Primary School

Assembly - Monday 14 September

Our next Primary School Assembly will take place at 2.15pm on Monday 14 September in The Farrall Centre. We welcome members of our community to attend. Please remember that due to privacy concerns and to respect the photo permission choices of other families we ask you to refrain from taking photos and videos during assemblies.

Growing Up Program - Years 3 and 4

This relationships, sexuality and protective behaviours program, will be run by Family Planning Tasmania for our Years 3 to 6 students. For information about talking to your child about relationships, sexuality and puberty see this publication from the Department of Health. The program will run for our Years 3 and 4 students on Thursday 24 - Friday 25 September.

Year 5 - Consent and Relationships Education (CaRE) @ Primary School Program 21-25 September

The Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) will run their CaRE (Consent and Relationships Education) program for our Year 5 students on Monday 21, Tuesday 22 and Friday 25 September. The program equips children with age-appropriate content teaching body autonomy, healthy relationship and communication skills and protective behaviours. Through three interactive sessions, students build the confidence to identify trusted adults and seek help, while developing skills to recognise and articulate safe versus unsafe behaviours.

Care @ Primary School Program:

Protective behaviours and body safety.
Using early warning signs to recognise unsafe situations.
Consent, boundaries, and respectful relationships.
Recognising trusted adults and developing help-seeking strategies.
Sexual harm prevention behaviours and help seeking pathways for disclosures and early intervention.
Years 5-6 sessions include age-appropriate content addressing tech facilitated sexual harm, protective online behaviours and identifying image based abuse.

There will be a parent information session about the program in the Primary School Library at 9.00am on Wednesday 16 September.

A Parent Information Session for Friends’ Early Learning and Kindergarten Families

Movement, Play and Brain Regulation - Guest Speaker Amanda Bartram

Monday 21 September 7.00 - 8.15pm in the Middle School Library

Children’s bodies are made to move - and movement plays a much bigger role in children’s learning, wellbeing and ability to regulate than we might realise.

In this practical and thought-provoking session, teacher and parent Amanda Bartram will explore what she wishes every parent knew about children, play and movement, drawing on her experience working with children and families, alongside occupational therapists, speech pathologists, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals.

In this session, Amanda will share how movement and play support the developing brain and nervous system, why children sometimes seek particular kinds of movement, and what can happen when their bodies are not getting the movement they need. Most importantly, Amanda will share ways parents can observe, notice, respond and support children's self-regulation - using everyday play and opportunities for movement to support children to regulate, engage, learn and flourish.

If you would like to join us, please book using this Trybooking link.

Dogs on School Grounds

Many families in our School community keep dogs as pets and to ensure that Friends’ remains a safe and inclusive place for everyone, Friends’ expects the following conditions to be met by those who bring their pet dog onto Friends’ Grounds during School Hours for general access such as School drop off and pick up times:

● the dog must be kept on a handheld leash at all times;

● an adult must always be responsible for the dog;

● the dog must not be left unattended;

● the dog is not permitted inside buildings;

● the dog must always be under effective control;

● the dog’s owner is responsible for cleaning up and taking away any dog waste.

Year 5 Camp - Wednesday 16 - Friday 18 September

Year 5 Camp will take place from Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 September at Spring Beach Youth Camp, near Orford. All Year 5 classes will be attending camp together. We will leave school at 9.15am on Wednesday and will return to school at 2.30pm on Friday. Students need to be outside the Friends’ Early Learning side of The Farrall Centre by 8.45am on Wednesday ready to have their gear checked before we leave. All class teachers will be attending the camp, as well as outdoor education teacher Sam Jarvis and several other supporting staff members.

Year 3 Outdoor Education Excursion - Hobart Rivulet - Wednesday 16 September

On Wednesday 16 September, Year 3 students will be going on an Outdoor Education excursion to explore the history and changing landscape surrounding the Hobart Rivulet. Parts of the journey will be on foot, other parts will be on a bus. Year 3 class teachers will accompany their classes with Emily (Outdoor Education Teacher). We will depart school at 9.30am and return to school by approximately 3.00pm.

Students should wear sports uniforms on this day, but will need to bring a warm jumper (wool, polar fleece or puffer jacket), beanie, gloves and a waterproof raincoat as it could be cold. As we will be away from school for most of the day, students will need to bring a large packed lunch (no lunch orders), snacks and drink from home. All of this equipment will need to be packed into a day backpack or their school backpack as they will need to carry it with them for the duration of the excursion. Please ensure your child’s details are up to date on Paperly.

Year 6 Excursion to Southern Christian College - Thursday 17 September

On Thursday 17 September Year 6 students will be visiting Southern Christian College in Kingston to see their PYP Exhibition. Students will leave at 11.40am and return at 1.40pm travelling by bus.

IB PYP Year 6 Exhibition Opening - Wednesday 23 September in The Farrall Centre

The PYP Exhibition is a significant event in an IB school. As a culminating experience for primary students, it is an opportunity for each student to independently and collaboratively exhibit the attributes of the learner profile and to identify, inquire into and share messages about issues and opportunities of personal significance. Students demonstrate the essential elements of the IB Primary Years Program: knowledge, concepts, skills, action and agency.

This year, the Exhibition is combining the two transdisciplinary themes of ‘How we organise ourselves’ and ‘Sharing the planet’ with the Central Idea: “Understanding our interconnected world empowers us to act with wisdom so communities can flourish together in peace.”

Within the exhibition, each student will share their knowledge, and express their conceptual understanding of their new learning. They have each created an exhibit designed to provoke conversation about a value that is important to them and how it connects with the Central Idea. Visitors are invited to view the exhibit and use it as a stimulus for deep and rich conversations with the students.

Families and other community members are invited to attend the Exhibition on Wednesday, 23 September, from 5.30-7.00pm in The Farrall Centre. School groups will visit throughout Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Kindergarten Earthcare Days - Term 3 - Lenah Valley

The Kindergarten children will be visiting a site near the Lenah Valley Linear Park for their Earthcare Days in Term 3. The Cockatoo and Raven groups will be going out alternate fortnights, on Mondays, from Week 4 - Week 9. The Cockatoo group will go to Lenah Valley on Monday 14 September; the Raven group will go on 21 September. We will travel to and from the site by bus. We will leave at 11.30am and will return by 2.45pm. Collection time for all children will be at 3.00pm from the Kindergarten area, at the end of the Kindergarten day as per usual. On Mondays that the group remains at school they will be exploring Earthcare practices and understandings within the Kindergarten and school grounds.

These excursions are an important aspect of our Sharing the planet unit of inquiry. Through these weekly trips we are aiming to develop independence, responsibility, curiosity, resilience and Earthcare in a nature play environment. Please ensure that your child has a rubbish free packed lunch at Kindergarten, especially on Mondays. This will help develop the children’s understanding about the concept and practices of Earthcare and raise both the children’s and the community’s awareness about the impacts of soft plastic on our natural environment.

On our Earthcare days, the children need to wear their sports uniform, to ensure they are ready for active, hands-on, nature play learning. Your child will need warm clothing, appropriate for the forecasted weather, and spare clothing packed for the excursions, as we will be playing outdoors, even if it is raining.

The school has special wet weather jackets and overpants that the children will wear, as necessary, depending on the forecasted weather. We have also asked all families to bring a pair of gumboots to school for puddle play at school, and on our excursions. These will also double as a spare pair of shoes if needed. Please contact the Kindergarten team if you have any questions.

Absentees

If your child will be absent from school for the day please advise the Primary School Office (phone: 6210 2228, or email: primaryschooloffice@friends.tas.edu.au) and the classroom teacher before 8.45am. We appreciate your support in this process.

Important Dates in Primary School

Term 3 Tuesday 28 July to Friday 2 October

Friday 11 September – Wellbeing Day, as part of Wellbeing Weekend (no K-12 classes)

Wednesday 16 - Friday 18 September - Year 5 Camp

Tuesday 22 - Thursday 24 September - Year 6 Exhibition (Parent evening - 5.30pm on Wednesday 23 September)

Thursday 1 - Friday 2 October - Year 3 Sleepover