On Monday we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Acting Principal Rochelle Cunningham to the Burnie Primary School community. Mrs Cunningham will start on Tuesday 9^th March and will take on the role until the end of 2021.

It’s a fabulous opportunity for Mrs Cunningham to experience the Burnie Primary School community and to share in the lives of some exceptional young people. It has certainly been a privilege for me to be Principal here at Burnie Primary, and to see firsthand our Grade 6 students who I first met in Prep develop into fine young, curious, creative, innovative and respectful young citizens.

Burnie Primary School is always close to my heart and has played an important part throughout my life, and I certainly look forward to seeing it further develop and grow into the future.

Andrew Starick

Principal

On the 7^th July,2020 we lost our beloved friend and colleague, Mrs Nadene Smith. Mrs Smith had worked at Burnie Primary School for 16 years as a Teacher’s Aide. During this time she had worked with children and families from playgroup age to Grade 6. Mrs Smith became a friend to all she worked with. Even though she was a teacher’s aide, she ended up being the teacher, teaching us all how to be a better teacher with compassion, a better person through being genuine and always conquering life’s bumps with a big smile and a big heart. She really was a role model for us all with the way she lead her life. Always knowing the value of what is truly important.

On any given day that Mrs Smith was working in Kinder you would glance outside and see her sitting with a child or group of children around her, all smiling and laughing and feeling so cared for and important in her presence. She brought so much warmth and joy to every conversation so that you always walked away smiling brighter and feeling happier and this was equally if not more evident with her interactions with the children.

To honour her memory, we wanted to create a place for many more warm conversations and laughter for years to come and that’s where the inspiration for this memorial seat came from. This seat takes pride of place in our Kinder yard and we recently held a small event for Mrs Smith’s family and for past and present staff to officially present the seat to the BPS community in her memory.

There are some that bring a light so great to the world that even after they have gone, the light remains......

We chose a very windy day to hold our Prep - Grade 6 Athletics Carnival yesterday at Hellyer College with the participation of our students being outstanding.  Many races were run, novelty events shared and the smiles from cheering on their friends and the ultimate event - staff vs BHS student helpers in Tug-of-war, won by the staff!

We are delighted to advise the winning house was Oakleigh with 1053 points, Wyona with 952 and closely followed by Curraghmore with 943 points.

Photos will be posted next newsletter.

Invitation for all interested grade 5/6 students to participate in the Mathematical Association of Tasmania's Problem Solving Competition, Thursday March 18^th.

This is a challenging competition for Tasmanian students in Years 5 & 6. The competition focuses on problem solving, as well as mathematical reasoning and logical thinking.  Students sit a 1.5 hour paper consisting of approximately 8 - 12 questions of increasing difficulty.

The questions are designed to elicit mathematical thinking and may require students to apply their mathematical skills to topics outside of the standard curriculum or to link different topics of mathematics together which are traditionally taught separately. Each question may require some experimentation and different approaches before a student makes significant headway.

For each question, students need to explain their reasoning and show their working (using English as well as Mathematics as necessary) to gain full marks. A correct answer with little or no working will receive few marks. Students may not be able to complete all questions fully in the time frame but they will receive a better mark if they answer some questions very well rather than many questions poorly.

Participation Certificates are awarded to all participants. Results, certificates and prizes will be announced later in the year.

Could all interested students please contact Mr Ben Johnston at school or via email ben.johnston@education.tas.gov.au to ensure entry or to look at past papers. Entry fees to this competition will be covered by the school.