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Introducing our Quality Teaching Coaches
This year we have two Quality Teaching Coaches, Ms Tracey Ross for Literacy and Mr Ben Jones for Numeracy. Quality Teaching Coaches support the leadership team in identifying and implementing whole school improvement strategies to positively impact Literacy and Numeracy outcomes for all students. Throughout the year Ms Ross and Mr Jones will work with teams of teachers to reflect on data to monitor each students’ growth and inform future teaching focuses.
Tracey Ross - I absolutely love my role at Somerset Primary. I spend my time working with groups of students from Grades 2 – 6 helping them become effective readers and writers. I also get to work with our staff to support improvement in the way we teach literacy across the school. I especially enjoy being part of our whole school journey in spelling and seeing our deepening understanding of how words work.
Fun fact: I love family time in our caravan where I get to relax and enjoy a good book.
Ben Jones - One of my biggest passion’s as a teacher is maths and this year I am lucky to be working at Somerset Primary as Numeracy Coach. I am really looking forward to working with all staff and students supporting the maths learning happening in classrooms.
Fun fact: One thing you may not know about me is that I love ‘Star Wars’ and I have quite a collection of memorabilia at home.
SRC and Sports Leaders
Last Wednesday we were very innovative and streamed our Grade 6 leadership speeches through our interactive whiteboards. I was very impressed with the effort students applied to their speeches and some of the unique ideas they had to make our school a better place. Once the speeches concluded, all students from Grades 3-6, plus staff voted for their preferred leaders.
Congratulations to our 2022 SRC and Sports Leaders, I know they will be wonderful CONTRIBUTORS to our school community:
SRC leaders - Miller, Anni, Freya, Mason, Rachael and Jaxon
Sports Leaders – Bass: Chet and Hosea; Murchison: Mace and Jake; Cam: Noah and Charlee-Rae.
We value all our Grade 6 students as leaders and due to this, over the coming weeks, each student will nominate and be assigned a leadership role within our school.
Move Well Eat Well
We are an accredited Move Well and Eat Well school. Move Well Eat Well promotes a healthier Tasmania in which children can enjoy healthy eating and physical activity every day. The 6 main elements include:
- Tap into water every day (only water in drink bottles at school)
- Plant fruit and veg in your lunchbox every day
- Limit sometimes foods
- Move, play and go
- Turn off, switch to play
- Stride and ride
Throughout the year we will be promoting ways that we can positively impact students’ health and wellbeing. In today’s newsletter we have attached a picture of Australia’s Guide to Healthy Eating.
Pod 2 have awesome staff working with students this year. We’d like to introduce you to them all with where they work in the pod and a fun fact about them.
Mrs Amanda Lloyd
Mrs Lloyd is the Pod 2 Leader. She has lots of roles in the school and one of her favourites is working with the Pod 2 staff and students. Mrs Lloyd is addicted to cups of tea, just plain black tea with milk!
Mrs Janine Brealey
Mrs Brealey has recently moved to our awesome school. Mrs Brealey teaches in the 4/5 classroom and is so excited to be teaching at Somerset! Mrs Brealey loves to see the students make self-discoveries about their learning.
She has 2 boys: Nic is an aged care worker and Ben has been at university doing engineering. She has a 14 year old golden retriever, called Buster, who is always hungry!!!!!!
Mrs Claire Gale
Mrs Gale is teaching in 3/4C again this year. When Mrs Gale was in Grade 4 she won the longest handstand competition at recess.
Ms Di Edmistone
Ms E is in her second year at SPS. This year Ms E is working in 3/4B. A fun fact about Ms E is that she can touch her nose with her tongue ?
Mrs Kellie Lohrey
Mrs Lohrey has been teaching at SPS for a number of years. She is enjoying working in the 3/4A classroom on Mondays and Tuesdays. Mrs Lohrey is like the old woman who lived in a shoe, she has so many children she didn’t know what to do - 7 boys, 4 grandkids and a foster carer.
Ms Sarah Elliott
Ms Elliot is again working 3/4A this year on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. She is teaching her dog to sing and loves doing activities like birdwatching, badminton and aqua aerobics.
Penny Carroll
Penny works across many classes, specifically in 3/4C and 4/5, also in 2B and 5A. Penny loves to show students she is still young at heart and can still do a back handspring at 45.
Cindy Mathewson
Cindy has worked many years at SPS. This year Cindy works in 3/4A, 3/4C and the Library. Cindy loves reading biographies and watching biographical type movies.
Cass Schwebel
Cass also has worked many years at SPS. This year Cass works in 3/4A, Kinder/Prep, 1A, 1B, and 2B. Cass loves roller skating, bushwalking and snorkelling, and has a Guinness World Record – in 2021 she was part of a group who achieved the biggest online olive oil tasting.
Values Certificate Recipient's
Pod 2 celebrated some of our Respectful students this fortnight. These students demonstrated a wide range of how to show respect including respecting themselves, others, our past and the environment.
Prep
6A and 6B have made a wonderful start to the school year. We have focused on classroom expectations, school values and what it means to be a good leader. Students have gone through the process of creating a SRC/Sports Leaders poster to promote their ideas and qualities that would make them a good leader. Hopefully you have seen the posters on display in the library windows. The next task was writing a speech. The process included why they would make a good candidate, ideas for fundraising and improving areas around the school and how they can help all students at SPS. Speeches were then delivered via Microsoft teams to all classes in POD 2 and POD 3. All staff thought the speeches were great. Congratulations to all the students that were elected, all other students will be given the chance to apply for and undertake a different leadership role around the school e.g IT, newsletter editors, playground leaders.
Student Voices about the SRC and Sports Leaders Process in 6A and 6B
Halle- ‘I found speaking stressful but the posters were fun to do’
Anni-‘Making the poster was fun. The speaking was nerve racking but being on zoom calmed me down’
Laylah-‘Poster making was good and I liked having to make them stand out. Speaking was nerve racking but exciting’
Miller-‘Pretty easy making the poster. I found writing the speech hard to write reasons why and delivering the speech was nerve racking’
Freya-‘Fun making the poster promoting myself. Writing the speech was pretty easy for me but saying the speech I was nervous but excited’
Jaxon-‘Fun to do the poster. Hard to write a speech and think of descriptive words. Delivering the speech was nerve racking’
In Pod 1, students are learning to connect to the way they think and learn.
Learning is made visible by creating Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.
Number learning is hands on and fun, in Grade 1!
Look at Grade 2’s beautiful sunflowers!
Levies
Levies for 2022 have now been issued. Levies can be paid at Service TAS, via bPay, via the QKR app, over the phone with credit card or in person cash or EFTPOS. Payment plans are available, please contact Cindy in the office to set a payment plan up. Levies can also be paid via Centrepay. Centrepay deducts your chosen amount from your Centrelink payment and pays it directly to the school until fully paid. Centrepay forms are available from the office.
Validation Forms
If you haven't returned your Validation Form please do as soon as possible. With our school photos being taken early in Term 2 if we don't have your forms back we do not have permission for your child to have their photo taken.
Results of our Newsletter Poll
Due to the very low number of reponses to our newsletter poll and the result being clearly split right down the middle, this will be our last paper copy of the newsletter to come home, unless requested.
If you would like a paper copy to come home with your child please phone 6435 1114 or call into our office.