16 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Hello Parents, Carers and Friends

I have a couple of days off on sick leave this week after dental surgery. I have to say that smashing teeth as a child of 12 years old is a bit of a life long journey, with every 10 or so years requiring an update. So, now that the old crowns have given up the ghost, I've had to get implant surgery. It all takes about 3 months to complete the process and about $10,000. Perhaps this is just one of the reasons I am such a fan of wearing a helmet when I'm riding a bike, that and the fact they prevent head injuries.

I'm really excited about our athletics team going to the Southern Primary Schools Athletics Carnival. It is a large and talented team that we have so I think we might do very well even though we are up a division this year. Go Risdon Vale Primary School Athletics Team!!

It's been great seeing more parents and friends come to our school assemblies so far this year. It really changes the atmosphere and makes things more exciting! Next Monday we are hearing the speeches from those Grade 6 students who wish to be considered for Vice Captain or Captain roles. The elected student leaders will represent our school at various functions throughout the year and will help represent our students in providing ideas into various aspects of school life.

The progress reports go home at the end of this week too. After six weeks of school, teachers have a reasonable idea as to how students are settling in, how they are progressing and importantly, any concerns arising that should be shared with parents and carers earlier rather than later. Please do read the progress report carefully, including the 'tick boxes' and make arrangements to meet your child's teacher to discuss any concerns or indeed provide any information you feel might be useful.

Can I just ask that we all remember that the disabled parking areas in front of the administration area are for those people to have a disabled parking permit. These are officially marked and should be respected. I have seen and had it reported to me that often people without permits use these spots, leaving people with permits not where convenient to park.

On another important note with a reminder to help us all work together as a school community, if you have any concerns about a child at school, your own, or indeed, someone else's, please see a staff member. I know that we are a very close community, but at school, speaking to another person's child about a concern is fraught. If you see that someone else's child is mis-behaving, or you have a concern about their welfare, please see a staff member rather than approach the child directly. Mis-communication can cause a great deal of angst, no matter how well intended.

The School Association are doing a great job of getting involved in school activities already this year. Thanks to those parents who came along to help with Clean Up Australia. The work you did near the skate park was wonderful. Thank you also to our team of volunteers who have their Working With Vulnerable People Cards and are working with our students.

Our new school signage is being prepared for unveiling at the very beginning of Term Two. It is absolutely stunning and will really make our school events and the achievements of our students visible to all. If you would like to see the plans, just come into the administration area where a copy of the plans is available.

Finally, our enrolment numbers are up again this year and our attendance rate is strong at 93%. These are factors that are extremely important to the sustainability of our school, our funding and our measure of success. A peaceful and cooperative community both inside school and out in the broader area of Risdon Vale are crucial to the success of the school and of all our students. Disharmony outside of school can cause a drop in enrolments and a lower attendance rate. We all have a responsibility as adults to look after each other. This includes ensuring that the behaviour of our young adults (teenagers) are responsible and respectful to people and to property.

I am looking forward to the things we can all achieve together this year. We are well under way with having much to celebrate.

Kinds regards, Libby

High 5 Awards presented at assembly March 6th

Green Card Awards that will be presented at Assembly

March 20th

HOME READING – Congratulations to these students, who received certificates at assembly this week.

School Health Nurse

Who am I?

My name is Andrea Pereira. I have a nursing degree and certificates in critical care nursing. I have worked in many areas of nursing including the emergency department, recovery room, paediatric and neonatal intensive care, and in indigenous and remote area nursing.

What am I doing in your school?

You can find a full description of the School Nurse program on the intranet with all the other policies. But in a nutshell, I’m here to improve the health and wellbeing of your students, which should lead to better learning outcomes. This will include but is not limited to: Hearing, vision and general health screening of all Kindergarten children, targeted screening of any student of concern (teachers and parents can refer students to me), referrals and follow up for students where problems are detected. I will also be supporting, developing and implementing health promoting strategies in your school.

When will I be here?

My regular day will be every Monday from 8am – 3.30pm

How can you contact me?

Please feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions, questions or concerns. The best way to contact me is via email andrea.pereira@education.tas.gov.au. or my pigeon hole in the staff room. You will also find some hardcopies of the referral forms there.

Hawk’s Visit

From the Kitchen

Tomato soup

Equipment

chopping boards, knives, scales, large pot, measuring cups, measuring spoons, bamix, serving bowl, ladle

1 kg Tomato
1 onions, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200gm potatoes, peeled and chopped small
1 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock (1 teaspoons of stock powder in 2 cups of water)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried herbs

Method

1. Cut all vegetables into small pieces.
2. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic and potato. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, stock. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, for 15 minutes or until potato is just tender.
3. Carefully blend until smooth.
4. Serve with garlic bread.

Nikki Weavers Class

Ms Weavers 2/3 class tips on saving water

Ms Weavers 2/3 Class have been working on water saving for their curriculum needs. Mrs Robinson helped by doing her teeth for two minutes with the tap running. The students collected the water and measured that 4 litres were wasted down the drain and by turning the tap off people would save 4 litres per time. That’s 8 litres a day saved if you brush your teeth morning and night. If you have 5 people in your family that is a massive saving of 40 litres per day.

The students designed some posters of examples on how to save on water. They are displayed in the upper primary corridor outside their room. (Some photos of work are provided)

How to save water in the Kitchen

• Install tap aerators (generally under $5 each) on all your taps. This reduces the volume of water coming out of the tap but still allows you to maintain good water pressure;
• You don't need a full sink of water to wash only a few dishes. If you don't have much to wash, only fill the sink to half full. Never wash up under a running tap;
• Don't wash fruit and vegetables with the tap running but without the plug in the sink. Wash under the running tap with the plug in and turn it off when the sink is one third full, then continue washing the vegies in the sink;
• Use the rinse/hold setting on your dishwasher, this will save a lot of water. Look to purchase a dishwasher with a water efficiency rating of 4 stars or higher.

In the bathroom

• Install a 3/6L dual flush toilet, it could save 60,000L of water in one year for a family of four;
• Install tap aerators on the tap;
• Install a AAA rated shower head (the new ones are much better than the old ones so you will get a decent shower). They are quite cheap too;
• Have short showers, this will save water and energy ... as well as money!;
• You don't need the tap running the whole time you are brushing your teeth or shaving, only turn on the tap when you need it.

In the laundry

• Front loading washing machines are generally more water efficient than top loaders. Look out for the star-rating, the more stars the better;
• Always set the water level to an appropriate setting for the load of washing. If the water level is set too high and it's not a really big load of washing, a lot of water will be wasted.

In the garden

• Watering with a watering can or a hand-held, trigger-operated hose is the most water efficient way of watering the garden. You can direct the water exactly where you want it and stop when you see water running off the garden;
• Water early in the morning or late afternoon to reduce evaporation;
• Install drip irrigation to reduce evaporation. Spray heads with fine mist sprays waste a lot of water, especially in windy conditions. Many existing spray irrigation systems can be converted to drip systems very easily and cheaply by changing the spray heads to drip runners;
• Consider the slope of the land. If you build up a little earth on the down slope side of plants, water will collect around the base of the plant and sink into the ground rather than running straight off;
• Water thoroughly but less frequently so that the water penetrates deeper and encourages deeper root growth. This will help to drought-proof your home. It may also save the garden when you go on holidays;
• Mulch, mulch, mulch;
• Native species are usually less thirsty than many exotic's. They also generally need less nutrients, so you shouldn't need to fertilise very often;
• Keep lawns well aerated, they will appreciate it too;
• Allow lawns to brown in dry summer periods, they will spring back to life when rain comes;
• Sweep paths and driveways, don't hose them down. Remember to sweep into garden beds or a rubbish pile, never into the gutter. Rubbish and garden waste in the gutter will end up in our local waterways and the River Derwent;
• Wash your car with a bucket and sponge on the lawn. This way your lawn will get a drink, you'll save water and you won't contaminate local waterways. If you don't have room, then go to a local car wash that recycles its wastewater;
• Install a water tank. This will save a lot of water. It will also reduce the volume of water reaching the storm water system which will benefit our local waterways.

At work

• Make water conservation a policy your business upholds;
• Install fittings and appliances with the highest possible water efficiency rating
• Install dual flush toilets;
• Ensure cleaners put the dishwasher is only used when there is a full load;
• Encourage staff to save water at work and give incentives for bright ideas that are implemented.

Clean Up Australia Day

In 1989 an 'average Australian bloke' had a simple idea to make a difference in his own backyard - Sydney Harbour. This simple idea has now become the nation's largest community-based environmental event, Clean Up Australia Day.

As an avid sailor, Ian had always dreamt of sailing around the world. In 1987 his dream came true when he competed in the BOC Challenge Solo Round-the-World Yacht Race. As he sailed through the oceans of the world in his yacht 'Spirit of Sydney' he was shocked and disgusted by the pollution and rubbish that he continually encountered in areas such as the Sargasso Sea in the Caribbean.

Once back in Sydney Ian organised a community event with the support of a committee of friends - Clean Up Sydney Harbour. Clean Up Sydney Harbour Day in 1989 received an enormous public response, with more than 40,000 Sydneysiders donating their time and energy to clean up the harbour.

The next year Clean Up Australia Day was born. Ian and his committee believed that if a capital city could be mobilised into action, then so could the whole nation. Almost 300,000 volunteers turned out on the first Clean Up Australia Day in 1990 and that involvement has steadily increased ever since.

In the past 26 years, Australians have devoted more than 31 million hours towards the environment through Clean Up Australia Day and collected over 331 thousand tonnes of rubbish.

The next step was to take the concept of Clean Up Australia Day to the rest of the world. After gaining the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Clean Up the World was launched in 1993. In its inaugural year, Clean Up the World involved approximately 30 million people in 80 countries.

The appeal of Clean Up the World (an estimated 40 million people from 130 countries annually take part) has demonstrated that this simple Australian idea has universal appeal and the health of the environment is of concern to people and communities worldwide.

Clean Up the World demonstrates that people across the planet are willing to do something themselves to help protect and care for their environment.

Since then Clean Up Australia has evolved into an organisation that works with the community, government and business to provide practical solutions to help us all live more sustainably every day of the year.

What OUR school is doing?

Mr Lockey’s grade 5/6 class has taken control of Clean up Australia Day. On Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th Mr Lockey’s class took the upper and lower classes out and guided them on what and why we have clean up Australia day. They displayed their leadership skills and expertise in the knowledge they learnt prior to the cleanup day, what an amazing job they did. Photos are of what the areas looked like before and what they look like know. Thank you to all that helped and to Mr Lockey’s class for taken on this role.

School Association News

Notice for Advisement

Vice President for the School Association is up for nomination this year. Please put any recommendations you have for the position to the school office.

The School Association Annual General Meeting will be held on the 6th April 2017 in the school staffroom at 3pm.

The Risdon Vale Primary school Association is happy to say they purchased new netball rings on wheels for the new season for our school. These rings will be able to be used during lunch times as well as when Risdon Vale plays against other schools. With the netball goals being on wheels they are able to be moved so the large area can be used and are a lot steadier than our old ones.

Uniform Shop

Persons running Uniform shop

Hi every-one as you may know Tamara Knop and Rachel Page have taken over the Uniform Shop and would like you all to know the opening times from now will be:-

Monday 8.30 – 9am
Wednesday 8.30 – 9am
Fridays 2.30 – 3pm.

You no longer can deal through the office but if you can’t make these times please contact Tamara or Rachel to make other arrangements. Layby is also available.

Let’s get involved and have a say and make our community a better place and what we want it to be.

Early Childhood Information

ONLINE PARENTING COURSE

Parents

Discover why parents are raving about our online course that teaches how to successfully manage kids’ behaviour in just 3 hours… and much more.

Making parenting easier.

The Talk Less Listen More online parenting course is designed to make parenting your 2-12 year old easier and to help you successfully manage their difficult behaviour.

Drawing on 27 years’ experience as a psychologist, teacher and parenting expert, I’ll help you to quickly learn simple, practical strategies that will make a BIG difference to your child’s behaviour by teaching them to develop self-control.

– Michael Hawton, MAPS:

By the end of this course you will know how to:

• Help your kids not to overreact.
• Build your kids’ emotional maturity and resilience for greater social and academic success.
• Improve your parenting confidence and strengthen family bonds.

This is a fast, convenient and affordable way that you and your partner can learn together:

It’s great for dads, who research has found to be 8 times more likely to attend an online course then attend a community-based program with their partner.

Here’s what we’ll cover in the course:

• Three big ideas
• What is self-regulation?
• Understanding childhood development
• Too much information: what happens when there’s too much talking and too much emotion
• Sorting behaviour: what to do and how to respond to different types of behaviour
• Negative reinforcement and how to change patterns of behaviour
• How to deal with resistance to change
• Three choices: ABNs and the signal to stop
• Introducing the new system to your family
• Time out
• To apologise or not?
• Three strategies and how to choose one
• Emotion coaching in practice
• How to encourage wanted behaviour
• Building bonds with your child

After School Care

This is run by the Clarence City Council and is now going to be held Monday – Friday (5 days)

Information and forms are available from the School Office plus information about Concessions and prices.

If numbers do not improve by 3rd Term this facility will be discontinued.

Parent Clean-up Skate Park/Garden working-bee/Athletic Carnival will be in the next newsletter 30th March.

Calendar of Events