Newsletter Term 1 Week 8– Thursday 18th March 2021 TOMAREE PUBLIC SCHOOL

PO Box 710, Nelson Bay 2315

EMAIL: tomaree-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

WEB: www.tomaree-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Principal’s Report

Tuesday 16th March, 2021 Was an amazing day. I am so excited to share with you the following amazing news that we received on Tuesday.

Well Done Madison

It is always lovely when students proudly share their work with me, and

yesterday I saw beautiful handwriting from Madison in her Spelling Book.

Not only was the handwriting outstanding, but when I asked her if she would

like me to quiz her on her spelling words, she rose to the challenge and got

them correct (even the really, really tricky ones).

Well done Madison. You certainly set the tone for the rest of the day. If you

read on you will see what other fantastic things happened on Tuesday.

Rural Access Gap Infrastructure Rollout – Part 1

Tomaree Public School, along with 11 other schools including Tomaree High School, became part of the new Rural

Access Gap Infrastructure Rollout this term.

This means we will be receiving

• 19 Teacher devices (laptops)

• 48 Student devices (laptops)

• 5 charging trolleys for the laptops

• New promethean interactive boards for a number of the classrooms and meeting areas.

This will be added to our T4L rollout which will see a further 18 laptops for students. Once these devices arrive at

the school and are set up, they will be used in classrooms to boost technology use and understanding.

These technology devices will be delivered later this year.

Rural Access Gap Infrastructure Rollout – Part 2

Just before the end of the day on Tuesday, a second email arrived stating that along with the technology devices,

funding has also been secured to uplift our school network infrastructure to the latest network standards.

This will mean that the technology rollout we are receiving will be supported effectively. It also means that I won’t

have to go out into the carpark to try and send messages and photos to the office for notes and the newsletter and,

have a very kind parent in the high school offer to take my photo (I was waving my phone around trying to get

reception, and he thought I was trying to take a ‘selfie’).

Regional Renewal Program

Tomaree Public School put in two projects into the renewal project, an upgrade of the oval and the refurbishment

of the school canteen, but missed out in February. An email came through after the second round was completed,

and we have had our application for the canteen refurbishment accepted. This will mean that the school will

contribute 40% of the funds, whilst the Regional Renewal Funds will cover the other 60%. These projects in Round 2

will have a completion date of late 2022.

Cooler Classrooms Project

To top off the day of all days, on Tuesday Sue Xenos (Principal in the HS) and myself were overjoyed to receive an

email stating that we are now moving to the procurement stage for the Cooler Classroom Project, with a meeting

to be held at the site next Wednesday. This then goes to tender (which takes approximately a month) before it is

flagged for installation. I do not have a completion date as yet as I have no idea how long the installation and

eventual handover will take, but feel as though we are finally making significant headway in the project.

I have included the timeframe diagram below.

Every Minute Counts

Please see our attendance rates below for the past two weeks

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week 7 89.9% 92% 93.5% 94.4% 91.3%

Week 8 88.1% 89.3% 91.4% 77.7%

We had an amazing day on Thursday last week, but a sad start to Week 8. Please remember, we want children at

school every day they are well.

Harmony Day/Parents on site I think it was lovely that Harmony Day was also the first day of our new arrangements where parents and carers

were able to come further into the school. It was great to see so many students and staff wearing orange, and to

see the smiles on parents’ faces as they walked children to class.

Thank you to the school community for giving us the time to ensure our organisation and processes were in place

as we continually moved forward in opening up the school. Gates will be locked at 9.30 am as per normal

procedure and will open just before the afternoon bell to allow parents to meet children at their classrooms.

P&C AGM and Uniform Survey Our P&C AGM is today at Sparks (next to KFC). We would love you to attend to find out how you can be involved at

Tomaree Public School. You can Zoom into the meeting if you cannot attend in person. The AGM will begin at

5.15pm, followed by the ordinary meeting after that.

Tomaree Public School and the P&C would love your feedback on some proposed uniform changes. A link was sent

to you via Class Dojo on Tuesday, and it also appears on the Tomaree Public School Facebook site. There are 5 easy

questions and it would only take 2 minutes (at the most) to complete it. I would like to reinforce that these changes

would be phased in over a 3-year period, so would not require anyone who has recently purchased uniforms to

replace them with new ones until then.

Have a great fortnight…look out for information coming about our Easter Hat Parade and the Cross Country!

Christene Gray

Proud Principal of Tomaree Public School

Student Merit Awards

Student Name Class Student Name Class

Charlotte Ryan KO Annabelle Johnston 3/4Z

Bonnie Diana KO Marley Bunny 3/4Z

Jemma Palu KO Tully Thompson 3/4Z

Lucas Profitt KT Ben Grant 3/4Z

Zion Tihema KT Xaiver Monro MCN

Ava Lipari KT Harrison Stone 4/5G

Harper McClintock K/1H Addison Clark 4/5G

Hudson Christesen K/1H Ashlee Johnson 4/5G

Acacia Climpson K/1H Bess Phillips 4/5G

Chau Pham 1/2A Matty Hampshire 5/6CO

Teeps Atutahi 1/2A Alannah Sylvester 5/6CO

Lachlan Tulk 1/2A James Hughes 5/6CO

Hunter McCallum 1/2WH Tabitha Scarrott 5/6CO

Breeana Price 1/2WH Callum Dwyer 5/6H

Bonnie Short 1/2WH Jasmine Hodgson 5/6H

Tara Weingott 2M Tillie O’Farrell 5/6H

Aylah McMahon 2M Ailee Kabayama 5/6H

Naiya Holley-Pold 3S Ebony Grover 5/6R

Jake Mackay 3S Olivia Cameron 5/6R

Sebastian Reid 3S Jett-Laila Rundle 5/6R

Cooper Kerklaan 3S Charles Beckington 5/6R

Finn Dellow 3/4A Crystal Peterson MCP

Alaiyah West 3/4A

Ryan Matthews 3/4A

Presented at Wednesday’s School Assembly

Charlotte Elmer 3/4A

Eric Kamble MCC

Well done Tomaree!

It was so exciting to have our first

whole school assembly in 12

months yesterday.

We have included the names

of the award winners on

the previous page of this

newsletter and can’t wait

for our next one in Term 2.

Class Representatives 2021

3S Harlow Earnshaw Cooper O’Brien

3/4A Charlotte Elmer Ryan Weingott

3/4Z Mia Jones Jacob Hughes

4/5G Harrison Stone Ashlee Johnson

5/6H Maxx McMahon Piper Mullins

5/6CO Abdul Kareem Anneliese Jones

5/6R Gabby McCallum Cruz McGrath

MC Crystal Peterson

Term 1 Sport Report

This term has seen many exciting things happening with sport at Tomaree.

All of the students that have represented our school at Zone and Hunter swimming carnivals, Zone and Hunter

sport trials and Gala Days have worked well to demonstrate our 3 school values. We are so proud of you all!

Special mentions:

- Will Doherty for being selected to represent the Hunter PSSA AFL team at the State championships in Byron Bay

next term.

- Charlize Fines for making it through to the Hunter girls soccer trials.

- The school AFL teams for showing some amazing teamwork.

The team were very lucky to have Casey join them each week as an

‘assistant coach’ at training sessions. Mrs Blyth was so proud of the

way the team showed inclusivity and made Casey feel welcome and

comfortable. Casey was happy to pop on a braid and join in with the

boys by the end of last week!

We have also had students achieve exciting things in their chosen

sports outside of school as well.

Congratulations to Maebel Colley who was successful in making it to

State Athletics for long jump, 100m, 70m and 200m!

Important dates:

Cross Country is on Wednesday the 31st of March. A note will come

home this week.

Smiling Mind school-based program at Tomaree Public School

Some classes at Tomaree Public School are trialling Smiling Mind, which is an evidence-based program for

implementing mindfulness within schools. Smiling Mind provides a framework to support student wellbeing and

assists students to develop their social and emotional skills, which strengthens their engagement and fosters positive

behaviour within the classroom. Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity and

without judgement. Research has proven that mindfulness develops an increase in attention, memory, regulation of

emotions and self-awareness. An improvement in these areas facilitates a reduction in stress and anxiety levels, and

additionally enhances academic and social skills (Source: Smiling Mind).

The teachers who are implementing Smiling Mind report that their students are enjoying the brief meditations,

mindfulness exercises, and most importantly the meaningful discussions that follow such mindful practices. Teachers

and students alike are already seeing the benefits! A steady increase in the focus and engagement levels of students

is creating a much calmer and enhanced teaching and learning environment for all.

For more information on how you can support your child to be mindful, please visit the following website:

https://www.smilingmind.com.au/at-home

Additionally, Smiling Mind have a mindfulness app, which is free to download via the App Store or through Google

Play.

Source: https://www.smilingmind.com.au/education

Keep up the great effort on your mindfulness journey, Tomaree PS! ☺

Bree Tamsett

Smiling Mind Committee Organiser

TPS PBL Focus for this week is:

RESPONSIBILITY -

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

Make good choices about when and where we should be at

school at all times.

P&C News

Tomaree Public School P&C Committee is welcoming new members and we invite

you to the Annual General Meeting.

The P&C needs parent support. Come along and have your voice heard!

The P&C can only continue to operate and provide students with the additional amazing resources and projects it

does, with the help of parent volunteers!

Without further support, the P&C will be unable to continue. This means the school won’t have a canteen and

there will be no P&C run events at school, such as discos or another colour fun run.

We look forward to seeing some new faces.

Tomaree Public School P&C’s Easter raffle is back! Raffle tickets went home this week to all students. If you require

additional books, these can be collected from the canteen. Don’t forget to

include your child’s name on the raffle book slip. All students who return sold

tickets will go into the student prize draw.

Can you help with a donation? We require donations of anything Easter related -chocolates, baskets, soft toys,

vouchers or books for the Easter hampers.

The raffle will be drawn on the day of the School’s Easter Hat Parade, which will be held on Thursday 1st April.

Thanks, from the P&C

Schools Poetry & Short Story Writing Competition 2021

Competition Information

Entry is NOW OPEN in the 2021 Schools Poetry & Short Story Writing Competition! Students all over Australia are invited to

enter their poems OR short stories, and battle it out for the great cash & prizes on offer.

There is no theme!! Entrants are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild and write on ANY TOPIC and in ANY STYLE.

Students from ALL GRADES are welcome to enter - Kindergarten/Preparatory to Grade 12.

Entry is FREE and all entries must be in by the 31st March 2021.

More information can be found at https://www.write4fun.net/competitions/68

When: Thursday 18th March 2021

Time: AGM 5.15pm (General Meeting to begin approx. 5.45pm)

Where: Spark CoWork (next to KFC, Salamander Bay), or join us remotely.

If you require zoom details, contact us at tomareepandc@outlook.com

Donations should be taken to the canteen by Friday 26th March

Raffle tickets are due back to the canteen by Tuesday 30th March