perform in the Dance Fever school performance production. In the past primary classes have gone along to watch our students perform, unfortunately, this means students will need to decide as to which activity they participate in or attend.

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  and returned to the school office along with payment by Friday, 23^rd  September, 2022.

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

SUBWAY NEW ORDERING PLATFORM

Subway have changed to a new ordering platform which is through Canteen Hub

If you wish to order please register via the below link:

app.canteenhub.com.au/register-customer

We have a lot of jackets/jumpers etc in our lost property baskets. If your child has misplaced an item of clothing please make sure they check the baskets located out the front of the office and outside 5-6 Frerk/Marshall. 

We also have 2 x watches at the office. If you are missing a watch please see the office and describe the watch so we can return it to it's owner. 

An update on face masks

It’s important to continue to:

• stay at home if unwell, and get tested
• practise COVID-safe behaviours such as frequent handwashing and sanitising
• be up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations.

Students, staff and visitors are supported to continue to wear face masks if they choose to. Face masks are still available at our school if you need them.

When face masks are required

If you’re a close contact, you are still required to wear a face mask indoors as per current Public Health advice.

From time-to-time our school might identify activities or situations where masks are required to be worn. We ask for your support when this happens and know that it is in the best interests of our students, staff and our school.

Our staff will continue to wear masks when working closely with students who are vulnerable to COVID-19.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly to discuss.

For more information about COVID-19, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

This term students in the Esk Band Program are part of a practice challenge where they are aiming to become the first student in their school to complete 35 days of instrumental practice. “Practice” is completing at least 10mins of playing, focused on improving/mastering a piece from their Tradition of Excellence tutor book or a section of music from a band piece.  The 35 days do not need to be consecutive, but that will help students to be the first to finish! Over the 35 days there should be a visible progression through the tutor book. Parents or carers must initial that the practice has been completed.

The first continuing and first beginning student at each school will be awarded a $35 voucher for Barratts Music!

The 2022 School Satisfaction Surveys are coming!

Every year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about Punchbowl Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision-making.

The survey is open from Monday 29 August 2022 until Friday 23 September 2022 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Take the online survey by clicking this link

or pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/ZfLcuB2lFY

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. with Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department of Education staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.