Our 2022 Senior Student Leaders are extremely keen to contribute to the improvement of the school in the way of mental health this year.

We have just completed the Relay for Life, raising money for Cancer Council. It was a fantastic and entertaining day and night with many laughs and eye rolls.

During Term 2 we are hoping to support mental health and paint a tree blue. This concept is nation wide and is to make people aware of the importance of looking after your mental health and knowing when you need to get help.

The Colour Run will be held during Term 4 to raise money for the school and the legacy we wish to leave behind. We will also be continuing the Memory Path that the 2020 Leaders initiated, so all Year 10’s will have the opportunity to purchase a legacy brick.

We are looking forward to working with Ms McNear in making a change and leaving our mark in 2022.

Our Senior Leaders for 2022 are: Brooke, Riley, Lauchlan, Sarah, Kaitlyn, Ruby and Jorjia

In 2022, we have 10 junior leaders – the SRC consists of Grace, Forenza, Olivia, Georgia, Thea and Ava.  There is also 2 Maralinga Junior House Captains (Rielee and Tully) and 2 Corinna Junior House Captains (Addison and Billy).
The group have started their meetings, and are full of ideas for fundraisers and fun events.  Unfortunately due to restrictions we were unable to attend the leadership conference, but have been using some of the information gleaned from previous years.
Already this year the group have held their first event – a morale day called MixMatch Day.  It was a very successful day. We as a group were very excited to see all of the people participating.  There certainly were a lot of different outfits on the day.
Upcoming we hope to have some of our traditional fundraising events (cupcake day and footy colours day) as well as some further morale events.
By Grace and Forenza

During Relay for Life the Senior Student Leaders, plus Dominic (Gavin) from our school attended the event to help fundraise money for the Cancer Council. With hardly any rest or sleep, except for a few kids sneakily sleeping. Bets being won and lost; a few students were devastated by losing the bets.  Riley, Kaitlyn, Dominic and Lauchlan hardly left the track except for a food break. We are proud to say we were able to raise just over $700. With the students getting restless and needing beauty sleep, the whole team decided to take a break and come together for a facial session and some gossip. A lap of a track was done with the facials remaining on, which drew a lot of attention to those walkers.

Music was blasting and some of the teachers- that being Ms McNear and Ms Vincent were having a bit too much fun. (We got a video, hook us up). Other teachers who came to support, Mrs Maher came with a friendly smile and helped with the set-up and a couple of laps, Mr Widdowson came for the gossip and stole our chairs and Mr Brown came with a sense of humour but most importantly cake. Other teachers that came, Ms Papageorgiou who arrived late and then slept in her little clam shell, whilst we kept walking and Ms B came and stayed the whole night with a friendly smile.

The students who came were thrilled when night came, some taking quick naps and others setting up a whole camp with a kettle and a stove. Tea was shared, even straight coffee for those who kept walking. During this time Jorja took a 3-hour nap, Dominic who refused to believe he slept was knocked out for a whole 5 minutes, losing one of the bets, he swore he won. Lauchlan brought a whole kitchen with him, making noodles and tea, and ended up losing his whole sugar collection. Everyone took delight in all Ruby’s jokes and face masks, who also took a nap, swearing sleep was needed. Sarah and Brooke sharing their joy with intel of school and fancy ideas, everyone was sure that would go off without a hitch. Riley who took the opportunity to spend more time with his friends and being the end of a joke, was still able to walk laps. Dominic and Riley mixed with the other groups and school, creating stronger bonds. Kaitlyn also carried the team with determination not to let the cow leave the track.

A memory we will all take is Ms Vincent daring Gavin to pencil roll around the track for $17! Ms McNear was not impressed and kept pacing trying to get him off the track! Everyone else was laughing and encouraging him, but Ms McNear didn’t see the funny side…

Rest and sleep were all we could think about by the end of the event.

We would like to thank all the people who donated, the teachers for giving up their time to allow us this opportunity. Many other schools could not stay as they didn’t have the support of the teachers. We know how lucky we are here at Lilydale with teachers who go out of their way and give up their time for us.

Senior Student Leaders 2022

Our friend Mrs Christine Landles has been coming in and sewing with us. We have chosen different fabrics and made library bags.

Our Swimming and Water Safety Program got underway yesterday.  This program is a critical opportunity to build life skills and to keep students safe around water.  Thank you to all our families for your organisation and assistance with having students well equipped and for your prompt return of the necessary paperwork. Student behaviour was excellent, and participation was high, again demonstrating how well our students represent us as a school and community.

Similarly, we had a group of dedicate students and staff who were wonderful ambassadors at the Relay for Life recently.  This was a continuation of our school-based event and students did an excellent job fundraising for this worthy charity.  Our student leaders were very committed to the need for them to have a representative on the track at all times and they completed this requirement, with the support of a number of staff throughout nearly 20 hours.  Their teamwork, collegiality and encouragement for each other is another great example of the maturity our young people have.  Congratulations and thank you to all involved.

It has been unfortunate that in the current climate we have had to, or been involved with events, which have been cancelled or postponed.  These decisions aren’t made lightly and are difficult for those involved however we have an obligation to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.  We certainly understand the frustration that can arise but truly appreciate your support and understanding as we continue to navigate our way forward.

Please continue to be proactive with testing students if they display any symptoms relating to the current COVID situation.  We have supplies to support this and they are available through the office. Early detection and intervention are critical to keeping students safe and well and allowing them to continue to access their learning.  We have been well supported by families and know that we are continuing to keep cases down through our joint efforts. 

If you child is away due to being positive or as a close contact, please access learning for them as appropriate.  There are significant resources being made available to allow students to keep learning at home.  The COVID hotline is still a critical source of information particularly with the changing rules relating to those who have already had COVID and how they manage future contacts/cases.

We are currently experiencing some challenges with staffing, as are most schools, and I wanted to thank all those staff (teaching, cleaning and support) who are doing that little bit extra to make ends meet. This teamwork and learners first approach is making a significant difference; enabling us to maintain our regular routines and safe classroom environments.  Well done and thank you.

Colin Pearson – Principal

Thank you to our entire school community for your cooperation this term by practising COVID-safe behaviours.

As you know, an important COVID-safe behaviour is to stay at home if you’re unwell and get tested for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test.

Public Health tells us that the number of cases of COVID-19 in children is low, and they’re likely to have milder symptoms.

It’s a good reminder to be mindful of the symptoms of COVID-19 in children. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children are cough, fever, runny nose and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

This week will see the start of work to replace our Electronic School Speed Signs on the main road. This initiative is funded by the Tasmanian Government as part of a statewide initiative.

This State Growth work will see replacement signs which have a longer lifespan than the previous model and have the added bonus of remote operation. Traffic variations and changed speed zones may apply around the work so please slow down and follow any directions.  Hopefully this will crate an even safer environment for our community.

A new addition to the garden, students have been creative in constructing Chad from recycled materials around the school to protect the garden from birds, still a work in progress but he is taking shape.

Our School Association meets on the second Monday of each month in the Kinder space. Their next meeting will be the School Associations Annual General Meeting. We had to postpone this meeting due to low numbers. We are looking at a new date before the end of term. We would love to see more people at the meetings and invite you to attend. 

Student Attendance and Absences

Just a reminder to all families. If your child is away for any reason, please ensure you advise the office as soon as possible. There are numerous avenues to enable this and to make your life easier. The simpliest way is to simply send a text message via our SchoolZine App. This can be done at anytime, even if you are away with said sick child in the middle of the night. A quick text while you remember can save time later in the morning when you're busy and can easily forget.

We also have the office phone answering machine, where you can call out of office hours and leave a voice message (Phone 6395 0100). Or simply an email at anytime as well. Send to lilydale.district.school@education.tas.gov.au.

COVID Absences

If your child will be away for COVID-19 reasons, please contact the school office on 6395 0100. Covid absences require a more detailed explanation to ensure your childs attendance is correctly entered. There are numerous acceptable reasons for Covid absences and a simple phone conversation can help alleviate any misunderstandings regarding your responsibilities and how we can assist in making it easier for you at home. So regardless of whether your child is "Covid Positive", "Close Contact" or another Covid related reason, just give us a call at the office.

If you require additional RAT Test Kits, please ask at the office  in person or via the phone. If you are unable to come to the school to collect them, we can arrange for more to be sent home with someone you authorise to collect on your behalf, or send them home with a sibling, or we can arrange to have them dropped off if practical.

Close contact change explained

This advice applies to all COVID-19 cases i.e. anyone currently in quarantine and anyone who needs to quarantine from this point onwards. If a person is already part way through their quarantine period, then they will complete their 7 days from the time of the first positive diagnosis of COVID-19 in their household.

As long as the person completed the correct testing requirements, has returned negative results and does not have any symptoms they are free to leave quarantine at the same time as the primary case.

As an example: If a child is home because their parent/carer was positive, then their sibling tests positive after 5 days, does the quarantine still end after 7 days, not reset?

The quarantine period will still end 7 days after the diagnosis of the parent/carer – as long as the child is symptom free and returns a negative test on Day 6. Quarantine length does not reset due to the sibling’s positive test. If someone in a household has already tested positive and is isolating in the household, and subsequent household members test positive, close contacts in the household do not need to restart their quarantine period. Close contacts only need to complete 7 days from the date the first case in the household tests positive.

For more information, visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website and refer to Public Health’s factsheet.

Here’s a quick recap on the latest face mask requirements in schools:

• Staff will need to continue wearing face masks, but teachers may remove their masks if required to assist clear communication when teaching (for example, to meet the needs of a student with disability).
• Primary school students still do not need to wear face masks, but can if they choose. Secondary school students must continue to wear face masks.
• Face masks are no longer mandatory for visitors when outside at a school site. Visitors must continue wearing a face mask indoors at a school site.

Ticket to Play

Get your Ticket to Play and join in!

Ticket to Play provides two vouchers up to $100 each towards club membership/registration for children aged 5-18 years who are listed on a Centrelink Health Care or Pensioner Concession card or in Out of Home Care.

What can I use the vouchers for?

Vouchers can be used towards the cost of sporting club membership, as well as for Learn to Swim, Scouts, Guides and Cadets.

Vouchers can be used at two different activity providers or both can be used at one activity provider. 

Important dates:

Ticket to Play voucher applications are open until 31 May 2022. Vouchers must be given to an Approved Activity Provider by 6 June 2022.

Contact Ticket to Play at tickettoplay@communities.tas.gov.au or on 1800 252 476