Dear Longford Primary School Families

As we come to the close of another busy and productive term, it’s wonderful to reflect on the many highlights and achievements we have shared together. This term has been full of excitement, with some special events and excursions that have brought our school community closer together. Our Athletics Carnival was a standout event, with students showing incredible spirit, determination, and sportsmanship. It was fantastic to see so many students participating and cheering each other on. We also had a wonderful time at the Welcome BBQ, where families came together to enjoy delicious food and great company. These events are always a great reminder of how supportive and vibrant our school community is.

A key focus for our students this term has been their learning, and I am thrilled to report that we are already seeing signs of growth in reading and mathematics. I’m so proud of how our students have embraced their learning and continue to strive for excellence and growth. Our Reading Challenge has been particularly successful, with 72% of students participating so far. Together, our students have read an incredible total of 844 hours – what an amazing effort! Thank you to all our families for their continued support in fostering a love of reading at home and thank you to Mrs Erwin and Mr Talbot for the coordination of our Reading Challenge.

This week, families will receive a progress report outlining how their child is progressing in terms of attitude and effort towards their learning. This report provides valuable insight into each child’s approach to their classroom work and their ongoing development. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s report in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Looking ahead, we would like to inform you that Mrs Copeland will be on long service leave for the first half of next term. She will be traveling to the UK and Europe with her family to visit her daughter. We wish her all the best on her well-deserved holiday and look forward to welcoming her back later in the term.

For part of Term 2, I will be traveling to the USA as part of the Hardie Fellowship. This opportunity will allow me to collaborate with other DECYP staff to explore the latest research in reading and behaviour interventions. During my absence, Mrs Claxton and Mrs Copeland will be sharing the role of Acting Principal. I am looking forward to sharing the insights I gain from this experience with our school community upon my return in Term 3.

As we head into the holidays, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our students and their families a very happy Easter and a restful break. I hope you all have time to relax and recharge, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back in Term 2.

In partnership
Candice Burnett

Congratulations to students for receiving a
Connection Certificate of Merit

Aylah, Paisley, Iylah, Wesley, Dylan, Elizabeth, Gian, Banjo, River, Harrison and Elliott.

Our School Association held their AGM last week and we welcome our Committee for the upcoming year.

Elections BBQ - help needed

The polling booth for the elections on Saturday 3rd May is at our school. This is a great opportunity for our School Association to have a BBQ fundraiser. This can only go ahead if we have the support of helpers on the day. Please contact the school office if you are able to be of assistance.

The Student Leadership Team would like to thank families for supporting the Easter Raffle. 

A reminder to please return your raffle tickets/money before Friday. Each class will be drawing a lucky winner. Good luck!

Kind regards

Ashley, Bibi, Charlotte, Phoebe, Toby, Kobey, Ella and River.
Student Leadership Team

This year ANZAC Day falls on the Friday in the second week of the Term 1 holidays, Friday 25th April. If any students are interested in representing the school community by walking for the ANZAC March, they can meet at the Longford RSL car park at 10:30am on the day. Students attending will need to be in school uniform and be accompanied by an adult. The adult is welcome to march with the school or drop them at the RSL, then join their child at the Village Green service.

Name: Harpa Atkinson

Grade: 2

Class: 1/2 Viney

What is your favourite thing about reading?

It interests me seeing what books are about, especially books like ‘Wings of Fire’ or ‘Hotdog’. I normally read in my reading ‘nook’ under my bed. It is relaxing, I like laying there and turning the pages. I love my chapter books.

Tell us about this piece of work…

We read the BFG. Then we had to write about the book using adjectives to say what he likes and what he does. We basically had to describe him. We have a word wall with interesting words on it in our classroom and I used this to help me write about the BFG

The BFG is kind to everyone. The BFG stands for big friendly giant. The BFG is enormous and Sophie is miniscule compared to the giant. The BFG is friendlier than the other ones (giants) because they eat kids and adults. When the queen saw him the queen was scared. The BFG loves little boys and girls. He is silly. He can not talk properly. He does not know how to talk.

Name: Elliott Stretton

Grade: 6

Class: 5/6 Gleeson/Talbot

What is your favourite thing about literacy?

Normally I like to do rhymes – poetry. I learnt a lot of poems/riddles/rhymes last year. And my absolute favourite thing is to make stories. I like to write actions/fantasy stories. One was based from a picture - pictures help me get my stories going. I like to read books like the Treehouse stories - stories that are funny and I also like Amulet and Pokemon – fantasy stories to use my imaginations.

Tell us about Word Origins…

We are learning about the word functions and different ways to use words. We also learn about the sounds in words and their meaningful parts like their prefixes and suffixes (and their definitions). For example one word we have looked at is ‘erupt’ – the phonemes are e/r/u/p/t, the morphemes are e/rupt. The /e/ means out and away and the /rupt/ means to break (often violently).

I enjoy the sessions. It helps me understand words better. It also helps me to make the sentences I write better.

Sink or Float

Prep-1 classes recently experimented with “Sink or Float”. With our partners, we predicted whether an object would sink or float in the water, then tested to see if our prediction was correct. We wrote the results on our recording sheets.

Media Skills Group

This year, some 5-6s are participating in a Media Skills Group, to learn about photography, ICT photo editing and video production. Here are some of our first videos produced by our students. Photos were taken by our Media Skills Group members.

Brixhibition

Congratulations to our category winners, Max, Wyatt, Avery and Lincoln. Each winner received a medal, and passes to Richmond Gaol, Leven River Cruises and Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre. Our overall winner Wyatt also received a Paringa Archery pass and a family pass to Brixhibition Launceston, on 26 & 27 April at Door of Hope. For more information about the family event, see www.brixhibition.com

Electronic Snap Circuits

Last week, 3-4s explored electric circuits. We learnt that all electricity flows through a circuit, and any break in the circuit would mean our gadgets would not work. Switches and lightbulbs could be inserted into our circuit, as well as a motor with flying propeller. Through testing, we found some propellers and motors worked better than others, and sometimes more power was needed to improve the lift of the propeller. Too much power going through the circuit could ruin the small light globes.

Paint

Preps had their first lesson of MS Paint last week, with some grade 1s showing them the ropes. Students learnt to start the application, switch between their tools (pencil, paintbrush, eraser, fill and shapes), learnt how to 'undo' and start a new painting. Some great creations were achieved. Students needed to use the trackpad and touchscreens to achieve their results.

Congratulations to our students on their sportsmanship at the recent Northern Midlands Athletics Carnival.

Leadership Staff

Support Staff