Dear Families, Friends and Students,

Our settled and productive start to learning and playing together has continued well into the term.  All teachers have been teaching students about a number of routines and structures so that everyone knows exactly what is expected for focused learning and high quality work. Congratulations to everyone who has worked hard to meet our high expectations.

Phonics and Word Origins

DECYP has a strong focus on teaching reading in explicit ways using key resources such as UFLI and Word Origins and we have been working hard to learn about these new resources and to implement them in classrooms.  Explicit teaching means using a number of teaching tools to make learning very clear for students  then checking for understanding before moving on with the lesson.  We have been using mini whiteboards in all classrooms to check for students’ understanding of concepts and ideas taught across many curriculum areas. 

Welcome BBQ and Bush Dance

Planning is well underway for our annual Welcome BBQ and Bush Dance which is planned for Tuesday 11 March.  Please save the date in your calendar.  The afternoon will start with Open Classrooms where we welcome every family and all parents to visit classrooms, look at children’s learning and work space as well as various points of interest in the classroom.  The BBQ will be cooked by Kings Meadows Lions Club and will be available from 5pm.   The Billy Tea Bush Band will start a Bush Dance at 5:15 with all members of our community welcome to join in the fun!  It would be great to see the family of every student here to join us for this important afternoon in our school calendar. Hoping you can join us.

Bush Dance Workshops

The Billy Tea Bush Band will spend the day working with groups of students on Tuesday March 11.  Michael and Phil from the band will spend the day working with groups of students to teach a range of dances.  Classes will work together as buddies, with senior students helping their younger buddies to learn the dances and stay in time.  This is a major investment in the Arts and dance and promises to be lots of fun.  Many thanks to the School Association who are helping with costs for the day.

Slide Project

Work has continued on the slide project with good progress being made.  Have a peak over the fence on the Early Childhood deck to look at the progress next time you are waiting or walking past!  After demolition of the previous structures, new concrete has been poured and some concrete blockwork installed as part of the new stairs. There are many, many restrictions on new playgrounds to ensure safety and compliance with required standards and this makes any new development slow.  We all look forward to the installation of the slide which has been in storage since late last year. Many thanks to Mel and Allan Prewer for keeping the slide safely for us while we were waiting for works to begin.

Car Park Safety

With work being undertaken in the pool area it is vitally important families park safely in our car park.  Please park in designated parking spaces only and follow all signage.

Minister’s Visit

Last week we welcomed the Minister for Education, Hon Jo Palmer, to our school for a visit on Wednesday morning.  The Minister toured the school and visited classrooms before talking about the newly announced School Maintenance and Improvement Fund.  We will receive $20,000 as part of this fund and will put this towards maintenance of our buildings and facilities.  The exact use of the additional funds is yet to be decided.

5 / 6 Camp

Our grade 5 / 6 students will be heading to Camp Clayton in the final week of term for an overnight stay and two action-packed days of friendship and co-operative fun.  Overnight camp provides an amazing opportunity to further develop social and emotional learning and to develop initiative and independence.  Camp is funded by levies paid during the students’ time at Glen Dhu but is heavily subsidised with school funds.  Please talk with your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns about camp.

Athletics Carnival

The Glen Dhu Primary Grade 3-6 Athletics Carnival will be held on 3 March with events for all students.   Grade 3 - 6 students will be involved in a day of activity and fun held on our oval.  Please put the date in your calendar as we would love parents to join us to support and applaud children’s efforts.  Many thanks to Ellen Parsons for her expertise in organising the carnival so that every child can participate in events including showcase events for students who are excellent athletes looking to showcase their skills and expertise.

Acting Principal

I will be working in Northern Territory during weeks 4 and 5 as a member of ACER School Review teams.  I’ll be visiting several schools in Darwin to look at what they are doing really well and what the next steps in school improvement might be.  Grace Evorall will be Acting Principal during this time.

School Improvement Planning

All schools in Tasmania are currently working to finalise their SIP for the year.  Mandated priority areas for every Tasmanian school include Lifting Literacy, Attendance and Safeguarding. The School Improvement Plan (SIP) is the documentation which outlines school improvement priorities, targets and actions and is a requirement for every school.  We will have a display of our priority areas for 2025 as well as the draft of our SIP available  for parents at the Welcome Back BBQ.  Please talk with a member of the leadership team if you have thoughts or questions about our SIP or ideas to add.

NAPLAN

The annual NAPLAN testing window starts in every Australian school on Wednesday 12 March and continues until Friday 21 March.  Every child in grades 3 and 5 will complete National assessments in the five domains – Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Mathematics.  Results will be shared with parents once they are received.  NAPLAN is just one test on one day and combines with a range of other assessments to help teachers understand what children know well and what they need to learn next.  NAPLAN school results also help us to understand what we are teaching well at Glen Dhu Primary and where further work is needed.

Staff Team

Recently we advertised for an AST after Ryan Walker accepted a position at a neighbouring school.  A selection process is underway and the new AST will be announced once the process is complete.

Regards

Lee Craw

Principal