26 May 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear parents and caregivers

Teacher shortage

As you may be aware, Tasmania (in fact all Australian states) are experiencing significant staffing shortages in 2023. Fortunately, at Snug Primary School, we have been able to maintain consistent staffing levels in our classrooms most days. The Department of Education, Children and Young People is currently working hard to try and get more teachers into the system, but there are certainly schools within the state that are struggling to find teachers on a daily basis, and there is no easy fix. It is challenging for us too.

With that in mind, I would like to thank you for your ongoing understanding around some changes that are affecting your child(ren)’s classrooms, particularly around the necessity for relief teachers. Our Assistant Principal, Miss Woolley, is working tirelessly after hours to organise relief, especially now that illness, including covid, has again reared its head and hit our staff (and students) hard. We are extremely lucky to have her giving so much of her time before and after school to ensure there are teachers in front of classes at our school in this extremely challenging environment. We also want to thank those relief teachers that continue to turn up to Snug, including teachers who have worked with us in the past, who are doing so to ensure our students get the education they deserve.

I also want to acknowledge that changing teachers does impact on our students, and we are doing what we can to minimise the impact. Year level teams are coordinating with each other to share resources if a teacher is away, teams are co-planning, and we are trying to provide continuity of relief teachers for the same groups of students where possible. We are lucky, because relief teachers love coming to Snug, but typically work across a number of schools, so we can’t always guarantee the same relief teacher every day. We are doing our best.

I also want to thank our incredible students for being so calm and maintaining high levels of focus, and our usual high standards of behaviour. What an amazing group of young people!

School uniform

Well, Autumn is certainly here, and I suspect winter is just around the corner. We have had a number of bitterly cold, wet days already. However, there are significant numbers of students coming to school without jackets, and in many cases even jumpers, despite the cold, wet weather. Can all parents and caregivers please check that your child(ren) have jackets and jumpers, and that they are wearing them when appropriate. Please also ensure students are wearing THE CORRECT uniform. There are a lot of students appearing with different jumpers, ripped clothing, bright socks etc. Please ensure we stick to our agreed uniform. If your child needs to wear an alternative for a short period of time, please write a note explaining the circumstances.

If you do not have the required uniform, please contact the office. We have cheap second hand uniforms on sale. Let them know if your child needs an item, and we will be able to work something out.

Also, if you do have any old Snug uniforms tucked away in a cupboard, we would be very grateful if you could pass them on to the office. Its nice to be able to sell used uniforms at cheap prices for families who need them.

National Sorry Day

Today we acknowledged National Sorry Day, an opportunity to mark the Government’s apology to the Stolen Generations. In our early years classrooms, it is an opportunity to discuss empathy, and understanding, and growing together, to think about other people’s feelings. In the upper primary, it is a chance to have conversations about historical government policies that impacted on the lives of our First Nations peoples, and the subsequent government apology that occurred in 2008.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards,

Blair Curtis
Principal

Kath’s Spot

How do you go with distractions around you while you are trying to work? Are you the type that gets lost in thought staring out the window, or ends up chatting to everyone that passes by your desk? When I was at uni I had to work hard when I was at home ’studying’ at not getting side-tracked by other things. That washing that needed doing, the thing out the window, the bed that needed making… and I didn’t have to deal with the world today of having a phone or internet at my finger tips!! To be honest, at that stage, I even had to ‘book in’ for lab time, to use the university computers to type up my assignments, so it really was a whole world ago! I would hate to think of how much I would get side-tracked now with a phone sitting right there next to my hand!

This week our students have been focussing on strengthening their learning power of concentration by managing their distractions. That might be finding a quieter space to work in, or one seperate from the best mate that they typically get chatting away with, or even sitting seated with their back to the window if they find looking out the window a distraction. Sometimes, for all of us, it is about being able to name what it is that stops us from learning best, and then being able to come up with an idea that would help us succeed.

We all want to help each other succeed, whether that is a classmate, a friend or a family member. So be brave, and have the conversation to ask your connections “what is it that distracts you from learning?”, and then “what might help to stop you getting distracted from that?”. We can indeed help each other, and I know sometimes it is easy to put off having that conversation sometimes, but if we do have the tricky conversations we all win from growing our relationships and moving forward in our learning.

Many Blessings

Kath Dolliver
Chaplain

Class in Focus – Prep B (Mrs Shepherd)

Prep B, Busy and brilliant!

All the students in Prep B have continued their learning with enthusiasm and application despite lots of changes.

The phonics programme is roaring ahead and so many children are rapidly gaining confidence to record the sounds they hear in writing.

In maths we are becoming so competent in splitting objects into groups and recognising the parts. We can put numbers together to make bigger groups.

Our science focus is 'On the Move’. We are exploring how the shape , and size of an object influences the way it moves.

We will be scientists who pose questions, hypothesise, observe, record and answer our questions.

We participated in the Simultaneous Story Day enjoying 'sea country’ by Aunty Patsy Cameron and Lisa Kennedy.

Our art work showed how we understand the importance of attachment to country for First Nations people.

Mrs Garlick and Laura have been working double time to support our learning and we are so grateful for all their efforts.

Prep B, Busy and Brilliant!

PE News

Such a wonderful day at the interschool cross country carnival in Huonville on Wednesday! Thanks Mr Lodge and Kath and our parent helpers and, most especially, to our superstar students who tried their best and were fantastic representatives of Snug Primary! Go team!!

Interschool Cross Country 2023

Kitchen-Garden News

Kitchen

Lunch Provision options for next Wednesday:

Garden

TERM 2 ROSTER

Volunteers always welcome, classes start at 2.00pm.

REGISTRATION TO WORK WITH VULNERABLE PEOPLE (RWVP)

A reminder that volunteers will need a Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP). Details are here if you need to apply:

Little Sprouts and Little Movers

Snug Primary School Website

If you haven’t already, please take the time to check out our website:

You will find many helpful links including:

“Our School Calendar”

“How to Report an Absence”

“Newsletter Archive”

Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) information and enrolment forms, Early Learning (Little Sprouts Movers and Little Sprouts Explorers) term plans and contact forms, Health information and various enrolment forms and documents (Travel, Medical and Asthma forms, Uniform policy etc) and lots more!

Outside School Hours Care

2023 Information and Enrolment (Including Re-Enrolment)

2023 Enrolment and Re-Enrolment information is now available from the office and OSHC. There is new and important information that families need in these packs, so please be sure to collect one ASAP. Thanks!

Be You

Kingston Library

Coming Events

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

Community Notices

Hockey

2023 TERM DATES