Dear Parents/Carers

As we enter the final weeks of the school year, St Marys District School are making the most of every moment while also celebrating the contributions, achievements and growth that are evident across our school not only in learning, but also in participation and engagement. We are busy organising our class groups and timetables for 2024 while also conducting our Annual Review, finalising our staffing and budgets for our next academic year.  Students have been busy completing their assessments across all learning areas. Some have been involved in Grade 7 Transition, including our feeder school of Bicheno Primary School, while others have been writing and posting letters to Santa via our St Marys District School Santa letter box which makes personalised deliveries to the North Pole.  A recent incursion with our ‘Hands on Learning’ students, saw them catering for the Meals on Wheels Christmas luncheon at our school.  This event showcased the growth in this group of students who planned, prepared, decorated and served a Christmas meal for this group of people, and included a visit from Santa.  This week we have hosted the ENE Swimming Carnival as well as a group of Grade 9 and 10 students have been participating in work experience at Malahide, while our Grade 8 Outdoor Education students walked St Patrick’s Head.

Since our last newsletter, our school has participated in an External School Review, involving a broad range of stakeholders including students from Grades 2-10, parents, teachers, our School Association, non teaching staff and leadership team. The Review took place across two days with three Principals from DECYP schools visiting most classrooms and learning spaces, meeting with different groups both formally during interviews and more informally in classroom settings.  The commendations that the panel shared on their final day included observations that “the principal and school leaders are united, committed to and explicit about their core objective to improve learning outcomes for all students in the school."  Further, that “the staff of the school understand the importance of positive and caring relationships to successful learning, with respectful relationships being evident between staff, students and the broader community”. This is to be celebrated!

The Review also provided recommendations providing areas of focus for 2024.  These include: “embedding a collaborative inquiry to support all teachers to implement not only high leverage priorities that St Marys have been refining over the past few years, but to do so within a Multi-Tiered System of Support.”  Such an approach will allow us to monitor the learning of all students more rigorously and to adjust teaching practices on a regular basis to maximise learning growth in all students.  The leadership team and staff at St Marys are excited to embrace and consider ways to implement and align this recommendation given the ethos that ‘Every Student Matters’ at our school.  Many thanks to the students, families and members of our community who participated in this review.

Next Friday, 15 December, we are holding our Presentation Day Assemblies.  These assemblies are always great occasions to celebrate the successes, talents and efforts of our students in many different areas.  We are all looking forward to celebrating our students and their 2023 achievements with families and our broader school community.  In the following week, on Monday, 18 December, we will hold an evening with our Grade 10 students at their Celebration Dinner at White Sands Estate and on Thursday 21 December, the Year 10 Celebration Assembly.

Term 4 reports are being finalised by teachers and our administration team.  Students will bring these home on Wednesday, December 13.  It is important that students reflect on their results and consider what this may mean for their approach to learning in 2024.  It may even be appropriate to set some learning goals for next year. Thank you to Meg Burbury and Stephen Smith for co-ordinating the reporting process in our school. For more information about reports the DECYP approach to reporting please consider these links:

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

It is that time of the year where we also will also be saying goodbye to teachers who are moving on.  Claire Neyland will be moving to Hobart with her family, Gemma Seabrook to Bicheno Primary School and Rebecca Hibberd to Perth Primary School.  Despite this, our 2024 staffing looks promising with a group of teachers putting in to transfer to St Marys District School, a strong message supported by the reputation of our students, facilities and teaching opportunities at this time.  More information and details will follow in our next newsletter.

With a couple of weeks to go, let us all make sure we are giving our best and upholding our school values and expectations up to, and including, the final day of the 2023 school year.

Regards

Carolyn Watson

Principal

On November 28, St Marys District school hosted a lunch for the local meals on wheels volunteers and recipients.

Students enrolled in the Hands on Learning program both prepared and served a two course Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

Students had a great day and were proud to give something back to the community.

A special mention should be made of the wonderful decorations orchestrated by Lisa and Sharlene, also the Santa visit provided by Craig.

We look forward to helping out again in 2024.

We have had some very excited 4-year-olds attending our recent pre-Kinder sessions. The students have done a fabulous job getting to know each other, exploring the Kindergarten environment and learning some important routines. We have enjoyed getting to know each of these amazing children and look forward to welcoming them to our school in 2024.

Grade 9/10 have been learning hand building techniques and have created a vase and then a large ceramic bust. Quite a technical piece to construct and students should be proud of their efforts.

Grade 8's have been learning about Japanese shibori tie dye techniques and experimenting with different ways to fold and resist fabric to create interesting designs. 

What a wonderful day was had by all participants!  The pool venue was alive and vibrant with loud cheering, house-coloured caps adorned all heads, parents and supporters filled the spectator area and the water was inviting.

Our students participated in a range of traditional competitive events (25m and 50m Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke and Butterfly) plus a range of shallow water house-based activities to cater for all students' aquatic skills.  The final event was the House relays – they were very exciting and had everyone on their feet cheering.

Once again we had an amazing group of secondary students and a team of wonderful supportive parents who executed the time-keeping, judging and recording tasks without fault.  Thank you to these members of our school community who contributed to such an amazing day.

The following are the final House Champion results, individual Grade Champion and Runner-up Champions, plus new record holders.  Please enjoy this selection of photos from the day.

House Results

  House Champions

NEW RECORDS

Thank you to Canteen Manager Emma and her merry band of staff volunteers for keeping us fed all year.

Canteen stock is running down as we approach the last two weeks of the year, to ensure we have the best quality and freshest items for the new year.

This means that some favourites may become unavailable over the next couple of weeks..   Items will be removed from the Qkr app as they run out.

UPCOMING CANTEEN CLOSURES:

As we head in the final busy two weeks the canteen will be closed on the following dates to support end of year events:

• Friday 16 December - Presentation Day
• Thursday 21 December - Last day of school

Please ensure your child brings a packed recess, lunch and plenty to drink on these dates.

Thank you for your support of the canteen over 2023, if you would like to volunteer in the canteen next year, please reach out to us.  We welcome behind the scenes volunteers to assist with basic support, food prep or 'front of house' interactions.  Volunteering helps build skills and can lead to paid relief work, covering staff absences or to provide support at busy times.

Last chance before school holidays

The administration office will be closed over the school holidays and key cards will not be able to be purchased or recharged between 19 December 2023 to 31  January 2024.  It is therefore recommended that those opting for the monthly plan ensure their payment for January’s pool access is made prior to December 19. Pool information, prices and user agreements are availble on our website:  St Marys District School (education.tas.edu.au)

Learning Program 2024

Libraries Tasmania is delivering a digital skills learning program for DECYP parents, carers and families as part of the Digital Inclusion for 21^st Century Learners Action Plan.

The learning program includes:

• community facilitators engaging with school communities and families
• information and resources for schools to share with families.

The program’s statewide delivery will start in Term 1, 2024 and will focus on the following key information:

• communicating digitally with schools
• online learning in the classroom
• how families can support students online learning at home.

More information:

• Digital Inclusion Intranet Page

Contact:

• digitalskillsforfamilies@libraries.tas.gov.au

Information about the Libraries Tasmania digital programs is available through the online event guide. 

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

• Primary Christmas Celebration  - Wednesday 20 December 2023