Wednesday 5 June 2024

Principal News - Lifting Literacy at TPS

Lifting Literacy Priority with Team Taroona

At our last Principal’s Forum, DECYP Secretary Tim Bullard spoke of Lifting Literacy being one of the Department’s four priorities over the next two years – and how schools should feel proud that Tasmania is leading the nation in its implementation of an evidence-based approach to reading.

Our 2024 school improvement actions are based on The Active View of Reading (Duke and Cartwright, 2021). In 2024 we are focusing on Word Recognition and Fluency.

Taroona Primary School is proud of the continuous improvement and evidence-based changes that have been achieved in the past three years in Reading. The work is complex and requires us to continue to

deep dive into Quality Tier 1 Reading instruction and to share our learning with our families.

Koby, Angela (Quality Teaching Coach) and I were thrilled to learn from Language and Literacy expert Emina McLean about how theories and models of reading have evolved over the years and how we now understand more about just how complex reading is than we ever have before. She also unpacked how explicitly teaching word recognition, fluency and comprehension can unlock reading for all our learners.

At TPS we learn together in our Professional Learning Community with a focus on student growth and achievement to monitor the effectiveness of our teaching practice and to learn together as experts on staff.

We are excited to announce initiates that are supporting this focus school priority:

• our School Association have funded us to build on our decodable text library for home reading and direct reading instruction in class. Thank you!
• our school has researched an evidenced based approach to the teaching of reading and this term we purchased and are committed to professional learning in using UFLI.
• All teachers are members of Professional Learning Teams which are targeting literacy skill development and teacher practice.
• Teachers will participate in Spaced Learning with Emina McLean in 2024 and 2025.
• We are moderating our English ratings and samples of work on Friday with Lansdowne Crescent Primary and Sandy Bay Infant School, creating consistency and confidence in assessment and reporting.
• Next term we will run a family information session on Reading, to build a shared understanding with our families in our approach to Reading.
• Dr Eugenie Kestel presented a session on data-based decision making – a key element of multi-tiered systems of support. Eugenie unpacked the different kinds of screens and assessments and how schools can use these to make instructional decisions. We continue to use DIBELS to monitor literacy skill development.

What is UFLI?    (You fly!)

UFLI Foundations is an explicit and systematic program to teaching foundational reading skills developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute.

UFLI Foundation targets the following foundational reading skills:

• Phoneme blending and segmentation practice.
• Accuracy and automaticity of graphme-phomeme correspondence
• Decoding automaticity of words with previously learning concepts
• Explicit instruction of new concepts
• Decoding and encoding practice.
• Reading and spelling of irregular words
• Reading and spelling connected text.

Warm wishes,

Michelle

Announcing our Taroona Inclusive Practice School Committee. (TIPSC)

Following on from an idea that was formed from a recent TPSA consultation on our Behaviour Matrix. We proudly announce that we have formed a committee so that we continue to consult and access the expertise of our community and staff to help support our continuous school improvement Priority 3 which is to ensure all children are known, safe, well and able to learn.

Today we met with Deirdre Cooper (School Nurse), Felicity West ( Taroona Inclusion Lead) , Dominique Bowen Butchart ( Parent Representative) and Michelle De Paoli (Principal).

Stay tuned as we continue to consult with community on this priority. 

Classroom News

2-3A

Music

Inter School Cross Country

SPSSA-Division A Cross Country Carnival 2024

A delightful day was had by all at Bayview College for our Year 3-6 long distance runners. Team Taroona demonstrated our values of respect, courage and responsibility whilst competing and supporting each other to do their best. We came 7^th in Division A and we are really proud of this achievement.

Student Reflections from the experience:

How does cross country running make you feel?

Bonnie- I makes me feel amazing it makes me feel strong and powerful especially when I do well.

Isla- Strong and powerful and incredible.

Lottie TY- I feel stressed at that very start and achy after I am done, but I really enjoyed the day.

Elliot- I feel good, but long distance is hard, but it makes you feel good when you finish it.

Amy-Running makes me feel good, but I feel bad beforehand because I'm nervous. 

Lilly H -I feel good, but tired. Next year I'll try for top 30.

Wilfy- I love the challenge having lots of people to compete with. 

Lucette- It was very fun. I thank Michelle, Adrian and my dad Ben for helping out and I think everyone did an awesome job. 

Reconciliation Week

Since 2020, TPS has had a Reconciliation Action Plan [RAP]. This was developed by a RAP Working Group comprised of staff and community members. We are in the process of reviewing our RAP to make sure that it is still fit for our purpose and context. At the moment, the plan includes actions that we take throughout the year, such as our class Acknowledgements of Country that are created by the children at the start of each year and published in books available throughout the school, our connection to Country through Nature Play, the flying of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags year-round and our use of language for our Daily Fitness groups.

This year, classes celebrated Reconciliation Week in a variety of ways, such as through engagement with rich First Nations literature available year-round in our library and engaging in Nature Play on Country.

Students talked about what the word ‘Reconciliation’ means and made authentic links to our values of Connection and Respect.

Our philosophy at TPS is that Reconciliation is reflected in our language, daily interactions and inquiry stance and pedagogies.

TPSA News

Dear Parents and Friends,

We are thrilled to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended and participated in our recent Trivia Night. Your presence and enthusiasm made it an evening to remember, and we are immensely grateful for your support.

The night was filled with laughter (with a very special thanks to the hilarious Quiz Master Mick Rennie), dancing, friendly competition, and a wonderful sense of community. It was heartwarming to see parents, teachers, and friends come together, not only to test their trivia knowledge but to strengthen the bonds that make our school community so special. The level of participation in costume was amazing with a table of ‘Cheese’ taking out best dressed table, the ‘Where’s Wallys’ taking out best decorated tabletop with many more hilarious creative outfits highly commended.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to the local businesses and talented parents that generously donated raffle prizes. (Please see the attached list) Their contributions added an extra layer of excitement to the night and helped us raise additional funds for a very important cause.

Your generosity is deeply appreciated, and we encourage our community to support these businesses as a way of saying thank you.

We are excited to share that through your generosity and support we were able to raise over $9000 which is astounding. These funds will go directly towards the much-anticipated improvements to our school playground (we are waiting on quotes as we speak so we can go ahead asap!) A better playground means more opportunities for our children to play, learn, and grow in a safe and stimulating environment.

Once again, thank you for your incredible support. The TPSA and the school look forward to many more amazing events where we can come together as a community, celebrate, and work towards our common goals. Together, we can make a significant difference.

If you are interested in joining the fundraising team or would like to put forward fundraising ideas, we’d love to hear from you. We also welcome any feedback on the Trivia night as we hope to run it again next year – please email tpsaenquiry@gmail.com

Warm regards,
The TPSA fundraising team

School Health Padlet

There are some fantastic links in the Padlet below. 

We are 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)

Kinder 2025

We are now looking at Kinder enrolments for 2025 from families in and out of our catchment area.

If your child is born in 2020, they are ready for Kindergarten in 2025!

Please email taroona.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au or call 6227 8325 to find out more! Complete the form by following the link below!

Kindergarten 2025 (office.com)

Launching into Learning

Launching into Learning runs every Thursday from 9.15am - 10.45am in our Kinder room or Playground. We hope to see you there! 

Ed Smart

EdSmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging i.e. SMS and emails. It will also allow us to send a communication message to all parent/guardians.

The platform will, over time, be rolled out across all Tasmanian Government Schools and new features will be added. 

You will receive a text message and/or an email with further details.  Note, the text message sender will be a shortened version of our school’s name - please keep an eye out for it!

Further information is available on the Department’s website.

Communicating with your child's school - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Playtime Activities Term 2

Resilience Co Parent Evening

2024 Australian Early Development Census

Bambini Bites - Lunch Ordering now through Spriggy!

A reminder that we have transitioned to Spriggy Schools ordering platform to access Bambini's. 

Spriggy Schools will make lunch orders more convenient for both families and the canteen.

Steps to get started:

1. Go to www.spriggyschools.com.au to register and download the app.
2. Add a profile for each of your children, making sure you select Taroona Primary School and your child’s class.
3. Start placing lunch orders! 

If you have any questions, please contact Spriggy Schools via their webchat on the website or in the app.

School Levies 2024 - Now Overdue!

Thank you to all those families who have paid their school levies or set up a payment plan.

If you are experiencing difficulties with payment please contact Bianca Long, our School Business Manager, to discuss your individual case and implement a payment plan.

Payment Options

Bpay, Service Tasmania, eftpos, credit card over the phone (6237 5200), cash and payment plan.

Thank you.

Bianca Long

School Business Manager

Working with Vulnerable People card

To volunteer at this school, you will be required to hold “Registration to Work with Vulnerable People”. This is mandatory.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR RWVP?

1. Complete the online application form. This is available from the website below.
2. Choose Department of Education from the organisation drop down box. Select Taroona Primary School from the location drop-down box.
3. Print the ‘application receipt’ which is generated when the application has been completed in full (if you do not have access to a printer, record the reference number and take that to a Service Tasmania Shop).
4. Take the ‘application receipt’ to a Service Tasmania Shop, have your photo taken and have your identity confirmed. You will need to satisfy the identity requirements. A driver’s licence will do this if it displays your correct name and address. The cost is $20.40.
5. The Tasmanian Department of Justice will assess and process applications and issue the Assessment Notice and Working with Vulnerable People Registration card directly to the applicant. You will receive an email advising of your approval. Please print this and use until your card arrives.

Click here to visit the Working with Children webpagehttp://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children

Generally, applicants will receive their results within six weeks of completing the application process. There may be delays, however, depending on the applicant’s personal information.

Lady Gowrie Taroona

Lady Gowrie Tasmania Outside School Hours Education and Care Services offer before school and after school care during school term time for children (4 to 12 years of age) at Taroona Primary School. These programs provide a relaxing transition between home and school and provide children with the opportunity to engage in meaningful recreation and learning experiences.

For more information, or to request an enrolment form, phone 6230 6806 or email clusteradmin@gowrie-tas.com.au.

Please see below for a copy of the upcoming Vacation Care Program for 2023-24 holiday period.