Winter has finally arrived and the mountain this morning looked spectacular covered in snow. A reminder that students are required to wear their school uniform at all times, but on colder mornings a beanie, gloves and jacket will help to keep your child warmer on their way to school. Please ensure all items are clearly labelled with your child’s name as there is a very big collection of unnamed clothing outside the school office. Hoodies are not part of our school uniform and students wearing hoodies during the day at school will be asked to take them off.

Recently teaching staff have been reviewing the school expectations of We Learn, We Care and we are Safe. Each week we will be having a whole school focus to discuss and explore what these mean with students.  

Minor Excursions and aquatic activities

At the beginning of the year all parents/Carers had the opportunity to give permission for their child to participate in minor excursions without the requirement to sign a permission form for every excursion. Minor excursions include visits on foot or by vehicular transport to places of educational value within the local community that last for less than one day. A similar consent process was used for aquatic activities. With the changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic we are providing the opportunity for parents and carers to change their preference that was provided at the start of the year for both minor excursions and aquatic activities. The school will ensure that relevant safety and health precautions will be implemented including COVID-19 requirement, during the course of the excursion and aquatic activities. All other excursions including those with inherent risk will require you to sign a separate consent form prior to the excursion, as is currently the case. 

If you wish to change your child's current permissions or would like further information please contact the school by phone or email. If we do not hear from you then the current permission arrangements will remain in place.

Warm regards

Louise Anders

We would love to hear stories of how your child’s school or teacher has inspired you during this time of COVID-19. Over the past few months it has become more evident than ever before that schools are the heart of our communities and are greatly valued.

The strong partnerships of parents working with teachers and schools to support our students meant student engagement in learning remained high even though teaching and learning was different in so many ways.

As a Department we are looking to capture these amazing stories of courage and growth and showcase many of these through a Celebration of Collaboration later in the year.

We encourage you to acknowledge your school, Child and Family Centre or local library for going above and beyond.

Please share your story by visiting: www.education.tas.gov.au/our-learnings

In our Science unit we are exploring weather and seasons.  We talked about the changes we see in Autumn and created some beautiful Autumn leaves. 

We have been practicing our fine motor skills, including cutting, correct pencil grip, and forming letters correctly.  While practicing these skills we created these amazing rainbow stars.

When the students returned from such a long time away with home learning and holidays, it was evident how much they had grown and blossomed! We touched on the lifecycle of butterflies and compared their changes to that of butterflies! The students have all grown bigger but according to them, they are more grown up and ready to learn.  They were also so very excited to be back at school.

Here are some beautiful examples of our letter sound work.   

The Principal of Cosgrove High School Mr David Bryant would like to extend an invitation to Parents/Carers of Year 6 students transitioning to Year 7 to meet with him and tour the school.  Appointments can be made by calling 6271 1111 or emailing david.bryant@education.tas.gov.au

Students moving to another school in 2020

Please contact the school office if your child will not be returning to Goodwood Primary in 2020.  It is now the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school in writing when their child is leaving to attend another school. This is a Department of Education requirement and verbal confirmation is not sufficient.   Once the school has received this notification in writing the enrolment can be closed so the student can then be enrolled at the new school.

Lost Property 

We have a number of school items in our lost property bin.  All items left in the lost property bin at the end of term will be donated as second hand uniform items.  The Lost Property Bin is now located in the new school office foyer.

Registration to Work with Vulnerable People

All people wishing to volunteer at Goodwood Primary must hold a “Working with Vulnerable People” card. Please see office staff for information on how to register for a card.

School & Office Hours

A reminder that our gates open at 8:30 am. Students are not to be left unsupervised by parents until 8:30 am when staff are on duty. The office also opens at 8:30 am. Students are to be collected promptly at 2:50 pm. If you will be late collecting your child at the end of the day you will need to notify the office.

Student Medication

Please advise office staff and your child’s class teacher if your child needs to take medication during school hours so arrangements can be made for the medication to be administered.

It is a Department of Education requirement that the following forms must be completed and signed before the commencement of dispensing medication to students: ‘Administration of Routine Medication Authorisation Form for Parent/ Guardian’; and ‘Administration of Prescribed Medication Authorisation Form for Doctors’. The administration of medication to students is undertaken by Admin staff who will ensure it is taken correctly, details (e.g. date, time, dose etc) entered on the student’s personal medication sheet, and signed by both staff and student.

Medication is kept locked in the school safe or safe room. Students should not have any types of medication in their school bags.

Student Long Absence

If your child is going to be absent from school for longer than a few days a Student Absence Approval Form must be completed by the parent/carer and approved by the Principal. The form is available from the school office or it is attached below for your convenience.

Our Launching into Learning families have been busy learning and playing at home this term. We have been using our Launching into Learning Facebook page to stay connected, share our LiL songs, play ideas and photos of our children learning through play. Ms Elise has been really impressed with the creative and thoughtful ways our LiL families have adapted to this new normal.

Through our Facebook page, we have been able to share and talk about some of our favourite Launching into Learning excursions and experiences over the past few years.

If you have a LiL child at home who has something to share on our Launching into Learning Facebook page, please feel free to send it to Ms Elise.

elise.zucco@education.tas.gov.au

Ms Elise Zucco

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please find below some helpful information from the School Health Nurse at Goodwood Primary School.

Better health for better learning

Support During Covid – 19

Up to date information on COVID-19 – www.dhhs.tas.gov.au

Government Financial Support Options

www.serviceaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/affected-coronavirus-covid-19

Crisis support for individuals and families

If you are required to self-isolate because of COVID-19 or choose to do so because of a vulnerability issue and you do not have access to support to help with accessing food, medical, counselling and social outreach support, you can contact PUBLIC HEALTH ON 1800 671 738 and a referral for support will be implemented within 24 hours.

Salvation Army – 6424 4416

www.salvationarmy.org.au/need-help/

Emergency food assistance – Wednesdays 5:30–7 takeaway only

St Vincent De Paul – 6427 7100

Emergency food assistance

Anglicare – 1800 243 232

www.anglicare-tas.org.au/when-life-is-difficult/

Strong Families, Safe Kids – Advice and Referral Line - 1800 000 123

1800Respect -1800 737 732

www.1800respect.org.au

Counselling and information service Mental Health Support

Life Line – 13 11 14

Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636

Kids Help Line –1800 55 800

Mental Health Help Line – 1800 332 388

Parenting Line (24hrs) – 1300 808 178

Be You - www.beyou.edu.au Information resources for parents and children

Headspace - www.headspace.org.au Information for parents and teens and e-headspace offers support online or over the phone

Reach Out – www.reachout.com.au  Information resources for parents and children

Emerging Minds - www.emergingminds.com.au information resources for parents

Emma Atkinson

School Health Nurse

Many Australian children are choosing sweet drinks on a regular basis instead of water.

Sweet drinks contain large amounts of sugar as you can see on this poster.

Sweet drinks are linked to tooth decay and are a significant risk factor for obesity.