Attendance

Attendance continues to be a focus for our school. I cannot stress too highly, the importance of good attendance, more often than not there is a strong correlation between student achievement and attendance, i.e. those students who attend and engage in their lessons will achieve better educational outcomes. The accompanying table demonstrates the amount of school that can be lost due to a casual approach to attendance.

I also want to take this opportunity to remind parents of the process regarding student absences from school.   The school is obligated to work with our school community to ensure all students are here at school unless for a reason mentioned under the authorised absences list, i.e. sickness.  

A reminder that as a part of the school’s follow up procedures around unexplained absences, a member of our administration team will commence a twice weekly cycle of phone calls to parents that have not explained student absences.

Our preference is obviously not to need to make these phone calls and for parents to notify the school of the reason for their child’s absence in a timely manner by way of the following methods;

 Staffing

Last newsletter I advised that there would be some changes to our senior staffing profile, resulting from Mr Skirving taking on a Food and Fibre (incl. Agriculture / Revitalising School Farms) leadership role both within our school and across our network of schools on the North West Coast.

These changes are: Mrs Davies will be increasing from a part time Assistant Principal role to full time Assistant Principal.  Mrs Mainwaring in addition to her co-teaching role on the year 5 class with Ms Bell will be performing an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) role, providing intervention in the 5/6 year groups and supporting the curriculum leadership team. To release Mrs Mainwaring to perform the intervention role Mr Bakes will teach the year 5 class Mathematics for 6 periods a week. Mr Nock has been confirmed as the Literacy Coach for 2019, we look forward to the contribution he will make in further progressing our work in PLTs (Professional Learning Teams) as well as supporting the teaching and learning in many of our classes across the school, particularly in the K-2 area at the Sheffield Campus.

In addition to these changes there has also been a redistribution of some of the leadership responsibilities, I have listed below the senior staff member and the year groups that each has responsibility for in regard to student support which I hope will assist parents should they wish to contact the school with any questions or concerns, outside of any initial contact with the class teacher.

I would also like to take this opportunity to farewell Mr Josh Tome, one of our very committed and skilled teacher assistants. Mr Tome has primarily supported within the MDT area, and has recently been offered a fulltime role at Latrobe High School, we thank him for his contribution at Sheffield and wish him well in his new position.

Reminders

Below are two matters that I would ask parents to remind their child of and encourage their cooperation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students.

Students should not be riding bikes/scooters on school grounds between the hours of 8.30am and 3.30pm.  Students walking/riding home, or being picked up by parents should leave school at the end of the day via the main student entrance/exit and should not be congregating in the undercover area outside the Recreation and Related Arts building around this time.

Students should only bring to school roll or pump deodorant to apply after PE or during the day following break times.  The aerosol deodorants are not an option and can cause health issues for those students and staff who may suffer respiratory conditions such as asthma.

Ron Daly

Principal

1/2A students are learning about the external features of living things in Science.

We decided to start a worm farm so that we can learn about earthworms while recycling our food scraps and helping the environment.

We gave our worms their first feed on Thursday last week.

We are so excited to watch them get to work!

Each Wednesday afternoon a small group of students have joined the 2019 art club.

As a group we have decided to build a large model of a giraffe, good progress has already been made with the kind help of Mr Wilden.

We already have a 2.4m armature ready to build a chicken wire body, which will then be covered in papier mache.

Canteen Menu -Term 4

- Updated fortnighly

Canteen_Price_List_Term_4_to_6_Nov

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Cancelling / crediting  lunches

Please note that once your child’s lunch has left the canteen, due to health regulations it cannot be returned and we cannot issue a refund.

If your child goes home sick you are more than welcome to come to the canteen to collect your child’s lunch order.

QKR

If you need to cancel a lunch order in QKR – this needs to be done before 10.00 am on the day of delivery (you can cancel orders up to two weeks in advance), or you can contact the school office before 11.30 am.  

You will then receive a credit (monies cannot be refunded) in QKR, that you can apply to future purchases. 

Cancelling an order in the QKR APP

Railton Campus

The canteen menu is available for students and staff at Railton campus on Mondays Only.  Items that cannot be ordered from the menu as they are unable to be transported:

- Milo
- Hot Chocolate
- Slushies

Orders need to be received at the Railton school office before 10.00 am on Monday morning.

QKR Orders (Both Campuses)

To use the full menu you need to order before 10.00 am on the day of delivery.
Lunches can be ordered (and paid) for up two weeks in advance.

QKR Late Orders - Sheffield Campus only (10.00 am - 12.00 noon)

We now have a limited menu for orders received between the hours above.
Please use the "Late Orders and Payments" option only.

For orders after 12.00 noon please contact the school on 6491 8222.

QKR Set UP 

Instructions on installing and setting up the app on your smartphone/device are below.

If you use QKR you can order (and pay) in advance for multiple students, multiple orders, and on multiple days.

QKR Setup Information

QKR Setup Information 1.12 MB

HEALTH NURSE

Just keep breathing!  Breathing Exercises for Early Childhood

In the Early Childhood area some of the Year 7 students have been helping teach the younger children some breathing techniques each week.  These techniques are meant to help your children calm down and relax when faced with stressful or overwhelming situations. There is a physical reason why deep breathing is so important.

To help understand why deep breathing and calming coping skills are so important, let’s have a quick lesson on your Autonomic Nervous System. The Autonomic Nervous System controls the automatic systems in your body that you don’t think about - things like breathing, digestion and heart rate.

Flight, Fight or Freeze (Sympathetic Nervous System)

When you experience a stressful event your body automatically goes into what is known as “flight, fight or freeze” mode. Your heart rate increases, your stomach stops digestion and your breathing becomes more shallow.

Rest and Digest (Parasympathetic Nervous System)

When you are calm, your body is in what is known as “rest and digest” mode. Your breathing is normal, your muscles are relaxed and your heart rate is normal.

 The goal of calming exercises is to get yourself from “flight, fight or freeze” mode back to “rest and digest” mode. Deep breathing helps get more oxygen into your bloodstream, opening up your capillaries. It has a physical effect on your body to help you calm down and lower stress.

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring fun playful ways to work on deep breathing.

Media Smart

An online and confidential program for young people, designed to help both those with body image concerns and those showing signs of an eating disorder.

Media Smart

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LAUNCHING INTO LEARNING (LiL)

Monday 9.30am	Railton	Babies - Pre Kinder
Thursday 11am	Sheffield	Babies and Toddlers
Thursday 1pm	Sheffield	Pre-Kinder

1.  Please wash/sanitise hands on arrival

2.  Complete COVID-19 Visitor Screening Form

3.  Practice social distancing

Mrs van der Velde and Mrs Sullivan are excited to welcome back families for Term 4.

We have lots of fun things planned sometimes we are popping up off site.

Please keep an eye on our ‘Launching into Learning Sheffield School’ Facebook page to make sure you don’t miss any of the action.

For this issue of the newsletter we have attached a really handy Family First Aid sheet for you to print and keep and also a communication milestone document from Speech Pathology Australia,  to see how your little ones are tracking with their speech and language development.

Family_First_Aid

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Communication_milestones

Communication_milestones 1.62 MB

If you aren't connected with us yet, contact carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au or call 641 8222

LEARNING IN FAMILIES TOGETHER (LiFT)

What’s On?

Term 4 is a busy one but we promise to squeeze in at least one more family challenge. Maybe some maths? Maybe some lollies? Maybe both?

Whether we like it or not, maths is everywhere and is part of everyday life. It is necessary to have an understanding of maths concepts to help with most tasks we undertake as humans. Whether your child is 5 or 15, now is a great time to be talking about and practising maths whenever you can, to boost their maths competency.

Please reach out to your child’s teacher or liftsheffield@gmail.com if you would like help supporting your child in maths.

Seesaw Family App

Please ensure you have switched over to our Seesaw Family app. See or email your child’s teacher if you have misplaced your login code.

Anxiety in Children

2020 has been a difficult one for everyone. Although children are very resilient, we can see a change in them during and after a big event, such as a pandemic! Follow this link from GoZen for some really useful ways to help calm and work through your child’s anxious times.

https://gozen.com/72phrases/

Kinder- Prep Story Sacks

It has been great seeing Story Sacks rolled out for our Kinder/Prep students at Railton and Sheffield. Using these Story Sacks in your home benefits your child’s oral language considerably, fosters their love of books and reading; and in turn, improves their literacy outcomes throughout their schooling. Check out the link to get a sneak peek into Story Sacks…

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19vAzucgrQrwnVIuv_ysK7BY3ONzqE62by2zuN1Jdez0/edit?usp=sharing

Board Game Library   

Sheffield: Monday between 8:30-9am in the EC resource room.

Railton: See Kim in the office on a Tuesday to borrow your game.

 

Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey

We have put together some information to help support your child with their reading. Watch to the end to claim your reading pack!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16j1Rfl6BhHuRLGBiqVXG70WxTTQFRHPNRh-xIZ7gZ_0/edit?usp=sharing 

Learning Support

Did you know we have learning packs made up for children to borrow to help consolidate skills they are working on in class?  

These skills may include: 
fine motor activities, letter formation, telling the time, times tables, handwriting, 12 piece puzzles, addition and subtraction, shoelace tying, scissor skills, number formation, identifying sounds when reading and problem solving with numbers. If you would like to borrow a take home pack to support your child’s learning, please get in touch and we will be happy to send some materials home with your child.

For further information, please contact Carly Sullivan 64918222 or email liftsheffield@gmail.com

“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents."

- Jane D. Hull

Come along with your little ones. Suitable from birth-4 (Kinder siblings welcome)

Thursdays

Railton 9:30-10:30

Sheffield 11:30-12:30 or   1:30-2:30

Like us on Facebook  to keep up to date!

‘Launching into Learning – Sheffield School’

Email: carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au  for more information

K-6 Open Classroom Afternoon

Thank you to those families who were able to come in on Tuesday 19 February for our Open Classroom afternoon. Congratulations to George Bishop (1/2 Moore) and Mason Quirk (K/P van der Velde) who won themselves a Lego set just for coming in with their families.

Photos from the afternoon.

Bucket Filling   

‘Bucket Filling’ is showing kindness and respect for others. ‘Bucket Dipping’ is being mean to others on purpose. Our students are working hard at filling each others’ buckets. Some of the ways we can fill up buckets is by: sharing, listening, taking turns, including others, using kind words, giving compliments, smiling, helping out and using our manners. Chloe from year 2 said she filled James’ bucket by packing his bag for him when he wasn’t feeling well. Wesley (year 2) was a bucket filler when he invited George to work with him. Keep up the fantastic work everyone!

Board Game Library

Early years students will be bringing home an information sheet soon about our board game borrowing library. Please return the permission form as soon as possible so your child can participate in our weekly swap

For further information, please contact Carly Sullivan 64918222 or carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au.

We look forward to bringing you another exciting year of LiFT events and initiatives.

Have You Got A Great Idea?

Tell us what activities or events you’d like to see happen in our school. Write it down and place it in the LiFT suggestion box in the Home Reader room at Sheffield and the office at Railton, or you can email us: carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au

Sheffield School has been accepted as a trial school to enable parents to pay their invoices online using their credit card and the QKR app.

Please find information below:

QKR_marketing_howto_noncanteen.pdf

QKR_marketing_howto_noncanteen _pdf 1.05 MB

More information on using QKR

SHEFFIELD SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC. ELECTION  2020

The Sheffield School Association works in partnership with the school community to participate in setting future directions, make decisions and develop policies that have a direct effect on the way the school operates.

Elections for the School Association will be held on Tuesday 17 March, 2020.

Nominations are being called for two (2) community and four (4) parent vacancies.

Nomination forms are attached and must be returned by COB Friday 13 March, 2020 to the Returning Officer :

Sheree Rodman, Sheffield School   12 Henry Street, Sheffield  7306

The Annual General Meeting will be held at the school on Tuesday 24 March in the Year 11/12 room, commencing at 7pm. 

For inquiries phone 6491 8222

What are ‘everyday’ foods?

Foods from the five food groups are called ‘everyday’ foods.

The five food groups include:

Offer different types of these foods every day.

What are ‘sometimes’ foods and drinks?

‘Sometimes’ foods don’t fit into the 5 food groups.

These food and drinks are not a good source of nutrition, are high in saturated (unhealthy) fat, sugar and/or salt and should only be eaten sometimes and in small amounts.

Examples of ‘sometimes’ food include: chocolate, lollies, sweet biscuits, high fat savoury biscuits, fried foods, pastry based foods (such as pies, sausage rolls or pasties), fast food and takeaway foods, cakes and ice-cream.

Examples of ‘sometimes’ drinks include : soft drinks, fruit juice, fruit drinks, cordial, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavoured mineral water.

For more information visit:  https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/mwew/healthy_eating_questions