Principals Report
Exciting weeks ahead as we step into the vibrant season where we have numerous celebrations and events. These occasions are not just a testament to our school's dynamic spirit but also opportunities for us to come together, learn, and grow. We look forward to seeing you in the next couple of weeks, to help us celebrate our wonderful 2023. 

Principal Role  
I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead Burnie Primary School throughout 2023 and am excited to announce that I will continue throughout Term One, 2024.  

Staffing Update 
Whilst on the topic of next year … our planning is well underway. Our class information, together with teacher’s names will be sent home with our EOY reports on Thursday 14th December. Students will have the opportunity in week 10 to meet their 2024 teachers and classmates. If you feel your child might need extra support with this transition, please contact the school so that we can support them. 

Significant to us this will be the farewell of Mrs Amanda Hyland. Amanda’s expertise in inquiry, early learning and quality teaching will be greatly missed. She has had a big impact on our students and families as they begin their journey in education.

A huge thank you to Amanda for her commitment to ensuring the best outcomes for every child over a span of 16 years!  Amanda will commence work at Somerset Primary school in 2024. We wish her well in her new role.  

It is with a mix of emotions that we also bid farewell to Miss Meaghan Hosking. Her time at Burnie PS has been filled with dedication, passion, and a genuine love for teaching, and we are grateful for the impact she has made on our students and our school community. Meaghan’s willingness to share her expertise, collaborate on projects, and offer a helping hand has created a positive and collaborative environment within our school.  While we will miss Meaghan’s presence at BPS, we are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead in the Northern Territory.  

Ms Emma Sterta commenced the year with us as an Education Support Specialist in Prep. Emma has a real passion and strength working in the early childhood area and her patience, understanding and kindness have been appreciated. She has provided support to our Prep students and has been key in supporting our early learners in the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy. We wish Emma all the best in her future endeavours.  

Mrs Glynis Martin joined the BPS at the beginning of Term 3 as our specialist Art teacher. We thank Glynis for her flexibility and creativity working with our students from Prep through to Year 6. Glynis was instrumental in entering our students in the Youth TasArt competition in at the Burnie Art Gallery (134 pieces in fact)! We thank Glynis for her time at BPS and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.  

Mr Jack Ansell and Ms Tameika Munday commenced at BPS this as our Year 6 teachers and Advanced Skills Teachers. Both, Jack and Tameika will be returning to their former roles within DECYP. Ms Munday has led our work in ‘Community Connections’ by establishing relationships for our students with the North West Support School and Umina Park. Whilst often a role that isn’t as forefront, Mr Ansell has been working to make sure that timetables, events and excursion run smoothly by overseeing risk management and changes. We thank them for their combined efforts in both a leadership role and working with our Grade 6s students.  

                                                                           

We will be farewelling these staff members at the Prep to Grade 5 End of Year Assembly however please feel free to catch up with Amanda, Meaghan, Jack, Tameika, Emma, and Glynis to say a personal farewell before the end of the term. 

2024 Staff Update 
We Welcome Jane Nott, Alissa Miller, Janine Gibson, Larissa Roberts and Tracy McCulloch to Burnie Primary School commencing Term 1, 2024. 

Jane Nott is an experienced teacher and joins us from Table Primary School.  
Alissa Miller is a newly appointed graduate teacher joining us from Riana Primary School.  
Janine Gibson joins us from West Ulverstone Primary School in a permanent capacity.  
Larissa Roberts Commences at Burnie Primary School as part of the Teacher Intern Placement Program. She will be working alongside Mrs Kendall Sandman.  

We are very grateful to have both new and experienced teachers joining our BPS team in 2024 

End of Year Reports 
A reminder to families that end of year reports will be distributed on 14/12/2023. The report envelope will also include levy information, classes for 2024 and Evidence of Learning for our specialist subjects. Our Prep to Grade 2 students have already received their Evidence of Learning for Music and PE. 

The report will show your child’s learning achievement on a 9-point visual scale for students in Years Prep to 10. The 9-point scale shows where your child’s learning achievement is against the expected standard for their year level.  

For more information about reports: 

• School Reports FAQs 
• Understanding the 9-point scale 
• Visit the Department’s website at: School reports - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Meet 2024 Teacher 
On Tuesday, 19th December students will spend part of the morning in their 2024 classes.  This opportunity to meet their teacher and classmates helps to ease apprehension and supports a positive transition.  Some students may feel sad about being in a new room with new students, however, as parents we need to acknowledge their feeling and at the same time build resilience by highlighting the positives. We hope that all parents support the placement of their child and know that all students will be taught by professional teachers who care deeply for each child’s education, safety and happiness.  Teachers have spent many hours forming the 2024 classes ensuring each student has at least one nominated friend and that each class is well balanced to support learning for all students.  Once these decisions have been made it makes it very difficult to alter and due to this we will be unable to make changes. 

Our first destination was the Burnie Pioneer Museum. Federation Street represents early Burnie. There were lots of old shops like dentists, blacksmiths and barbers. We walked around the old streets and played hopscotch. Carter, Mia and Eva

Next stop was The Hive at Ulverstone. During this time our helpful adults, teachers and students enjoyed several activities. We created art on the solar system, watched a movie in the Planetarium and made little cars mainly out of natural items. We tested our cars with a friend to see whose was fastest on their fantastic racetrack with electronic timing.

A lot of people enjoyed the planetarium. The room was shaped like a dome with several projectors around the room causing a 3D effect. Maya and Lilly

Then it was on to our home for the night – Fulton Park, Forth. When we got off the bus we put our luggage in the hallway and then we put on sunscreen and went straight outside for a play. There was a huge grass area to play on. Miss Cohen and Miss Page brought a bag of sports equipment for us to play with. There was wallaby poo everywhere on the grass. Our favourite part was running and playing with the Frisby. Lucy and Zara

At the campsite we had multiple buildings including the kitchen and our cabins. The kitchen had lots of seating for the kids, teachers and volunteers. The cabins were in one big building separated into rooms. There were multiple bunks for all of us. And the rooms were really spacious! We would like to thank Fulton Park for letting us stay the nights and providing bunks, mattresses and the barbeque. Ella and Scarlett

We have a quiz night to see who knew Grade 5 the best. We all had written a question about ourselves, so we had about 50 questions. The best part was having a laugh with your friends and answering the questions in our teams. It was good to find out things about people you didn’t know. Tage and Sashan

We had food at camp. It was really good! For dinner we had a barbeque, for dessert we ate lots of ice-cream. For breakfast we ate cereal and toast. For lunch we had sandwiches with chicken or ham. For afternoon tea we had biscuits and fruit. Our favourite food was the barbeque. We had burgers and sausages. Tayton and Billy

Before dinner Miss Smith taught us a drama game. You have to look at your opponent and try not to laugh but make your opponent laugh.

After breakfast we did a team bonding exercise. We have 8-9 people and had 6 items to get across the fake water which had sharks in it. Aiden and Oliver

During our session with Mrs Schleich (Aboriginal Educator), we enjoyed feeling, learning and talking about country. We also learnt many things about the culture and past of this land. We loved feeling the environment and land because we were able to connect deeper with the past and country. We were very grateful to be able to see and understand the tools elders used in the past. We thought it was very interesting how our ancestors used natural resources to make things such as kelp baskets,clapping sticks and spears. We also wove dried grass into traditional rope. Jacinta, Tori and Diesel

We would like to acknowledge our volunteers and helpers, especially the parents that came along with us. Thanks for making sure everyone was safe. The volunteers and teachers also helped us with the cooking and cleaning. Thank you to all our volunteers and helpers. We could not have had camp without you. Charlotte and Aneeka

Congratulations to our Burnie Priamry School yellow netball team on winning their grandfinal. 

Congratulations to Isabella Airey who recieved the 2nd year player Most Improved at Emusicians on Monday night.

• Being loved, safe and valued
• Being healthy
• Having material basics
• Learning
• Participating
• Having a positive sense of culture and identity

Please see the infographic below to see some of the results for 2023. 

Our student wellbeing group have met several times this year to discuss the wellbeing survey. Yesterday, they met again to compare the 2022 and 2023 results. They also made the very important decision of where our new 'Buddy Benches' will be placed in the school grounds. This was one of their initiatives to help improve the wellbeing of BPS students. 

At BPS we are courageous, and this term the DECYP Value of Courage is the focus for our Morning Meetings.  

 Acting with courage means: 

• accepting challenges and embracing opportunities 
• thinking creatively and being brave 
• being prepared to stand up for what’s important 
• not giving up 
• having difficult conversations  
• being innovative and taking calculated risks in some situations.

On Friday 24^th November 2023 40 students represented Burnie Primary School in the annual Primary Schools Triathlon Challenge.

Students participated either individually or in teams in a 3-legged event, a beach swim, bike ride and run. The water was rough with rolling waves, it was windy, but the sun was shining. All students represented Burnie Primary School well and should be proud of their efforts. We would like to thank all parents and carers who supported the children to participate in this event.