Assembly

Our next Primary School assembly will take place on Monday 16 September in The Farrall Centre commencing at 2.15pm. We welcome families 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.

Grandparents and Older Friends’ Day

Wednesday 23 October - Save the date!

Grandparents and Older Friends’ Day will be held on Wednesday 23 October. The day will include outside learning displays, music performances and a light morning tea.

This year the event will be ticketed and will take place in the school grounds over separate sessions:

Kindergarten family and friends will gather in the Kindergarten grounds from 9am-9.45am.
Prep - Year 2 family and friends will gather behind the Wells classrooms from 9am-9.45am.
Years 3 - 6 family and friends will meet outside the Walpole area between 9.45-10.50am.
Morning tea for all visitors will be outside The Farrall Centre from 9.30-10.30am.

We will be offering a shuttle bus service from the Hobart Hockey Centre, Bell Street. You will need to book a separate ticket for this if you would like to book this service.

A booking link and further details will be shared shortly.

Term 3 Vacation Care Bookings

Bookings close Monday 23 September - 6pm

A reminder that we are offering a Vacation Care program during the Term 3 holiday period for Kindergarten to Year 6 students. Please find our upcoming Vacation Care Program here, running from Monday 30 September to Friday 11 October.

Bookings for our Vacation Care Program will be processed via Xap Manage. If you are new to our service and would like to request bookings for your child/ren, please click on the link here. Existing Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) families click here to request bookings for your child/ren. Bookings close at 6pm, Monday 23 September 2024.

If you have any queries, please contact our Admin team via feladmin@friends.tas.edu.au or call 6210 2276 for assistance.

Year 5 Outdoor Education - kunanyi / Mt Wellington Bushwalk

Further Changes

Unfortunately, due to repeated weather-related postponements and the availability of staff from NITA Education who lead the Indigenous education components of this excursion, our three Outdoor Education walks up kunanyi/ Mt Wellington have again been rescheduled.

Year 5AM and half of Year 5M - Monday 16 September
Year 5C and the balance of the Year 5M - Monday 23 September

Students in Year 5M will be advised which group they will be going with to the mountain.

All classes will depart at 9am. Students in the first group will return to school in time to present in the Assembly on Monday 16 September with the other Year 5 classes and Year 5 Band. Students in the second group will return to school by 3pm pm on Monday 23 September. For Year 5 Band students who are walking next Monday 16 September, could they please bring their instrument and a school uniform to change into before assembly.

Waste Free Lunch Day

Wednesday 18 September

The Primary Environment Council is holding its third Waste Free Lunch Day for 2024 on Wednesday 18 September. Building on the success of the previous events, we are calling on all families to have a go at reducing their lunch box waste. We will be measuring any disposable lunch box wrappers and containers brought to school on this day in an effort to reduce our environmental impact. The aim of this event is to develop positive habits over time that minimise the amount of rubbish that is brought into our school environment. We encourage families to consider working with your child to pack a lunch box full of healthy snacks and bulk food items in our quest to tread lightly on the earth.

Prep - Year 6 Disco

Thursday 19 September

The Primary School Student Council has organised a disco on Thursday 19 September at first break 11am - 11.30am in The Farrall Centre for any interested students from Prep to Year 6. Students are welcome to wear a colourful accessory, such as a hat, scrunchy, tie, socks or something similar. Normal school uniform is to be worn.

IB PYP Year 6 Exhibition Opening

Tuesday 24 September - 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 Programme: knowledge, concepts, skills, action and agency.

The big idea for 2024 is Power, Youth, Influence, Change. Each student has inquired into an area of interest and responded to their learning through a year-level inquiry into 'How we express ourselves.' Within the exhibition, each student will share their knowledge, and express their conceptual understanding of their new learning. They have each created a work of art that is designed to provoke conversation.

Visitors are invited to view the work 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 Tuesday, 24 September, from 5.30pm-7pm in The Farrall Centre. School groups will visit throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.

Year 2 Farm and Zoo Excursion

Wednesday 25 September

As part of our inquiry into how living things adapt to survive, Year 2 will go on an excursion to visit a farm and Zoodoo on Wednesday 25 September. We will depart school by bus at 9am and travel first to a farm in Campania to spot native wildlife, feed the sheep, and learn about their life cycle and adaptations. We will also examine wool from shearing and compare it to a selection of finished products.

Year 2 will then visit Zoodoo for a guided learning experience to consolidate the learning around creature features and how they assist animals in adapting to their environment. As part of the tour, students will also experience feeding some of the animals. Parent volunteers are very welcome to meet us at Zoodoo at approximately 11am. There is a charge of $25 per parent at the zoo reception desk. Our volunteers will require a current Working With Vulnerable People card. You will also need to fill in a volunteer form at this link. Please email your class teacher if you are able to assist.

Students need to come dressed in their sports uniform, including a warm jacket, beanie, and waterproof raincoat. Gumboots are recommended if students own a pair, but are not essential. Students need to bring a big lunch and lots of snacks, a full water bottle and any required personal medications (labelled) for the day. No canteen orders are available for Year 2 on this day. We will return to school by 2.45pm. Please update student Operoo profiles before the excursion.

Prep Outdoor Education Excursion

Wednesday 25 September - New date

On Wednesday 25 September, Prep students will be participating in an Outdoor Education Day at Wellington Park and completing a walk to the Octopus Tree. Class teachers, learning assistants and Emily Ardas, our Outdoor Education teacher, will accompany the students on the excursion. We will be departing school at 9.45 am and returning by 1pm. The aim of the day is to explore the local bushlands while developing relationships with peers. Students are required to wear their Physical Education uniform and sturdy shoes to walk in. They are also to bring a backpack with morning tea and lunch, rain jacket, water bottle, a warm jumper, beanie, sun hat and any required personal medication. Please update student Operoo profiles before the excursion.

Rowing – Year 6 Sculling Skills Program

Monday 30 September – Friday 4 October

Our Year 6 ‘Ray Trousselot Sculling Skills’ program will again be held during the first week of the Term 3 school holidays. This is a free program which is open to all Year 6 students who will be attending Friends' in Year 7 in 2025. Rowing is great exercise and a fantastic team sport which can enhance an individual in their personal development (eg teamwork, confidence, self-esteem, facing challenges). Rowing is a great way to make new friends and learn new skills and being part of the rowing community gives students a wonderful sense of connection and community.

Please register for the program by Friday 20 September.

When: Term 3 Holidays - Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October

Time: 8.30 – 11.00am daily

Where: The Friends’ School Boat Shed in New Town Bay, Lutana

Website: https://www.friends.tas.edu.au/rowing/

For more information please contact : Anthony Edwards (Head of Rowing)

Kindergarten Earthcare Excursion - Lenah Valley

Thursday 19 September

Next week Kindergarten students will have their final Earthcare Excursion for the term. We will travel to and from the site near Lenah Valley’s Linear Park by bus leaving school at 11.50am and returning by 2.45pm. Collection time for all children will be at 3pm from the Kindergarten area, at the end of the Kindergarten day as per usual.

On Earthcare days, the children come ready for active learning, in their sports uniform. Your child will need appropriate warm clothing 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. You can also support your child by encouraging them to carry their own bags to and from school - they will be doing this independently on our Earthcare Days too. Please pack a rubbish free lunch with plenty of food and water for an active day out. We have been asking the children about the concept of belonging, how they can care for places where they feel they belong as well as what Earthcare means to them.

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 9.00am. We appreciate your support in this process.

Important Dates

Term 3 Tuesday 23 July to Friday 27 September

CLICK HERE to view the School calendar

Friends Health & Fitness

Spring Holiday Learn to Swim Program

Friends Health & Fitness