Wednesday 10 April

Principal News

End of Term Wrap Up

So many families have commented to me recently about the fast pace of this term, and all of the activities and learning that have taken place. It certainly has been a wonderful start to our 2025 academic year, and I think we are all very much looking forward to the break so that we can re-charge the batteries ready for Term 2.  

Student Parliament Activities

Last week, Year 3-6 students elected their 5-6 Student Parliament Representatives for 2025. This year, 22 students put themselves forward for election, preparing speeches and presenting these to students and staff prior to voting. Congratulations to Monte, Lindsay, Max, Nick, Luna, Amy, Emily T and Ivy on their successful nominations and a huge shout out to all nominees for demonstrating our school values of courage, respect and connection throughout the process.  Class representatives will be finalised before the end of term, with the first full sitting of parliament to occur today!

The Student Parliament Executive (Hazel, Niamh, Alfie, Oskar BD, June and Lollie) ran two fun discos during break times on Tuesday for Prep-2 and Year 3-6 students. The school was awash with glitter and flares for the 70s themed free-dress day. A huge thank you to DJ A-flip (Alanna) for supporting this student-led event and to all staff and students involved. 

During the holiday period ANZAC Day Services will be running, with our school being represented by Hazel O and Niamh (School Leaders) at our local Taroona commemorative event.  Thank you in advance to Hazel, Niamh and Ang Oldfield for attending this event and laying a wreath on behalf of TPS students and staff.

Communicating Student Progress to Families

Week 10, Term 1 is the timeframe for our first Evidences of Learning for 2025 to be shared with families via Seesaw. Our teaching team have been working extremely hard with their students to share evidence of individual progress against the Australian Curriculum.  Please spend time looking through your child's online journal and engaging with the tasks and rubrics shared by the relevant teachers. We also encourage families to make comments and provide reactions to indicate that you have seen these posts.

Week 10, Term 1 is also the timeframe for all individual learning plan updates to be finalised and sent out to families of students who are being supported to achieve learning goals via ILP processes. Please check your email and contact class teachers or Laura Panopoulos (Support Teacher) if you have any questions. 

Thank you to our amazing teaching staff for ensuring these important communications are completed and shared within timeframes and for their ongoing commitment and dedication in delivering outstanding learning opportunities for all of our young people.  We have an amazing TPS team!

Daily Fitness Program Review

During Term 1, our Daily Fitness (DF) program was delivered in a class-based model by class teachers with support from Year 6 leaders. This occurred as a result of changes to daily scheduling throughout 2024 and feedback that the program required a review of purpose and activities. Recent data collected from both staff & students has given our teaching team a lot of important information about how we can improve DF for our context and students. Early in Term 2, we will establish a working group of staff and student parliamentarians to develop new DF activities and make a decision on the timeline for changes to be implemented.  

School Improvement Priority 2: Wellbeing for Learning (Attendance and Engagement)

Our recently developed Taroona Primary School Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Framework for Attendance and Engagement outlines the tiered set of evidence-based strategies we use to promote attendance and engagement and reduce absence. 

• Tier 1 processes and practices ensure our school maintains an environment that promotes attendance and has an efficient method of identifying and responding when a student is absent. Tier 1 interventions are a focus area in our 2025 school improvement planning.
• Tier 2 provides targeted interventions for students initially struggling with attendance. Absence trends are used to identify students for Tier 2 Interventions.
• Tier 3 interventions are intense and individualised for students with chronic absenteeism.

The Taroona Primary School MTSS Framework for Attendance and Engagement has been developed in consultation with students and staff during Term 1 2025. Please see below for a snapshot of the data themes.

DECYP Attendance data for Term 1 at TPS shows that we are tracking extremely well against our 2025 school improvement targets as a result of our key strategies, including:

• Clear, consistent and well-communicated processes for recording and following up attendance and absence, that align with DECYP attendance Policy and Procedure.
• Consistent whole school routines, in particular morning and entry routines, that promote connection and inclusion (e.g. morning circles).
• Promoting a positive school climate through explicit, whole school behavioural expectations and positive behaviour supports designed to promote learning.
• Promoting a positive school climate through Respectful Relationships Education and our social and emotional learning curriculum.
• Promoting an inclusive school climate through differentiated learning opportunities, including hands on learning, and
• Enabling student voice and choice in curriculum and other decisions that affect their education.

We look forward to further supporting student attendance and engagement at TPS in Term 2 with activities including Restorative practices training for staff with international expert Kerrie Sellen (DECYP Funded Program), Consent and Relationship Education (CaRE) Program PL for staff delivered by Christie Nixon from SASS Tasmania, and of course diverse events, excursions and learning opportunities for our young people. 

Families with questions or who require help with their child's attendance and/or engagement are encouraged to reach out via their classroom teacher for information and / or support from our School Support and Wellbeing Team, which includes our Professional Support Staff (School Psychologist, School Social Worker, Speech and Language Pathologist and our School Health Nurse), the School Support and Wellbeing Team Lead, School Support Teacher and our School Safeguarding Lead.

Happy Holidays! 

Please check out the Family Padlet for all the important Term 2 dates.  Have a wonderful holiday and Easter break and we look forward to seeing all children back on Monday 28 April ready for the start of an amazing Term 2 @ TPS 

Best wishes

Danielle

Evidence of Learning - Australian Curriculum Only

This week, you will notice teachers sharing Evidences of Learning via Seesaw. These Evidences of Learning are part of the Department for Education, Children and Young People’s reporting process. The Seesaw post will provide you with a photo of your child’s task and a rubric which highlights your child’s achievement against one of the standards for that learning area. It will also show you and your child next steps in their learning.  We encourage you to sit down and look and discuss this evidence.  If you have any questions, contact your child’s teacher.  

*Please note that this is not a final assessment for the year; it is a snapshot of their achievement for one task in one learning area. 

Taroona Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Taroona Award at our last assembly. 

• Connection: Charlie Mc, Holly A, Jasper B, Niall L, Monte G & Ethan B
• Courage: Freya P & Flynn S
• Growth: Peter P, Dion B, Francis B, Eva T, Florence L & Lucas A
• Respect: Frankie B, Luna BS, Willa B, Charlie C, Essie N & Anna P

Div A Interschool Athletics Carnival Report

On Wednesday 2 April, our interschool athletes attended the 2025 SPSSA Interschool Athletics Carnival.  Selected students from Years 3 - 6 competed in a range of exciting events.  On the day, the weather was absolutely superb with perfect conditions. All the students were cheering on their peers and enjoying the atmosphere of a carnival. The behaviour and manner of all students was such a delight to observe.

Volunteering parents Ben, Rebecca and Sophie were our marshals on the day and were a wonderful help.

Some of the participating students are now lucky enough to compete in the Champions athletics carnival this Friday 11 April.

I would like to send a big thank you to Liz Parry, who came along to assist and was truly amazing. 

Good luck to all those students going to Champs. GO TPS!

Thanks

Adrian Stepnell

PE Teacher

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Interschool Chess Tournament

We are so proud of the students who attended the Interschool Chess Tournament last week at Kingston Primary School. Aside from being able to challenge each other by competing against other schools, the students were skilled enough to take the win! A special thank you to Nancy who was our parent volunteer on the day! 

Student Parliament Disco

Yesterday, Student Parliament held an end of term disco. Students were invited to dress in their best disco finery or wear free dress. Preps to Year 2 bopped at Recess and Year 3-6 got their groove on at lunch. We had a fabulous time with DJ Lans (A-Flip) who made sure that the GP room was buzzing with excitement! 

Easter Raffle

On Monday, the TPSA Easter Raffle was drawn in front of a very excited crowd! With a total of 48 egg-citing prizes on offer, we were all keen to find out the winners! 

We are so grateful for the generosity of our families and community members for their donations and time in organising this fundraiser. 

Stay tuned for the results of how much we raised for our TPS Garden Program.

Classroom News

1-2A

In Year 1-2A we have been learning about where we live. Together, we investigated our Suburbs, City, State and Country. We thought about each place and researched somewhere we thought tourists might like to visit.

After that we picked one of those places to create a water-coloured piece of artwork.

Some of the places we researched were:

Hobart- Salamanca Market, Mona, Kunanyi, Bonorong Park

Tasmania- Bruny Island, Port Arthur, Bicheno, Mt Field

Australia- Uluru, Sea World, Sydney Opera House, Bondi, The Great Ocean Road.

5-6A

“Writer’s Cafe in 5-6A”
On Friday, 5-6A held their first Writer’s Cafe of the year. The cafe is special event where students get to share published writing that they have been working on during the term. The focus for this term was narrative writing. We set the classroom up like a proper cafe with tablecloths and flowers and brought along homemade food to share. Students take it in turns to be waiters, taking orders for food and cups of tea. We took the morning to read each other’s writing, giving feedback to the authors, enjoying some delicious feed. The cafe finished with happy faces and full tummies!

TPSA

Update from March 2025 TPSA AGM and Meeting

• We formed our new TPSA Committee! Names, positions and photos of our committee members are shown below.

• A general overview of the Committee was provided including its functions and responsibilities. The TPSA Constitution was also introduced.
• An overview of the School Improvement Plan was given. This included an explanation of the two priorities: Systematic Curriculum Implementation: Reading; and Wellbeing for Learning.
• A summary of the recent planning meeting was provided. This included sharing the draft planning matrix created following the meeting. The matrix will be updated as the forward planning continues.
• It was agreed that communication with the school community could be improved. It is hoped that this will improve other aspects such as volunteering, fundraising and running events.
• The Easter raffle is progressing well, with raffle tickets sent home recently. Funds raised from this activity will be put towards the establishment of a school garden!

The next TPSA meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 May 2025, in 5/6A and via Teams (email tpsaenquiry@gmail.com for details).

TPS New Kitchen Garden

Important and Compulsory Training for Volunteers

A reminder that all people engaging with schools are required to watch a short 15-minute video about the obligations of a volunteer in DECYP and send their certificate to the school (taroona.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au). The training is valid for 12-months, prior to requiring to be viewed again.  

You can access the video via Safeguarding Training - Department for Education, Children and Young People.  

For more information go to the Safeguarding Training webpage, which includes frequently asked questions. 

Bus Information 2025

School Health Padlet

There are some fantastic links in the Padlet below focusing on Mental Health and Wellbeing, Sleep, Online Safety, Nutrition, Friendships and more. Thank you to our wonderful School Health Nurse, Deirdre for creating this! 

Health and Wellbeing Information (padlet.com)

Online Safety

The eSafety Commissioner provides a range of resources and tools for parents and caregivers who are supporting children and young people to have safe and enjoyable experiences online. Click on the link to find out more!

Parents | eSafety Commissioner

2025 School Term Dates

Term 1: Thursday 6 February to Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April to Friday 4 July

Term 3: Monday 21 July to Friday 26 September

Term 4: Monday 13 October to Thursday 18 December

Student Free Days in 2025

Friday 6 June

Friday 24 October

Move Well Eat Well