February 13 2025 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 2025 school year! I trust that all of you had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable break. It has been fantastic to have our students back at school. It is our students who give us energy and purpose in our role as educators and the enthusiasm that they have brought into 2025, has been nothing short of amazing. I would like to extend a special welcome to our new students across the school, in particular our 2025 Kinder class. 

Our staff worked extremely hard to ensure that they were ready to welcome students last Friday and I know that all within our community are grateful for their efforts. I would like to welcome Miss Mickayla Housego (Cadet Teacher), Miss Monica Cini (Grade 1 Teacher), Mrs Susan Archer (Grade 2 Teacher) and Mrs Rachel Donnelly (Literacy/ Early Years Leader) to the team at SBW. I would also like to welcome back Miss Kayla McNamara (Health and PE) from parental leave.

As communicated via COMPASS (with more information below) we are hosting a welcome back to school event at SBW after school on Thursday February 20. This is a great chance for us as a community to reconnect and for families to visit classrooms in a welcoming, informal manner. Thank you to Mrs Wells, Ms McCormick and Mrs Donnelly for their work in organising this. Connection, which is one of our school values, is integral for us here at SBW and this event gives us an opportunity as a community to reconnect as well as make new connections. 

Thank you all for your ongoing support,

Nic Saltmarsh

Principal

Earlier today, our school went to the St Brigid's Church to celebrate Mass. Thank you to Father Jessie for leading us. Throughout the year, our students will be attending Mass at different stages and Father Jessie will be a consistent visitor to our school. 

Lord, we ask that you surround students with peace as they begin a new year of school. Give our students a passion for learning new things and bless their hard work over the coming months. Bless them with moments of joy and wonder. Help our students be a light to those around them. Raise up this next generation of leaders. Remind students that students that they are never alone, you are in every moment of their day. 

We welcome our Kinder students to SBW as they begin their educational journey. We also welcome the following new students and their families to the SBW community:

- Zahli in Grade 6

- Charlotte in Grade 5

- Haylee, Sunny and Abbey in Grade 4

Our teachers thoughtfully prepared welcoming and organised classrooms for the 2025 school year. They made intentional decisions about the physical layout of the classrooms, in particular, the arrangement of student desks. From Prep to Grade 6, student desks are arranged in rows, all facing the front of the classroom to promote optimal learning. 

Desks Arranged in Rows: 

• Ensure students have a clear view of the teacher, whiteboard and presentations 
• Increase active particpation and engagement during lessons
• Allow teachers to provide individual feedback to students 
• Enable staff to move freely around the classroom to provide support
• Provide structure and consistency for all students

The following classroom photos are from Grade 2 and Grade 3 and were taken during instructional teaching time. 

Kinder Speech Screenings: All kindergarten families will receive information to be sent home shortly pertaining to the screening of kindergarten students for speech concerns. This year, we will introduce a new process to families, guided by CET speech pathologists.

Learning Extension Online (LEO): formerly known as One Day School, will recommence shortly for identified students. Semester 1 courses are in subject areas of History, Science, English, and Philosophy. Classes will be held via Zoom with a’live’ teacher.

Mini Vinnies Recruitment: Calling all students from Grade 3 to Grade 6! An invitation to a lunchtime meeting will be extended in the coming weeks for those interested in joining Mini Vinnies. Mini Vinnies empowers primary school students to become advocates within their school and local community by putting their values into action. The Mini Vinnies model of “See, Think, Do” encourages young people to talk, share ideas and concerns, have fun, and support each other.

Breakfast Club Volunteers: If you are interested in volunteering for Breakfast Club, please contact the office. Currently Breakfast Club is open Monday and Wednesday morning, with set up commencing at 8am and finishing at approx 9am. 

School Garden Re-Opening: Welcome back Elspeth and the school garden! The garden will be open to students during 1st lunch on Wednesdays.

Positive Play: Re-commences Wk3 Thursday at 2nd lunch

Our Setup for Success Program commences next week on Thursday February 20. Please note that we have students in Kindergarten who are Anaphylatic to dairy, nuts and egg. We are seeking the support and cooperation from our Setup families to teach preventative allergy aware practices, including only eating on our mat space  and washing hands before/after eating. We are looking forward to another year of learning, exploring and playing! 

The Grade 3–6 swimming program will be held at the Burnie Aquatic Centre from Monday, 24th February, to Friday, 7th March 2025.

Students will travel by bus to and from the pool in their class groups. Please ensure your child brings a substantial packed lunch on these days, as access to the pool canteen will not be available.

As swimming is part of the HPE curriculum, it is important that all children participate. Please ensure you have completed your child's permission form on Compass to allow them to take part.

Parents are welcome to attend their child’s lesson; however, due to strict guidelines, there will be no parent access to the change rooms.

Below is the timetable for swimming groups:

• Grade 3 – 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM

• Grade 4 – 10:50 AM – 11:30 AM

• Grade 5 – 11:40 AM – 12:25 PM

• Grade 6 – 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM

Students will need to bring the following:

• Bathers

• Towel

• Spare underwear

• Plastic/waterproof bag for wet bathers

• Goggles (optional)

• Swimming cap

This year, we will not be holding a swimming carnival due to limited availability of dates. Instead, Burnie Aquatic Centre swimming instructors and Miss Kayla McNamara will conduct swimming trials on Wednesday 26th February. These trials will help us select our 2025 NW swimming team.

The NW Swimming Carnival will be held at the Burnie Aquatic Centre on Tuesday, 11th March. Students selected for the NW team will be notified on Wednesday, 26th February, with more information to follow.

Please see below information about uniform requirements. It is an expectation that all students are wearing the correct uniform. 

Please make sure that if you have a sibling to start Kindergarten in 2026, you have filled in an Enrolment Enquiry on our School Website

The new playground equipment for students in Grades 3-6 has been completed. Thank you to Darren and the team at Landscape Now for their work on this project. Students in Grades 3-6 were very excited to access this equipment.

Dear Families,

The most important role we have as educators and parents is the safety of the children in our care.  There are 2 buses that arrive at school prior to 8:30 am. The students who arrive on these bus services will be required to wait in the HEALTH ROOM and this will be under the supervision of a school staff member. We are continuing to work with the Department of State Growth to hopefully reach a sustainable and improved outcome for our students using their bus service. It is an expectation that students who are being dropped off by parents are dropped off from 8:30 am onwards. 

We are also working with Catholic Education Tasmania to find a more permanent solution to the early bus arrivals. 

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support with this matter to ensure that we are providing a safe learning environment for our students.

Please see below the new mobile phones and wearable technologies policy and procedure from Catholic Education Tasmania. Our school protocol is also attached.