4 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Families

Our School Fair was a huge success on Saturday with record numbers of people attending. It was wonderful to see so many community members, families and past students joining staff and volunteers on the day. The weather was perfect for the event with the ‘dunkees’ even reporting the water was mild compared to past years. Can I thank everyone who contributed to this marvellous event and particularly Sue Hastie, Dearne Coad and Kath Dolliver who made up the Fair Committee. They spent many hours organising, recruiting and planning for the success on the night. Well done all.

On Friday I attended the state wide conference Together We Inspire, which saw representatives from all agencies in our department begin planning for a new strategic plan. The day outlined some of the key actions we can take to identify and continue to improve our ways of working for the benefit of all Tasmanians. I look forward to leading our school through these actions.

Good luck to our athletics team who will be competing next Wednesday at the Huon and Channel Interschool Carnival in Huonville. We know our team will strive for excellence and be a competitive group.

A reminder that we will be holding our Remembrance Day Assembly next Friday 11th November at 10:30am. Students will be making red poppies to commemorate this day and will be displaying these on our ANZAC memorial wall. May I take this opportunity to thank Mr Dave Groves on his superb craftsmanship on this memorial wall. The area around our War Memorial is looking beautiful and reflects our respect for those who gave their lives.

Bonnie Jeffrey
Principal

Kath’s Spot

Timing! It's one of those things we are always trying to juggle and balance in our lives. Sometimes everything seems to fall into place, and the timing seems perfect. Like when you book a whole stack of things into your one day off and you manage to be able to go from one thing to the next, and get through each task- this is a great win and often feels like a real feat has been achieved.

But what do you do when the timing seems to all go pear shaped? I often used to have a whole stack of things planned and then our son Tom would get sick, we would end up in hospital and everything I had planned would go out the window. When this happens do you blame yourself, or do you point the finger? Or do you think about it for what it is? Perhaps the day you had planned was the week before Christmas, traffic is playing havoc and you had 20 tasks to achieve? Maybe it's possible the plans were unachievable.

Sometimes we need moments that will help us to extend and challenge ourselves so that we realise we can achieve greater things. But when it doesn't all go to plan, or the timing seems to all go pear shaped, give yourself some grace. If there is something you can do to fix the problem or to set it up better for next time- do that. But take a deep breath, dust yourself off and get back up again. And remember as you parent (of) those beautiful children of yours, that sometimes we have really high expectations and our little people may need to be briefed, or they may need a list of instructions or steps to help them to win. Help them to own their mistakes, but don't be afraid to own yours along the way either.

I know I made the mistake last fortnight of not sending through my article to the lovely Cathy in the office. Hopefully it was a mistake that made you realise how much you missed my little thoughts. I am sorry for missing it- and you'll be happy to know there is a reminder in my iCal each fortnight now to remind me to make sure it gets emailed through with plenty of time! This is my way of owning my mistakes and taking action to make improvements.

What could you put in place to help yourself and your family win? A calendar on the wall to manage events and tasks, or maybe a little bag tag for your child to let them know how to get home each day? Whatever it is, maybe spend some time over the weekend working on it together as a family. Then it'll become a Win-Win.

Kath Dolliver
Chaplain

Snug Primary Athletics Carnival

A HUGE well done to all students for their efforts on the Athletics Carnival day. I saw a high level of fitness, sportsmanship and team spirit. I was very impressed on the day with the students' running and determination, with some students achieving personal goals. I felt extremely proud of the camaraderie and support that students gave to each other, with many choosing to run alongside a friend who may have been having a challenging time. Unfortunately due to weather, the novelty afternoon had to be cancelled. House Captains and Vice Captains all demonstrated commendable leadership skills leading House chants, warm ups, running with younger grades, walking students to their races and being great role models. I would like to thank the amazing parents, community members, staff and Kingston High students that assisted with jobs on the day. It couldn't be done without you. Thank you to Dearne for cooking up a storm on the BBQ and thank you also to the parents and community members that came along to watch and cheer the students.

Mrs Jac Parker.

Alicia McConaghy – representing Snug Primary

Alicia represented Snug Primary School at the Tasmanian All Schools Track and Field Championships on the weekend at the Domain, Hobart. She finished 2nd in 100m and 200m and 1st in the long jump and her PBs in all three events.

Alicia will now represent Tasmania in the Australian All Schools to be held at Olympic Park, Sydney late November. She will be competing in the 100m, 200m, long jump, 100m relay and 200m relay.

Attached is an action shot of Alicia competing in the 200m, photo by Athletics Tasmania

Well done, Alicia, for training hard and achieving your goals!

School Association Report

The School Association recently held the Annual General Meeting to which we welcomed new members. If you have any questions, comments or concerns then feel free to contact any of the members of the School Association either in person or by using the email address snugschoolassoc@gmail.com. Issues pertaining directly to your child(ren) should be addressed with class teachers or senior staff but if you have any other feedback you can raise it with the School Association and you can choose to remain anonymous to school staff. The parent members of the school association are:

• Ali Nichols-Howe (Secretary)
• Steph Semmens (Deputy Chairperson)
• Katrina Graham
• Sandra Sorgi
• Brendan Coad (Chairperson)
• Allison Godfry
• Lorna Barrett (Treasurer)
• Andrew Watkins
• Michelle Rathbone
• Catherine Coad

During the last two meetings, we have discussed actions relating to the fair as this is the biggest biennial fundraiser for the School Association. The proceeds of this year's fair will be used to enhance the playground, using the ideas of the students to provide a safe and exciting place for them to play throughout the year. We hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the school fair, it was a very successful event and raised xxx funds. Thanks to everyone who helped make the event successful, by volunteering on the day, assisting in classes to make craft items or providing goods for sale.

Snug Primary School has a number of policies which are vetted and endorsed by both staff and the school association. We have recently updated the digital technology policy and will be finalising the review on the uniform policy ready for both to be released to the school community for the next learning year. The school association is the voice of families within our school so if you are aware of policies which you think need to be updated then please let a member know of your views.

A recent informal introduction to our meetings has been to close out the meeting with a positive comment about the school. We all know how easy it is to focus on the things that need changing without taking the time to recognise what is really good at Snug Primary. Some recent positive feedback has been in relation to the excellent work that has been put into gaining grants to improve the facilities at the school. Another positive item has been the recognition of the work that Mrs O and Mrs Hastie have done, in conjunction with past and present students with the 'Take it Home' energy project. You may have read about this in the last school newsletter. It is great to see the school and teachers recognised for the contribution they are playing not just within the school, but also within the wider community.

The School Association is also supporting the '67 Bush Fires Anniversary procession which is to be held on the 7th February 2017 (the day before school resumes). We encourage you to enter the date in your diaries now, and attend on the day if at all possible. The 1967 bush fires were especially significant to the Snug community and surrounding areas and on this 50th anniversary it would be great to see as many Snug Primary students and families in the procession as possible.

Snug is also participating in the Community Empowered Schools program. Some of our committee attended a session with other associations and were surprised and how much more effectively our Snug association appears to operate than some other school examples. We are currently applying for a grant under this program to facilitate inter-school committee development within our region.

We hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the school fair, it was a very successful event and raised approximately $14,000 in funds. Thanks to everyone who helped make the event successful, by volunteering on the day, assisting in classes to make craft items or providing goods for sale.

Message from Simon, Our Crossing Guard

Can community members please be mindful when they are exiting the clock tower carpark. All drivers must stop at the driveway and stay stationary when the crossing guard or any pedestrian is on the road. Cars must not enter the roadway, (even if they have been waved in by another driver) until all pedestrians are on the path. Our driveway is contained between the orange flags which designate it as a children’s crossing. Student safety is our highest priority and we thank you for your co-operation with this.

The DEC Concert

The Combined Primary Schools Annual Concert will be happening on Friday 25 November 2016 at the Derwent Entertainment Centre (DEC). Tickets are $20.00 for adults, $12.00 for Concession, $10.00 for children and $50.00 for a family (2 adults and 2 children). Ticket information is as follows:

• Online at www.ticketmaster.com.au
• Phone Ticketmaster on 136 100 for credit card bookings
• Call the DEC on 6251 3170 for enquires
• At Centertainment in the mall on 6234 5998

Registration to Work with Vulnerable People

If you volunteer at Snug, you will be required to register for “Registration to Work with Vulnerable People” This will be mandatory by 1 September 2016.

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Coming Events

Community Notices

Margate Twilight Fair

Camp Clayton Holiday Camps

Kingston Beach Surf Life Saving Club Open Day

Saving Endangered Tasmanian Devils

Toy and Book Sale

Baby and Kids Market

Term Dates for 2016