End of Term

There has not been much sunshine outside this term, however, our students have been shining in the classroom.  As the term draws to a close we have been reviewing data from external and internal assessments and it has been rewarding to see the growth in student learning.  This is particularly evident in Literacy which has been a priority area for us over the last five years.  Next term we will share some of this positive data with you once staff have had the opportunity to analyse and discuss.

Sports Colours Day

Last Friday we celebrated Sports Colour Day.  We had students and staff joining in the fun with many sports on show, including footy, soccer, netball, rugby, motorbikes.  I know staff appreciate the comfort of being able to wear trackies to school.

North West Athletics and Twilight Representatives

Congratulations to all students who represented SPS in the North West Athletics last week.  We are very proud of all your efforts and how you conducted yourself in a respectful way.  The following students placed in their event and qualified for the Twilight Carnival in Penguin on Wednesday 28 September:

Thorin                   Ever                       Ella C                     Ellie P                    Braxton T                             Sophi

Toby                      Miller                     Ella M                    Charlotte             Chett

Wonderful to see our students enacting our values of To Dream and To Believe.

School Holidays

School holidays commence today, September 29 as Friday 30 is a public holiday for Burnie Show.  I hope everyone has a safe and restful break.  We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 17 October when Term 4 commences.

Three to Six

This term the children continued from term two’s work based around invasion games and skill drills that would develop their level of skill in these types of games. These games work on developing the values of honesty, self-control, bravery, and persistence. Invasion sports involve an offensive team working to maintain possession of an object while attacking (or invading) a defensive team’s goal or target areas. Development of specific skills and skill combinations that involve passing, receiving, shooting, and defending are targeted learning outcomes. Four important skills utilised by participants in invasion games are speed, agility, reaction time and spatial awareness.

Kinder to Two

During term three the early childhood children explored the skills associated with large balls, both basketball and soccer. They explored the skills of throwing and catching, dribbling with both hands and feet, passing with their feet, and kicking. We then moved onto tennis balls and worked on throwing and catching underarm and overarm, rolling, fielding, and striking using tennis racquets.  

Swimming and Water Safety

Children in grades three to six participated in a ten-day swimming and water safety program.

Prior to this the children worked through a theory lesson in preparation. Topics covered were:

• Safe to least safe places to swim and what makes a body of water least safe.
• Aquacode – swim together, float and wave, reach to rescue
• Hyperthermia
• Conservation of heat and energy
• Use of lifejackets
• The most important person in a rescue being the rescuer
• Lifesaving strokes versus swimming strokes

With the campaign to follow, the practical skills of stroke development, water skills and water safety drills, are then developed to suit each individual’s stage of development.

5/6 Sports Day

In week three of term, all children in grades five and six participated in their sports day, with other schools from the area and could choose their sport from a list of ten on offer. Following on from this day, there were six children chosen from Somerset to represent the Darwin (Burnie) area and to play their chosen sport, against Devon (Devonport) teams. Following on from this day, two children from Somerset made it into the Northwest team to play in their sport against Launceston. 

As our school athletic carnival was postponed from term one, a couple of weeks ago we had run offs to choose our school team for the NW athletics, that all children in grades three to six could try out for.

Then on Tuesday 21^st September, Mrs Lloyd and Cindy Mathewson took the Grade Three and Four children, and on Wednesday I took the Grade Five Six children, again with Cindy Mathewson.  This carnival gives those children the opportunity to take their skills to the next level. It was an absolute delight to accompany these children and see them go out of their comfort zone and give their best effort towards their individual events and the positive support they gave each other, a great testimony to their sportsmanship.

These children enjoyed individual success:

Heats: Grade Three and four

Macy 1^st 100m

Macy 1^st 200m

Charlotte 1^st 200m

Thorin 2^nd 100m

Thorin 2^nd  200m

Toby 2^nd 200m

Braxton 3^rd 75m

Marli 3^rd 100m

Jax 3^rd 100m

Ella 3^rd 100m

Elijah 3^rd 200m

Semi Finals:

Thorin 1st 100m

Ella 1^st  100m

Toby 1^st 200m

Charlotte 1^st  200m

Thorin 2^nd 200m

Macy 2^nd 200m

Coastal Champion:

Toby 800m

Twilight carnival congratulations:

Thorin, Ella, Toby, Charlotte, Macy

Grades Five and Six:

Grade 6 Div A relay 1^st  Miller, Chet, Mace and Mason

Grade 5 div A relay 3^rd Summah P, Ever, Ellie, Layla

Sophi 800m 3^rd

Heats:

Ella 1^st 75m

Ever 1^st 100m

Miller 1^st 100m

Chet 1^st 100m

Ever   1^st 200m

Miller 1^st 200m

Summah 2^nd 75m

Mace 2^nd 75m

Riley 2^nd 75m

Mason 2^nd 75

Tahlia 2^nd 100m

Ellie 2^nd 100m

Ryder 2^nd 200m

Bailey 3^rd 75m

Layla 3^rd 100m

Rachael 3^rd 100m

Mason 3^rd 100m

Sophi 3^rd 200m

Bailey 3^rd 200m

Mason 3^rd 200m

Evan 3^rd 200m

Semi Finals:

Miller 1^st 200m

Miller 1^st 200m

Ever 2^nd 200m

Ever 2^nd 100m

Ellie 2^nd 100m

Summah 2^nd 75m

Ella 2^nd 75m

Bailey 3^rd 75m

Tahlia 3^rd 100m

Ella 3^rd 400m

Twilight Carnival Congratulations:

Miller, Ever, Ellie, Summah, Ella

Lorraine Evans

Physical Education Teacher

Congratulations to all our students who received reading certificates at the end of term 3. This term is the first time this year where we have some students who have reached over 200 nights of reading. These readers have all received a special badge for their consistent effort with home reading.

Home reading is any reading that is done at home; it can be sitting and reading with your child, or reading a favourite book to your child. It doesn’t have to always be a child reading to an adult. For ideas on encouraging reading, have a look at this website: Strategies to Support Struggling Readers | readwritesuccess.com which is by Dr Kaye Lowe, an Australian literacy educator.

Some of our awesome Pod 2 kids who received certificates for accepting challenges and embracing opportunities this last fortnight. Congratulations.

POD 4