Principal's Report
Welcome to Term Three
What a successful and productive start to the term we have had. There is always a buzz of excitement on the first day of term with children keen to reconnect with friends and teachers, not to mention looking smart in their uniforms. Our students have transitioned from home to school without skipping a beat. Many teachers shared that their classes were engaged and straight back into learning routines. This week, I had the pleasure of attending the National Australian Primary Principal Association conference in Hobart. Having an opportunity to listen to national leaders speak about education reform is always inspiring, more importantly though it affirmed for me the great work that we do here at Burnie Primary School.
This year all Tasmanian government schools are focusing on improving reading outcomes for our learners. At BPS, this looks like the teaching of phonics (letters and sounds) in our Prep to Year two classes, and the teaching of vocabulary (word inquiry) in our Year three to Year six. Our teachers are working collaboratively to plan engaging and evidence based experiences for our learners. I invite you to ask your child about their learning in this area. I wonder what they can tell you? If you would like to know more information about our reading goals, please don’t hesitate to ask your child’s teacher.
Being aspirational significantly influences education achievement and future life outcomes. Our students are learning that aspiration can relate to any area of life.
Having the value of aspiration can include:
- Expecting the best from ourselves and from others
- Striving for success
- Setting goals and planning to achieve them
- Continuing to lift and improve performance
- Understanding that learning is a lifelong process
- Persisting in the face of adversity and demonstrating resilience
- Not being afraid to fail!
- Actively participating in all activities and contributing positively to school community
Here is the video that was shared with our students this week:
Staffing Update
This term we welcome Miss A as our full-time teacher to 2A, Ms Daphne Kalweit and Mrs Glynis Martin as our specialist art teachers. Mr Andrew Woodard will teach our primary classes as a specialist in the Maker’s Space.
Leah Argeropoulos Daphne Kalweit Glynis Martin Andrew Woodard
Every School Day Matters
It’s Term 3 already – welcome back for another term!
As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging. It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits. Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn, and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future. If you’re having trouble getting your child to school, please talk to us. We’ll listen to your situation, and help in any way we can.
If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.
Our attendance system sends us messages when children have missed 5, 10 and 15 days either unexplained or unauthorised.
Unexplained is when you have not contacted the school to let us know why your child is away, or you do not respond to the text message that is sent after we have completed attendance for the day.
Unauthorised is when your child is away from school for a non-educational based reason (this includes taking holidays during the term). If your child is going to be away from school due to a family holiday or for an alternative activity that relates to learning or an organised event, please contact us so that we are able to record this in the system.
If the system indicates that your child has been away for 5, 10 or 15 days from school unexplained or unauthorised you will receive either a call or a letter from the school.
Susan Barnard
Acting Principal