Dear Families,

As we reach the end of a very busy term, it's wonderful to reflect on all the activities in which our students have participated. This term, students have been involved in Year 6 leadership, the early childhood choir, the Year 5/6 Options Program, the garden program for both early childhood and primary, Fire Education, SRC, the AMT Maths competition, the Premier’s Reading Challenge, National Simultaneous Storytime, interschool cross country, and state cross country, among others. These activities highlight the wide range of opportunities available at our school. 

Additionally, we've had several extra-curricular activities on offer, including tennis, chess, French, and guitar lessons. 

Our Year 6 students had a fantastic time at camp last week. Both students and staff faced and overcame many challenges, including the indoor climbing wall and the giant swing. The resilience and team spirit displayed were truly inspiring. You can read more about the camp experience later in this newsletter. 

Last night, our choir students shone at the Festival of Voices – Young Tasmania Sings at the Hobart City Hall. Their performance was outstanding, not just in their singing but also in their ability to sit on stage for over an hour. Their dedication during the two full days of rehearsals earlier this week and throughout the term was evident in their mastery of the songs. Mr. Eddleston returned from the Monday rehearsals full of praise for the choir’s singing ability and their excellent behaviour – a real credit to them. 

A big thank you to Mr. Eddleston for his hard work in preparing the choir and to the families who volunteered to assist with supervision during rehearsals. 

I hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy holiday and finds time to relax over the next fortnight. School will resume for Term 3 on Monday, 21 July. 

Regards

Anne Reeves

Principal

Every school day matters! 

If your child misses one day per fortnight, that equals 20 days per year, which is four weeks per year. 

If that rate of attendance is continued from Kindergarten to Year 12, that is nearly 1 ½ years of school! 

Learning in the classroom does not occur in separate, self-contained days. It is a continuous process that connects from day to day and missing one day can lead to gaps in understanding and engagement. Students can also feel disconnected to their peers and teachers if they are not at school every day. 

While school staff understand that students can be unwell and need to stay home to recover, please reconsider absences for such as holidays, staying home due to tiredness, mental health days or because there are other activities occurring outside of school.  

Please speak with your child’s teacher is there are issues with your child attending school so that together, we can work on strategies to support their attendance. 

Because . . . every school day matters!  

*Data explained - the year-to-date data, 90.2%, is the percentage of students at school on any given day in the reporting period, this report is from the start of the year to 1 July 2025. The attendance level describes the percentage of students who are attending school 90% or more of the time. 

Staff and students who attended camp are deeply appreciative of the families who provided the delicious morning and afternoon tea treats. The students loved seeing their family's contributions beautifully arranged on platters for everyone to share, and they certainly enjoyed eating them too! Thank you for your generosity. 

Camp Free Time

School Camp was AMAZING, everybody LOVED it, from the giant rope swing to the sleeping arrangements. But the best time at camp, was the free time. There was a games room with Air Hockey, Pool, Foosball, and more! Its was so fun, and when we weren’t in the games room, we were playing basketball and cricket, or chilling in the Piano room playing games with your friends! But that’s just the inside free time.

Outside is the playground, where we had the most fun, and where everyone can play together, no matter your team. There was a little bit of play equipment, but, if you were being honest, it was really boring. There were two super bouncy trampolines that you could do big flips on! Some students even did backflips and then rag dolled in mid-air! Back here in Hobart, near the Woolworths in Sandy Bay, there was a massive slide at Government Park, this one at camp was BIGGER, and there was two! Everyone Raced at least once. And only now do we get to the best part… Ga Ga! This fun faced paced ball game is perfect for everyone. Ga Ga is where you hit a small foam ball around octangular pit, aiming to hit another person. You may only hit the ball with your hands. And even if you get out, you’ll be in about a minute later! It was by far the best game at camp.

By Sam

Camp in Year 6@ Blue Lagoon

Last week, SHPS year 6 students went on a school camp to Blue Lagoon Youth Christian Camp. As well as Port Arthur Historic Site. Here is what the students had to say.

At 7:20 we arrived to school and put our bags in our bus groups which were our tribes. Blue had our own bus while yellow and red shared a big bus. It was hard to not feel bad for the teachers who looked like they had 6 coffees already, and I bet they wished they had time to have another one.

After lots of time waiting to hop on the bus and catch up on some sleep, it was time to go! At least that’s what we thought. The bus driver came in and whispered something in the teachers ears. Minutes passed and still no movement only teachers making numerous phone calls. A rumour was going around that the school had accidently booked the bus on a different day and so the busses weren’t actually coming. It turns out that the teachers were about to tell us what actually happened. The bus driver forgot to fill up the bus with fuel!

Please read my fellow friends amazing work to hear more.

By Josh.

Camp food info report

At camp I think that many people were nervous about the food, but it was great.

Each day there was breakfast which included (cereals, porridge, toast and on the last day there were pancakes). (which were delicious, very much recommended). To drink in jugs there was orange juice, apple juice, apple and black currant juice. There was also milk in jugs as well.

Each day for morning tea there was two baked goods and a piece of fruit afterwards for each person. (We all drank from our drink bottles).

For lunch there were wraps on the first day, on the second day there were fried chicken sandwiches, on the last day there was a sausage sizzle with delicious honey soy chicken kebabs.

Each day for afternoon tea there was the same thing as morning tea.

For dinner on the first day there was spaghetti bolognaise, on the second day there was chicken curry, on the third day there was homemade giant meatballs and potato salad.

For dessert on the first night there was chocolate mousse with sprinkles, on the second night there was apple crumble, on the last night there was ice cream sundae with topping sauce.

By Tristan.

I was a bit nervous about the food, but it was better than I could have asked for. The desserts were truly excellent. The rock-climbing activity was fun, as well as the big swing, which was where students were hoisted six metres into the air, pulled a cord, swung and tried to throw dodgeballs into the basketball hoop. In initiatives, groups of around 8-10 tried to complete various challenges, like balancing a seesaw using their bodies, walking a tightrope, and picking up a bucket using ropes and an octagon with a hook on top of it. We also did a port Arthur escape room, which was where we were convicts and had to do stuff like unlock your manacles, find food, get a few pence, and get a fake ticket of leave. We also did team games, where we played two games in. The first was running around a milk crate, sitting on another, and throwing your shoes at a bowling pin. The second, we were blindfolded and had to find a pool noodle, then once you found it, you had to whack the other person with it before they whacked you. We also did art, which was where we finished off the drawings we started at Port Arthur. In rock climbing, people learnt about how climb safely, with a belayer and backup belayer.

Written by Levi

Year Six camp Blue Lagoon 2025

On week nine Tuesday the 24th the year six students gathered at the hall to depart to camp. Before this all the students were given a tribe yellow, blue and red then they got to choose a name and team chant. The blues where the blue jays the reds where the bloodhounds and the yellows where the bumblebees. But disaster struck when the red and yellow bus broke down!

Port Arthur was extremely fun we got to go to practically all the sites my personal favorite was the separate prison there was a pitch-black room that everyone got to stand in and scream their heads off.

When we arrived at camp we got to see the cabins. I don’t think anyone was sad about the cabins the teachers did a really good job choosing them. After that we got to have dinner it was bolognaise and it was so delicious we also got garlic bread and for dessert chocolate mousse, for the second night dinner we got curry and flat bread and then for dessert apple crumble and ice-cream and for the last night we got meatballs and then ice-cream Sundaes with as much toppings as you like!!!

When we woke up, we went to breakfast there was cereal, yogurt, porridge, and toast, everything was so delicious. There was also 2 trampolines, 2 massive slides, a gaga pit, swings, a soccer pitch, there was a gym with a basketball court and a games room with 2 air hockey tables, 2 foosball pitches, 2 pool tables, and a Ping-Pong table.

After breakfast we got to do actives there was initiatives, indoor rock-climbing, art, team games and an escape room and let’s not forget what many would say the best the scariest and the most enjoyable the BIG SWING!

And let’s not forget the talent show! The acts were so funny and enjoyable. Were their homesick people? Yes, did some people feel sick? Yes, but was it worth it?

By Jessie

Year 6 Camp 2025

Last week on Tuesday the 24th, the SHPS year 6 students went on a camp to Blue Lagoon Christian Camp and Port Arthur Historic Site.

Students had to get to school at 7:20am to check in themselves, their bags and their medication if they had any into their bus groups with blue group on one small bus and red and yellow on a bigger bus. At 8:40 they boarded and started the drive to Port Arthur.

Arriving at Port Arthur, they ate their lunch before getting a tour from a man named Andrew, who has worked at the Port Arthur Historic site for 16 years.

After they said goodbye to Andrew, they completed a scavenger hunt designed by Mr Birley, taking year 6 to different parts of the Historic Site. Including the penitentiary, the separate prison and many more areas.

By Edward

South Hobart Primary’s Grade Sixes Went to Camp!

On week nine term-two on Tuesday the 24th SOHO’s grade six leavers went to camp! They went to camp for three days (Tues-Fri). But before they went to Blue Lagoon, they ventured throughout Port Arthur’s Historic Site! Where they went on a fantastic tour and a premade scavenger hunt by Mr. Birley. Throughout the tour they saw: the Separate Prison, Government Gardens, the Penitentiary and an amazing church etc. After the scavenger hunt, and some food, South Hobart hopped on the bus and drove to Blue Lagoon!

Once SOHO got to camp, they were exhausted! Although there was just enough energy to find out their cabins, which were based on their team/tribe. The three teams were: The Bloodhounds, Blue J’s and the Bumblebees. To prepare for dinner they had three rotations: the Rec Hall, Piano room and the games room! The Rec Hall was their gym: with a Rockwall, a giant swing, an educational escape room, a full-size basketball court and sports equipment. The piano room was their calm down room and the morning meeting spot. The Games room had: two air hockey tables, two pool tables, two soccer tables and one ping pong table. Outside there was a huge slide, a paddock, trampolines, a play tower and the overall winner the Ga-Ga pit. Majority of the grade sixes loved the Ga-Ga pit and played their hearts out! GA-GA!

The food was amazing we had lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and dessert! The first night they had spaghetti bolognaise! After that we had treats parents provided for snacks. And we had: wraps, burgers, chicken curry, meatballs, chocolate mousse, ice-cream and apple crumble. SOHO was stuffed! Although, it wasn’t just the food that made it awesome. There was a wonderful talent show, with twelve acts! And courageous teamwork!

After thier fantastic time at camp, they drove back to school on Friday. Then rested on the weekend.

Overall, the Bloodhounds won after a tight competition. Winning a lovely morning tea! ( On Monday)

By Zoe.

Camp newsletter 3.7.2025

Fairly recently (as of the 3rd of July 2025) grade 6 students from South Hobart Primary School went to Blue Lagoon Camp. Before they went to camp, they did a trip around the Port Arthur historic site, learning about the convicts there and the buildings.

Finally, they got to Blue Lagoon Camp, they enjoyed that place, there was a big slide people can slide down, people can rock climb, they can even go to the so called “game room” and play some games, hence the name “game room” they did this thing called the “giant swing” think of the giant swing as “launching” you and you would swing around, it’s good fun. The food was also really nice; it was fairly healthy and still tasted good.

Overall, despite some having homesickness, grade 6s enjoyed camp.

By Franklin.

Camp Report 2025

On Tuesday the 24th of June this year, grade six students from South Hobart Primary School embraced on a three-night camp to Blue Lagoon. I know what you're thinking: was it fun or was it scary? the answer is both. There where so many different activities including: the big swing, rock climbing and an initiative course. And yes, there was home sickness and worries but it was all resolved.

On the Tuesday we went to Port Arthur. It was super fun and was filled with historical information. We went on a scavenger hunt and had a tour. The bus then took us to Blue Lagoon where we ran to our cabins. The cabins were in teams. The teams were: The Blue Jays, The Bloodhounds and The Bumblebees. It was so fun, and it was all thanks to the teachers and parents, and of course the grade six students.

By Isla.

Jack and Logan's camp experience

Logan: “So what did you enjoy about camp”

Jack: “The Big Swing”

Logan: “What was your favourite meal at camp”

Jack: “The wraps on Day 2!”

Jack: “What was your favourite thing at camp”

Logan: “The rec hall was Crazy with Basketball hoops and cool rock climbing, And the giant swing was so fun!”

Jack: “What was your favourite food Logan”

Logan: “My favourite food was the chocolate mousse”

Jack: “What was your favourite game in the games room Logan”

Logan: “ The Pool table was pretty fun”

Blue Lagoon

On the 24th of June it was the day we set off for Port Arthur. We had a couple of setbacks with the busses one of which was when the bus broke down, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. We had a wonderful day at Port Arthur with lots of fun activities and a cool treasure hunt, art activity and tour of the sites. My favourite part was probably the dark room. My group (the red group) all went in together and someone filmed the whole time we were all screaming and laughing and having a great time. We were all sad when we had to go but excited to see Blue Lagoon.

Written by Sophia.

Neve Our school camp 3.7.2025

Last week we went on school camp, and we went to Blue Lagoon in Dodges Ferry, before we went to Blue Lagoon we went to Port Arthur. We learned about the convicts that went there we, also learned about some convicts trying to escape. After 4 long hours of walking finally we got back on the bus then we went to Blue Lagoon. My heart was beating so fast !! We got told our cabins I was so excited. We unpacked and went down to dinner we were so excited to find out what we were having for dinner we had spaghetti. After that we went to bed. The next day we had activities to do, we had three different groups bloodhounds, bumblebees and the blue jays. I was in the blue group we had rock climbing first and we got to belay! Then the next day we had a talent show!!  Now I will tell you the desserts we had I had to have all of it sugar free. The first night we had chocolate mousse, we also had apple crumble and then on the last night we had ice cream. Then we basically packed up had breakfast then hopped on the bus and went to school to get picked up to go home.

By Neve

This week it has been my privilege to spend Monday the 30th of June and Wednesday the 2nd of July with 30 of our choir students participating in rehearsals for the Young Tasmania Sings Concert. I was one very proud music teacher with our students having performed very well at these rehearsals and at the time of writing this I am looking forward to seeing them perform at the concert tonight. It’s very rewarding watching our students perform so well after many weeks of hard work.

Well done everyone.

Peter Eddleston,

Music Teacher.

In the past semester, upper primary students have been split up depending on our interests each Wednesday afternoon.  13 of us chose English Theatre.  In this group, we made a performance entirely by ourselves. We worked on the scripts for about 10 weeks changing it and changing it continuously. Finally, we had a show to perform.  Our teacher was Ms Miller, and she was fabtabalastic (which is a word we made up meaning more than fantastic).  She taught us to project our voices, how to write a script and work as a team.

Neve, Remi and Eirene

Hi, I’m Florence and I’m in 6A and I did acting for my option this term and this is what we did. To start we wrote our a bit of the script, in my group I had Maggie, Sophia and me, then at the end we put it all together and we started to practise it. As we got better and better we did some practice in our recess and lunch and in the option time as well. We got costumes that we bought from home. And before we knew it was time to perform. As we all found our seats the nerves started up as it got closer and closer it. Then it was time to go and perform the show, so we all got up and went to our starting position. We all did it so well and before we knew it, it was all over.

Thank for reading.

Hi, I am Sophia I did English Theatre for my options. I think it was awesome because we all put our own ideas into the show, and it was fun writing the script. For the first few weeks we just made little skits and then we put all our ideas together and added a couple of things in and we had our script. That took about 6 of the 10 weeks so we had to learn all our lines quickly and get costumes and things that we needed quickly. Unfortunately, the performance day was rescheduled to two weeks before because of camp but be got everything ready and performed. It was great and we all had a blast it had lots of funny bits and everyone laughed. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you. 

Welcome, we are the Theatre group! We chose theatre for the 1^st semester of options because we really like acting. We had one of the best teachers at the school which is… Mrs Miller. One of the reasons that we loved our options group so much is because of how much fun we had acting, playing games and performing in front of the whole school. We chose a topic which was the future to write our scripts about and we chose our groups to make the scripts.  We thought about what will change in the future and some things that we included in our scrips were new sport, different fashion, different ways of saying words like fabtablastic and adverby, new diseases and new cures.

And that’s what we have been doing in theatre.

Thankyou,

By Bella, Harper and Tara

Semester One Option – English Theatre

Our first day we got to know the other actors.

Next we worked on little skits, slowly leading up to our sections in the actual performance. We chose the theme BTN in the future.

After a while the scripts were printed, rehearsed (MANY TIMES)

We learned to add DrAmAtIc scenes (DUN DUN DUNNNNN)

The performance was really fun.

• Signed Dr. Nelly Norman.
• Head Director of Norman DNA testing labs.

Sewing and pattern making 

This semester, we chose sewing and pattern making for our option. It was great fun We learnt not to use fabric scissors on paper!!!  We also learnt some new stitches like chain stitch, blanket stitch and running stitch. 

We each made small stuffed toys. Some of the things our group made were  

• an ice cream,  

• an owl  

• a creepy gingerbread man  

• octopuses  

• a few cats 

• avocados and corn chips in a bowl 

• hot sauce and a burrito 

• a game controller 

• a fish  

•  a couple of rabbits.  

• A snake 

We made them by cutting a pattern out of paper then cutting the material to make a draft. We found our mistakes and made it again this was our good copy.  

Alice, Ada, Oliver, and Lyla. 

How we made these - Little stuffed cuties  

1. First we thought about what we wanted our design to be. 

1. Then we thought about our pattern and put some careful consideration into the various components of our design. 

1. We then drew and cut out our designs. 

1. We laid out our pattern pieces, cut out our shapes on our desired fabric. 

1. We then sewed our little hearts out – remembering to leave a gap in the seam for the stuffing. 

1. Then we stuffed the little toy and sewed up the hole – this was our prototype. 

1. We repeated the process again. Improving on our prototype. Eliminating any mistakes.  

1. So now we have a prototype and a good copy. 

Ada 

Film Club 

By Hazel Kitsos 

In Semester 1 Options, in the Film group we did activities made by Pixar in the Box, which taught us about how they made films and gave us techniques to try to use in our own films. Then in Terms 2, we started planning our films with the theme ‘seed’ to be included somehow in our film. Then, we had 6 weeks to make our planning and ideas come to life. I liked working with other groups and thinking about the different places around the school we could use as sets for our scenes. After we finished filming and editing our films, we watched all the different films together and voted on the film we thought was the best. It was a very close vote. Elon Musk and Kat Banks by Jessie and Hazel won on the day. 

This term for options I did 3D drawing. 3D drawing was so fun. At first, I thought it would be hard, but it is so easy, and you can become a much better artist. How 3D drawing works is that first we start with easy 3D drawings, like one point perspective, then they slowly do harder and harder drawings. But it gets easier and easier the more you practise. And you can become a super good artist. So, if you’re not good at art, and want to become better in an easy way, 3D drawing is for you. Or if you like art and want to keep practising in school. 3D drawing is also for you.

Rayyan

This year we have been doing options groups. I was in 3-D drawing. We started with the basics: we used one point perspective to draw boxes that looked like they were zooming into the distance, we then drew one point perspective rooms. When we knew the basics, we began using two-point perspective. We drew two-point perspective cities with all the little details. We did the same thing again, but we drew the inside of a room. I had so much fun doing 3-D drawing and learned many new skills.

By Nivi

3D drawing

In Mr Birley’s drawing group we have been learning to use perspective in drawing. We started by learning the easiest type: one point perspective. We started by drawing just cubes, and the teacher showed us how the cubes could be a spaceship or a city. Then we drew a room, still using one point perspective, then we learnt more impressive and complicated types of perspective: 2-point perspective.

We have also learnt about orthogonals, and how to use shading to make the parts not facing the sun look darker.

Did you know that it took hundreds of years for people back in the day to learn to use perspective in art, but it took an hour and ten minutes for our class to learn it.

I would recommend this group to anyone who wants to learn drawing.

By Louis

Options

We were doing 3D drawing in our option group with Mr Birley. We started out doing easy stuff, such as one point perspective from looking down at an angle onto a city. Then we did the inside of rooms using one point perspective. After that we went to two-point perspective of a house. Some people did that with a city and some houses in the background. Following this, we used two-point perspective with the inside of the house. It was really fun especially with Mr Birley as a teacher and I would recommend it to everyone. Come see my awesome work it is much better than anyone else’s.

By Archie

This is a reminder that Yr 5 Band payments are due by tomorrow. Payments need to be made using Qkr!

Thank you to everyone that has already paid.

Tomorrow, the Student Representative Council is holding a school disco and free dress day. We will be taking gold coin donations with all the proceeds going to The Menzies Centre, one of Australia’s leading medical research institutes. The disco is going to be in the school hall. We will also be providing juice boxes and chips as snacks. The disco will be from 11:40am to 12:40pm for Preps to Year 2s and from 1:50pm to 2:50pm for Grades 3 to 6. We hope you can come and enjoy our school disco!

By Freddie and Nevie

SPLASH!!! It’s Friday night and South Hobart 5/6 mixed water polo team enter the pool for another epic game in the 2025 water polo season. Here are three things that I’ve learnt from this season.

 #1 We (my water polo team the ‘Reds’) had to learn how to communicated  and hear one another, while our supporters shouted from the stands to get the ball into the goal!

#2 While we trained every Tuesday night (thanks Coach Callan), we did lots of different exercises involving different skills like one where we had to hold a chair above our heads while treading water!

Lastly, #3

We all wore special caps to protect our ears from getting hit by the ball and they made us look like Ommpa Loompas* my dad said. The caps were tied to our heads with chin straps but they constantly came undone even though we double knotted them. I finally discovered that they would stay on better, only if you yanked on the knot they stuck!

*Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the chocolate factory!

By Alba from 6A

Garden Market

We would like to advise that due to only getting 4 volunteers, we will not be able to run the Garden Market this year. Hopefully we can consider it for next year. Thanks to those that volunteered.

Thanks Lelia and Bron

Quiz Night

Our Annual Fundraising Quiz will take place on Saturday, 26 July, at the Ferntree Tavern from 6.30pm (arrival at 6pm for 6.30pm start) 

We are looking to raise funds for the South Hobart Primary Soccer teams.  The more money we raise the more money we can put to equipment, resources and development. 

This evening of fun and joy will not only be a space to raise money, it will present the opportunity for parents to get to know each other more.  With questions ranging from sea-ice to popular culture, we have a night of extraordinary fun waiting for you.

We are looking for parents and teachers to organise themselves into teams for the quiz. While it will not work in all instances, it would be good if quiz teams could form around our soccer teams.

As this evening has been organised to raise funds, we ask that each team (tables will be organised into tables for 8) pay $120 to enter the quiz, Those entering as individuals we ask for $20, and those who are unwaged we ask for a donation. 

Please make your payments referencing the team name to:

Account name: South Hobart Primary School School Soccer

BSB: 633000

Account Number: 154315949 

Registration link here: https://forms.gle/uiKC4d7ahtqrnNat8 or via face book: https://www.facebook.com/share/193g2MBWx3/

It's back!!

SoHo on Stage returns on Saturday 15th November to showcase some of the amazing talent oozing from the students at our school! Encourage your kids to dust off their tap shoes and harmonicas, or get their friends together to rehearse a magic act, comedy skit, play, dance or whatever skills they have to display!  Please mark this date in your diary, and keep an eye on the newsletter in Term 3 for ticket sales and performer expression of interest forms.

We have a great organising committee for this event, but would love a few more helpers to join our crew to ensure the planning for this large event runs smoothly.  Please email sohoonstage@gmail.com if you are keen.

It's a lot of fun! 

Thanks!

Clare Wiltshire & Anna Wittery (Event Co-ordinators)

Community notices are provided for family's information only. They are NOT endorsed by the school or recommended, they are provided for your interest.

Our French program has concluded for this term, and enrollments for the upcoming term are now open. The class will remain Fridays, 8.05am.

We welcome past and new students of all levels to join. They can find more info and enrol online at www.funlearning.com.au/book.

https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/learning/term-dates/