At the end of last term, Prep Vincent held their Maker’s Market – a culminating afternoon of all their hard work over the term. From hand making all of the items for sale, to preparing for, setting up and running each of the stalls, the Prep students really outdid themselves on the big day. Our market was well attended by the families of our Prep students and school staff, who all contributed generously to our Maker’s Market. Astonishingly, we raised $529! This money was used to purchase items to fill shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. The following day was filled with excitement – as we sorted the stock and then selected items to fill the shoeboxes. In the end, we have lovingly packed 22 shoeboxes, which will now be posted all over the world to bring a little bit of Christmas joy to those who are less fortunate than us. Congratulations, Prep, what a super effort! The learning that occurred throughout the entire project was incredibly engaging, authentic, meaningful and very integrated. The students should feel very proud of themselves.

A huge thank you to all the parents, families and staff who came along and made the Preps smile with your generous purchasing of their treasures. A particular thanks to Mrs Debbie Griggs, Mrs Karyn Clark, Mrs Louise Rookledge and Ms Kelly Howell for their help on the day.

Food and Fibre has been an exciting exploration of farming, food and environment.

This Semester the year 3-4 classes have learned about how foods are grown and produced as well as what we need to do to help our environment and live more sustainably.

We have visited the farm, planted seeds, eaten fresh veggies from the garden and are currently building a scarecrow to display in the garden.

The focus of 7-8 STEAM this term is focussing on the language of computing, preparing our students for the many functions that can be performed through the coding languages of Python and HTML. 

We have started this journey by familiarising ourselves with arcade games, and creating our own using Scratch Coding (a block based coding app). Student have been using this simplified version of coding to create some pretty complex games that vary across a range of genres.

Our Year 3-4 STEAM mini modules have been using their problem solving skills and competing against each other in design challenges that centre around engineering, science and maths. Some of these challenges have included Baking Soda Bottle Rockets, Catapults and Survival Rafts. In all these challenges, students have been learning to work with limitations and use creative thinking, alongside teamwork to be successful. 

Our learners have been showing determination, resilience and commitment to STEAM and I can't wait to see what we can create next!

Prep and Prep-1 classes have had the opportunity to explore the Design-Make-Appraise cycle in STEAM during term 3 and 4. Students are given a problem to solve and are tasked with designing and making something to solve the problem. The students are responsible for choosing which items and materials they use, and how to join them together. Students then have the opportunity to test their creation and discuss how they could improve their design. Some of the problems the students have been tasked with are:

• Building something to help the Little Red Hen transport grain
• Creating a shelter to protect the Three Little Pigs
• Finding a way for the Three Frisian Cows to cross the river

During STEAM lessons, students are also exploring scientific concepts such as gravity, push and pull forces, and water and wind resistance. Here are some photos of us hard at work.

As per our communication with our community late Friday afternoon, there is a Stop Work meeting on Wednesday, 9 November. A decision has been made by the Department for Education, Children and Young People to temporarily close all Tasmanian Government Schools for educational instruction from 12.15pm. Whilst we appreciate the inconvenience the expectation is that families make alternative arrangements to collect their children by 12:30pm on this day. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Whilst it may not seem necessary with the weather over the weekend, we moved our Athletics Carnivals due to the unfit state of our oval last week. We are hopeful that we will have clear skies and a solid track to run on for the 7-10 students on Monday, 14 November and for our K-6 student on 17 November.  Our inter-high team will be participating on the 17 November also at the NHSSA event. Thanks to our PE staff for their flexibility and planning in making these events happen.

Your child’s class teacher remains the best first point of contact. We strongly encourage you to work with them in resolving any issues that arise and know that a proactive approach often enables us to “nip things in the bud”.  With planning for 2023 underway we are offering families the opportunity to identify student needs for consideration with class placements. We will not be accepting teacher nominations due to the unknow nature of staffing and roles in the school. Any requests should be clearly based on learning needs and teaching characteristics that support your child’s learning needs. These should be sent to the school admin email address by Monday, 21 November. Lilydale.District.School.Admin.Staff@decyp.tas.gov.au

We are keen to have parents and families involved in our upcoming assemblies and will do everything possible to invite as many parents and carers as we can to attend.  Whilst we don’t have physical distancing restrictions in place now, as in previous years there may be a cap based on the venue and the actual space available. Specific arrangements will be advertised as events approach.

Whilst we encourage the use of school grounds out of hours by our community, we ask that this is done respectfully. Should you see unwarranted behaviour including vandalism or unsafe behaviours please ring the police in urgent situations and make a report or notify the school at the earliest opportunity. We strongly encourage people to use the space with consideration and respect for all. Thank you to all those users who assist in us maintaining the space for the benefit of everyone else.

Congratulations to our 1-2B students and Ms Thomson who worked with Lyndsay Godfrey, President Lilydale RSL, and Lisa Bailey (AP) to beautify the local cenotaph recently. As you would have seen on the facebook post there were lots of smiles and willing helpers to ensure the space looks its best fro Friday. Thank you for the poppies too.

Principal - Colin Pearson

On Monday, 26th September, 46 students and 9 high school helpers attended Tamar Athletics at St Leonards Athletics Centre.  There was some excellent results across the year levels with Alyvia, Noah, Madeleine, Kaiden, Charlie, Cooper, Callum all having a win in their races as well as the Year 5 boys relay.

The whole team were complimented on their excellent sportsmanship and behaviour on the day.  A big thank you to Mr Johnston, Ms Binns and Mrs Bent for all their support on the day as well as Natasha Kolody who was an official for Long Jump.  The high school helpers did an amazing job supporting the carnival in both assisting with events and helping with the results with the new system that was being trialled.  Their assistance was very much appreciated.

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 15 and 27 March 2023.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the first year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper.

Parent information brochures and other resources

Your questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child, click on the link below.

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.

Visual Art Students from Secondary and Primary art classes have artworks ‘Eyes of Courage’ and ‘Finding Courage’ at the QVMAG Gallery - Inveresk Railyards. "Minds Do Matter" Exhibition. Please check it out! Free Entry Up until 11th December

About Saver Plus

Saver Plus is a free matched savings and financial education program that matches participants’ savings, dollar for dollar, up to $500, for education costs such as uniforms, books, excursions and camps, sports fees, laptops and more.

Already more than 5000 Tasmanian families have benefitted!

Participants set a savings goal for education costs, are supported to make regular deposits into a savings account over 10 months, and attend online financial skills workshops. At the end of the program their savings are matched, dollar for dollar, up to $500, to be used for education costs such as uniforms, books, excursions, sports fees and laptops.

Saver Plus was developed by Brotherhood of St Laurence and ANZ in 2003 and is delivered in Tasmania by The Smith Family. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and ANZ. 

To be eligible to join Saver Plus, parents must:

• be over 18 years old;
• have a Centrelink Health Care or Pensioner Concession card;
• be in receipt of an eligible Commonwealth social security benefit, allowance or payment;
• themselves or their partner have some regular income from work (including casual, part-time, full-time, informal/cash or seasonal employment), or from Child Support payments or Carer’s Allowance; and
• have a child enrolled at school (or enrolled to start school), or attend vocational education themselves.

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 Services Australia 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, Dance, 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 2023. Vouchers must be given to an Approved Activity Provider by 7 June 2023.

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

Our School Association meets on the second Monday of each month in the Kinder space. Our next meeting will be on Monday, 5 December at 7:00pm. We would love to see more people at the meetings and invite you to attend.