Influenza (the 'flu') is different to, and much worse than common coughs and colds. The flu is a serious disease that spreads easily and puts many thousands of Australians in hospital every year.
It's easy to protect yourself and your children from influenza:
More information is available at http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/health__and__wellbeing/keeping_well
The robots are coming! Not to take over the world, but to help children learn.
Robotics is a project-based learning activity that draws on, and develops, learning related to mathematics, science and technology. It is motivating and engaging for many students, and fosters resilience and perseverance, independence, imagination and creativity.
Now in its third year, 'SmartBots' is an online extension program for students in Years 5-8. It gives students the opportunity to develop skills in problem solving, communication and teamwork by building and programming robots. In teams of two or three, students use robotics kits and computer software to work through a series of skill building activities and challenges, guided by an online delivery teacher.
From Smithton to Geeveston, and from Rosebery to Winnaleah, more than 200 students from 34 schools across Tasmania have participated in 'SmartBots'. In the majority of these schools, the staff had little or no prior experience of robotics. Some of these schools have continued on with robotics after the 'SmartBots' program had officially finished, including participation in statewide and national robotics competitions, such as RoboCup Junior or First LEGO League. Of only four Google scholarships offered nationwide to help teams attend the international RoboCup Junior 2009 event in Austria, two were awarded to 'SmartBots' students - a past Princes Street Primary School student, who currently attends Ogilvie High, plus two other Ogilvie High School students.
An important factor in the success of the program has been the involvement of an adult 'team mentor' in each school to help provide support, encouragement and troubleshooting to the students. In some cases, the team mentor has been a teacher, but non-teaching staff, parents and friends of the school have also taken on this role with great success.
Interesting sites featuring robotics:
www.education.tas.gov.au/school/educators/support/extendedlearning
For more information about 'SmartBots' or how you can get involved, please contact Rob Torok by telephone on (03) 6249 6868 or email rob.torok@education.tas.gov.au
Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) is a statewide early childhood intervention service provided through the Tasmanian Department of Education. Children have a diagnosed disability and/or developmental delays in two or more developmental areas. ECIS provides family centred intervention services to families and young children, from birth to Kindergarten entry, aimed at maximising educational and learning experiences within local communities.
Early Childhood Intervention Service offers a range of programs that:
Families may choose to receive ECIS services and support at home, within an ECIS centre or through other community programs they are attending, such as child care or a local early childhood setting.
All educational programs are supported with consultative therapy inputs from speech, occupational and physiotherapies.
Some of the exciting programs currently operating from the Early Childhood Intervention Service include:
Early Childhood Intervention Service also provides information to families about schooling options and will assist families with the transition process as children move towards starting school. Parents are assisted to access pre-Kinder sessions at their local school and ECIS staff work with school and Learning Services staff to provide a coordinated approach to transition.
Early Childhood Intervention Service has a base in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport with other satellite locations providing a service anywhere in Tasmania.
For more information please contact State Coordinator, Rowena Wilkinson by telephone on (03) 6231 1625 or email rowena.wilkinson@education.tas.gov.au
There are many programs in our schools to help improve student literacy. They include 'Flying Start' and 'Reading Recovery' which provide specialist literacy support for students in the early years of schooling. Each school has its own literacy improvement plan and $36 million has been allocated for the 'Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap' initiative. It provides targeted support for students to achieve higher literacy levels in schools where there is the most need.
To complement these programs, the Department is working with internationally renowned learning and literacy expert Dr Carol Christensen on early years and whole school literacy projects. Dr Christensen's programs have been effective in improving literacy levels in a number of Australian schools.
Dr Christensen is working with teachers from East Derwent, Gagebrook, Margate, Mt Faulkner and Port Dalrymple primary schools on the Early Years Literacy Project.
Dr Christensen's approach recognises that knowledge and skills developed in preschool years can have a profound and enduring impact on children's learning and achievement throughout their schooling. It focuses on language and vocabulary development and students' capacity to hear sounds in spoken language. It also looks at students' knowledge of letter sounds and their ability to write letters.
In Tasmania the program is concentrating on skills for Kinder and Prep students. Students were screened at the start of the year to identify their current knowledge and skills and they will be tested again at the end of the year to monitor improvement.
Dr Christensen has developed assessment materials to help teachers identify students' skill levels, provided training on appropriate teaching strategies and assisted teachers in finding resources and material to support literacy development.
The Whole School Literacy Project will be implemented at junior level at Port Dalrymple School. It will later be extended into Bridgewater, Clarence, Geilston Bay, Huonville, New Norfolk, Rosetta and Sorell schools. Dr Christensen is working with the staff of these schools to provide training and assist with planning. As part of the project, schools are reorganising their schedules to provide time for dedicated literacy teaching. Students are organised into groups based on their current literacy levels and children needing the most support will be in small groups.
For further information visit www.education.tas.gov.au/school/whole-school-literacy
Apprenticeships and traineeships are available in Tasmania either while students are still at school or after they leave school.
School based apprenticeships and traineeships give students the option to start their training as early as Year 10 and then by the time they leave school they can finish their training full-time or part-time.
If they decide they would rather wait until they complete school, then they have many options to work in a huge range of industries including the traditional trade areas and they may be able to do this either on a full-time or part-time basis.
So what are the steps to becoming an apprentice or trainee?
Step 1: Find an employer willing to employ you. You can approach an employer, answer an advertisement or contact a Group Training Organisation (visit www.skills.tas.gov.au/providers/gtos).
Step 2: You and your employer then choose a relevant apprenticeship or traineeship and select a Registered Training Organisation which can provide the training.
Step 3: You and your employer contact an Australian Apprenticeships Centre which will guide you through the sign-up process and assist you to complete the training contract.
Step 4: You then commence your apprenticeship or traineeship.
Step 5: You and your employer sit down with your Registered Training Organisation to develop a training plan that outlines exactly what training you will need to complete to qualify in your chosen apprenticeship or traineeship.
For general information about apprenticeships and traineeships visit the Skills Tasmania web site at www.skills.tas.gov.au or telephone 1800 655 846.
Following the disastrous Bridgewater High fire in late 2007 the staff and parent community of Bridgewater Primary agreed to co-locate with Green Point Primary to allow the high school students to use the Bridgewater Primary site as a High School to remain in the local area. This co-location also received the necessary support from the staff and parent community of Green Point Primary.
The intention was always for the Bridgewater Primary staff and students to return to their original site. However, a taskforce was established to examine the educational and community learning needs of the Bridgewater and Southern Midlands area. Amongst a range of taskforce recommendations accepted by the Premier was the permanent amalgamation of Bridgewater Primary and Green Point Primary into one school to commence operation from the beginning of this year.
Understandably, there was concern from both school communities that the tight timeline would not allow for sufficient community consultation and that the process would be rushed to the detriment of the students.
These concerns did not eventuate however, as strong leadership from the respective principals, Carolyn Brown and Sue Richardson, and an excellent spirit shown by staff, parents and students allowed for the combining of students and teachers into well functioning classes this year.
It was wonderful to see the community groups take a leading role in making the amalgamation work through organising the combined community to vote on the new school name and the new design and colours of the new school uniform.
Both the new name of East Derwent Primary and the new navy blue and sky blue uniform, which was paid for by the Department of Education, have been well accepted by the students and parents.
To lead this new school of approximately 360 children, a new principal, Peter D'Plesse has recently been appointed. Peter will be well supported by the existing teaching and non-teaching staff during this exciting time of opportunity to significantly improve student learning outcomes as part of a new school and as part of the new Bridgewater/Brighton Learning Federation.
'engage' resulted from the Engaging Our School Communities Taskforce which looked at ways of better linking schools, parents and the wider community.
We want to meet the expectations of parents and are continually looking to improve 'engage'. Before commencing on the next issue, we would like
to receive your feedback. All responses received by 29 May 2009 will be entered into the draw for a $100 Woolworths or Coles voucher.
To provide feedback, use this form.
As a parent you want your child to grow up with a certain set of values. This year a new awards program is being rolled out in some of our primary schools to recognise the values we share as Australians.
'Aussie of the Month' is an awards program with a difference as it recognises values such as - a sense of fair play, generosity of spirit, commitment to the community, participation and a genuine concern for the environment.
'Aussie of the Month' supports schools to recognise the efforts of children who give back to the community from a young age. 'Aussie of the Month' gives schools the opportunity to select one student to be recognised by the entire school who exemplifies values such as personal endeavour and contribution to the community. A different student is selected at the end of each month and is presented with a certificate and an 'Aussie of the Month' pin which they can wear with pride on their uniform.
The Australia Day Program in Tasmania is coordinated through the Department of Premier and Cabinet. The program also includes the popular Visions for Australia flag project which is targeted at primary school aged students.
If you would like to know more about the 'Aussie of the Month' awards program please check out the Australia Day website www.australiaday.org.au/tasmania
In its third year and with 120 schools involved, the $12.6m 'Launching into Learning' project aims to help schools build relationships and connections with families well before their children start Kindergarten.
'Launching into Learning' is an early years program which aims to give Tasmania's youngest children the best possible start in life. It supports families with young children from birth to four years by providing regular opportunities to have fun playing and learning together alongside the teacher. The focus is on early language, literacy and numeracy as well as social skills to help children make a successful transition to school.
Some schools participating in the program are developing the school as a community 'hub' where a range of services come together and work in partnership to meet the needs of families with young children. Others have room where parents can chat, have a cuppa, borrow resources such as books and videos, and use the internet. Parents and teachers negotiate activities, visits and guest speakers that will be helpful for parents in their role.
Many of the health, behaviour and learning problems we see in adults including obesity, mental health illness, poor literacy and unemployment have their origins much earlier in life, often in early childhood. We know that supporting families and intervention before children begin school is likely to be more effective in achieving success than trying to do things to help children catch up once they are at school.
'Launching into Learning' embraces the notion that children's earliest learning during the first three or four years after birth is particularly crucial and is fostered best through positive relationships. Children need relationships that consistently express warmth and love and this is the best way to prepare for a successful childhood, education and healthy life.
For further enquiries on 'Launching into Learning', contact your local Learning Services office:
Learning Services North
Phone (03) 6339 1462
jane.bovill@education.tas.gov.au
Learning Services North-West
Phone (03) 6434 6389
bruce.cameron@education.tas.gov.au
Learning Services South
Phone (03) 6249 1173
jenny.leppard@education.tas.gov.au
Learning Services South-East
Phone (03) 6247 8398
gregory.phair@education.tas.gov.au
Online Learning Network (OLN) is the unit within the Department of Education which coordinates;
OLN manages the delivery of a range of online programs to students throughout Tasmania and provides support for Learning Services, schools, teachers and students working online.
The eCentre for teachers (www.ecentre.education.tas.gov.au) and the Student Freeway (www.student.education.tas.gov.au) are secure websites that bring together quality digital resources, tools and curriculum materials to support learning and teaching for the Tasmanian Curriculum. They provide secure online workspaces supporting collaboration and sharing within and between schools.
CELO Online supports schools, teachers and parents in maintaining or improving the engagement and motivation of students who are highly able/gifted from Prep to Year 10 through the provision of a range of online extension and challenge programs across a number of curriculum areas.
CELO Online programs such as Ad Astra, Pegasus, ArtyFacts, Infinity Squared, GameCraft, So Far So Good, SmartBots, Holly's Heroes and Socrates Café cover a wide range of learning areas which reflect the diverse talents that students may demonstrate including linguistic, mathematical, visual, spatial and technological. Access to third party programs such as Quest Atlantis is also provided through CELO Online.
CELO Online programs enable students who are highly able/gifted from small, rural and isolated schools to communicate and collaborate with ability peers, and others of like mind.
Online Campus is Tasmania's 'virtual' or online school. Its objectives are to provide access to wider educational opportunities in all communities and support rural, isolated and small schools.
Any Tasmanian school may choose to either deliver or receive an online personalised learning program. By enabling schools to personalise learning through adopting online approaches the Campus also aims to:
A variety of programs are available through the Online Campus. Students have access to a range of courses including VET, LOTE, Aquatic Science, Business Enterprise, CAD, Maths Methods, Creative Writing, Programming, Sports Science, The Growing Child and Athlete Development. Collaborative short inquiry courses for primary students are also available.
For more information on programs offered visit these sites:
www.education.tas.gov.au/oln/celo/online_programs
www.education.tas.gov.au/oln/OnlineProspectus.pdf
Aboriginal students from Rokeby Primary and High Schools and Clarendon Vale Primary School from Years 4-8 are supported by a program which links culture with developing skills in key areas of literacy and numeracy.
The three schools have a long standing commitment to Aboriginal education. The schools involve Indigenous artists working with vertical groups of children in a range of art forms and in learning about Indigenous perspectives. Additionally Indigenous perspectives are emphasised through NAIDOC Week being an annual highlight, and Reconciliation Awards being presented at end of year celebration assemblies.
Commonwealth funding initially assisted the schools to employ a coordinator to work with students across the middle years in the three schools in offering culturally relevant programs to support literacy and numeracy achievement and participation. Some aspects of these programs are happening on each site separately, while at times students from the different schools are combined for activities. The program is also linking to Aboriginal community mentors who work with, and assist students in their schools.
A technology guide for parents is currently being produced and is due for release in mid-June. As well as interesting articles and discounted computer packages, there will be details of the Federal Government's Education Tax Refund.
Tasmanian Government schools will celebrate Education Week from 6-12 July. Schools are encouraged to hold activities that engage parent and community networks while highlighting their learning opportunities and achievements. Activities will give an insight into the vibrant education settings in which young Tasmanians learn, thrive and grow. For more information, visit: www.education.tas.gov.au/educationweek
Telephone 1800 816 057 between 8.15am and 5.05pm. Once you explain your request, the Service Centre staff will be able to redirect your enquiry to the relevant unit or school within the Department. The Service Centre can also be contacted by email at servicecentre@education.tas.gov.au
One area of the Tasmanian Curriculum is health and wellbeing where students learn to understand, value and lead healthy, active and fulfilling lifestyles. If your child has good food habits and daily physical activity, they are well on the way to a healthy life. Being healthy and leading a healthy lifestyle helps children to:
Some suggested ways to support your children include:
This information has been adapted from the healthy kids website (see below). On this site you can view a series of useful fact sheets containing tips and ideas for supporting healthy lifestyles for children. Some of these fact sheets are available in languages other than English.
For more information, visit www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/
'engage' Parent Magazine
Communication Services Unit
Department of Education
GPO Box 169
HOBART TAS 7001
Ph: (03) 6233 7497
Fax: (03) 6233 6152
ISSN 1836-0971
If you'd like the next edition of 'engage' sent directly to your inbox - subscribe at www.education.tas.gov.au/school/parents/engage/subscribe
This page has been produced by the Department of Education
Questions concerning its content may be directed by email to ServiceCentre@education.tas.gov.au or telephone 1800 816 057.
This page was last modified on 8th May 2009. The URL for this page is: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/school/parents/engage/issue3.
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