Welcome to our new families and the Welcome Back BBQ 

We are so happy to have several new families join our school community this year. We hope that you have been made to feel welcome and that you enjoy your time at our school. We are looking forward to getting to know you more and having lots of fun working together to help your children grow and learn. 

We will be hosting our annual “Welcome Back BBQ on Tuesday 27 February (before the Launceston Cup Day public holiday) from 3:15-4:30pm. We invite you to come along and grab a sausage and say hi. You are also encouraged to go with your child into their classroom so that they can show you around their learning space – they might even have some work that they are proud of in their books that they want to show you. We hope that you can come. The SLC will be helping me with the BBQ and will be selling cool drinks on the night ($1.00 for water and $2.00 for cans of soft drink) but the sausages are free (limit 2 per person).  

Parent e-Safety Webinar sessions 

In the holidays I came across this great resource that I thought may of you might like to explore. With the digital world forever changing I do find myself feeling a little behind the knowledge of our young people sometimes but ensuring our learners are staying safe from digital harm is a job that we all need to take very seriously and stay on top of.  Some of these webinar topics are fantastic and aimed at parents so I encourage you to check them out by clicking on this link below and registering in those that are relevant to you. As an accredited eSmart school we are committed to ongoing vigilance with eSafety.  

Northern Midlands Athletics Carnival 

The Northern Midlands Athletics Carnival for selected Grade 3-6 student will be held on Friday 8th March at the St Leonards Athletics Track – we are looking for parent volunteers also on this day to assist with running this carnival. If you have a current WWVP card please contact us so that we can advise the NMPSSA organising team. Thank you in advance for your help. 

New requirements for volunteers in schools

There is a short online Safeguarding training module that all volunteers and staff in schools need to complete (this is a new mandatory DECYP requirement). More information about the Safeguarding training module is on our FaceBook page and here is the link to complete the module - 

Safeguarding Training - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Please ensure that you download and save or print off your certificate of completion as you will need to show this upon arrival, alongside your RWVP card whenever you are volunteering on school sites or working with students during school hours.  

School Association AGM and Vacancies for our SA Committee 2024 

Our School Association Committe has vacancies this year in the following categories 

• 2 parent representatives 
• 2 community representatives 
• 1 staff representative 

Please encourage any community members who do not have children at our school currently to contact our school to discuss the process of nominating for a position on our SA. We would love to have more connections with our community as this helps our students feel a strong sense of belonging in the broader community.  

I encourage you to consider nominating for the parent representative positions. The time commitment to hold a position is not huge (1 X 90min meeting per term which can be online or in person – time determined by the newly elected committee each year). The benefits to you are tenfold – you will have more knowledge of and input into the operating of our school including finances, staffing, educational programs and community partnerships. You will also have the chance to drive some change and improvements in our school, including helping our parent body to feel more connected to the school.  We would welcome your fresh ideas and insights particularly in this area.  

Nomination forms can be collected from the school office or downloaded using the link. Please note parents do need 2 other parents to support their nominations. Nominations close 11 March 2024 at 3:00pm. Competed nomination forms can be dropped off at the office to our returning officer, Naomi Shelton. If there are more nominations that vacancies for either position, we will hold digital elections on Wednesday 13 March. Our AGM and first committee meeting will be held on Monday 7 April in our Learning Support Room at School (Olive doors) starting at 3:30pm.  All parents are always invited to attend.  

Behaviour Expectations Chart 

Our learners and staff have been busy updating our Behaviour Support Chart. Teachers have worked with students in the classroom to make sure that everyone understands this chart so that when problems happen the actions that occur are clear and consistent. Students suggested several changes this year to our chart such as introducing the blue zone, adding information about gossiping and intentionally triggering other students. Wow, we are so impressed with the students for naming up behaviours that THEY deem unacceptable. Please see our chart for this year attached and shortly, across our school in every room.  

The New DECYP Values 

Whilst we have held close for a long time our school developed values of Perseverance, Understanding, Respect and Responsibility (PURR) and will continue to do so, the education department merged last year with several other government departments to form the Department of Children and Young People (DECYP). As such this new department looked to develop a new set of values to overarch all members (including staff at all levels and students). Grade 5/6 students from EPS and other schools shared their thoughts with DECYP about what they thought the values should be and now we have 5 lovely new values – Respect, Connection, Growth, Responsibility and Courage.  

Our focus DECYP value this term is Connection and we will be focusing on the value of respect for the entire year as it underpins all of our ways of being at Evandale. Look out in the next newsletter for the names of the first recipients of these values certificates which will be handed out at the first assembly of the year on Monday 19 February. Parents and community members are always welcome to attend our assemblies for Pre-Grade 6 students which are held in our GP and commence at 2:00pm.  

Digital Technology User Agreements 

It is wonderful to see that so many students have already returned their ICT user agreements. Thank you for helping your child to read through these documents to help them understand what the expectations are for using digital equipment at school.  Please ensure that these forms are returned completed to school asap if they are still sitting on your “to do” pile as students are not permitted to use digital equipment at school until they have been completed and returned.  

Bus Behaviour Expectations and User Agreements 

Thank you to the families whose child/ren travel on the bus  who has already signed and returned the Bus User Agreements.  We, as I am sure you do, expect Evandale students to display respectful behaviour everywhere that they go, including when traveling on the bus. From time to time however some unacceptable behaviour does occur on the bus and, with the bus driver needing to concentrate on being a safe driver, this behaviour can be distracting to the driver and difficult for them to manage. It is important that students remember to; 

• Stay seated on the bus when the bus is moving AT ALL TIMES 
• Leave their seatbelt on 
• Keep noise to a minimum 
• To speak and interact with one another and adults in a respectful manner when on the bus 

Inappropriate behaviours that occur on the bus should be reported to and managed by the bus company however we do try and support the bus companies where we can. We encourage you to speak directly to the bus companies directly if you have concerns.  

YOUNGTOWN BUS: Jack’s Bus Service – 6391 1739 

NILE BUS: Neil Cooley – 6330 1119/0407 879 570 

Grade 6 Student Leadership Positions 2024 

Congratulations to the following Grade 5 and 6 students who have been selected for the following leadership roles this year. We are thrilled to have such wonderful role models taking on big jobs in our school. Students will receive their leadership badges shortly.  

Animal Care Officers: Harry and Ryan 

Environment Officers: Logan and Aiden S 

Flag Monitor: Tyrrian and Mia 

ICT Officers: Isaac and Merren 

Library Monitors: Brooke and Atlas 

Bus Monitors: Nile Bus:  Rivah 

Youngtown Bus: Darci and Seb  

Road Safety and Using the Crossing 

If your child rides, scoots or walks to and from school, please remind them that they MUST cross only at the designated crosswalk on Barclay Road. A community member contacted me to let me know that we have already had a near miss with a student walking to school and not crossing the road safely. They must stop at the curbside, look both ways and look again before crossing the road. I encourage you all to read through this article and educate yourself and your children about road safety. Children under the age of 9 should not be walking without adult supervision. Road Safety | Kidsafe Tasmania 

Kind regards,

Jen Gray

PRINCIPAL