Term 3 has been another busy term with lots of fantastic things happening around the school.

I’m pleased to let the community know that our NAPLAN results for this year were very promising - Year 3 students are now exceeding like schools in almost all areas assessed and our Year 5 students are equal with like schools. It is a fantastic result that demonstrates the excellence of our teaching staff and the aspiration of our wonderful learners.

We have also seen some incredible results in our early years reading data with Prep students showing huge growth. It is a testament to the work of our Prep teachers and reading teams for providing outstanding opportunities for student learning.

This term our Year 1-2 students visited Derwent Views Nursing Home to learn about life in the past and how things have changed compared to today. I was so impressed by the students who attended – they really demonstrated our school focus on readiness to learn, respect and safety. The feedback from the home was that our students were incredibly well behaved and respectful in all their communications.

I was also pleased to meet with our Red Pod Student Voice Team this term. They provided me with many important ideas on how to improve our school and were very solutions orientated. I was impressed by their sense of compassion for others in particular as they wanted to make the school more accessible and inclusive for all students. Next term our Blue Pod Student Voice Team will be announced and I am excited to work with them too.

Families will also have met with teachers this term and received Evidences of Learning to support their learning area ratings and reports. Please make sure you have checked Seesaw if you have not seen these evidences yet as it is an important way to connect to your child’s learning.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for their tireless work this term in  supporting our students and community this term. When I walk through the school I see students in class really engaged with the learning and this is thanks to our teachers and staff who provide rich and exciting learning opportunities for all our students.

I wish all our students, families and staff a safe, enjoyable and restful holiday break.

See you all in Term 3!

This term, our class has been immersed in literacy learning, with a strong focus on daily UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) lessons. Students have made fantastic progress in developing their phonemic awareness and decoding skills, and we are now excitedly approaching the introduction of digraphs. 

A standout moment this term was our special author visit in Week 8. We were thrilled to welcome Kym Lardner, who captivated the students with his storytelling and live illustrations. His generosity shone through as he stayed beyond his session to share a story while drawing directly on our classroom window—an unforgettable experience that truly brought storytelling to life! 

Over the last couple of weeks, 3/4 D students have been attending sessions in our school kitchen garden.   During these sessions they have been learning about  how to grow and attend to a kitchen garden and how to use the veggies from it to make healthy and delicious meals for the rest of the class. It has been so wonderful to see how these sessions   have helped our students not only to learn how to cook, but to work as a team to produce some of the most delicious meals I have ever tasted. These recipes will be available for students to take home this week, so that families will be able to cook these meals at home. Once again,  well done 3/4 D! Keep up the great work! 

Tasmanian All Schools Cross Country 2025 

Congratulations to Fletcher, Jarvis, Maddison and Rosie for representing our school on Tuesday  17 June at the All Schools Cross Country held at Symmons Plains.  

This prestigious event brought together students from across the state to compete at one of the most challenging cross country courses that included steep inclines, muddy stretches, and uneven surfaces that truly tested runner’s strength and determination.  

Each student gave their all and should be extremely proud of their effort and achievement.  

Results below: 

Maddison placing 3rd/254 

Rosie placing 22nd/254 

Fletcher placing 172nd /235 

Jarvis placing 183rd/273

Winter Sports  

Winter sports for selected year five and six students commenced this term with mixed games of football and netball taking place at schools across our region. All students have been having lots of fun and showing great sportsmanship towards other schools. A special shout out to our amazing coaches for their hard work which is greatly appreciated. Participation in the winter sports roster is a privilege and is based on students consistently upholding our school values.

PE Term two  

Throughout the last few weeks in PE all students from Prep to year six have been focusing on hockey. Students have been learning the fundamentals of the game, including correct grip, stance, control and accuracy. All students have been working hard to improve their dribbling and passing and then incorporating these skills into a game. It has been fantastic to see the progress students have been making during each lesson. The enthusiasm and effort shown by all students has been outstanding.  

Grade 5/6 Excursion  

On Thursday 3rd July our grade 5/6 classes enjoyed an excursion to Putters Adventure Golf where all students and staff had a fantastic time tackling the fun and challenging mini-golf courses. The day was filled with fun, laughter, enthusiasm and friendly competition as students tested their skills and supported one another. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to develop teamwork, cooperation and patience in a fun and engaging setting. 

After mini golf, we headed to Benjafield Park for a delicious barbecue lunch cooked by our wonderful TA, Daniel. The fun didn’t stop there as students had an absolute blast on the park’s play equipment, laughing and playing together. It was evident that all students had a fantastic time throughout the day and all displayed excellent behaviour.  

A huge thank you to all staff who helped make the day such a great success! 

Last week, red pod classes participated in workshops with Anh Do and Sally Rippin as a part of the State Library of Victoria’s Book Bash. It was exciting to see and listen to some fabulous Australian authors.

Anh Do was very funny and spoke about where he gained inspiration for his stories. He spoke about how his children helped to come up with some of the powers for his Mythix characters and how they had inspired Wolf Girl during a conversation. He also talked about how WierDo was often informed by events in his own childhood. Students got the opportunity to create a character with superpowers of their very own.

Sally Rippin spoke about some of her stories such as Billy B Brown. Sally talked about how nervous she was to illustrate her own books, Polly and Buster. She introduced Chris Kennett, the illustrator of the School of Monsters series, and spoke about how the characters in this series were developed in collaboration with the illustrator. One of the School of Monster characters kept interrupting and glitching the live stream.

Some classes have also watched Amelia Mellor’s presentation about researching historical fiction this week. It is inspiring to see real authors sharing about the different ways they are motivated to write books and the processes they use for developing storylines and characters

As a part of the Lifting Literacy Initiative all Tasmanian schools are being given access to the StoryBox Library. Families are welcome to access this from home. A letter was sent home for parents last week. For any families that did not receive the letter, the login details for the school account are below.

Username: AFPSstorybox

Password: read2025

No Parking zone

We are very mindful of the cost of living pressures, and would hate for our wonderful families to be issued a parking fine. Please be aware that on Brodie Street, alongside green pod playground is a No Parking zone (pick up and drop off only).

GCC parking inspectors were on site this afternoon issuing reminders to parents who left their vehicles.

Enjoy a well earned break over the holidays 

We look forward to welcoming all students back 

Monday July 21