Upcoming Events

2023 Term Dates

Heritage Walk

The SRC Executive and Year 2-5 Class Representatives, with Mrs Karen Whish-Wilson, Mrs Melissa Connors, and myself, represented East Devonport Primary School at the official opening of the Heritage Trial on the East Devonport Foreshore walk. Premier Jeremy Rockcliff opened the Heritage Trail, along with the Devonport Mayor Allison Jarman. East Devonport Primary School were there to support the Rotary Club of Devonport South East. The Rotary Club supports East Devonport Primary School with volunteers for our reading program and provide an end of term BBQ, which students love. 

TasTAFE Teacher Assistants

This week, the students in the TasTAFE Connect to Education course will spend one day a week in classrooms as trainee Teacher Assistants alongside one day in the kitchen, cooking the school lunch.  I would like to thank our Teacher Assistants who have willing accepted the opportuntiy to mentor our TasTAFE students.  Teachers who has a TasTAFE student in their class have already expressed their gratitude for the extra support in the classroom.  The current arrangements will be in place until the end of this term, then they will be rotated to other classrooms.

Cross Country

EDPS Cross Country will be held this Friday (pm) and we invite parents to come and watch our students. I wish to acknowledge Ms Tegan Sharman and teachers/teacher assistants for their efforts to ensure the students know the cross-country course and looking forward to participating to secure points for their Sport Houses. We look forward to students wearing their house colours on the day.

Funding funds for our School Lunch project

We are currently looking for additional funds to support the lunch project. Keith Sanderson, who manages the TasTAFE project, would like to offer additional foods to expand the menu for the students to increase their cooking skills and to expose our students to new foods, including those from a variety of cultures. If you know of a business that may be able donate $100, $200, or even higher, please contact Gail McLaren, our School Business Manager.

We have recently purchased new ipads to update our classroom ones. We are offering our older devices to parents and the community at reduced prices. Please see list below. If you would like to purchase one, please come and see the office staff. 

Devices have been tested and are operational. There will be no holds. Purchase as is, with no returns. Cash payments are preferred.

• Ipad Air 1            5 only $50.
• Ipad 4^th Gen        2 only $40 each
• Ipad 5^th Gen        47 only $100 each (5 damaged)
• Ipad 6^th Gen        27 only $120 each (2 damaged)

 There are charging cables available also for $5 each if you require one.  Limited quantity.

The official website to compare models is: iPad (5th generation) vs iPad (6th generation) vs iPad Air (1st generation) - Apple (AU)

In 4-5 Sherriff during Science students had to design a tower strong enough to hold a small plastic object. They were only allowed to use 20 pieces of spaghetti and a length of masking tape.

Life in kinder recently has been lots of outside play while the weather has been kind to us. We have been very interested in bugs that we have discovered in our playground. We discovered that as our fence is made of metal our magnetic tiles stick the the fence! We have been having fun building on the fence. In the classroom we have a big box and we have been having discussions about what was in the big box and what we can now create with our box to use in the room. Stay tuned for an update on what we turn it into…

During PE recently we have been fortunate to have Devonport Soccer in for some skills sessions. Students enjoyed immensly and Devonport Soccer provided us with soccer balls to use at school. 

Heritage Walk

The SRC Executives and class representatives went on a walk with Premier Jeremy Rockliff, Devonport Mayor Alison Jarman and the Rotary Club of Devonport South East. We went to unveil a sign showing us their 10 years of research making the Torquay Trail depicting East Devonport's colourful history and they told us that we are the future of East Devonport. We took a photo with all the SRC Executive and class representatives with the Premier and the Mayor. After we got back to Pioneer Park, Ms Connors gave us some delicious biscuits and we walked back to school.

By Jonah

House Captain Report

Three times a term the house captains go around each classroom and randomly pick a winner with the thumbs up cards. The winner will get a chocolate. There are three people for each class, one for each house. So far this term, the points are…

• Tasman 218
• Empress 191
• Spirit 439

By Hayley

Walk to School Day

Well done to everyone who walked to school on Friday last week for Walk to School Day. I hope everyone was safe while crossing the roads. I hope those who went to Breakfast Club enjoyed their pancakes because they would have been yummy! Thank you to the people who put on Breakfast Club.

By Destiny

Students in Years 3-6 took advantage of the sunshine recently when practicing for the cross country.

In reading time, 5CW have been focusing on improving the fluency of their reading by taking a role in a reader theatre play.  Firstly students formed small theatre groups and began by looking the the title of the play then drawing a picture of what they thought the play would be about. 

Secondly each group spent time reading the play taking on various roles until they could decide on which one best suited them.

Next students highlighted the punctuation to practise the timing of their character lines.

Finally students looked at the emotions of their character, which guided them as to how to express their lines – after all readers theatre is about entertaining through voice.

To add to their reading, students made simple props which gave the audience something extra to look at and added to their character.

On Tuesday 16^th May, each group perfromed their play. They were all amazing. Every student gave their best and over came their nerves to perfotm in front of their peers.

We had:

• 'Treasure Map' by Elleea, Noah, Kayden and Zeak
• 'Rhyme Time' by Dakota, Saxon, Millie and Riley
• 'Three Little Pigs' by Samara, Jhett, Zaiha and Aston
• 'Santa's Big Blunder' by Lisa, Sadiq, Lauchlan, Adam and Malakye
• 'The Lion and the Mouse' by Declan, Alysha, Logan and Lachlan
• 'At the Dog Park' by Andrew, Noah W, Maddi and Oliver

After an excellent Term 1 where our whole school attendance was running at a daily average of 90%, this Term it is down to 80%.  We acknowledge that a variety of illnesses are circulating within our school community. That is why it is so important that your child attends everyday when they are healthy, so when they are sick they can stay at home to recover.  Please notify the office immediately if your child is unwell, and if possible get a medical certificate.  As part of our  school commitment to have every student attending school everyday, we monitor each child’s attendance rates. If a student’s attendance rate falls, we will often request a parent meeting to offer assistance in getting a child to school. We hope to see an improve in attendance as the term progresses.

Each science lesson begins with a STEM challenge. The students often work in pairs or small groups drawing on their skills of resilience, co-operation, lateral thinking and perseverance to solve the problem. After completing the STEM task, the students then focus on one of the science strands. At the moment the classes are still working on units within Biological Science.

The house which gains the most points for the term wins an fun acknowledgement afternoon. Term 1 saw Tasman house enjoy an afternoon using the carnival games which the Mens shed had donated to the school a few years ago.

Last week students were asked to interview their Rotary Reader so we could learn a little more about them. Here is what we found out:

Paul

• Paul’s favourite food is roast lamb.
• The place he has ever visited is Queensland.
• When he was a child, the thing he liked most about school was maths.

By Dakota F and Skylah

Vicky

• Vicky’s favourite food is lasagne.
• The best place Vicky has ever visited is Italy.
• When Vicky was a child, the thing she liked best about school was reading.

By Alec and Hunta

Julie

• Julie’s favourite food is fruit.
• The best place Julie has visited is Fiji.
• When Julie was a child, the thing she liked best about school was learning.

Jesse Brennan from the CU visited our school on Friday last week. He met with our CU participants and showed them how to log onto the CU portal where there are many activities they can do online. Jesse will meet with our students Friday 2nd, Friday 16th and Friday 30th June. The next time we meet, students will go onto the computers to access the portal using their account. Students are encouraged bring their passports to these meetings so they can been stamped for their attendance. A reminder that the following school activities can be counted as learning hours:

• Choir
• Garden Club
• Canteen Volunteers
• Thursday/Friday lunchtimes completing CU online tasks and the Government House project
• SRC lunchtime meetings 

After school sports including soccer and football, music lessons, dance lessons etc can be included once the student has completed a reflection sheet.

Students can bring to school work/forms etc for stamping at anytime, not just when Jesse is at school. Happy Learning.

Mid-year reports will be distributed on Friday 23 June.

The report will show your child’s learning achievement on a 9-point visual scale for students in Years 1 to 10 (and for Prep students at the end of the year).

The 9-point scale shows where your child’s learning achievement is against the expected standard for their year level.

There will be no teacher comments in the report. This term parent/teacher conferences will be offered in Week 10 (Wednesday-Thursday) and Week 11 (Monday-Tuesday). These are a great opportunity to discuss how your child is progressing with their learning. A link to the booking portal will be included in the next newsletter (6 June).

For more information about reports:

• School Reports FAQs
• Understanding the 9-point scale
• Visit the Department’s website at: Reporting - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)

On Anzac Day, East Devonport Primary School was represented by SRC Executive members Shelby and Laylah. The beautiful wreath they presented at the cenotaph was handmade with love by Mrs Clinton and Mrs Mahoney. Thank you for representing our school with pride. 

On Wednesday 10 May our Brain Boot Campers made their way down to Pioneer Park for their outdoor games and skateboarding session. 

Lego Challenge creations

Come and join us for our Pre-Kinder Program on Wednesdays 1:30 to 2:30

in the LIL Early Learning Room @ East Devonport Primary

• Play and learn alongside your child
• Meet other families
• Get to know our school staff
• Get ready for school by learning through play

When attending Pre-Kinder, please pack a small bag for your child with a water bottle, hat and a piece of fruit. This will help your child to become familiar with some school routines and help to build some important self-help skills.

Upcoming Pre-Kinder Activities:

Term 2

10^th May: Mother’s Day

17^th May: Construction

24^th May: Sensory Play

31^st May: Ready, Set, Cook!

At the conclusion of our Pre-Kinder sessions, please feel free to wander down to the CFLC for Stories on the Lawn at 2:30pm.

Enrolment Forms: Every child who attends Pre-Kinder is required to have an enrolment form. Please ask staff about a form if you have not filled one out.

We would like to welcome volunteer Bevin Clarke back to our school in a mentoring role. Bevin has a long standing association with the school. He has started working with some of our older students on Tuesday afternoons with hands on projects which will benefit the school. Bevin (who volunteers with our hot lunches Mondays) could see we needed a trivet for the hot pots to go on to stop them marking the tables and benches. Bevin worked with Oliver on this project. Oliver's handy work is now being used in our kitchen. Thanks Oliver and Bevin. 

Adventures with Jack the Jumper

Join Tasmania’s cheekiest ant at basketball clinics designed to teach children the basics of basketball, in a fun and supportive environment, whilst having fun and playing games. These clinics are are split into sessions designed for 5-8 year olds, and 9-12 year olds. Jack the Jumper and his team of community coaches are coming to a court near you! Each session runs for one hour and includes a basketball (size 5 or size 6) plus plenty of great prizes, and don't forget your post-basketball snacks provided by Banjo's, our proud community partners! Cost is $50 per child. (Please note that appearances by JackJumpers players are not included at these clinics.) For more information and to register please follow the link below.

Tasmania JackJumpers | Official NBL Website

Saturday 24 June - Devonport