Dear Families 

Students are continuing to settle well into learning and their new classes.  

While a focus of my work so far this term is to get to know students and classes, another key task I have now is to organise our External School review. Please see the additional information included in this week’s newsletter, particularly information about how families can contribute (ESR Parent Information Feb 2024). This is a great opportunity to gather as much information as possible from a broad range of people (staff, students and families) in our school community.  The information gained from the review will be used to inform the direction and content of future school improvement.  

Approximately 40 students have been randomly selected to meet in a group with a panel member for the review in order to provide input from students. Those students have received hard copy letters about this today. (Apologies for the typo on one of the letters, I noticed it after they were printed and did not want to waste paper. Gold star if you can find it!) Panel members will visit classrooms and may speak to students during the course of their visits. 

Opt-out information has been provided (today’s newsletter Students Participation in ESR Feb 2024) to the randomly selected students, but this may also apply to other students during the class visits. If you are happy for your child to speak with panel members, you do not need to do anything. Please ask for a copy of the opt-out letter if you require it. 

The Year 3 – 6 athletics carnival will be held on Tuesday 5 March (week 5) at Sandown Park (Sandy Bay). If you would like to help out at the carnival please let Mr Nichols know. Just a reminder that all volunteers from this year will need to complete the Mandatory Reporting training, and have a current Tasmanian Registration for Working with Vulnerable People. Please see today’s newsletter for information about the Mandatory Reporting training.   

Regards 

Anne Reeves 

Principal 

Click here for the SHPS Calendar.

Click here for the 2023 Term Dates and 2023 School Term Calendar

Meetings are next week, Monday 19 – Friday 23 February. Meetings are 15 minutes long and scheduled with a five-minute buffer to allow movement between meetings. Bookings are now open. Parent meetings culminate with a Welcome BBQ on Friday 23 February. This is a fantastic opportunity to get to know your child’s teacher and other families in the school, I hope to see as many people are possible in our school during next week. 

Please think about nominating for the School Association Committee. Information about this will be shared in the next newsletter. (Thursday 29 February) This is a great way to be involved and learn more about the teaching and learning in our school. This is particularly exciting now with the External School Review recommendations which we will receive at the end of our review, these of course will be shared with the association.  

It has been great catching up with the students and hearing about their adventures over the holidays. 

We have been getting used to our new art room and learning where things live and how the classes will work in our new space. Each lesson will start with still-life drawing before we move on to the fortnightly focus. This year we will have an increased focus on drawing, while exploring different mediums and how the elements of art are used to describe and create art. 

This week we used grey lead to draw our still-life objects. The Year 6s’ explored form and line to create 3D word art, while the Year 1-5s’ used their design skills (and fine motor muscles) to create origami bookmarks. 

Jo Gisborne  

Visual Art Teacher 

  

 

External School Review – information for families and the community  

The Department for Education, Children and Young People regularly reviews all Tasmanian Government Schools. The Reviews are an important part of how the department supports each school.  

The Reviews are about providing schools with quality and independent feedback to help them continue to improve the learning outcomes for students and achieve the department’s commitment to inspire and support all learners to succeed as connected, resilient, creative and curious thinkers. Reviews are not used to compare schools or to rate the performance of school staff. They are about supporting schools in a differentiated way, with reviews tailored to each school’s context and need.  

Each school is reviewed approximately every four years – providing valuable opportunities for self-reflection and improvement.  

The Review process  

Experienced educators undertake Reviews. Each Review Team consists of two to four reviewers; however, the number of reviewers and the length of the Review depends on a range of factors, including the size and context of the school.  

The Review Team looks closely at each school’s performance data and will speak with staff, students, families, and the community to get an accurate picture of the school. Reviews are structured around the School Improvement Tool (ACER, 2023) with a focus on the school context, which has been discussed between the External School Review Leader, the principal and relevant School Improvement staff.  

The Review Team will provide the school with a report summarising their findings and recommended improvement strategies to maximise student outcomes. This report will be shared with staff and the community to guide the school’s future improvement focus. South Hobart’s report will be shared at a School Association meeting.  

Participation in school Reviews  

Feedback from families and the community is an important part of school Reviews, and families and community members are encouraged to participate in the review. During the review period time has been set aside for panel members to speak with families. If you would like to speak with a panel member please contact the office via SZapp to let them know by Wednesday 21 February 2024. You can either come into school to meet with panel members or a phone appointment can be made. Families may meet individually or in groups.  

More information  

Families and community members interested in further information relating to school Reviews are encouraged to contact the principal.  

Dear Parents 

As part of our continuous school improvement, we will be involved in an External School Review (ESR) on Monday 26 – Wednesday 28 February 2024.  

All Tasmanian Government Schools are externally reviewed every four years. The focus of the Review is to evaluate school performance. The Review Team consists of an ESR Leader and two trained Principal Peer Reviewers. (Please see further information in the school newsletter 15/02/24.) 

The panel will identify successful aspects of the school’s improvement as well as focuses for the future.  

During the External School Review some students, families, School Association members and staff will be asked to provide information to the Review Team in several ways.  

These include:  

• individual interviews (can include family phone calls) 
• group discussions (with students or staff or families) 
• meetings (usually School Association, staff meeting) 
• visits into classrooms. 

We appreciate your support and time in helping us with this External School Review process. Please see the newsletter for information about how you can be involved. 

Please complete the reply slip below and return to the front office if you do not want your child to participate in conversations with a member of the review panel. If you would like more information, please contact me via the school office. 

Yours sincerely 

Anne Reeves 

Principal 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  

EXTERNAL SCHOOL REVIEW (for students to NOT participate) 

please return to admin via class tubs by Wednesday 21 February 2024 

I do not want my child(ren) __________________________________________________________   

(student names) in class _________________ to be involved in the External School Review discussions  

conducted by the Department for Education, Children and Young People. 

Name: _____________________________________________ (Parent/carer) 

Signed: (Parent/Carer) ___________________________________________ 

SAFEGUARDING TRAINING IN OUR SCHOOLS

To all our volunteers – have you completed your safeguarding training yet?

The training is compulsory under new laws designed to better safeguard children and young people in Tasmania. It will help you understand what to do if you believe a child or young person is or may be being harmed, and to make sure you are doing all you can to prevent this from happening. The training will also tell you what you must report under the new laws.  

Remember you will need to finish it before working in our school this year.

If you are a parent and are thinking about volunteering for us, you can also do the training. You will need this to work with children and young people. Make sure you save the certificate to show you have completed it.

In the next few weeks, the school will offer group sessions on-site and provide devices for families to use to complete the training. The course takes 30 – 45 minutes to complete. Please keep an eye on future newsletter for further information.

If you would like to complete the training in your own time you can use the link below. When you complete the training, either independently or here at school, please email your certificate to south.hobart.primary.admin.staff@decyp.tas.gov.au

To complete your training, visit Safeguarding Training. 

Thank you for leading the way in caring for our children and young people safe so that they can focus on living bright lives with positive futures.  

Please contact me here at school if you have any queries.

Regards

Anne Reeves                                                                                                    Tania Poultney

Principal                                                                                                           Safeguarding Lead