Forest Primary School eNewsletter

The last couple of weeks certainly bring a whirlwind of activities and events to Forest Primary, ending in the Grade 6 Assembly tonight to acknowledge and celebrate the academic achievement, respect and brilliance demonstrated by senior students. A huge thank you to all staff, students and the Parents & Friends group – the amount of effort, organisation and help in pulling together these final events has been staggering. From a winning float entry in the Smithton Christmas Parade, Family BBQ, wet assemblies, school picnic, Grade 6 Leavers Dinner and final assembly- staff and parents have worked extremely hard.

Staffing 2022

With staffing changes next year, we wish staff moving on to other parts of the state, new positions and bringing into the world new family members! Best wishes to Katelyn Cramer, Stacey King, Leah Skellington, Amy Pegg and Tori Horton. Mrs Poulter will be working at Forest Primary at the beginning of 2022 until she takes maternity leave. We welcome Paul Vardy Grade 5/6, Claire Ballot 5/6 and Melissa Cox in Prep and Sarah Jordan 1/2. Congratulations Kellie Bransden and J’Quai Horton who have both won a position as Education Support Specialists. These roles work in Prep classrooms.

Wishing all our families a beautiful Christmas and relaxing holiday break.

2022 – School Term Dates

Term 1 Start:

Monday 7^th February (teachers commence)

Wednesday 9^th February (students commence).

Term 1 Finish:

Wednesday 13^th April

Easter & Term 1 break: 14^th April – 29^th April

Term 2 Start: Monday 2^nd May

Term 2 Finish: Friday 8^th July

Term 3 Start: Tuesday 26^th July

Term 3 Finish: Friday 30^th September

Term 4 Start: Monday 17^th October

Term 4 Finish: Wednesday 21^st December (students finish)

Thursday 22^nd December (teachers finish)

Professional Learning days

Monday 7^th& 8^th February

Thursday 14^th April

Monday 25^th July

Friday 4^th November

Public Holidays

Monday 14th March - Labour Day

Friday 6th May - Agfest

Monday 13th June - Queens Birthday

Monday 7th November - Recreation Day

I want to thank you all for making my time at Forest Primary over the past eight years memorable and happy. Thank you to the kids, families and staff for being so welcoming and including me in the Forest community. I have enjoyed getting to know lots of different people, being involved in school events and learning about the Circular Head area. I have been so impressed with the dedication Forest Primary staff show in creating amazing learning opportunities and positive school experiences for students. I have loved seeing students learn and grow over the time that I have been here. I will miss lots of things about working at Forest. Good luck for next year and the future. Wishing you all a safe and happy Summer break and all the best for 2022.

What a privilege it’s been to spend the last 2.5 years at Forest Primary! I couldn’t think of a better place to start off my teaching career and I’ll be eternally grateful for the kindness and support shown to me by staff, parents and the students at Forest Primary. It’s with mixed emotions that I head off to Hobart and whilst I’m excited about the adventure that lies ahead of me (and not having to travel every second weekend), I will certainly miss the school community and all the wonderful students that have a very special place in my heart. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and a fantastic 2022!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Forest School Community for the support and care you have given me the past few years. The Forest Community will always have a special place in my heart and I am thankful for the opportunities I have been presented. I look forward to following their musical and art journeys in the years ahead.

I personally want to thank all the students, families and staff here at Forest Primary for the last two and a half years that I have been privileged to share with you all. I consider myself lucky to have been able to begin my teaching career in a place I have called home for the majority of my life. I am sad to be leaving this wonderful school but I am also excited to be heading into an aspect of my career that I have dreamed about doing from the beginning of my studies. I will ensure I stay in touch with the community and I cannot wait to see where the students head as they grow and continue to flourish. I wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year! - Miss Cramer.

Thank you for joining us for our final assembly of 2021!

Bookings are now open for children aged 5 to 11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Special vaccine clinics will run exclusively for children aged 5 to 11 across Tasmania from 10 January 2022. Clinics will be held at community locations across the state to give every primary school aged child the opportunity to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before they return to school in February. Vaccinations are not mandatory to attend school, but we would encourage parents to get their children vaccinated to protect their children, their families, and our school community. Last week a smaller paediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine was approved as safe and effective for children aged 5 to 11 by Australia’s top medical experts. Children will get two doses, eight weeks apart – but they will only be available in special children’s clinics and GPs. Bookings are essential for children’s clinics and children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

To find out more, including how to book, visit the Tasmanian Government’s coronavirus website:

https://www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/vaccination-information/covid-19-vaccination/who-can-get-a-vaccine/covid-19-vaccines-for-children-aged-5-to-11/_nocache

On Tuesday students headed to Wynyard for their yearly School picnic. Whilst in Wynyard students participated in a range of different activities from beach art and beach sports to giant games and walking. All students and staff had a very enjoyable day and it was a great day spent in the sunshine.

Thank you to our amazing students and staff who put together the best Christmas Float for 2021!! "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the students should be proud of their big smiles and Christmas cheer! An extra special shout out to Megan Hills for organising the float and to Murray Horton for all your hard work, along with Allan Lord for driving and supplying the truck. Enjoy some Christmas cheer in our photo gallery below.

STAS forms for 2022 can be collected from the school office or families can also apply online on the Department's web page at www.education.tas.gov.au.

If you have any further questions about STAS or Levies and Charges in general please contact the Department of Education’s Financial Assistance on 1800 827 055 or via email stas@education.tas.gov.au.

Levy_Breakdown_2022.doc.pdf

Levy_Breakdown_2022 _doc _pdf 102.68 KB

President Lynne van Norden had the honour of presenting Veronica Charles and Jacqueline Bergman with A Parents and Friends life membership on Wednesday night!

Congratulations to you both and thank you for all you have done for our school over time. Veronica a total of 13 years all up including 6 as President. Jacqueline 12 years all up and 4 years as President. We will definitely miss them on the committee.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Parents and Friends Association this year. We enjoyed a great Christmas BBQ to thank the families and friends from Forest Primary. A special thankyou to Santa for taking time out of his very busy schedule to arrive in style and wish the children a Merry Christmas.

Term 1 - 2022
Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th February 2022	Book & Uniform Sales Day 2022
Monday 7th February	Teachers Commence
Wednesday 9th February	Students Commence
Wednesday 13th April	Last Day of Term 1

On Wednesday 15th December we celebrated our year 6 students with an assembly evening. We wish all our grade 6 students the very best for their future and remember to always fall forward. Congratulations to the following students on receiving these awards;

Ruth Forrest - leadership, study and sport - incorporating our six school values - Jayden Charles