Hello to our Warrane Families and Community,

As we near the middle of our term, we have lots of exciting news and updates to share with you.

I am delighted to share our fabulous Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN results. In all five areas- Writing, Reading, Grammar, Numeracy and Spelling- our Year 3 students achieved above or well above the scores of similar schools. Our Year 5 students also showed impressive progress, with 30% high growth in Reading and Writing compared to the Tasmanian average of 25%, and medium to high growth in Grammar, Spelling and Numeracy. We are very proud of our students and their achievements.

On Monday, your child will receive a letter with information about the upcoming changes to our play breaks and opening the playground areas for students for all students to access Prep-Year 6. These changes have been part of a larger engagement and wellbeing project facilitated by the Australian Childhood Foundation, which also included feedback from students and staff. We strongly believe these changes will develop cross-grade friendships and social skills and will also give students freedom and autonomy so that they can choose which type of play best suits them.

Next week, we look forward to Book Week Celebrations.

• Monday: Students are welcome to dress as their favourite book character. Our parade will be held at 9:00am in the school hall, where we will share our books and costumes. Families, younger siblings, and LiL students are warmly invited.
• Tuesday: Books and Breakfast in the school hall—families encouraged to attend.
• Friday: Pick-a-Book Day, where students can choose a book to take home, kindly donated by Angela Briant (former President of the Children’s Book Council) and David O’Byrne, our local MP.

We would like to thank Mrs Freeman, who has already put in a tremendous amount of time to make Book Week a magical experience.

Before the end of term, all families will receive an attendance letter with information about their child’s attendance rate so far this year. The purpose of these letters is to raise awareness, highlight the importance of attendance, encourage early action, and promote strong family–school partnerships. Attendance is not only a whole school priority but also a Departmental one, and discussions about your child’s attendance will be a normal part of our ongoing communication throughout the year.

Finally, we have several Year 5/6 students who have been selected to represent our school at the Southern Schools Winter Sports Carnival on Tuesday.  Congratulations to the following students, Brock, Jamez, Ty, Levi and Xaxtyn for soccer and Jadah, Ada and Ella for netball. We wish them all the best for Tuesday and know they will represent the school with pride.

Sarah Hoban

Principal

I acknowledge and pay respect to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community as the traditional and original owners of lutruwita/trowunna (Tasmania) and as the enduring custodians of the lands, seas, air and waterways. I pay respect to Elders past and present.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all Pre-Kinder families. 

These sessions are for children who:

• are born in 2021 and will be turning 4 this year
• live in the area and will be attending Kindergarten at Warrane Primary in 2026

Time:  9:00am -10:00am

When:  Thursday mornings in the Kindergarten classroom (starting 31^st July)

These fun, play-based sessions help your child become familiar with the school, meet new friends, and build confidence for starting Kindergarten next year.

Parents and carers must stay to supervise their child during each session. 

Kind regards,

Mrs Reinbach

We are thrilled to celebrate Book Week 2025 with a week full of fun and engaging activities! This years theme, “Book an Adventure” invites students to discover how books can unlock imagination, knowledge, and new adventures.

Here is what we have planned:

Monday 18th August – Book Week Parade

• Time: 9:00 AM
• Location: School Hall
• Come dressed as your favourite book character and/or bring a book you love.
• We will draw one name from each class to win a book voucher!

Tuesday 19^th August – Book & Breakfast

• Time: 8:30 AM-8.50 AM
• Location: School hall
• Bring a family member and start your day with a good book, hot milo and a special breakfast.

Wednesday 20^th August – Mystery Reader

• A mystery teacher will visit your child’s classroom to read a favourite story. Who will it be?

Thursday 21^st August – Colouring Competition

• Join in the Book Week colouring competition. Entries will be displayed around the school and winners announced at the end of the week!

Let’s make this a week to remember by celebrating the joy of reading together! ?✨

Changing our approach to teaching reading

You may have noticed some changes in the way we’re teaching reading in our school. These changes are part of a statewide commitment to ensure every student develops strong reading skills that will support them throughout school and beyond.

Learning to read is a skill that must be taught—it's not something we’re born knowing how to do. That’s why our teachers are using high-quality, evidence-based strategies to help every child become a confident reader.

Our students are learning to read in through structured and explicit literacy teaching. This means they are building foundational literacy skills step by step, with each new skill reinforcing the last. This approach helps students grow into capable, independent readers.

We’re proud to be part of this statewide effort to provide structured literacy lessons that are proven to work. Thank you for your ongoing support as we help every student succeed.

Congratulations to the students who were presented with their certificate of merit last week at assembly. 

They were very proud to be acknowledged for upholding our school values of Connection, Courage, Growth, Respect and Responsibility.

5/6G have had an active return to term 3, where we hit the ground running in all areas of school life.

In the classroom, we have completed round 1 of the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee and are eagerly awaiting the results to see if anyone advances to the State round.

We are immersed in a daily array of reading opportunities. Studies show that the more we read, the better we are at spelling and conversing. I want to take this opportunity to remind families that, although we don’t have formal homework, there is an expectation that every student reads for a minimum of 20 minutes every night. It’s a lovely time to connect with our children and share the magic of books.

We have incorporated ‘Science Week – Decoding the Universe’ into our curriculum work. While investigating all aspects of light and how we see, we have also explored various communication systems, including the binary system, Braille, and Morse code.

Week 4 has seen us highlight the need to ‘Be Bold. Be Kind. Speak Up.’ as we explore the elements of Bullying – NO WAY.

We had Nurse Emma visit and talk to us about dental care and oral hygiene, with everyone taking home a new toothbrush and toothpaste.

Our three mountain dragons (Poppy, Steve, & Bonnie) are coming out of brumation and eagerly scouting the terrarium for food. Our spiny leaf insects are blissfully doing their thing, hanging around, moulting, and laying eggs. It’s wonderful to have a visual representation of the life cycle occurring in our classroom. As we head into Spring, we have also been blessed with visits from Ivy, Bill, & Greg, who are receiving some extra TLC from TA Em.

Next week, we are hosting a hands-on incursion with Asher from ‘Tool Skool’, who will share his vast knowledge of all things woodwork. If we are lucky, we may even have the opportunity to create some master pieces. Watch this space.

In 3/4 Spencer we have been learning about narratives and the different elements that are used to make stories. In science we’ve been busy investigating forces and how these can move objects or change their shape. Everyone seems to love the experiments.

The students also enjoyed our first excursion of the Intergenerational Program where they met some of the residents of a nearby aged care home and are looking forward to going again.

We have also had some special visitors to the classroom where students have met some three-day old lambs, as well as learned about dental health from the school nurse.

This term we have the fortnightly Winter Sports program for students in Years 3-6. Students participate in their chosen sport of soccer or netball against other local primary school. It has been fabulous seeing so many students participate and represent our school. The next home game is Friday 22^nd August, starting at 1.00pm on the top oval and netball courts. Families are welcome to come support the students, with no sign-in at the office required.

The Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) provides assistance for eligible families by waiving the cost of school levies. All families holding a current Centrelink Health Care Card, Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card are eligible for STAS.

Further information on STAS can be found on the Department of Education internet at: https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-sheets/fees-levies/.

The online form can be found at: https://stasonlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au/ .

Parents who currently receive STAS will not need to provide any additional information and will not need to reapply. You cannot apply online or add additional students in the online application form if you are already receiving STAS. If you wish to add a newly enrolled child to your existing STAS file, please email the details to stas@decyp.tas.gov.au.

Questions about STAS can be forwarded to the Department’s Financial Services Unit at stas@decyp.tas.gov.au or by calling 1800 827 055.

2025 Levies have been posted to families. The cost of this years levies are $135. This covers all stationery, excursions, and activities for the year and can be paid via BPay or EFTPOS.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the office on 6244 1747, via email at warrane.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au, or by coming in between 8:30am and 3:15pm.

We welcome volunteers at Warrane Primary School. As you would know from the past, volunteers require a Working with Vulnerable People check to be able to come onsite to help with events and excursions. 

Registration to work with vulnerable people (cbos.tas.gov.au)

There is now an additional requirement that all volunteers have completed the mandatory safeguarding training module. The certificate must be provided to our office staff before you are able to volunteer.

For more information and to complete the safeguarding training visit:

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

We have students who are allergic to nuts and eggs. As this allergic reaction can be life threatening, the school asks that these products are not brought to school in children’s lunch boxes or for class celebrations.

Items not to be brought to school include but are not limited to - all nut products, peanut butter, Nutella, peanut oil in margarines and all egg products.

It is important that all classes observe this nut and egg aware policy due to the danger of an allergic child coming into contact with residue left by other classes. The parents/carers and staff appreciate your co-operation in this serious matter.

All students are welcome.

A reminder that families are required to use the larger family carpark for school drop off and pick up.

The smaller carpark near the early years classes is for staff and service vehicles only. It does not have enough parking for families and the visibility of the surrounding area and access in and out during busy times creates an added safety risk to students.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this.