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Dear Families, Students and Friends,
Welcome back to Term 4! We have had such a wonderful return to school. Students have returned to school ready to learn, displaying excellent work habits and positive behaviours in our learning and play spaces. Students can now return to their summer uniform if they choose. It is essential that all students now have a hat for Term 4 playtimes.
Welcome
I extend a very warm welcome to the ten new students and their families who joined our Longford Primary School Learning at the beginning of this term! Longford Primary School is an exceptional school and we are so happy to have you join our team! We also welcome Miss Canning student teacher to Mrs Farran and Mrs Duncan’s room. Miss Canning will be with us for the first five weeks of Term 4.
We did farewell Ms Sarah Elliott at the end of Term 3 and I wish to thank her for her support to small group programs in Term 3. I wish Ms Elliott well for the future.
Holiday Works
We were excited to return to school and see how busy Mr Roberts and Mr Collighan had been over the break. We have some amazing swings sets in both early childhood playgrounds for our younger students to enjoy. The swing sets have been a great hit for our students at playtime and are being well utilised each break time. Our early childhood classrooms also received some new doors over the school break. The doors are allowing for greater visibility, increased safety and more light to shine into classrooms –they look great! Our GP entry also received new doors and our primary classrooms had a glass panel put into each door to increase light into the learning space. The students and teachers have provided overwhelming feedback about the difference this has made to the learning environments. Mr Roberts has our grounds looking incredible and it is so wonderful to watch students playing creatively in our beautiful spaces. The building of the tyre play construction is well underway in the Kindergarten yard and we look forward to seeing this become a fun climbing space in the future.
Tree Planting
An enormous thank you to Cathy Cloudsdale and Mr Roberts for supporting our Tree Planting day at the end of Term 3. Unfortunately the day was very wet which left us a little restricted for tree planting on the day! However, Cathy and Mr Roberts completed the enormous job of planting 150 trees and shrubs over the holiday break. It will be wonderful to watch over Kinder forest growth over the coming years.
Thank you to our incredible SRC team for planting in the rain and getting the job started for us.
Letters Home
Last week you will have received two letters home from the school. The first letter from the Minister of Education reminds us of the need to stay vigilant to the Public Health guidelines and regulations around adhering to COVID-19 safety advice, DoE guidelines and school safety plans. Thank you for continuing to socially distance whilst on school grounds and remembering to sign in when planning on being on site beyond a few minutes. Stringent cleaning and sanitising protocols will remain in place until further notice.
Please remember that our White Zone on William Street is still functioning as a drop and go area. If cars could not park in this area to allow for flow within this space, this would be appreciated.
A second letter was sent home on Friday with some brief information on plans for end of year celebration events. We will continue to monitor Public Health safety advice on holding such events and will change plans if required. We are really excited to trial some new ways of celebrating together at the end of the school year and we look forward to your feedback around the changes we will trial this year.
COVID-19 Update
Following on from the letter provided by the Minister of Education last week, we have been informed that hay fever symptoms present similarly to COVID-19 symptoms. Students experiencing symptoms of hay fever should get tested. They should stay home until they get their results. Please remember that students cannot be at school if they are experiencing cold or flu like symptoms.
School Association
An important School Association meeting will be held in the Board Room on Tuesday the 27th of October at 9:15am Some agenda items for this meeting with include an update to the Levy Policy for 2021, end of year event planning and fundraising and reporting stage 2 feedback. All members of our learning community are welcome to attend our Association meeting. Please remember to sign in and complete the Coronavirus health safety screening paper work on arrival.
Wellbeing Team
Congratulations to the Wellbeing Team as they continue to lead our school work on the Behaviour Matrix and the Zones of Regulation. Last week we took part in some filming of our matrix and we look forward to sharing the incredible end product with you all soon.
Have you seen staff wearing their Zones of regulation lanyard at school? We are continuing to embed the language of zones in all that we do at LPS. Over the coming term we will share some Zones updates with families to support your understanding of this work and give you some tools that may help us communicate about our ‘feelings’ at home.
2021 Enrolments for Kinder
We are now well underway for our 2021 school year planning. Kindergarten enrolments are now open and we encourage you to attend our Pre-Kinder sessions with Ms Roxy Walls. Please join our Longford Primary School LiL facebook page or visit the office for more information.
2021 Planning
If your child will not be at Longford Primary School in 2021 due to a move, please let the office know and this will help us with our forward planning.
We do not accept specific teacher requests in our planning for 2021. We do however invite families to contact your child’s team leader for a chat around any other specific consideration that you feel may be vital/critical for us to know for our future planning. If you have a child in K-2 in 2021, please contact Mrs Jen Copeland or if you have child in 3-6, please contact Miss Jacinta Doran. We will leave time for this consultation to occur from the 26th of October until the 4th of November.
K-6 Fun Run Fundraiser
We will have a K-6 Fun Run fundraising event on Thursday 29th of October, please bring a gold coin donation. Grade 3-6 students are asked to wear their house colours for this event as participation points will be awarded. Students will receive an icy pole after their run/walk. Kindergarten students that do not attend school on a Thursday are invited to take part in the event. A separate letter with Kinder specific information will be sent out separately. Unfortunately we are unable to have spectators at this event.
Base Testing
All of our Prep students will start their second round of BASE testing (formerly PIPS) this week. Testing will occur over a two week period.
NDIS
Olivia Barnard (NDIS Coordinator) will now be based at Longford Primary school every Friday fortnight. Her next visit will be on the 30th of October. No appointment necessary, but please sign in at the office on arrival.
Student Free Day
All state schools in the North have a Professional Learning/Student Free Day on Friday the 30th of October. The following Monday, 2nd of November is a public holiday. Students will return to school on Tuesday the 3rd of November.
STAS Changes 2021
The Tasmanian Government has announced the expansion of the Student Assistance Scheme (STAS), which waives the cost of Tasmanian Government levies for eligible students, for the 2021 school year onwards.
The eligibility for STAS will move to using the Health Care Card or equivalent as the assessment mechanism, replacing previous income thresholds that applied.
A set of Frequently Asked Questions has been developed to assist with any questions you may have.
Further questions about STAS or Levies and Charges in general can be sent to the Department of Education’s Financial Services Unit at stas@education.tas.gov.au or by calling 1800 827 055
Mural
Congratulations to Bec Cameron and the students who participated in the design and painting of our new mural. Our Kindness mural looks fantastic and we can’t wait to see it up on the side of our Hub building soon!
Very sadly, Mrs Deb Spangaro lost her father last week. She is taking some time to be with her family and will return to us next week. We pass on our love and deepest sympathy to Deb and her family.
Term 4 is always a very busy and exciting term. I look forward to enjoying many wonderful learning and celebration moments with you across the coming months,
Carolyn Sutton
Principal
Currently we are seeing a lot of heavy vehicle traffic travelling along Burghley and William Streets due to works in the area. Every day we are receiving reports from parents concerned about near misses with trucks and cars as children enter and leave the school grounds. Cars are parking on the opposite side of the road to pick up areas and children are running across the road toward parked cars. Many students are not using the crossings and therefore putting themselves at risk of a serious accident.
We continue to get calls from concerned members of the public regarding students travelling to and from school on bikes and scooters. Some students are not looking as they cross busy roads and are showing little awareness of road rules.
I implore every member of our community to be vigilant around our school zones and adhere to the 40km speed limit at pick up and drop off times.
Please speak with your children around road safety and making sure crossings are always used. The amount of correspondence I have had about this matter is alarming and indicative of the fact that this is a serious issue. I ask all families to be extra vigilant in regard to these concerns and collectively, we do all that we can to make sure a serious accident does not occur.
Carolyn Sutton
Principal
The Teachers and Reading Ambassadors have been excitedly preparing to celebrate books, authors and illustrators this week. Students have explored the Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlisted books of the year in library lessons and classrooms.
Activities that will support our school’s focus on the importance of reading are Readers’ Theatre performances by the Reading Ambassadors, book reports shared at our daily line ups and a display to visit to guess staff’s favourite book. The week will be wrapped up with the annual Book Week Parade where we will see some curious creatures and wild minds!
Look out for our photo gallery on Facebook.
Unfortunately parents will be unable to attend the parade this year but we will share all of our celebration events through photos on our Facebook page throughout the week.
Breakfast Club has started this week and will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the rest of the term. Bec and her helpers are looking forward to catching up with students for breakfast.
Head Lice Information - School Health Nurse
Head lice are very common in primary school aged children, anyone can get them. They are spread through head to head contact, they cannot jump or fly.
Over the counter head lice treatments are fantastic and I would recommend using them, however they usually only kill the live lice. The eggs otherwise known as nits remain glued to the hair shaft. This is why it is so important to be persistent in the combing of your child’s hair. Using a head lice comb, run through all of the hair in small sections, then wipe the comb onto a paper towel, you may see lice or nits.
Don’t forget that one treatment is not usually enough to eradicate head lice. Treating 7 days after the first treatment is the best practice to kill any of the eggs that may have hatched after the first treatment. Check the package of the product
Lice can only live off the human body for 1-2 days. Washing your child’s recently worn clothes, towels and bedding on a hot setting is recommended. Please wash any combs and hair clips you used while getting rid of the lice in boiling water.
To prevent head lice you can brush your child’s hair in the morning and the evening, tie your child’s hair back if it is long, and remind your child not to share hats, combs or hairbands. Checking your child’s hair for lice or nits especially around the ears and both the front and back hairline regularly is a good habit to get in to.
If you are having ongoing issues with head lice, feel free to contact me when I am at Longford Primary School on alternate Wednesdays/Fridays on 6391 1252 or you can email me at chanelle.mccormack@education.tas.gov.au
3 Owen
In History, grade 3 learn about how the community has changed and remained the same over time. On Tuesday 20th October, we visited an historic building in Longford and compared it with a John Glover picture from the 1800s. Do you recognise the building? While we were there we were invited to see inside the Christ Church where the children learned about the bell, organ, garden and other historical information.
Breakfast Club | Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays | |
Student School Banking | Tuesdays - Kinder KA, KB and KE | |
Fridays - Prep to Gr6 and Kinder KC, KD and KE | ||
October | 23 | Book Week Parade |
27 | School Association Meeting | |
29 | Fun Run Fundraiser | |
29 | Prep-Gr2 'Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure Show' | |
30 | Professional Learning/Student Free Day | |
November | 2 | Recreation Day Public Holiday |
19 | Infant Fun Day | |
December | 1 | School Association Meeting |
2 | Prep-Gr5 Award Presentation | |
9 | Grade 6 Presentation Assembly | |
10 | Students Reports home | |
11 | End of Year Fun Day | |
14 | Grade 6 Celebration Dinner | |
17 | Last day for students, school finishes at 2:00pm |
Leadership Staff
Principal | Mrs Carolyn Sutton |
AST | Miss Jacinta Doran |
AST | Mrs Jen Copeland |
AST | Mrs Mel Biffin |
Support Staff
Chaplain | Mrs Bec Cameron | Tuesday, Friday |
Psychologist | Mrs Allison Maloney | Tuesday |
School Nurse | Miss Chanelle McCormack | Alternate Wednesday/Friday |
Social Worker | Mrs Shelley Lawes | Thursday |
Speech Pathologist | Miss Carla Dinale | Monday, Tuesday |