Lower Plenty Primary School

News

Our Tournament Winning Lacrosse Team10 November 2009
The winning team from the Montmorency District Boy\'s Round Robin Tournament.

Special Assembly9 November 2009
Steve Herbert, Local State MP for Eltham attended our assembly yesterday to present Year 2 student Bailey Ferrari with his annual Student Citizenship Award. Bailey was rewarded for his involvement with the CFA near Pakenham and for his general care and knowledge in all things fire safety. Steve also presented the many students who participated in this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge with their certificates.

Boy’s Round Robin – Another Great Achievement for Lower Plenty.9 November 2009
The juggernaut rolls on! Congratulation’s to the boy’s LaCrosse team who won the Montmorency District Cross Country tournament last Friday as part of the Boy’s Round Robin Day. The team was unbeaten all day. The netball and softball teams also played very well on the day. Thanks to Jacqui Howe, Mr Kendall and Mr Wall for coaching the teams.

Parent Communication with the School.29 October 2009
It is imperative for a child’s education that good communication is established between the school and their parents. I highly encourage all parents to maintain a good communication link between home and school. This can be achieved via written notes to the teacher, telephone calls or pre-arranged meetings at agreed times. Also, if any parents have any concerns with their child’s progress at Lower Plenty, or any other aspects of the school, I highly encourage them to discuss this with their classroom teacher as soon as possible. Following this, my door is always open to parents should they wish to discuss matters further. I always appreciate hearing any concerns people have as soon as they arise so they can quickly be acted upon.

School Fees Due.28 October 2009
A number of families have not yet paid their 2009 School Enrichment Contribution. These funds help provide important resources and materials for all students. A reminder letter was recently mailed to relevant families. The school would appreciate any outstanding payments before the end of the year. Thank you to those families who have recently paid.

State Athletics Newsflash.27 October 2009
Congratulations to Callum Randell who finished 2nd in the State 12/13 YO Triple Jump competition at Olympic Park. Jordan Sutterby finished equal 6th in the 11 YO High Jump. Fabulous achievement boys and keep it up! Unfortunately, the Triple Jump event is not included at the National level. If it were, Callum would be soon off to Sydney.

National Schools PrideNSP Maintenance Project Update.20 October 2009
All maintenance items have been completed apart from the resurfacing of the hall toilets and canteen floors and the replacement of the hall light globes. Work on Room 6 (The old classroom) will begin when it has been relocated during the new building project.

Sport Update20 October 2009
Congratulations to Callum R and Jordan S who have made the State Athletics Championships! Callum will compete in Triple Jump and Jordan in High Jump. At last week’s Regional Carnival, Callum came second in Triple Jump and third in High Jump. Jordan came second in the High Jump. The State’s are held next Monday at Olympic Park. Good luck to both boys. What a year in sport for LPPS! The Girls Volleyball team had their match in the knockout Zone competition last Friday against Eltham East PS. The game was an excellent standard but Eltham East proved too strong for us. I am very proud of the season the girls had and the progress they made in what is a challenging sport for children to master. It was tremendous also to see so many parents attend and support the team so enthusiastically. Well done Lower Plenty!

English Online Interview.20 October 2009
Students in Years P-2 will this week begin to be formally assessed for their reading, writing, speaking and listening ability using a new online system. Classroom teachers will conduct the assessment with each student individually. Results will be immediately available to teachers and schools. This new system replaces the previous Assessment of Reading P-2 process. Should parents have any questions about this assessment, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.

State Representatives.14 October 2009
Congratulations to Callum R and Jordan S who are now off to the State Athletics. Callum finished 2nd in Region Triple Jump and 3rd in High Jump. Jordan finished 2nd in Regional High Jump.

Sport Update.14 October 2009
Congratulations to all the students who represented the school at last week’s Zone Athletics in Doncaster. Year 6 student Callum Randell came first in High Jump and Triple Jump and will progress to the regional Athletics, along with Year 5 Jordan Sutterby who came first in High Jump. The boy’s relay team of Callum, Daniel Dansey, Corey Lumsden and Jack O’Neill-Paterson finished third. Good luck Callum and Jordan! The Girls Volleyball team have their first match in the knockout zone competition this Friday against Eltham East PS. The game will be played indoors at Eltham East at 1.50pm. Parents are encouraged to attend and support the team. Good luck girls! Last week the team played a practice match against district runner –up St Francis and had a comfortable win. The Cricket team also played a practice game against district premier St Francis and they too had a good win. Well done boys, you had a great season!

Swimming Starts Thursday, October 15.14 October 2009
A reminder for parents of year P-4 students that swimming lessons at Eltham Leisure Centre start on Thursday. Competent aquatic skills are an important asset for Australian children to have. Please ensure you have returned the permission forms and your child brings all the necessary items on the day. Yesterday, staff from the pool conducted some pre-lesson safety activities at school.

NAPLAN (formerly AIM) Results for Lower Plenty PS. Well Done LPPS!6 October 2009
Lower Plenty students in Year 3 and 5 again performed very well in the National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy. These national tests have taken the place of the state-wide AIM tests from 2008. Students are tested in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy. The school compares similarly in both the state and the national averages. All our school mean scores in the five areas tested for Year 3 and Year 5, except one, were above the state and national average. Overall results were higher than last year. Many of our students received some extremely high individual scores.

Footy Day6 October 2009
A fun Footy Day was had by all recently. Students dressed in their favourite team colours and enjoyed a team parade, footy skills sessions with young coaches and a yummy BBQ lunch. All Demon supporters got to go home early! (Just kidding)

Music Performance6 October 2009
Students from Julie\'s singing and guitar tuition program performed at school assembly recently. It is wonderful to see so many students currently involved in music.

New Lunch Menu and Change Of Day.6 October 2009
The Organic Kitchen have put out a revised lunch menu which is included in today’s newsletter. Please note that lunches will now be delivered on Fridays so orders need to be in on Thursdays beginning next week on Friday October 16.

National Schools Pride Maintenance Project Update.6 October 2009
The maintenance work being completed by Commercial and Industrial Painting Services is starting to come together and is nearing completion. The buildings remaining in the long term are looking great after the facelift. Work on the ‘heritage’ classroom will be postponed until it has been relocated as part of the new building project. These items were completed on the holidays: -The interior of the Hall, Hall Toilets, Canteen and GP room has been painted. -Repair work has been done on the hall toilet roof and ceilings. -The ceiling light globes in the Hall have been replaced. -There is a new entrance to the Art room. - Most painting/repair of the GP room exterior has been completed. The workers are now completing the remaining external painting and beginning work on the hall floor.

Sunsmart in Term 4. 6 October 2009
Hats need to be worn in Term 4 so please hunt out your child’s school hat in readiness for the start of term. We will begin enforcement of the hat rule in the second week of term.

Outstanding Montmorency District Athletics Result for Lower Plenty.Monday 7 September
What a remarkable performance from our District Athletics team last Thursday at the Meadowglen Athletics’ track. Our school finished 2nd overall, after competing against some much larger schools. We also received the Most Improved School Award for the second time in three years. Mr Wall has taught at Lower Plenty since 1981 and cannot remember a better result. Our students are generally very fit and active which reflected in this amazing achievement. Well done to all the competitors. Several students now progress to the zone athletics later in the year. Thank you to Mr Hewat, Mr Kendall and Mr Wall for preparing the team so well. Lower Plenty PS really does punch above its weight in sport.

Father’s Day Stall and Raffle.Monday 7 September
Father’s Day Stall and Raffle. A huge thank you to President Sue Ware and the PFA for organising the very successful Father’s Day stall and raffle last Friday. There was a great array of gifts available for purchase. It is much appreciated when members of the school community give up so much of their own time to support our students. The day raised a significant amount of funds for the school and I’m sure made many dads very happy.

Teddy Bear Night.Tuesday 1 September
As a celebration of Book Week, a lovely evening was had by all at last Wednesday’s annual Teddy Bear Night. There was a large audience of Year P-2 students in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, their parents and grandparents, and several 2010 Preps. Of course, all the children brought their favourite teddy! Chris Rutherford began the evening with some bear stories and then the children showed off their teddies. This was followed by some fun songs with the Principal. The families then made paper telescopes together before ending the evening with a hot drink and teddy bear biscuit. Thank you Chris for organising this wonderful night.

Chess Tournament.Tuesday 26 August
Our volunteer Bill Finlay took fourteen students to Viewbank Primary School last Friday to compete in a Chess Kids tournament. Lower Plenty students competed against students from Viewbank, Ivanhoe, Banyule and Preston Primary Schools. Our students had a fun day and performed credibly. Year 4 student Lauren Ware won a medal for the highest placed girl of the tournament. Well done to all of our competitors and to Bill for coaching the team. Thank you to Sue Ware, Richard Carlyon, Leanne McLaughlan and Ellen Oldman for helping transport the students.

Science Day. Tuesday 25 August
What a terrific and spectacular Science day we had last Tuesday! Special guest Royce presented his entertaining FFFFFFF Science Show in the hall and the students followed this with an engineering challenge involving groups making large paper constructions. The challenge was to make a construction that was Ms Pearce’s height and that the group could fit into. The ‘winning’ construction is on display in the school corridor. A big thank you to Talitha Pearce for organising the days events. I have included some photos in the newsletter.

New LPPS Sport Tops.18 August 2009
The school has a smart new sport polo top available to purchase from the uniform shop. All students participating in interschool sport, athletics or even PE are encouraged to wear them. It will certainly make our school sport representatives look smart, especially when travelling away from home. The top is on display in the foyer and costs only $21. Meanwhile, the PFA are kindly organising new numbered football and soccer jumpers in readiness for the 2010 season.

New Building Update.11 August 2009
Although we haven’t been officially announced yet as a successful Round 3 Schools of the 21st Century Building Project, School Council last night viewed and discussed the three Rural Replacement School Template options as presented by the project manager last week. The building sub-committee is awaiting site plans, colour options and further information before making a final recommendation to school council. Meanwhile, a civil engineer visited the school today to investigate the school site. Parents are welcome to view the option plans at the school. The floor plans are on display in the staffroom, and room 6. More detailed elevation plans are available for viewing in my office. An official public announcement from BER shouldn’t be far away.

New School Sign. 11 August 2009
Families will have noticed the smart new changeable sign at the front corner of the school. This is a welcome addition to the school, allowing us to advertise news and coming events to the community. A huge thank you to Lyn Lohrey for organising this asset and our wonderful PFA for providing the funds. Lyn is also planning a colourful mural to sit against the sign which should make it even more eye catching.

Schools Water Efficiency Program – Well Done Lower Plenty.11 August 2009
LPPS was recently audited by SWEP. This organisation visits all schools and gauges their level of water efficiency and makes water usage reduction recommendations. SWEP were satisfied with current our level of water efficiency, especially since the new water tanks were installed, and therefore deemed us as being an official water efficient school without the need to take up any further reduction measures. SWEP will supply us with an official certificate and sign for display in the coming weeks.

Coach Approach Day.3 August 2009
A big thank you to Wayde Kendall for organising last week’s annual Coach Approach day and to Leanne McLaughlan and the parents who provided the sausage sizzle and fruit platter lunch. All students enjoyed participating in soccer, AFL, taekwondo, rugby and softball sessions. Whilst the students were disappointed that the popular Bobby couldn’t attend, Hammy (his brother?) more than made up for it.

‘Wicked’ Theatre Excursion. 3 August 2009
The Year 4-6 students attended the production of the musical ‘Wicked’ at the Regent Theatre last week. As we had several spare student tickets, the names of Year 3 students were placed in a hat and some were drawn out and given the opportunity to also attend. The group also visited the Centre for the Moving Image at Federation Square and had lunch in Birrarung Marr. Several students gave an impressive report on the day at yesterday’s assembly. Thanks to Matt Hewat for taking over the organising of the event in Jenny Solly’s absence.

Enrol Now!20 July 2009
Families wishing to enrol students for 2010 are asked to do so now as we are beginning to plan for next year. Please see Linda in the office for enrolment forms.

Free Fruit Friday.20 July 2009
I was thrilled to be informed last week that our school has been successful in obtaining funding from the ‘Go for Your Life’ health program for ‘Free Fruit Fridays’. The local green grocer at Lower Plenty will provide fresh fruit and vegetables every Friday for all students in Years P-2. There will be more information and permission slips going home to relevant families. I hope the students thoroughly enjoy these yummy and healthy treats. Thanks especially to Roberta Iebbiano for organising this program.

Bunning’s BBQ Saturday. Thank you!20 July 2009
Many thanks to the parents who manned the Eltham Bunning’s BBQ last Saturday to raise much needed funds for the school. Your valuable time and effort you gave for the school is much appreciated. Thank you especially to PFA members Leanne McLaughlan and Sue Ware for the thorough organisation of the event. There will be another BBQ at Bunnings on Saturday, September 12. Other families who assisted on the day were: Scott x2, Judkins, Pobjoy, Rapsey, Li, Howe, Dwyer, Ware, Marshall, Auchettl, Offerman, Tsaparis, Sutterby, Telburn, Fiddes, Velo, Cleeve, Gidley, Paterson, Doville, Williams, Chesser, Pepper, Lumsden, Starziczny, Condos and Wilson. Apologies to anyone left off the list.

Northstar Chess Tournament.22 June 2009
Yesterday, a group of 11 students attended this fabulous day in Kangaroo Ground. Our volunteer, Bill Findlay, attended with myself and parents Sue Ware and Katherine Pepper. Bill has been kindly training the students throughout the year. Other students in attendance were from Arthur’s Creek, Glen Katherine, Panton Hill and the hosts Kangaroo Ground Primary School. A credit award, for winning the majority of their games, was given to Jed Stuart, Callum Randell, Kevin Li, Daniel Dansey, Josh Scott and Amelia Pepper. Amelia also received a medal for the overall third placed girl. Sarah Ware, Lauren Ware, Brodie Scott, Jackson Haglund and Jack Tsaparis also did well on the day. Well done to all the students who attended and many thanks to Sue and Katherine for assisting with the transport and buying the coffees!

District Cross Country.2 June 2009
Lower Plenty PS students again did themselves proud at last Friday’s District Cross Country. Several students have progressed to the zone stage. Thank you to Mr Kendall, Mr Hewat and Mr Wall for preparing the students so well. Mr Kendall has a more comprehensive report further in the newsletter.

Jan Kronberg MLC Visit25 May 2009
The school was visited Monday by Jan Kronberg MLC, the State Liberal Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council. Jan toured the school, met staff and students and spoke to our community at assembly. She was most impressed with LPPS and wished us well with our upcoming building works. Jan was especially taken by the community feel at assembly and the competent manner in which the assembly was conducted by our students.

Exciting News for Lower Plenty PS!21 May 2009
School Building Project Proposal - Building the Education Revolution/Better Schools Today/National School Pride Programs. Last week I received confirmation from the Economic Stimulus Plan Team that the Rural Replacement School Template proposal for Lower Plenty PS will go ahead. This is exciting news for our school as it guarantees our long term viability and will provide our students and teachers with modern and progressive teaching and learning spaces. Families and visitors will also be received in a much more attractive and practical entrance and reception area. Families in the area will have the option to attend a virtual new school that still maintains a comfortable enrolment size, has great programs and learning outcomes and vast outdoor play areas. The new buildings will be complimented with repair and refurbishing of the remaining buildings, diminishing long term maintenance issues. Several weeks ago the School Council held an extraordinary meeting, open to all the school community, where the building proposal was presented and discussed. The meeting overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposal, on the condition that the GP Room and Room 6 be kept along with the Hall and Art room. I will give families further information and project plans as they become available. A summary of the details we currently have is as follows: • Federal BER and State BST funding will be combined and topped up to rebuild the school. • The building replacement project will be a ‘Rural Replacement School Template’. This will be built to cater for up to 125 students. (Currently we have 117 students.) An enrolment above 125 may see a relocatable provided. • The project is earmarked for Round 3 envisaged to begin August/September this year. Completion would be around mid 2010. • All timber buildings will be demolished except the ‘heritage’ classroom (room 6). This will try to be incorporated into the new building configuration, but may need to be a standalone building. • The Hall. Art room and GP room (Out of Hours School Care) will remain. • Remaining buildings will be repaired and refurbished with funding through the National Schools Pride program. • The new building will include 5 very large classrooms, library, withdrawal rooms, toilets, first aid, reception/office, staffroom, meeting rooms and storerooms. • An assigned Project Manager will oversee the entire project including the initial demolition works and location and configuration of the new building. • Classes will be relocated on-site during construction. The school may require assistance from parents during the de-camping stage.

Veggie Soup on the Way!21 May 2009
Science teacher Talitha Pearce has been working with a group of year P-2 students to establish a vegetable garden. The students have prepared the garden bed and planted an array of vegetable seeds which have begun to germinate grow very well. The group are currently watering and tending to the garden through the week. Meanwhile, the students have also been growing plants indoors and analysing their response to different liquids.

LPPS Sport Stars.12 May 2009
Congratulations to Year 5 student Amelia for making the Zone Trials in Netball last week. Amelia is having a great sporting year, already making the zone stage in netball, tennis, volleyball and swimming. A great all round effort in sport from Amelia! Year 6 student Jack also made it through to the Eastern Yarra regional Football trials this week at Carey Grammar. Jack is a very fast, skilful and determined footballer and he did very well to progress as far as he did. LPPS certainly punches above its weight in sport!

Bunnings BBQ .12 May 2009
The Lower Plenty PS Sausage Sizzle at Bunnings Eltham on Sunday raised over $700 for the school. I sincerely appreciate and thank the parents who gave their valuable Mother’s Day time to assist on the day. Much credit goes to Leanne McLaughlan in particular who organised the event and worked tirelessly all throughout the day. Other families to help on Sunday were Jury, Velo, Scott, Pepper, Judkins, Hatton, Dwyer, Marshall, Corrie, Offerman, Rapsey, Andrew, Sutterby, Dansey, Howe and Tsaparis. Thanks guys! LPPS is holding two more Bunnings BBQs this year on Saturday July 18 and September 12. The students enjoyed the left over sausages for lunch. Thanks again Leanne!

Mother’s Day Stall.12 May 2009
Last Friday’s Mother’s Day Stall was again a huge hit with the students and raised valuable funds for the school. There was a wide variety in the selection of gifts and I’m sure all the mums enjoyed receiving them on Sunday. A big thank you to our PFA President Sue Ware for organising the stall and to all the helpers on the day.

Peer Mediation Program.27 April 2009
Select students have been chosen to be part of a Peer Mediation Program. These students will be trained and available to assist other students in the school yard who are having minor problems such as disagreements or spats. The mediators will be identified by wearing a bright yellow jacket. Students will be encouraged to seek their assistance in resolving problems before going to a teacher. Thank you to Wayde Kendall for organising this iniative.

LPPS Volleyball District Premiers.27 April 2009
Last Thursday, LPPS defeated St Francis 3 sets to 1 to win the Montmorency District Girl’s Volleyball Premiership. It was an exciting game, with two of the sets decided by a few points. After being runner-up in 2008, the girls had another fine season and were undefeated. It was a pleasure coaching the team, as all the girls were willing to work hard to improve their skills and team play in a game that can be quite challenging for children to play. Importantly, they genuinely enjoyed training and the games and never lost focus throughout the season. I would like to thank the many parents and students who attended the game to give great support to the team, and particularly Trish Bennetts for making the fantastic coloured streamers.

Anzac Day Service at Montmorency RSL.27 April 2009
Last Wednesday, Leo Sorenson from the RSL came and spoke to our students about the meaning and significance of Anzac Day.The students listened intently to his presentation and had some very interesting questions at the end. Thank you to Sarah Ware and Callum Randell for laying a memorial wreath on behalf of the school at the Anzac Day Service in Montmorency last Saturday. Our volunteer, Bill Findlay, marched proudly on the day which was also attended by many families from the school. Thank you to Heather Bass for arranging the wreath.

LPPS Sport.20 April 2009
Cricket - District Runners-Up. The cricket team narrowly lost an exciting final to St. Francis. Scores were level at the end of 14 overs each and extra overs had to be played to decide the result. Unfortunately, our boys came up a liitle short in the end but the result could have gone either way. Congratulations to St. Francis. Our team had a tremendous season and well done to all the boys and coach Matt Hewat. Volleyball District Final. The girls will play in the final at school against St. Francis on Thursday morning at around 9.15am. Good luck girls! We encourage parents to come along and support the team.

UNSW Assessments1 April 2009
LPPS Students in Year 3-6 have the opportunity to sit the University of NSW tests. This assessment compares students with others across Australia. Parents are given official results and there are certificates given as awards. There is a cost involved for each subject test that the student sits. I have included more information and a permission slip with the newsletter for interested parents.

The Power of One – Anti-Bullying Performance.1 April 2009
The school enjoyed a performance of ‘The Power of One’ anti bullying show last Thursday. At the end of the show the students recited the ‘Power of One Oath’: I will Not Bully Others. I will Not Stand By While Others Are Bullied. I Will Report Bullying Wherever I See It. Because I Have the Power Of One. All students signed the pledge poster which will be displayed in the school foyer.

School Council AGM and New Members1 April 2009
Last Monday the School Council AGM was held with the 2008 School Annual Report presented to members. This document is now available for the school community to read on this website. We then had the first official meeting of the ‘new’ School Council where we welcomed new parent members Marcell Judkins, Paul Scott and Janine Andrew and new staff member Lilia Severo. As we had only three parent nominations for the three vacancies the school was not required to hold a formal election. Andrew Telburn was re-elected as President, Mary Ann Morgan is Vice-President, Dale Ware treasurer and Heather bass Secretary. We thank the following people for their services to School Council over recent years: Kathryn Pepper, Jason Cleeve, Andrea Sutterby and Christine Rutherford. I would particularly like to acknowledge Kathryn who has served on SC for the past six years and is a former SC President. School council also formed it’s Sub-committees for 2009. *Any parents not on School Council are also encouraged to join any of these groups: Education/ICT: Jenny Solly (Convenor), Rick Theunissen, Mark Turnbull. Finance: Dale Ware (Convenor), Andrew Telburn, Mark Turnbull Buildings and Grounds: Wayde Kendall (Convenor), Paul Scott, Rick Theunissen. Out of Hours School Care: Mary Ann Morgan (Convenor), Marcel Judkins. Community Liaison: Heather bass (Convenor), Lilia Severo, Janine Andrew, Lynne Lohrey, Jenny Dwyer.

2009 School Leaders1 April 2009
Congratulations to the following 2009 School Leaders who were presented with their badges at assembly. School Captains: Chloe Coventry and Jack O’Neill-Paterson School Vice-Captains: Sarah Ware and Callum Randell Junior School Council Representatives: The above year 6 students and Sarah Starziczny and Jack Tsaparis (Year 5), Lauren Ware and Brodie Hatton (Year 4) and Emma Jury and Jackson Hagland (Year 3). House Captains: Prosperity (Blue) – Brittany Fiddes and Riley Howe. Chverton (Green) – Courtney Chesser and Jordan Sutterby Rosehill (Red) – Abbie Pobjoy and Corey Lumsden Panorama (Yellow) – Jaimie Brear and Tom Taylor.

VPSSA Tennis Championships.19 March 2009
Congratulations to Jack O’Neil-Paterson, Corey Lumsden, Sarah Ware, Amelia Pepper, Olivia Dwyer and Riley Cleeve for representing the school in the zone tennis trial last week at Montmorency. Jack, Corey, Amelia and Sarah all played their way through to the Region stage to be held in Bendigo soon. A great effort!

Annual Car Boot Sale Another Great Success23 March 2009
Again, the LPPS Community excelled on Sunday, raising over $5,000 for our students! Whilst numbers were slightly down on last year, a big crowd attended throughout the day and enjoyed the many boot sales, stalls and activities on offer. There was a crockery smash stall, dunny roll throw, face painting, sand painting, mini-golf, reverse draw, spinning wheel, sausage sizzle, fairy floss,refreshments, cakes and music. The school was abuzz with people and activitiy and a it was great promotion for us. Almost all our students attended with their families for part of the day which was great to see . I really enjoyed bringing my band along to play some songs. To Sue Ware and the PFA, Leanne McLaughlan, Lynne Lohrey, Vicki Corrie, Julie and Daryl Cox and the many other parents and friends who assisted on the day and in the days leading up- thank you for your outstanding commitment, help and organisation. I will not mention every individual by name for fear of leaving someone out we know who you are!. Well done also to Linda and the Staff for their magnificent support and assistance. We also appreciate the contributions of local businesses who donated variuos items for the day.

Tasmanian Tour a Great Success17 March 2009
Last Tuesday evening, 36 excited Year 5/6 students sailed on the Spirit of Tasmania. It was a relief that no-one was sick on the boat due to the relatively calm voyage. We arrived in Devonport on Wednesday morning and had breakfast at a local hotel before heading off on our bus tour with friendly driver Wayne. First stop was the Marakoopa Caves at Mole Creek where we saw huge caverns full of stalactites, stalagmites and glow worms. Australia’s Oldest Bridge in Richmond, Tasmania. From there we headed to the quaint town of Deloraine and had a picnic lunch on the river, before heading to Launceston. The chairlift ride across the spectacular Cataract Gorge was a highlight of the trip. I’m sure the students had not seen such green grass in a long time. That night we enjoyed dinner at a local Lion’s Club before settling in at our motel. The next day began with a visit to the Launceston City Park and the Japanese Macaque monkeys before we boarded the bus for the long trip through the centre of Tasmania to Hobart. Along the way we stopped at the beautiful historic towns of Ross and Oatlands. Near Richmond was ‘Zoo Doo’ Animal Park which proved a huge hit with the students as they got to see, touch and feed various animals up close as well as see Tasmanian Devils and lions being fed. It was very funny when the emus, ostriches and camels stuck their heads in our truck looking for food. From there we headed to Hobart and the Cadbury chocolate factory where we learned how chocolate is made and then shopped for tasty samples. A Hobart motel provided a lovely dinner before we set off for a walk around the local streets. The next morning we set off for Port Arthur where we had a tour of some of the sites and explored the buildings before enjoying a cruise around the local waters. After lunch we headed off to see some of the natural beauty of the coastline. The tour ended with a visit to the old town of Richmond. There we saw Australia’s oldest bridge and shopped ‘til we dropped at the Olde Lolly Shop. The flight back to Melbourne was an exciting way to finish what had been a whirlwind but unforgettable Tassie experience for all. The state of Tasmania should be very proud of the way they have preserved so many 19th century buildings as they are a common sight right throughout the state. Tasmania also put on its best weather for us while we were there. I would like to thank Matt Hewat, Jenny Solly and Liz Offerman for attending the tour with me and ensuring a great time was had by all, and particularly Matt for his thorough organisation. I would also like to thank and compliment the students for their excellent behaviour and high enthusiasm and their parents too for taking them to Station Pier and collecting them from the airport. I have included some photos in the newsletter.

Learn Singing or Guitar at School5 February 2009
Professional musician Julie Haigh is offering group or private singinging and/or guitar lessons every Friday. There is a fee involved.

Lunchtime Library2 February 2009
Mrs Rutherford is opening the Library every Wednesday lunchtime Come in and read a book, do some homework or research on the computer.

It's A Boy!10 February 2009
William Ryder Kendall. Born 10.2.09. 8.2lbs. Congratulations to year 2/3 teacher Wayde Kendall and his wife Amy.

Chess Club Starts2 February 2009
Join Bill for a game of chess every Friday lunchtime.

New Music Teacher2 February 2009
Welcome Mr Gary McKie who will be taking music, band and music technology.

Specialist Science Program Has Begun.2 February 2009
All grades now have Science in the Science Room with Ms Pearce.

Diary Dates

Full Calendar ...