Dear Families

Yesterday the information gathering part of our External School Review (ESR) concluded. Thank you to families who were able to speak with the panel to provide feedback. The panel also spoke to 27 teachers, all of our teacher assistants, EFAs and admin and 40 students. They also viewed school documents and visited classes. Next week the panel will return to share some findings and their recommendations. Once the report has been officially finalised I will share it more widely with the school community.

The ESR is an exciting opportunity to received feedback and input to our school improvement plan for the next four years.

At the end of this term the School Association (SA) will be having it’s AGM. At this time a new committee will be formed. All parents with children enrolled at South Hobart are part of the School Association. From this group 11 people make up the SA Committee. Nominations will open next week from members of the school community to be part of the School Association Committee. Nominations are for being on the committee, not for positions (Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary and Treasurer). The AGM will be followed by the first meeting of the new committee. At this time all positions are declared vacant and nominations from the new committee are taken for these positions. Voting, by the new committee, will take place if there is more than one nomination for the position. The principal chairs this part of the meeting until the positions have been filled.

The School Association Committee is made of seven parents, two staff, one community member and the principal. The term for being on the committee is two years. At the end of every School Association year usually half the committee retire. For 2024/25 there are five parent and one staff position available.

Timeline:

• Nominations open on Thursday 7 March (week 5)
• Nomination forms will be available from the office or can be requested via SZapp to be sent home with students.
• Forms need to be seconded by another member of the School Association (any other parent)
• A nomination box will be available at the office for completed nomination forms.
• Nominations close on Friday 22 March (week 7)
• Elections held if there are more nominations than positions (week 8 – 9)
• There are five committee positions available

The committee meets twice per term at 7:00pm. Being a part of the committee is a great way to connect with other parents and be involved in the school. Please consider nominating to be on the SA committee.

Regards

Anne Reeves

Principal

Click here for the SHPS Calendar.

Click here for the 2024 Term Dates and 2024 School Term Calendar

As the term progresses, students will be going on excursions, Bush Kinder and sporting events. To ensure students’ safety we send along with the class, a First Aid bag with basic first aid items, as well as all medications for students who have medical conditions for which we have medical action plans and/or medications Forms A or B. If a student has a medical condition requiring medication and it is noted on their enrolment form we are required to have a corresponding medical action plan and medication held at school. At this stage there are still outstanding medical forms and medications that need to be delivered to the school. Could you please bring these into the office at your earliest convenience? Medication needs to be signed over by a parent or carer, it should not be delivered via students.

Thank you for your support.

NAPLAN 2024 

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 13 and 25 March 2024. 

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so. 

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers. 

This is the second year NAPLAN has been held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year. These can then be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year. 

Why NAPLAN is conducted online 

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results. 

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. The questions a student receives depends on their answers to previous questions. This means that students answer questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do. 

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN. 

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging. Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper. 

Parent information brochures and other resources 

A parent information brochure and questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child can be found at: NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers 

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website and covers a variety of topics such as the timing of the tests and how results from the assessments should be understood. 

It also allows access to a Public Demonstration Site which shows the types of questions students will answer and the functionalities that are available in NAPLAN tests. 

Please contact the school if you have any further queries. 

2A Problem Solving

In 2A we have been working on showing our thinking in different ways when we are solving problems.

We have also begun our inquiry into what life was like a long time ago.

Here are some of our wonderings:

How did people know what food was poisonous? How did they test it? (Georgina)

How did they start fires to cook on? (Eleanor)

Did our ancestors have stoves to cook on? (Yana)

Did people in the past have shops? (Harvey)

How was technology introduced into daily life? (Peta)

Were people safe? (Aniah)

What furniture did they have? (James)

How did they know which animals were poisonous? (Oscar)

How did they kill the animals they needed to eat? (Louis)

Did people experience natural disasters? (Ebenezer)

Did people have cars? (Hakeem)

Hobart Magazine article on our rivulet platypus 

Last year, our year 4 students supported the Hobart Rivulet Platypus Organisation by creating posters that are now up around our school. Below is the article that appeared in the Hobart Magazine late last year. 

Year 6 Band Performance at Statewide Leaders’ Forum

Today the Year 6 band students performed at the DECYP Statewide Leaders’ Forum at MyState Arena. They did an absolutely amazing job, not only with their skillful playing but also the professional way they all stood together and took a bow and moved from the stage. I received many compliments and commendations on their behalf.

Well done, Year 6 Band!

Photos of their performance will be included in the next newsletter.

South Hobart will hold its Primary Athletics carnival on Tuesday the 5^th of March at Sandown Park in Sandy Bay. The carnival will start at 10am and finish at 2.30pm.The order of events will be:

10am : 100m 

10:30 : 400m 

11:20 : Novelty events and Long Jump

12:50 : Toddler race 

12:55 : Parent races 

1pm : 800m

1:30 : Relays 

1:50 : 200m 

Please note the 1500m will be run at school.

Students will need to wear house colours on the day.

Spectators are welcome. 

Mr Nichols

The School Association Committee is made of seven parents, two staff, one community member and the principal. The term for being on the committee is two years. At the end of every School Association year usually half the committee retire. For 2024/25 there are five parent and one staff position available.

Timeline:

• Nominations open on Thursday 7 March (week 5)
• Nomination forms will be available from the office or can be requested via SZapp to be sent home with students.
• Forms need to be seconded by another member of the School Association (any other parent)
• A nomination box will be available at the office for completed nomination forms.
• Nominations close on Friday 22 March (week 7)
• Elections held if there are more nominations than positions (week 8 – 9)
• There are five committee positions available

The committee meets twice per term at 7:00pm. Being a part of the committee is a great way to connect with other parents and be involved in the school. Please consider nominating to be on the SA committee.

AMT Competitions 

Thank you to the parents who have submitted their forms to the school and made payment on the Qkr! App. We have a number of forms without payment, and payment without forms. We are not able to enrol students in the two competitions without both. Deadline is Friday, 5 April.  

Please use the link below to see the information about the Maths competition.

AMT_Parent_Letter_2024.docx

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 approximately 20 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                                                                       Tanya Poultney

  Principal                                                                          Safeguarding Lead