Newsletter - 11 September

Principal Report

Springtime Gratitude at Mount Nelson Primary

As the blossoms bloom and the skies turn a brilliant blue, it’s clear that spring has well and truly arrived. There’s something about this season that invites us to pause, breathe deeply, and appreciate the small wonders around us. The warmth in the air, the colour in our gardens, and the joy on our students’ faces remind us of the importance of gratitude.

Research tells us that taking time to be thankful—even for the little things—can significantly boost our happiness and wellbeing. At Mount Nelson Primary, through our Inquiry Approach we’re always encouraging our students to notice and appreciate the world around them. Whether it’s the scent of a flower, the sound of the birds, or the feeling of sunshine on their backs, these small moments help build a lifelong habit of gratitude.

Gratitude is one of the key pillars of our wellbeing approach at Mount Nelson, helping students build resilience, empathy, and joy.

Perhaps this afternoon, on your way home, you might take a moment with your child to notice the beauty of spring. A shared moment of wonder can be a powerful way to connect and reflect.

As we come to the end of another busy and successful term, I would like to take a moment to share my gratitude and express my heartfelt thanks to our incredible staff. Our teachers work tirelessly to deliver high-quality programs, supported by our dedicated Teacher Assistants, administration team, and Education Facilities Attendants. Together, they create a nurturing and inspiring environment for our students.

And of course, thank you to you—our parents and carers. Your partnership is vital. You play the most important role in your child’s education, and your ongoing support makes a world of difference.

Thank you for being part of our wonderful school community. I am truly grateful to lead such a passionate and committed team at Mount Nelson Primary.

Catherine Grace - Principal - "We Nurture, We Empower, We Strive for excellence"

Empowering Kids

Have you heard Lisa Ford speak at one of our previous parent sessions?  Every time I hear her talk, I take away something new to help me support the young people in my life. Lisa will be running a parent information session again on November 6 at 6pm.

We know that there are times in all children’s lives where they need support to navigate friendships and build resilience.

One of the things Lisa talks about is the different between daisies and prickles.

Daisies are normal friendship challenges that we can support our children to navigate by listening, empathising, empowering and supporting them to problem solve.

Prickles are a bigger problem that need support and intervention from an adult. They are not something students can work out on their own.

Come and hear Lisa speak and learn all about how to support your child at home.

RSVP via e-mail, or by phoning the school office.

New Web Page

Family Support & Wellbeing Page

We are pleased to let families know about a new section on our school website dedicated to Family Support and Health & Wellbeing. This page brings together a range of useful contacts and resources, including information such as family assistance, health advice, parenting support, guidance around student attendance and much more. We encourage parents and carers to explore the page and make use of the support available. You can access the page via the link below or by visiting our school website and clicking on the Family Support & Well-being tile.

Rachel Viney - Assistant Principal

Reading at Home

Thank you, families!

We’ve heard back from many of our families about the wonderful conversations you’re having around books at home. It’s been inspiring to hear how you’ve unpacked background knowledge and explored interesting vocabulary words.

We’ve loved hearing about the words you’ve explored—like “loquacious”—and the curious questions students are asking, such as “Is the ‘be’ in befriend a prefix?”

There is a buzz around home reading. Parents are telling us their child is showing interest in reading and wanting to read. That is our ultimate goal: students who want to read and see the value in being a thinking reader. Teachers and parents working together – we are a powerful team!

So thank you. Your role in listening to your child read aloud at every grade level and encouraging them to try new books and texts to read is that extra boost to help us achieve our goal of ensuring every child can read. Please continue to encourage your children to read at home—and to read aloud. This is particularly important for our older readers, who may have fallen out of the habit. 

Accuracy enables rate. Rate enables comprehension. Comprehension enables expression and intonation. This builds automaticity - so our students can better access the big ideas and concepts in more challenging texts as they grow…

Thank you for being such active partners in your children’s literacy journey!

Julie Ransley - Literacy Support

Family Engagement & Evidence of Learning

Family Engagement

Here at MNPS we deeply value our families and the way we work together. We warmly welcome you to take part in our diverse family engagement activities. So far this year, some of these activities have included Science Week, the Father's Day morning tea, assemblies and parent information sessions, as well as our ongoing opportunities such as Little Seeds & Pre-Kinder, Morning Nurturing Time and communication via Seesaw.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming family engagement opportunities such as family learning conversations, open inquiry afternoon, high school transition meetings and end of year celebrations.

Evidence of Learning

Evidence of Learning provides families with a clear insight into progress, strengths and areas of growth for your child/ren. We will be holding an 'Open Afternoon' in week 9 to invite families into our learning space, where Evidence of Learning will be available in classrooms. If you are unable to attend our open afternoon, your child's Evidence of Learning will be available during Nurturing Time from 8:30 - 9am, in week 10.

Georgie Field - AST

Engaging & Learning Together

Welcome to the latest edition of Engaging & Learning Together. We encourage our families to use the conversation starters below to engage those little minds.

Student Voice

We have some super exciting news to share - our school, Mount Nelson Primary will be hosting a talent show for all grades! It will be held across week 9 and 10, on Monday and Tuesday at recess and lunch time. There is a schedule at the office of all performances, and we can’t wait to see your amazing skills.

Today we had the Jump Rope for Heart team from Waimea Primary come to show off their skills. All the people on the team looked like they trained really hard to perfect the tricks. The jump rope team travel all around to different schools showing off their skills and bringing people joy.

On the 18 September, all the year 6 students, who are going to Taroona High in 2026, are going for half a day to experience life at high school. We get to try lots of subjects together and meet some of our teachers. Normally we would be going with different schools but because of camp we needed to go on a separate day just for us!

Planning for 2026

As we begin preparing for the 2026 school year, it is important for us to have an accurate understanding of our student numbers. To assist us in this process, we kindly ask that you notify the school as soon as possible if your family is planning to move away from Mount Nelson next year.

School Satisfaction Survey

Travel Survey

MNPS is continuing to work with the Hobart City Council to improve student safety when travelling to and from school.

Students have brought home a postcard with a QR code one the back which will take you to the survey.

We encourage all of our families to take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback is very important, as it helps us to better understand how our students are travelling to and from school each day.

By sharing your experiences, you are helping us identify any challenges or safety concerns, as well as opportunities to support healthier, safer, and more sustainable travel options for our school community.

Your input will play an important role in shaping future planning and ensuring that our students can travel safely and confidently to school.

Thank you for taking the time to have your say!

Class Spotlight - Prep/1

As you may be aware, our Prep/1 class sponsors a Tasmanian Devil named Christopher, through Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. They have been communicating with Bonorong by sending drawings and letters and then receiving updates on Christopher's activities. Our students really enjoy hearing about all the mischief Christopher gets up to.

Little Seeds - Nature is our playground

This week in Little Seeds, we ventured into our Bush area. As we enter into spring, it was a perfect sunny morning to head out and explore.

Bush play sparks imagination by offering open ended natural materials and unstructured spaces where children can invent stories, roles and creative possibilities. What fun we had!

Art News

Young Archies Exhibition and Awards Ceremony

It was wonderful to attend the Young Archies Exhibition and Awards Ceremony recently. We felt so proud to see Mount Nelson Primary School artwork that was exhibited, and it was exciting to watch Adeline receive her award as the overall winner of the grade 5/6 category. Well done to all of the students participating. It was great to see Mount Nelson families enjoying the exhibition and finding their artwork amongst the displays.

We are Mount Nelson Primary

In Art, students finished up their portrait work by creating a collaborative artwork full of Monochromatic self-portraits. A monochromatic drawing is where only one colour of varying shades is used. Together our portraits are bright and vibrant. The students at Mount Nelson Primary School along with all staff and families are what makes Mount Nelson Primary School a wonderful place to be.

Sarah Chiu - Art Teacher

Celebration of Learning Assembly

The Celebration of Learning Assembly for Group B is on Tuesday 16 September at 2pm.

We love these opportunities to share our learning with families and to celebrate our student's achievements. We welcome you to come along.

Congratulations to the following students who received an award in our Group A assembly on Tuesday!

Prep/1 - Freddie, Lucy, Kobi & Marcel

2/3 Green - Dasha, Luca, Otto & Blake

3/4 McVeigh - Alex, Rose, Bobby & Hugo

5/6 Green - Archer, Alvina, Bryn & Molly

Student Achievement

Our year 3 Student, George, has been selected to play in the TAS Southern Strikers indoor cricket team!

George will be heading to Melbourne to represent our state in the upcoming competition. This is a fantastic achievement, and we are so proud of his dedication, skill, and sportsmanship. Well done, George – we wish you and your team the very best of luck!

Last weekend, three of our students, Andy, Alex, and Andrew, participated in the Hobart Cup for soccer. Despite the cold, rainy weather they played with incredible determination and heart. 

After five tough matches, they emerged as the Final Champions in their age group!

What a proud moment! Congratulations boys!

Her Court

Our MNPS girls are really enjoying Basketball Tasmania’s Her Court initiative! Once a week at lunchtime, the court is dedicated just for the girls—giving them the perfect space to have a go, play, and build confidence on the court. They’ve jumped right into the challenge, trying out new skills and picking up tips from the inspiring basketball ambassadors. It’s been fantastic to see their energy, teamwork, and enthusiasm shine!

Declan West - HPE Teacher

TA Appreciation Week

Last week, MNPS celebrated Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week. We would like to shine a light on our incredible Teacher Assistants and say a heartfelt thank you! Our TA’s bring patience, kindness, and dedication into our classrooms every single day. They go above and beyond to support our students and also play such an important role in supporting our teachers – from providing extra help in the classroom, to encouraging learning, to ensuring that every child feels supported and included. We are so grateful for the difference they make in our school community – their hard work, care and positivity never go unnoticed. Thank you to our wonderful TA’s for everything you do!

But it was not only our TA's that we wanted to celebrate - it was our support staff too! We would like to take a moment to thank our wonderful Education Facility Attendants (EFA’s) for the amazing work they do each and every day. Liz & Rob both work extremely hard to keep our school clean, safe, and welcoming, and ensure our grounds always look their best. The pride they take in their work helps create a beautiful environment for our students, staff, and families to enjoy. We are truly grateful for their hard work, care, and dedication to our school community.

Father's & Special Persons Day

What a wonderful turnout we had for our Father's & Special Persons Day morning tea.

It is always a pleasure to see our families engaging in our school community. We would like to thank everyone who attended and would also like to send a huge thank you to Nick and our School Association for organising this event.

Hats required next term!

As per the DECYP Sun Smart policy, students will be required to wear a sun-safe hat, when outside, during Term 4. If a student does not have a hat, they will be asked to play in the shade. Students are not permitted to wear caps.

School bucket hats are available to purchase via Qkr! for $10 each.

Please remember to clearly name your child's hat.

Phones & Smart Watches

A reminder to families that in line with DECYP policy, all student mobile phones and smart watches must be “off and away all day” while at school. This helps to minimise distractions and ensures our students are focused on learning. We appreciate your support in reinforcing this expectation at home.

Reminders

School Calendar

Community Flyers