Dear Families

Welcome to the 2024 school year! We are so happy to have you as part of our school community.

Students and staff have made a positive start to the year, and we are excited for what’s to come.  Last week from Monday-Wednesday staff engaged in a range of professional learning sessions. Topics included Safeguarding, reading and wellbeing.  These sessions link with our 2024 school priorities around wellbeing and reading. Students returned to school on Thursday with enthusiasm, and it was wonderful to see students settling into their classrooms and making new friends. Students across the school have been focusing on learning classroom routines and building relationships. All students should be commended on their excellent start and we are excited to see their progress throughout the year. We look forward to working together to ensure your child has a great educational experience.

Welcome BBQ

On Tuesday 27th February we will be hosting a Welcome Back BBQ for our students and families. This will be an opportunity to see your child’s classroom and chat with their teacher.  Further details in newsletter.

New Staff

This term we welcome some new staff to our team.

Teachers
Zach McCullagh 5/6
Kayla Smith 3/4
Georgia Callanan Prep
Emily Dadson student support

Teacher Assistants
Ebony Barnes
Adam Burr
Penny Gibson

Support Staff
School Psychologist: Caitlyn Osborne
Speech & Language Pathologist: Rachel Wilkes Term 2 & 4

If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, please feel free to make a time to speak with your child’s teacher by calling the office. Senior staff and myself can also assist you. I look forward to working with you throughout the year.

In partnership
Candice Burnett

Welcome back! Let’s make every day count.

Here we go, another exciting school year ahead! We hope you enjoyed your holidays.
By showing up to school every day, your child will have the best opportunity at a bright future. It gives them every chance to be around friends, learn new things, and find interests.
Good attendance habits can sometimes be hard to stick. But creating a solid routine, from the start of Term 1, can set your child up for success for the year ahead.
If you are looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.
Please always talk to us if you are having trouble getting your child to school. We are here to help.

• Uniform orders for jackets, rugby jumpers and winter tunics need to be at the school office this Friday.
• Validation forms need to be returned this week please. Students will not be able to participate at the Athletic Carnival or have school photos taken until we have received current permission consents.
• There will no lunch ordering from the school canteen this Term.

Our Prep-6 Athletics Carnival is being held on Friday 23rd February at the Longford Recreation Ground and the Little Athletics area. Students will need to wear their PE clothing, ensure they have a hat and arrive with sunscreen on if possible. A coat in students bags may be handy in case of inclement weather. It is a good idea to pack extra food and drink on this day.

Early Childhood (Prep-2) Athletics will commence at 10:00am and return to school by  by Break 2. 

Primary (3-6) Athletics will commence at 9:30am and conclude at 2:30pm. Primary students can wear a Latour (yellow) or Norfolk (green) coloured t-shirt if they choose.

If your child is unable to participate, please provide a note or explanation.

SPECTATORS ARE ASKED TO STAY OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER OF THE FOOTBALL GROUND OVAL AND THE LITTLE ATHLETICS GROUND.
PLEASE DO NOT ENTER EITHER OF THESE AREAS.

We look forward to hosting our Welcome BBQ on Tuesday 27th February. Classrooms will be open at 4:30pm. This is an informal opportunity to meet staff and explore your child's new space. Following on from visiting classrooms a BBQ will be provided in the quad, finishing at 6:00pm.

This year our school photos are being supplied by MSP Photography on Thursday 29th February. More information will be sent home later this week. Ordering will be online, no cash. Online ordering will stay open until Thursday 7th March.

All students will have an individual photo taken on photo day regardless if they are ordering or not.

Family order forms will be available next week from the school office. Family photos will be taken before school from 8:30-9:00am. 

We are kicking 2024 off with a reading challenge. The challenges will continue throughout the year with different milestones to be met. Our first challenge is to read for 20 nights. We are asking you to aim for a minimum of 10 minutes a night of reading. This might look different for each of our families. In the younger years, you may be sharing a book together and be looking at the pictures and discussing what parts of the story they enjoyed while someone read to them. In the older years, this may be reading a chapter of your favourite book or reading a picture book to a younger sibling. If you could please support your child to fill in their reading log while reading at home and your child’s teacher will support students during their reading programs. Let the challenge begin – happy reading!

We are excited to be welcoming Megan Floris from Food Web Education back to Longford Primary to deliver a full year of garden classes. Megan will lead sessions with classes from Kinder to Grade 6, following the rough schedule:

Term 1 - Grade 5/6
Term 2 - Grade 3/4
Term 3 - Grade 1/2
Term 4 - Prep/Kinder/LiL

Classes will normally be on Fridays, commencing this week. Every session involves cooking produce from the school garden. Recipes will be published in the newsletter. They are nut free. Dairy, egg and gluten substitutes are provided. If you require a full list of ingredients, contact megan@foodwebeducation.com.

Parent help is welcome. Please speak to Maree or Kym in the office if you wish to volunteer. 

Dearest Families of Longford Primary School 

For those that did not meet me last year my name is Megan Floris (Megs) and I am the co-Founder and Director of garden based science program called Foodweb Education www.foodwebeducation.com 

I am very excited to announce that I have been invited back to deliver the Foodweb Education ecoliteracy program for the entire year at Longford Primary School. I feel incredibly honoured to be entrusted with this role and am very inspired to work with the wonderful staff, students, volunteers and garden inhabitants.   The program will be brought to life through the passion and dedication to your children’s learning, development and wellbeing of Cathy Cloudsdale and the ongoing commitment of our skilled and inspiring volunteers Mark Jelinik and Aidan Fleming. What a team I have been blessed with! 

This year will see all students from Kinder through to year 6 having the opportunity to participate.  Each class will be attending weekly classes for an allocated term block which will enable us to work closely and consistently with students and staff to merge the garden program into the class curriculum and provide hands-on and meaningful learning opportunities for everyone. 

We will launch the 2024 garden program by welcoming the Senior classes into the garden. The emphasis will be on consolidating and enlivening the learning objectives of their science curriculum which covers Biological Sciences: Living Things; Chemical Sciences: matter - gases, liquids, solids; Physical sciences: Light Energy; and Earth and Space Science: slow or rapid change to earth’s surface.  Explicitly exploring the scientific concepts included in these areas of the curriculum through gardening and cooking aims towards building an integrated understanding of how all of these aspects of ‘science’ operate and interact to create our complex, living world and discover our place in it.  We will also draw in some of the HASS curriculum too as we create belonging through exploring ‘place’.  I am personally very excited to bring it all together and hope the students will be too. 

We invite you to join us and welcome parents and carers to get involved so please check the timetable to find out when your child is participating and come along.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding the ingredients or activities the students will participate in please contact cathy.cloudsdale@decyp.tas.gov.au or megan@foodwebeducation.com

I am so looking forward to reconnecting with all of the students and staff, chickens and fruit trees and hopefully some parents too.

See you in the garden,
Megan

Recipe - Fresh Basil Pesto (with pasta and extras)

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly, finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup toasted sunflower and/or pepita seeds
• 2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• giant pasta shells (pre-cooked) for serving plus gluten free option
• crackers (gluten free option)
• Optional - carrots (for dipping) tomatoes for topping.

Method

1. Heat sandwich press and lightly toast seeds. Remove from heat.
2. PESTO: Combine the basil, roughly chopped garlic and the toasted seeds with food processor, pulse a few times.
3. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and pulse again. Stop to scrape down the sides. Blend until a consistent paste
4. Set a dairy free portion aside then add the grated cheese and stir until blended. Add salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
5. Dice tomatoes and place in a bowl with spoon to serve.
6. Cut the carrots into sticks
7. To serve: place a small amount of pesto in each giant pasta shell.
8. Prepare a platter to serve with carrots sticks and crackers (gluten free option).
9. Clean up as much as possible.

I hope this message finds you well and that your child/ren are settling in nicely to Term 1 at Longford Primary School. My name is Amy Bradley, and I am excited to be rejoining your school community as the School Health Nurse for the 2024 school year! I am looking forward to working with your children every Wednesday.

Throughout the year, I will be focusing on many health education and promotion activities covering a wide range of topics. It is my aim to empower your children with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed choices and lead healthy lives.

I will be conducting Kindergarten Health Checks for all Kindergarten students. If there are any specific concerns regarding vision and hearing, I am also able to conduct screenings for all primary school students upon request. Please note that consent forms must be signed by a parent/guardian prior to any assessments, including Kindergarten health assessments.

Just a reminder all students with health issues or who require medication (prescribed, non-prescribed and self-administered) while at school must have an up-to-date annual Medical Action Plan. Administration of medication must be authorised by a parent/guardian using the Authorisation for Administration of Student Medication Form A-non-prescribed for non-prescription medications and for prescribed medication, parent/guardian must ensure that Administration of Student Medication Form B-prescribed is completed by a doctor, pharmacist, or practice nurse and signed by the parent/guardian/carer. 

If you have questions or concerns about your child/ren’s health or want to learn more about the role of the school nurse. You can contact me via the school office on Wednesdays. Alternatively, you may reach out to me via email at amy.bradley@decyp.tas.gov.au at your convenience.

Wishing you and your family a fantastic start to the year!

Nurse Amy

If you would like more information, click on the hyperlinks below.

School Health Nurse Program - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Students with allergies and asthma - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Student Medication in Tasmanian Government Schools - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Medical conditions - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Leadership Staff

Support Staff