Dear Families, Students and Friends

Week 4 already – my how time flies when you’re having fun.

We are pleased to be able to announce the appointment of Mrs Candice Burnett as Principal of Longford Primary for the remainder of the school year. Mrs Burnett has been the Principal at Winnaleah District High for the past 2 and a half years. She has a strong literacy knowledge base, having worked as a Lead Coach across 60 schools, prior to her role at Winnaleah. In her words “I love working with young people and supporting them to feel happy and engaged in school life.” Mrs Burnett will start with us on Monday 21st August.

Also starting at Longford Primary this week is Mr John Boman, who is a library technician. He will work with our students on Mondays and Fridays in the library. Mr Boman is passionate about reading and connecting students to books.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rotary, Banjos and Hill Street Grocer for their ongoing support of our Breakfast Club. As a result of their generosity we are able to provide breakfast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. This is not only an opportunity for our students to eat a nutritious meal to start their day, but also to connect with their school community.

A couple of reminders please…

If there is a need for families to drop items like drink bottles, library books or clothing to school during the school day, please bring them to the office, not into the classroom and we will make sure they are delivered promptly. This will support us to keep our classrooms as free of interruptions as possible.

After school we ask that students leave the school grounds promptly. They should not be playing on the equipment (including the gaga pit) without adult supervision.

Next week we will celebrate Book Week with many opportunities through the week for us to engage with books. We will also have our first assembly for the term on Thursday 24th at 2:10 in the GP room and as always we extend an invitation to our school community to join us.

Jen Copeland
Acting Principal

Dear Longford Community

Thank you for the warm welcome, I am excited to start in the role as Acting Principal of Longford Primary School.

Over the past few years I have been the Principal at Winnaleah District High School and prior to that I have held leadership roles at Deloraine Primary School and South George Town Primary School. I also worked in a Department role leading Literacy and quality teaching. In my early teaching days I lived in Japan and taught English, which was a very interesting experience. I am passionate about ensuring all children feel connected and happy at school and that they see themselves as successful learners. In my spare time I enjoy travelling, watching AFL and walking my dog. I look forward to getting to know you all over the next few months and working in partnership with families and the community.

This is a photo of me in London with Paddington Bear

Are you making every school day count?

As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging.
It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits though.
Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future.
If you’re having trouble getting your child to school, please talk to us. We’ll listen to your situation and help in any way we can.
If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website. https://www.anything.tas.gov.au/

18th of August is the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. This year’s theme is ‘Growing Connections’ and promotes the strong links and social connection in our school communities as effective ways to address and combat bullying.

Today, may be a good day for you to have a conversation with your children about bullying and violence at school and ask them if they feel safe and supported or have experienced or observed bullying in anyway.

As a school, we will continue to address themes of bullying and violence and teaching students how to recognise risk to their own or someone else’s safety. 

This is more than a school issue.  It is an issue for our entire community, and we all have an important role to play. We are stronger when we work together.

To find out more about National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence, visit the Bullying No Way website.  We have also attached a fact sheet with some helpful information.

If this letter had raised any concerns for you or your child, we encourage you to seek advice and support from one of the following organisations:

• Beyond Blue – call 1300 224 636 or visit the Beyond Blue website.
• 1800 Respect – call 1800 737 732 or visit the 1800 Respect website.
• Lifeline – call 13 11 14 or visit the Lifeline website.
• Kids Helpline – call 1800 551 800 or visit the Kids Helpline website.
• Headspace – call 03) 6231 2927 or visit the headspace website.

We are always available to talk and if you would like to speak to us about this on an individual basis, please get in touch.

We are currently taking Kindergarten enrolments for 2024.  If you have a child (or know of a child in our local area) who turns 4 before the 1st of January 2024 (born in 2019), 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 be required as part of the enrolment process.  Please feel free to join our Launching into Learning programs over the coming months to help further prepare your child for Kindergarten in the new year.

On Monday 7th August it was day '101' of being at school this year. Grades 1/2 celebrated with opting to dress as something themed around numer '101' and they participated in some activities focusing on the number '101'.

On Wednesday 2nd August we had a visit from the successful author, illustrator and performer, 'Martin Chatterton'. There were two sessions, Kinder-Grade 2 and Grades 3-6, which were thoroughly enjoyed by our students.

Book Week Parade

Book week is an exciting event in our calendar and supports our school goal to improve reading engagement.  Book week helps us to celebrate all things books!  The parade will happen on Wednesday the 23rd August in the quad space at 9:10am; families are welcome to come and watch.  We encourage children to dress as a favourite book character or bring along an item that connects to a book.   Students are encouraged to bring their uniform to change into after the event.

Book Fair

Our Scholastic Book Fair is nearly here! It will be arriving on Tuesday 22nd August and will be here until Friday 25th August.

It will be open on the following days/times, so come along to find the best new books and help to earn free books for our library!

• 8:30-8:55 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
• 3:00-3:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

The fair will be held in the boardroom, (room entrance at 2nd hand clothing area), and support our school whilst getting your hands on the best new children’s books!

We are excited to once again host our Dad's Night evening with our Dads/Grandads/Uncles and significant others on Thursday the 31st of August.  Dad's Night is a valued tradition at Longford Primary School, it allows us to share some of our learning and class activities with you all.  Dad’s Night is open to all families of our learning community from LiL – Grade 6.  The event with run from 4:30-6:00pm and will include opportunities for families to engage in some fun challenges and games together. 

On the night we will be have a free Sausage Sizzle. Thank you to our School Association for organising the Sausage Sizzle. Volunteers are needed for cooking and serving, please leave your name with the school office if you are able to help.

Also our Grade 6 students will be providing a Father's Day Raffle as part of their fundraising for end of year celebrations.

Leadership Staff

Support Staff