Dear Families,

I would like to begin by acknowledging the wonderful students, parents, school association committee members and staff who have pulled together to assist in establishing a St Marys District School Annexe at St Helens.  Our team rose to the challenge of creating a fully staffed and resourced K-10 annexe, located 50km away, with a four day turn. I am proud to lead such a flexible, supportive and resourceful school community and my thanks goes to everyone who contributed to the successful launch of SM@SH (St Marys at St Helens). I would also like to acknowledge the support of Anita Haley, Cate Ritchie and all at St Helens District High School, as well as the team from Learning Services for their advice and assistance. Please see more details of learning at SM@SH further on in this newsletter.

Over the past few weeks all students have engaged in Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT). PAT assessments measure what students understand and help us to monitor progress over time.  This set of data is a requirement in Tasmanian schools and are in addition to National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).  PAT provides a useful set of data which assists at the whole school, classroom and individual level.  Thank you to Ros Smith for co-ordinating the tests in our school.

As the end of the year approaches, students and families will be involved with school events including excursions, assemblies and celebrations. Please keep an eye on our school calendar for dates. This year our presentation assemblies will be held on Thursday 15 December. Further information around these events will shared soon.

Regards

Carolyn  Watson
Principal

DIVISION 1

On Thursday last week. against many odds – we managed to send a team of secondary students to the Inter-High Swimming Carnival. It was a small team of very talented swimmers who represented our school with amazing determination, pride and resilience, up against much larger schools in the Division 1 carnival.

We hit the pool, beginning with the medley relays where our senior girls came 2nd and both junior and senior boys finishing 4^th. The individual events began with the butterfly with both Sienna and Helayna finishing 3^rd in their races. Next came the freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke events.

Outstanding achievements came from the following students who participated in most, if not all the events on the programme - up to 10 events including the relays. What a mighty effort Helayna, Sienna, Hallie ,Byron and Jimmy.

A special mention to the following students who stepped up and filled in extra events for the day, some even getting a ribbon for their efforts - Nicholas, Wally, Bo, Ned, Ava and Caleb.

Congratulations to our students for representing our school with such courage and for beating Scottsdal, which we have never done before, to finish 5^th overall and retain our place in Division 1 for next year!

Big shout out and thanks to Mr Wardlaw for his ongoing commitment to training and preparation for this event each year. This achievement has everything to do with his guidance and support. Looking forward to next year!

On Wednesday 2 November, St. Marys had 9 students selected in the combined ENE Athletics Team to compete at the St. Leonards Athletic Grounds.  Our students were selected in many events as competitors or as reserves.  We would like to acknowledge this state selection of the following students:

Grade 3 – Hamish D

Grade 4 – Ella G, Levi W, Rayne K

Grade 5 – Sienna McG, Halle G, Indi H

Grade 6 – Emily G, Ryan G

The individual and team performances of our athletes were outstanding.  The ENE team was only 5 points off winning the state shield!!    

Thank you to our parents, family members and friends who supported our team members by travelling to Launceston for the carnival. 

 Please reflect on the following results and enjoy a collection of pictures of our athletes.

 Overall Shield Results 

** missed State Champion Region by only 5 points

 Grade Shield Results

ENE Grade 3 Girls  team 1^st

ENE Grade 4 Girls  team  4^th

ENE Grade 5 Girls  team  3^rd

ENE Grade 6 Girls  team 1^st 

ENE Grade 3 Boys team   1^st

ENE Grade 4 Boys team   3rd

ENE Grade 5 Boys team   4^th      

^{ENE Grade 6 Boys team   4th}    

^{Individual Results} 

Congratulations to all our students who demonstrated commitment, resilience and courage during the recent 2 week Swimming and Water Safety Programme.  Some children made small steps and some demonstrated massive leaps. Every single improvement is recorded meticulously for future development in all areas of aquatics – stroke development, recreation, boat safety, water safety and water survival.   I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who supported this amazing programme – Principal, Leadership team, Business Managers, administration staff members, class teachers, TA's, our pool maintenance crew, our families and of course, our amazing students!!    Please enjoy these snap shots of our student achievement throughout the programme.

Our first week of SM@SH, St Marys at St Helens, has been incredibly well received. We know this because when asking the Kinder – Grade 6 students today about whether they were enjoying their new space they cheered!

Our started the week talking about ‘smashing it’ and this is what our students have done. Whether it be continuing their Letter and Sounds work, units of study on Song Lyrics or Poetry and Place, our students have applied themselves with focus and diligence, truly demonstrating the values of growth, aspiration, courage and respect. What has been most pleasing though is how quickly our students have continued their journeys in inclusivity and generosity, so necessary in a school community. This is shown in small ways, holding the hand of younger children as they navigate past the plovers on the field, the gentle hushing to Kinder children struggling with silence after the Last Post during the Remembrance Day observations, to their diplomacy in setting up a basketball team for lunch time play which ensures there is equity, support, learning and even coaching.

Special thanks to our hosting school, St Helens District School, their leadership and staff, especially the TTC Co-ordinator for making us feel so welcome. Thanks also needs to be extended to our parents, SMDS/SM@SH teachers, staff and students who have responded to these challenging times with energy, effort, trust and smiles. To finish off we would like to share a quote from a Prep student whose words capture the importance of peace on Remembrance Day with it feeling like ‘a bouquet of flowers’ and a circle of ‘fairy houses made out of shells’.

Flying the nest

 In September, I wrote about the return of the swallows ready to start nesting in my porch.  Since then, the swallow pair has hatched five little swallows and they are now stretching their wings and starting to fly the nest.  This made me think of all the young people in our school who will be finishing year 10 or year 12 this year, and making the big decisions about what the next year holds for them as far as education, apprenticeships, work, etc.  Some of our young people will choose to stay in our area (only “flying the nest” a short distance) and will continue to contribute to and live in our community. Many will begin preparations to “fly the nest” further afield, thus taking a huge step to leave home and start a new life at some distance from family and community.  For some, this will be an exciting adventure, whereas others will probably be nervous or hesitant. Watching the five little swallows fly the nest, I could see some were very confident about their first flight, whereas others were more cautious, only taking little flights to begin and continually calling out to their parents.  Whatever the case may be for our young people in their steps of “flying the nest”, I am sure they will all feel a sense of accomplishment and have a wonderful experience of growth and learning.  I wish them all well in their journey and experiences for the coming year.

Hannah Rubenach-Quinn

School Chaplain

These notices have been sent home to parents in the last fortnight.  If you did not receive one and would like to receive a copy of the notice, please contact the school office on 63 723 900.

PRIMARY

• Prep Excursion to Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery - Wednesday 16 November 2022
• Gr 6 Aquatic lessons - 15,16,21 and 22 November