8 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

June

From the Principal

Students in grade 3 -6 have been busy with the Swimming and Water Safety Program at the Ulverstone pool for the last two weeks. We appreciate the difficulties faced in ensuring swimming gear is dry and ready to go each day. Thanks to all families who have been making sure that everything is prepared. Thanks also go to staff who have been helping out at the pool each day.

3 way conference booking sheets will be sent home this coming Friday. 3 way conferences are an important time for students, families and teachers to meet together to discuss progress, as well as plan for future learning. We would appreciate catching up with all families, so don’t forget to send your preferred times back to the office. 3 way conferences will be held in the week beginning 26th June. Families of kinder students will be meeting from the 13th -23rd June and will do their bookings with Miss Miller.

Student reports will be sent home on Friday, 23rd June. Please take the time to go through the report with your child. If you have any questions regarding your child’s report, feel free to discuss it with your child’s teacher.

Jerome Pape - Principal

HPSCA

At the May Hillcrest Primary School Community Association Annual General Meeting the following office bearers were elected:

President: Kylie Lunson; Vice-President: Tina Hawley; Secretary: Jaime-lea Duff; Treasurer: Theresa Bassett.

Other Association members are: Jerome Pape, Naomi Archer, Lyn Aherne and Emma Willett.

The next general meeting of the Hillcrest Primary School Community Association will be on Thursday, June 22 at 7pm in the school staff room. All are welcome.

Biggest Morning Tea Open Day

What a great day we had on the 24th May with our Biggest Morning Tea, Open Day for parents AND the Simultaneous Storytime! We raised $249 for the Cancer Council! Well done everyone and thank you to all parents who participated.

Scholastic Book Club

Book Club flyers were sent home with students last week. Book Club orders are due back at the school office by June 16. Remember that you can also order online and pay via the LOOP system on the Scholastic website.

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our HKFK focus for this week has been “Respecting Property”. Next week’s focus topic will be “Respectful Language” and the week after will be “Respecting the Environment”.

Respectful Language

As well as word choice, the tone and attitude behind our words will have a great effect on the people with whom we are communicating. That effect will either be positive (appropriate language), or negative (inappropriate language).

What’s not appropriate? There are 4 types of inappropriate language: vulgarity, cursing, lying and swearing.

Vulgarity is an example of bad manners and bad taste in speech and behaviour. Another meaning of the word is indecent, obscene, lacking in distinction or charm. If something is vulgar we should not say the words or perform the vulgar action. We need to remember that any time vulgarity is used, in any form, it reflects back upon our character.

Cursing: the definition of curse is the expression or wish that misfortune, evil or doom will come to a person or group.

Lying: a lie is a falsehood meant to deceive people into believing in something other than the truth. When a person lies, they are not only deceiving others, but they are also deceiving themselves. The dishonest person soon starts to believe the lie he or she tells, losing the ability to distinguish between lies and truths. Exaggerating or spicing up stories to be included or accepted into a group is another form of lying.

Swearing: the use of offensive language. We must recognise that swearing does damage. Swearing will not win an argument. Make your point politely. It doesn’t show you are smart if you use the same unimaginative words. Instead, try more descriptive words to show your intelligence. You will not be admired or earn respect if you swear – think of what you should say, practice being patient and think positively. Swearing is intimidating, not motivating and it doesn’t get you hired or promoted!

Always think before you speak and choose appropriate language: Would I like it if someone spoke to me in that way, with those words? Speaking to everyone should involve ‘Respectful Language’. It takes a bigger, smarter person to do it!

Unfortunately, we do hear inappropriate language at school. Please help us by talking to your children about inappropriate language, what it is and that it is not acceptable to use it at school, or anywhere else for that matter. Remind them that if you hear it, it doesn’t mean you need to say it!

Respecting the Environment

It takes only a few minutes every day to make a positive impact on the environment at school, so what can we do to make a difference?

We live in such a wonderful neighbourhood and state with many great natural features just a short walk or drive from our school: beaches, parks, reserves and wonderful bush areas with birdlife. We need to look after all these great places and show them the respect they deserve, not just for their own sake but because they are important to so many people and will continue to be for many years to come.

Remember to always treat our environment with respect. This can be done in many ways:

• Never leave rubbish around
• Be sensitive to the environment and animals. It is their home we are visiting
• Don’t damage or destroy plants or any features of the natural environment
• Ride, walk or run on pathways

Respecting and caring for the environment will mean it will be there for everyone to appreciate and enjoy for many years.

Reduce, reuse, recycle is another way to show respect for the environment. There are so many actions that can make a difference!

Our Hilly Kid of the Week for “Respecting the Opposite Gender” was Kade Jago from 1-2MB and for “Respecting Adults” was Tayla Roles from P-1P. Our Aussie of the Month for May was Samantha Naughton. Congratulations, Kade, Tayla and Samantha!

Well done to our other class representatives:

Entertainment Book

Our records show that a number of people have not yet paid for or returned their Entertainment Book that was sent home a few weeks ago.

If you intend to keep the book please make your payment by the end of this week, either online or at the school. If you do not want the book please return it in its envelope as soon as possible. If you do not do so, you will be issued with an invoice.

We ask that families attend to this as soon as possible so that we can finalise this great fundraising venture.

Kinder

Kindergarten children are learning that it is okay to look at mushrooms but to not touch them.

The only ones you can touch are the ones you buy at the supermarket.

We cooked some in butter and tried them….. Some gave the thumbs up and some the thumbs down…. But at least they tried something new.

5-6 Hortle

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS ABOUT SALINITY

Task Design

In 5/6 H we have been investigating how the growth of plants can be affected by the environment in which they are living. We tested this theory out with wheat seeds growing under 3 different conditions: normal water, water with 1 tsp of salt and water with 2tsps of salt. This experiment simulated salinity, a major environmental problem affecting the land.

In the photo above, the wheat seeds are germinating fine in the ‘just water’ petri dish, but struggling for growth in the salt petri dishes.

Results

Everyone found out that the salt certainly affected the growth of the wheat substantially, after observing its growth for 11 days. In fact, our class chose to keep the wheat growing once the experiment finished. Maybe we will have some real wheat in the near future!

Authentic Learning

To finish off this experiment, we researched what salinity actually is. We used our new knowledge to write a letter to a Moriarty wheat farmer, explaining to him what he might need to consider so his wheat would grow well. Here is some writing from our students to the farmer.

“If you want your crops to be healthy and strong, then you will need to plant deep-rooted trees, like gum trees, in the area.” – Seche

“If you want your wheat crops to grow the best they can, you could water them the right amount, but do not drown them.” – Monique

“You will need to have a lot of trees growing around your wheat paddock, because if you don’t, the water table goes up and it brings the salt to the top, killing your wheat plants.” - Sarita

LIFT News

On Friday, June 16th we will have our first ‘Story Corner”’ from 3 to 4pm in the school library. All children, accompanied by an adult family member, are invited to listen to a story and participate in fun activities. In term 3 we will host 2 more Story Corner afternoons: Thursday, 17th August and Friday, 21st September.

The first story will be ‘Chatterbox” by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Deborah Niland. The story is about Max’s baby sister, Daisy, who is gorgeous and everyone in the family cannot wait for her to start talking!

Working With Vulnerable People

Those family members who do not have their Working With Vulnerable People registration are invited to come to the library and use our facilities to do your registration. I will be there to support you. Remember, if you wish to do parent help or attend class excursions with your children you are required to have a WWVP registration – no exceptions. The process can take up to 6 weeks to be finalised so don’t leave it until the last minute!

Ann-Maree Mulcaster – LIFT Coordinator

Sunrise Bakery Pie Drive

Please remember that order forms are due back at the school office WITH the money in a sealed envelope by Friday, June 16th. This is a great opportunity to stock up for the school holidays! The delivery date will be Tuesday, June 27th. If you are available to help pack orders first thing that morning please leave your name at the school office. Orders can be collected after 11am on that day.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

Sporting News

Congratulations!

Congratulations to one of our past students, Hayley McDougall, who is currently in grade 10 at Devonport High. Hayley played netball in grade 6 at Hillcrest and earlier this year represented Tasmania in the State’s 16 & under netball team. She has now been selected to be a member of the Australian 19 & under squad. Well done, Hayley!

Grade 5/6 Netball

Our 5/6 netball team are half way through the Devon winter roster. The winter roster consists of 16 rounds, with 14 teams involved from local schools. Our team of 10 have shown great skills and improvement throughout the roster and have been fortunate enough to win all their games and are currently sitting on top of the ladder! Well done girls!

Seche, Monique, Lily, Jasmine, Kya, Tahlia, Zoe and Sarita (absent: Amber & Hannah)

Move Well Eat Well

Encourage Eating Before Sport

It’s important to eat and drink before playing sport. Having a meal a few hours before sport will make sure it is well digested before the game starts. If your child is playing sport in the morning, make sure they have a good breakfast to get them through the game. Try these ideas:

• Breakfast cereal with milk & fruit
• Yoghurt & fruit
• Toast, English muffin or crumpet with spread
• Baked beans or spaghetti on toast
• Smoothie with yoghurt or fruit

If your child suffers from nerves, it may be difficult to get them to eat before playing sport. It’s still important to try to get them to eat to make sure they have enough energy to get through a game.

MWEW Team

Tuckerbox Tips

Try these ways to ’green’ up muffins at morning tea:

• Go for a fruit or veggie based recipe - blueberry, raspberry, carrot, apple, pear or zucchini.
• Think smaller - consider making mini muffins or smaller cupcakes
• Swap the frosting, icing or cream for a dusting of icing sugar, cocoa or sliced fruit

Swap some ingredients in the recipe:

• Flour - add more fibre by using half wholemeal flour and half white flour
• Fats & oils - swap butter for margarine and use mono or polyunsaturated oil (eg canola or sunflower) to reduce the saturated or ‘bad’ fat
• Dairy - choose reduced fat rather than full cream
• Sugar - reduce the amount by aiming for a ratio of 1/2c (or less) sugar to 2c flour

Lyn Aherne - Canteen Supervisor

CAP Money Course - FREE

The next CAP Money course will be run with a focus on Christmas expenditure. There is limited seating so get in quickly! This course is FREE of charge and afternoon tea is provided. Booking is essential. For more about CAP Money go to: