Newsletter - 11 September 2024

Acting Principal's Highlights

Dear Families,

Thank you to all our families who were able to join us for our Celebration Assemblies over the past two weeks.  I loved seeing the progression across the grades from our Prep and Grade 1 students learning about syllables and ‘wow’ words, to our Grade 5/6 classes unpacking the meaning behind Paul Kelly’s ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow.’  Our Certificates of Excellence not only showcase the outstanding achievement of our students but also the wonderful work our teachers are doing in what we call a ‘split screen’. When we not only focus on the content of our lessons but also the skills and dispositions our students need to be successful in the 21 century, we call this a split screen approach. This links with the work by Kath Murdoch we have previously explored as well as the work our teachers are currently doing with David Gilkes. David has visited our school twice and is an Educational Consultant with a passion for Inquiry who is supporting us as we explore the concept of ‘change’.  Thank you to Chantal for her time, organisational skills and enthusiasm for leading this in our school. We welcome you all to our annual ‘Inquiry Open Morning’ on Wednesday 18 September.  This is one of my favourite events at Mount Nelson as it is a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their thinking around our whole school Inquiry.

Another one of my favourite days is Book Week, where we have an opportunity to have some fun dressing up but more importantly, to celebrate our love of books. Thank you to all the parents who supported your children to dress up, I understand that for some of you, it is not your favourite time of year! Look out in the newsletter for some wonderful photographs of our Book Week Parade.

Last week was Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week and we held a morning tea to acknowledge the hard work and dedication our TAs show to our students. We are very lucky to a have a wonderful group of TAs who work right across the school.  Their care and concern for our students is second to none and our school couldn’t function without the work that they do. It really wasn’t long ago when we only had a couple of TAs and now, we are up to 14! Their willingness to embrace new learning and openness to working with all our students, sometimes at very short notice is not missed. 

Kind regards

Rachel Viney
Acting Principal

Student Voice

Hi, it’s the School Executives here just giving you guys an update.

First up, we would just like to remind all of you to get your pillow and blanket ready for movie night on Friday this week.

Next, we would just like to say amazing job to everyone who participated in winter sports yesterday afternoon.

And lastly, we would just like to say everyone looked amazing on book week - we saw so many wonderful costumes.

Thank you, we will give you guys another update soon!

Open Inquiry Morning!

Our Open Inquiry Classroom Morning will be held next Wednesday, 18 September from 9.15 am - 10.15 am.

We look forward to seeing everyone! 💚💛💚

Class Spotlight - Prep/1FT

Staff Spotlight - Sarah Tollner

1. What is your role at Mount Nelson Primary?
Classroom Music Teacher – all students from Prep – Year 6 have 45-minute music lessons. 
Extra-curricular Music director – Students in year 2/3 and year 5/6 have the opportunity to be in a Mini Musical/Choir and Year 6 rehearse and perform in Marimba Mania.

2. What days do you work?
Mondays and Tuesdays

3. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Play music of course!  I am part of the City of Hobart Pipe Band, Huon Valley Wind Quintet and meet to play in sessions for Tasmanian Folk.
I also like rowing in a St Ayles skiff on the Huon.

4. Do you have any pets?
A dog named Schnitzel who is 15 years old, completely deaf and does some real stinkers, but I love him to bits.

5. Where is your favourite place to travel to?
Ooh so hard, so many places but Scotland and Sweden maybe equal firsts.

6. What is the best part about your job?
When I see students that have really struggled, they work hard, persist, and overcome the challenge.  Seeing the pride in their faces is so rewarding.

7. If you weren’t in the role that you’re in now, what job would you be doing?
There is no other job, yet I could handle working in a bakery in Sweden.  Yummm…. continuous supply of cinnamon buns!

School Satisfaction Survey for Families

Every year the Department for Education, Children and Young People conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about Mount Nelson Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision making.

The survey is now open until Friday 20 September 2024 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Each family should nominate one person to fill in this survey for their child(ren).

Take the online survey by clicking the link below, or pasting it in your browser: https://nam.dcv.ms/zQmNU3Z4vx  

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools.  Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department for Education, Children and Young People staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Winter Sports

This week’s winter sport games were held at our school. We had lots of support from the school cheering us on, they were very loud.   The netball and footy games were held at the same time. We played Bowen Road Primary School, and they had 15 players, so we had to give them 3 players. We won 67 to 27 in AFL and in the netball games, we lost 2 games and won 1.

Thank you to Mr Thorne for umpiring and Andrew for coaching the football! ⭐💚💛

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 20

Next

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 24

Next

Celebration of Learning Assemblies

Congratulations to the students who received a Celebration of Learning award at our last Assemblies!

Reading at Home Challenge!

For the rest of Term 3, our goal at Mount Nelson Primary School is to read more at home and have some fun while doing it! Check out what some of our classes are doing to make reading at home fun!

Staff Professional Learning - David Gilkes

Our Lower Primary Teachers had a day of Professional Learning on Monday, 9 September 2024, with Educational Inquiry Consultant, David Gilkes.

We started our day by analysing work samples based on data and statistics from the Prep class. Based on our analysis of their work samples, we planned the next lesson and watched David deliver it to the Prep class. We spent the afternoon planning further lessons in Mathematics with an Inquiry mindset, focusing on the teaching skills of questioning, documentation, and other teaching practices that ensure we deliver high-quality, engaging learning that makes our students think!

We are excited to share the learning of the Upper primary team after their day of Professional Larning with David on Wednesday, 11 September 2024.

Parent Teacher Conversations - Term 3

At Mount Nelson Primary School, we take great pride in the close relationships between parents, staff, and students.  These relationships are built on open and honest communication that show care and understanding of the different roles each of us play in the lives of our students. 

Although there are many conversations that take place incidentally, we believe it is important that we should offer a more formal discussion of each student’s progress, based on their report, in a private setting.

If you would like to discuss your child’s progress with their class teacher/s, please make an appointment. 

15-minute appointments are being offered face to face and can be booked via the link below or scanning the QR code.

Our specialist staff are also available for parent/carer teacher bookings.

Endangered Animals Donation

4/5/6S and 4M have been working on an inquiry about different endangered Tasmanian species and we would like to raise money to support them. On Wednesday (18^th September) at Inquiry morning, you will see 4M and 4/5/6S showing their posters and fundraising to support threatened Tasmanian species. We will have tins, and we would really appreciate it if you brought a coin to donate. Please donate to save some animals!

Yashi and Ariel
4/5/6S Students

Movie Night - this Friday!

A friendly reminder to purchase your Movie Night ticket on Qkr!

Ticket price $20 ($10 for each additional sibling) – includes movie, BBQ dinner, drink and a freddo.

Students are welcome to come along in comfy clothes (pyjamas, Oddies etc.) and they are allowed bring comfy blankets/pillows to snuggle up in!

 Kinder - Grade 1: The Secret Life of Pets (G) 3.30 - 5.30 pm in 4/5/6S Classroom

Grade 2 - 4: The Emoji Movie (G) 6 - 8 pm in 4/5/6S Classroom

Grade 5 - 6: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG) 6 - 8 pm in the School Halll

The BBQ dinner will be during the allocated session times. 

Parents/carers are required to pick their child up after school at 3 pm then drop them back off at the start of their allocated session, unless your child is booked in for After School Care (Lady Gowrie).

Book Week!

Our Book Week Parade last Wednesday, 4 September was a huge success! It was wonderful to see all the students dressed up to celebrate Book Week.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 18

Next

The Rats of Hamlin - 5/6 Mini Musical

Quiz & Curry Night!

Tickets are selling fast!! More than half the tables are already gone! Jump on Qkr to get your table of 8 or individual tickets (and sort yourselves onto a table on the night).

We need your help! If you are keen to volunteer on the night, please reach out to secretarymnps@gmail.com. We are looking for people to help set up and help on the night (including bar staff with RSA).

Triathlon

Please see below a registration form for the Schools Triathlon Challenge held on Friday, 29 November.

Registration costs are $30 including the bus to and from the event.  Payments can be made through the Qkr! App.
Please ensure payments are made before returning the registration form to school. Forms need to be returned to school by Wednesday 25 September.

Declan West
HPE Teacher

Every School Day Matters

Make sure your child goes to school, every day!
Going to school every day gives your child every chance to learn, grow, and connect with their mates and teachers. It's where bright futures start and where they’ll benefit the most.

For helpful tips, please check out the Anything Can Happen website:
Anything can happen - Department of Education, Tasmania.

Raffle Tickets - Playground Upgrade Fundraiser

Help support our playground upgrade - raffle tickets are on sale now via Qkr! There are some amazing prizes to be won and 100% of funds raised will go towards creating a fun and safe environment for our kids to play.

Move Well Eat Well

Book Club Orders

Due to our Librarian, Sheree, being on extended sick leave for the past 6 weeks, book club orders from issue 5 were delayed in getting processed so there will be a delay in receiving them.

Book club issue 6 has been sent home to most classes but a few only received them today - these orders are due tomorrow, 12 September.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused!

Free Dress Day - next Friday

Next Friday, 20 September will be a free dress day fundraiser (gold coin donation) to raise money for threatened and endangered species in Tasmania.
More info to follow! 

Volunteering at Mount Nelson Primary School

Dinner Recipe!

Lady Gowrie Vacation Care Program