Newsletter - 31 October

Principal's Report

We are a connected community who are ensuring We Nurture, We Empower and We Srive for Excellence!

School Satisfaction Survey Results for 2025

Congratulations!

We had a great response from our community, with a strong quorum participating in the annual School Satisfaction Survey.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their feedback! This not only highlights the level of engagement and a positive partnership we have between our families and school, but it gives us a robust data set to work with.

Our 2025 School Satisfaction survey results reflect that we have sustained a consistently high overall average rating over the past three years, with results showing a steady upward trend year on year.

The survey in summary indicates the following:

• Our school ratings in 88% of the questions were higher than the Tasmanian average.
• Our overall school rating improved by 0.6 over the last two years, giving us a rating of 7.6/10
• One of the highest ratings was from Q28. - Staff are interested in my child’s wellbeing - from 7.5 to 8.2/10

We also saw big jumps in the following questions:

Q9. This school looks for ways to improve - increased by 0.8 over 2 years to 7.9/10

Q10. This school takes families' opinions seriously - increased by 0.8 over 2 years to 7.3/10 

Q 3. Staff at this school treat students fairly - increased by 0.8 over 2 years to 7.9/10

Q 55. Students with disability are supported with appropriate adjustments at this school - increased by 1.0 over 2 years to 8.1/10

One of the most exciting increases were the results from Q. 57- I know how the school helps my child learn to read, 7.6/10 and Q. 58- I can help my child read at home, 9.3/10 which were well above the TAS rating! This is a credit to our staff, our Lead Quality Teaching Coach, Marg and our Literacy Support teacher, Julie. We will continue to extend our maths and reading at home programs in 2026.

The question for you all is, what should our next focus for improvement be on?  The School Association will look closely at the data, and we look forward to some helpful recommendations which we will happily implement.

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

Capturing Student Voice

Over the coming weeks, we will be inviting students to share their thoughts on what Nurturing, Empowering, and Striving for Excellence really means to them. These conversations will help us better understand how our school values are reflected in everyday learning and interactions. By capturing student voice, we aim to ensure that our values are lived experiences—shaped by the perspectives and ideas of our learners. This is what makes our school special!

Here are some examples from our Prep/1 students:

We nurture:
“We look after each other” Millie

“We use nurturing time in our classroom to stay calm” Angus

“We use our Monday morning assembly to remind the school to remember to nurture each other” Violet

“Daily fitness helps us to nurture each other as a team and to get our bodies moving” Theo

We Empower:
“We are empowered to work in different groups, with different people” Lucy

"We are empowered to think” Lachlan

“We are empowered to learn new words” Yuxin

“We empower each other through teamwork” Millie

“Empower for me is collaborating with others” Bob

“We get a say” Theo

We Strive for Excellence:

“Doing something well” Lachlan

“Learning is not a race” Miriam

“To get better, especially when things are hard” Lucy

“You go higher to get better” Yuxin

“We strive inside and outside, like at the cross country” Maddie

Georgie Field - AST

Attendance

Taroona High School have recently looked at tracking attendance data from Year 3 through to Year 9 and we would like to share some of their findings with you:

• There are definite trends in the data: low attendance in Primary School = even lower attendance in High School.
• Even missing just 1 a day a fortnight in early years can start to form negative habits with school attendance. It is highly likely that a student who misses a day a fortnight in Year 4 will form poor habits that lead to missing 3 or more days a fortnight in Year 9.
• Every school day matters! By increasing your young person’s attendance by just a couple of days per year, we see a profound impact on their attendance habits in high school and beyond.

Our school has many supports in place to help your young person attend regularly. Please visit our Family Support and Wellbeing resources at the link below, or contact Rachel at rachel.viney@decyp.tas.gov.au, if there is anything we can do to support your family.

Rachel Viney - Assistant Principal

DIBELS & PAT testing

At our school, we are using a group of short reading assessments called DIBELS. These are short assessments that help monitor student progress while students are learning the foundational skills for reading. 2025 has been a year to strengthen our practices around DIBELS testing, and in weeks 4-6 of this term, we will be repeating the testing to gain an insight into student progress and growth over the year.

Teachers also use other assessments as part of their everyday teaching to understand when students need extra help with their reading. Other assessments, together with the DIBELS data, provide a good snapshot of each student and their progress, and will indicate when students might not be on track with their reading development. These tests are used three times a year to monitor student progress with reading fluency and decoding.

Each year level has a different group of assessments which matches the year level’s expected development of reading skills.

In the next few weeks, our students will begin their Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT). These assessments are designed to measure and track growth in reading and mathematics, providing valuable insights into each student’s progress in literacy and numeracy. They also help our teachers tailor their planning to meet individual student needs. We celebrate every step of growth and have established yearly targets for our children. Additionally, the results will inform students’ end-of-year ratings according to the Australian Curriculum Engagement. Above all, our primary focus remains on our most important asset: our children.

Marg Crosswell - Literacy Coach

Home Reading Challenge

We are excited to jump into this term's Home Reading Challenge!

Students will be able to 'read their way to extra play' by completing the challenge requirements.

Students will bring home a reading log which parents/carers will need to sign as part of the challenge. Students will return the signed log to their teacher each week.

We would like to thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement with the term 3 Home Reading Challenge. 

Reading at home with your child has proven benefits, such as – fostering language development, emotional bonding and fostering a lifelong love for reading – which significantly enhancing their overall growth and learning.

Maths Challenge

Engaging & Learning Together

Welcome to the latest edition of Engaging & Learning Together!

Use these conversation starters below to get those little minds thinking.

Secure your spot! RSVP now!

To RSVP for the Lisa Ford seminar, please click on the link below.

Caring for Our School Grounds – A Shared Responsibility

We love seeing families enjoying our beautiful school grounds after the bell rings when accompanied by an adult—it’s a sign of the strong community we have at Mount Nelson Primary School. However, we kindly ask for your support in helping us care for these shared spaces.

Lately, we’ve noticed some challenges, particularly around the Kinder area and garden spaces. For example, the sandpit is often uncovered after it’s been packed away for the day, by our EFA’s and sand is tipped onto the artificial grass—undoing the careful cleaning that’s already been done. This not only creates extra work but also leaves the sandpit exposed to potential contamination or hazards overnight.

Children have also been climbing trees and playing in garden beds near the Prep room, where some of our protective frames have been damaged.

We understand that children love to explore and play, and we want to keep these areas safe, clean, and ready for learning. Please help us by encouraging your children to:

• Recover sandpit 
• Avoid climbing fragile trees or garden structures
• Use the gate rather than climbing fences - especially when using the crossing.
• Respect the garden beds and learning spaces

Your support makes a big difference. Together, we can keep our school grounds safe, tidy, and welcoming for everyone.

Student Voice

On Wednesday, we had the year nine Taroona band come and play for us. They played some amazing songs with their instrument. They were really kind and talented! We hope we get to see them again next year.

Coming up we have the Interschool Swimming Carnival. This will be held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre on Wednesday, 5 November. Congratulations to everyone who qualified! We hope you have an amazing experience. Parents, we hope to see you there cheering us on.

This term we have a new reading challenge! If you read and log your books 2 weeks in a row, on Friday you get an extra 15 minutes of play. We hope to see you get out your books and get that extra 15 minutes of play.

As you may know, every year we do a Christmas fundraiser for the Hobart Women’s Shelter. There will be more updates soon. If you are able to donate a gift card, it would be much appreciated if you could drop it into the office by Monday, 1 December.

Student Voice Team

Uniform Update & Pre-Orders

The School Association is currently reviewing items in the uniform shop with an aim to provide a wide range of low-cost, high-quality items that are popular with the students.

We have just opened another preorder which includes a trial of two new short styles (see image below) and the previously seen long leggings.

Microfibre Shorts $23, Bike Shorts $33 and Leggings $33 - now on Qkr!

Pre-Orders close on Friday, 7 November at 6pm, with delivery in late November.

All items are available in size 4-16 and samples of each size are available in the uniform shop to try on. They have been found true to size, however, please ensure that you order the correct size as returns/exchanges may require an additional charge for postage as we are not holding stock in the uniform shop during the trial period.

While we are trialling these new items, we have put a hold on ordering any additional skorts or ¾ leggings. All remaining stock of these items are available on Qkr! Rugby tops in stock have been discounted to $15 and are also available to purchase on Qkr!

Second Hand Uniform

If you have any good condition, pre-loved uniforms that no longer fit or are no longer required, please consider donating these to our school for resale in our uniform shop. All money raised from second hand sales goes back into buying resources for our School.

The Uniform Shop is open every Friday from 2.45pm to 3.15pm

New Shorts Options

School Association

The School Association are selling very special Tea Towels! The design will be made up of self-portraits drawn by MNPS students. The pictures and names will be arranged all together as a commemorative design, then screen printed onto certified organic 100% cotton 50x70cm tea towels.

Students love seeing their artwork in print. By purchasing our tea towels you are not only receiving a practical keepsake, but you are also helping to achieve our fundraising goals. Proceeds go towards MNPS community events, school sports, equipment and other exciting things we have planned for 2026.

Orders can be placed via Qkr! and will close on Wednesday, 5 November.

Don't miss out! Order Now!

Women's Shelter Christmas Appeal

Christmas is fast approaching!!

Mount Nelson Primary are supporting children at the local Women’s Shelter by collecting gift vouchers to help make their festive season a little brighter.

If you are able, we kindly ask families to consider donating a gift voucher (for example, from Kmart, Target, Big W or a local store). Your generosity will help bring joy and a sense of normalcy to children and families who may be doing it tough this Christmas.

Donations can be dropped off at the school office by Monday 1 December.
Thank you for helping us share the spirit of giving and make Christmas a little more special for everyone.

Student Achievement

Celebrating Young Author, Yanry! 

We are incredibly proud of Yanry, a talented grade 4 student who has achieved something truly remarkable — publishing his very own book! This is an outstanding accomplishment that showcases his creativity, perseverance, and love of storytelling.

Congratulations, Yanry, on this amazing achievement. Your dedication and imagination are an inspiration to all of us at Mount Nelson Primary School!

Congratulations to our budding artist, Sophia!

Our grade 3 student, Sophia, entered The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania's Youth Art and Student Photography competition.  Sophia received the Highly Commended award in the grade 3/4 category. Well done, Sophia! 

Pre-Kinder Sessions

Our pre-kinder sessions for term 4 have started!

If you have a child who will be joining us for kindergarten in 2026, we encourage you to come along to our Friday morning sessions.

Please click on the image, for more details.

Fullers Bookshop Excursion

Last Wednesday, 4/5/6S and 3/4M went on an excursion to the Fullers Bookshop. 

Here are some student recounts of their experience.

Firstly, we (4/5/6CS) were supposed to go on a bus to St David's Park. But due to the bad weather, unfortunately, we had to go to the State library (which was still good!). There they had some interesting books, like the Von Book, where it will talk to you when you read! There were also some toys and a big spinning thing that was really comfortable. While we were reading, 3/4M were at Fullers getting books!

Then when 3/4M were done we went down to the Fullers Book Store to get ourselves a book. We went down there and when we entered, we met a girl named Sophie, she was a worker there and read us a picture book about a boy who went on a tight rope 400 metres in the air! After that she showed us around the store like the non-fiction section and the History section, then after that we got to choose a book! I picked a Myth & Legends book, but you can choose any book you want if its $25 or under! While we were buying, 3/4M were reading! Finally, we grouped up at the bus and went back to school.

Andy Y - 4/5/6

On the 22 of October my class, 4/5/6S and 3/4M went to Fullers Bookshop and the state library by bus. When we got there 3/4M walked into Fullers to choose their book while my class, half ran in the rain, to get to the State Library. Inside we warmed up and wandered around looking for a book then we settled down to read calmly. It was way warmer than outside, and we could lounge around in comfy chair absorbed in our book. After a short walk back, we returned to Fullers excited for choosing our books. We settled down on the mat and while 3/4M left, we were read a real story, by Sophie the bookkeeper, about a man who walked on a tight rope across the Twin Towers. Then she showed us all the books in the store. There was fiction, non-fiction, popular and classic, young adult and lots more for us to choose from. I choose the 1^st Hunger Games book, which I’ve started already and its great! Then it was time to go back to school on the bus. When I got on the bus, I immediately started reading my book. I got so absorbed in it that I didn’t know that we had stopped.

It was amazing that Fullers had given us over a thousand dollars to spend on books, and I think it’s great that they support reading so strongly.    

Oona - 4/5/6            

We would sincerely like to thank Fullers for their generosity in accommodating us and for providing every student with a free book, to the value of $25.

Marine Discovery Centre Excursion

On Wednesday, our Kinder and Prep classes set off on an adventure to the Marine Discovery Centre in Woodbridge! After a long but laughter-filled bus ride, we arrived to a beautiful spring day — the perfect setting for discovery and fun.

Students loved getting hands-on with the interactive exploring stations and were fascinated to learn all about the incredible animals that call our waterways home. It was a day full of curiosity, wonder, and plenty of smiles!

Hockey Champ visits MNPS!

This week in PE, our students have been lucky to learn new skills from an Olympic Bronze Medallist!

Matthew Swann played for the Australian Kookaburras over 200 times and won bronze at the 2012 Olympics, and Gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Students really enjoyed asking Matt questions about his career. Getting the opportunity to test their skills against an Olympian was something that they won't soon forget. Thank you to Matt and Hockey Tasmania for coming to our school.  

Class Spotlight - 2/3 Yellow

At the end of Term 3, 2/3 Yellow finished up our inquiry into 'empowerment' with an excursion to our local Mount Nelson Oval and Playground.

We had been inquiring into how we can feel empowered to make a difference in our community.

We were very lucky to have Mohammad and Julia from Variety Tasmania join us! They spoke to us about some of the work they do to enact real change in the community, specifically about creating inclusive public spaces.

 Together, we explored the idea of designing spaces that are welcoming and accessible to all! Mohammad and Julia told us 3 key questions that help guide Variety when working to make a park or playground inclusive.

1. ‎Can I get there? (Are there public transport options, roads, parking, bike and footpaths etc.)

1. Can I play? (In as many different ways for as many varying abilities, interests and needs.)

1. Can I stay? (For as long as I want because I feel safe, comfortable and have the facilities I need to be able to stay.)

By asking these questions, we can better understand how public spaces can truly become inclusive for everyone to play, connect and enjoy.

The students were excited to hear that they had in fact made an impact. Mohammad and Julia told us that because of our work, Variety would be speaking to the Hobart City Council about improving the Mount Nelson Oval and Playground in the future!

Brigitte Raymond & Cyntra North

Reminders

stem_next at Taroona High School

Taroona High School is excited to announce that stem_next is back for its sixth year in 2025!

stem_next is a science fair showcasing STEM Teaching and Learning in public education, from Taroona High’s feeder primary schools right through to its colleges. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) exhibits from UTAS and local industries, are also on display. stem_next aims to develop student awareness and mastery of Science and Technology. stem_next is fun, hands on, educational and inspirational! There will be food vans, prizes and so much more!

Come along on Thursday, 20 November 4:00pm - 7:00pm at Taroona High School and explore the STEM world!

School Calendar