26 July 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back for Term 3! It has been great to see students and staff looking refreshed and excited, ready for another great term of learning opportunities. I am sure that everyone has seen the progress on our gym construction over the holidays. We are very excited to see the gym coming to life and we are busy planning the many ways in which it will be used to benefit our students and wider community.

A reminder this week for families about the importance of regular attendance at school. Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success - both in school and in life. Students who attend school regularly feel more connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships and are significantly more likely to achieve academic success, setting them up for a strong future. When children are absent even as little as two days of school per month, it can have a negative impact. As a parent, you can prepare your child for a lifetime of success by making regular school attendance a priority. By working out the reasons for your child’s absences and working in conjunction with the school and support services, you can help set your child on the path to success.

Under the Education Act, 2016, absences due to taking holidays in school time are recorded as “unauthorised.” Please speak directly to our office as well as your child’s class teacher if you are planning on taking a family holiday in school time. We will work with you to ensure that your child’s learning needs are being met while they are absent from school.

If your child has 5 or more “unexplained” absences, you will receive a letter from school asking you to contact us so that we can support regular attendance for your child. Our Social Worker will also contact you to provide support. We look forward to continuing to work closely with families to ensure ongoing success for our students at Snug Primary School.

This term we are changing our Assembly structures. We will be having a rotation of Primary (Years 3-6), Early Childhood (Prep-Year2) and Whole School Assemblies. This will begin next week with a Primary Assembly on Friday 2nd August. Assemblies will also start a little earlier, beginning at 1:45pm. The split assemblies will allow room for a greater number of parents to celebrate with us at assemblies and will also allow for slightly different formats for the varying age groups. We look forward to seeing you at our assemblies throughout the term. See the scheduled dates below.

The other change this term is that on Monday mornings, weather permitting, we will be holding a Whole School “Meet & Greet” at 8:50am on the astro turf, near the oval. This will be a really positive way to start each week, with reminders about our Habit of the Mind and sharing important messages for students. This will go for ten minutes only. If you are at school dropping off your child/ren, you are most welcome to join us.

Ms Susan Jeffery
Principal

Kath’s Spot

Patience, we have all heard the proverb 'Patience is a Virtue', but what is it really? I was listening to the radio the other day and was reminded of the fact that the original word 'Patience' meant 'Long Suffering'. Are you surprised by this? When you think about it, I guess the intention probably was that patience is something that reflects that you are willing to put a hold on the feelings of frustration for long periods. The definition says it is 'the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.'

I think sometimes I surprise myself, sometimes I have patience when I would think that I wouldn't have a lot of it, but then other times I would think it would come naturally but I find myself feel frustrated or overwhelmed. Does this sound familiar to you?

I wonder what strategies you use to have patience in the day to day events? Do you use breathing techniques? Do you stop and just go step by step? Do you clarify with the other person? When I have reflected before on moments when I haven't had as much patience, I have realised that for the two bodies involved, we have both had different intentions, or both of us thought we were talking about something different. I realised I needed to clarify what I meant when I had asked my son to do something, and then in turn he actually understood the instructions and had completed the task straight away. Helping to understand the other persons point of view, helped patience and understanding to rise within me.

Recently I was up north in another training session on restorative practices, where we were discussing community conferences, were a victim has the opportunity to share with perpetrator, and visa versa. The police officer was stating that usually when the victim hears what life is like for the perpetrator, that they often end up becoming somewhat of a mentor for the young person, because the empathy gap has narrowed, and they have patience and understanding for the other person. What a blessing that is, I know when others have shown me patience I have really appreciated it.

May this week bring you many opportunities to put a pause on the feelings of frustration or anxiousness, and instead try out practising the skill of patience. A skill, like learning to catch a ball, is something we need to do multiple times in order to not only learn the skill, but to keep up with the ability to be able to do it. So don't be afraid of getting it wrong, just apologise and try better next time. Keep me posted on things that help you to have patience along your journey.

Many Blessings

Kath Dolliver
Chaplain

Class in Focus – Year 1-2B

Assembly Awards

Coningham Bus Driver

Welcome back to Stuart Hughes as the bus driver for the Coningham bus!

Book Club

The online Book Club Loop is at the link below. It’s a very straightforward process to sign up and then super quick and easy to place orders. The Loop will be closed off on Thursday 8 August so ensure you have your orders in by then. Books will arrive to school and be distributed to students a few weeks later.

Little Sprouts

Can you help?

Keep those in need warm and with full bellies this winter. A collection point has been set up at the entrance to our school office for beanies, gloves, coats, blankets and non-perishable food items to be distributed directly to those in need within our community through Kingborough Helping Hands. Please ensure items are clean and in genuine passing on order for old and young. Thank you all in advance for helping those needing extra support within our community

Entertainment Memberships 2019-2020

It’s not too late! If you or your family and friends are keen to support Snug Primary and simultaneously treat yourselves with some amazing deals, please go to this link to purchase your Entertainment Membership (book or digital version)

Registration to Work with Vulnerable People

If you volunteer at Snug, you are required to register for “Registration to Work with Vulnerable People”. Please see information below.

Kids Matter eNewsletter

Facebook

Our Facebook page is one of our communication methods that give instant information about school events and celebrations. Please like our page and check regularly for all the brilliant learning opportunities at our school.

Coming Events

For more information please see our school calendar by clicking the link below:

Community Notices

Hockey Tasmania

Term Dates for 2019