Dear Franklin Community,

As we wrap up Term 1, we are filled with a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm. Reflecting upon our first ten weeks, it has been a whirlwind of exciting activities, academic achievements, and personal growth. We celebrate the student’s exemplary behaviour and their agency to understand their learning journeys.

The real highlights of this term have been:

• Academic Excellence: Our students have shown remarkable dedication to their studies, with many achieving outstanding results in their assessments. Keep up the fantastic work!
• Creative Projects: From creative art projects, science investigations and garden discovery, the creativity and innovation displayed by our students have been truly wonderful.
• Sportsmanship: Our sports teams have competed with spirit and teamwork, making us proud in every match and event. How good do our tops look!
• Community Involvement: Franklins dedication to actively participating in community service projects, showing kindness and empathy towards others has been amazing. Not only this but also our first nation people sharing their places and culture with us has been a privilege to experience.

As we head into the holidays, I want to extend a special mention to Miss Bec and Miss Ella, who will be joining me on an exciting intercultural exchange trip to Indonesia. We will be visiting SDK Islam Kreatif Mutiara, and we look forward to sharing our experiences with you all when we return.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. Take this time to relax, recharge, and enjoy quality time with your loved ones. We look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready for Term 2!

Warm regards,

James Milne
Principal

This term, using DIBELS Beginning data as a benchmark assessment, teachers and TAs worked with small groups of focus students to improve student reading skills. All focus students were identified as either “at risk” or “some risk”.

Classes focussed on the following reading skills:

P/1: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)

1/2: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)

2/3, 4/5 & 5/6: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)

In PLTs, teachers analysed DIBELS data, planned and taught explicit intervention sessions targeting at risk students and the specific skills that needed further development, and assessed students to track and identify progress. This was done in an effort to move students to a lower risk category.

Thanks to the efforts of both students and staff, we've seen some strong growth in reading intervention groups this term.

Across both MiniLit and Macqlit, 67% of students have improved their reading skills which is a fantastic result.

This will continue next term as we expand our groups to include more students (identified through DIBELS testing in Term 1).

At Franklin Primary School, we are working really hard to ensure that all students receive explicit instruction to improve their reading skills.

Well done everyone! 

Nick de Tarczynski (AST/IS)

Science:

And that’s a wrap for Biological Science in Term 1!  Check out some of our recent learning:  In P/1 students have been learning to observe and compare animals to sort them by observable features.

In 2/3 students have been learning about plant and animal life cycles. They researched their plant or animal, identified the stage of its life cycle and worked in groups to create an informative poster to share with the class. 

Children’s University:

If your child is participating in Children’s University this year jump of the webpage to download a holiday pack full of fun activities.  There are also lots of events happening over the break to get involved in. 

• Wednesday 16^th April – Visit Government House and meet the Governor - bookings essential.
• 12th-17th April - Lift Off Children’s Festival at TMAG
• Wednesday 16^th April – Craft at Huonville Library
• Thursday 17^th April – Fast and Furriest movie screening at Huonville Library

In Children’s University Club students have been making Tas Rocks to distribute around the community.  Check out some of their beautiful designs!

Rachel from 2-3 bravely shaved her hair to raise funds for Cancer.

Well done Rachel you are a caring and special person. We are all very proud of you.

This fortnight has been a busy one for kinder. We wrapped up our community helpers inquiry with a special visit from the Franklin Fire Department. The children got to see the hoses, nozzles, a spray of the water, gas tanks and even got to sit in the truck and switch the sirens. it was a wonderful way to visualise the hard working community helpers and what they do to help us in our day to day lives. 

We have also been getting in to a variety of Easter actives. With some of the favourites being our Easter egg name puzzles and scooping sensory rice into mini eggs. 

Our final endeavour for the term will be making a big bus for the kinder and LiL children to use next term as the LiL children explore community helpers and the kinder children move into fairytales and nursery rhymes. 

Our trip to Burtons Reserve was everything we had hoped for, and more! Even though it was a drizzly overcast day Sharyn was ready for us, and we were keen.

To begin with we sang a Welcome to Country song with Sharyn and we looked at some wallaby furs, wondering what they had been used for. We decided in our cold climate they were instrumental in keeping warm, along with the use of ochre painted on bodies, like Mannagarlenna. Sharyn spoke to us about ochre, how it was made, showed us some natural and traditional materials for collaging and some clap sticks and animal skins.

We then split into class groups, first the Prep/1’s engaged in the activities set out by Sharyn on the grass. I was pleasantly surprised by how many of our children really enjoyed playing with the clap sticks, making up their own rhythms, songs and chants. The ochre was also a popular activity that inspired lots of artistic expression, although the grinding process was of great interest to most.

After completing these activities we swapped over and went on a bush tucker walk with Sharyn. We learnt about seeds that were ground to flour for bread, oils for disinfection, honeysuckle for sweet drinks, reeds for raft floatation, pigface for antiseptic and sweet jam and saag for sustenance when in need.

The whole day was so informative and the kids just soaked up all the information and experience. We look forward to engaging in many more experiences with Sharyn this year!

Exploring Change Through Time in Year 2/3

This term, our Year 2 and 3 students have been learning about how life has changed over time, with a special focus on toys, communication, and daily life. As part of our unit, students stepped back in time to the 1800s and imagined what life might have been like for a child their age.

To showcase their learning, students wrote creative postcards as if they were living in the 1800s. They shared what their favourite toys were (think marbles and spinning tops!), how they communicated with others over long distances (no texting here—just letters and telegraphs!), and the kinds of chores they were expected to help with at home.

The postcards beautifully demonstrated the students’ growing understanding of the past and the many ways our lives have changed over the years. It was wonderful to see them making thoughtful comparisons between their modern experiences and those of children long ago.

Well done to all our historians in the making!

As we wrap up the term, I want to take a moment to congratulate all of our wonderful 4/5 students for their phenomenal perseverance and dedication throughout our assessment period. Your focus and resilience over the past fortnight have been truly impressive—well done on a fantastic term!

We also had an exciting visit from the fire truck, which brought so much joy and curiosity to our class! Students learned about the importance of staying low in a fire situation, as smoke rises, and explored the gear firefighters wear to keep safe. A definite highlight was watching the water hose in action and getting the chance to sit in the fire truck and sound the sirens. The smiles on the students’ faces said it all! (You can check out photos from the visit on the Franklin Primary School Facebook page.)

Looking ahead, I am delighted to share that Mrs. Bec Witts will be taking over the 4/5 class. Mrs. Witts is a passionate and experienced teacher who brings warmth, creativity, and a love of learning into her classroom. I know she will continue to support and inspire our wonderful students, and I feel confident they are in excellent hands.

On a more personal note, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to the entire Franklin Primary community—staff, students, and families. As many of you know, this is my final week at Franklin. Since moving from Queensland last year, I have felt incredibly lucky to land in such a kind, supportive, and welcoming school. Although it’s bittersweet to say goodbye, I’m excited for the next chapter as my family and I settle into our new home.

Thank you for making my time here so memorable. I wish you all the very best for the rest of the year and beyond.

Warmest regards,

Tiarna Donnelly

One of the big highlights this week was the fire truck visit! The students were captivated as they learned all about the equipment firefighters use to keep our communities safe. We discovered that it takes just one and a half minutes to completely empty the truck’s water tank! The students enjoyed getting a close-up look at the truck, asking thoughtful questions, and watching how the hoses and connectors worked in action.

We also had a delicious experience in the kitchen this week with Mrs Stagg, who guided the class through preparing and tasting Okonomiyaki (a Japanese savoury pancake), as well as pesto and butterbean dip with homemade flatbread. It was such a wonderful opportunity for the students to try new foods and explore different cultural flavours together.

Another exciting achievement this term that will flow through into term 2 has been the start of our connection with our sister school in Indonesia. Our class worked hard to create short videos to introduce ourselves and showcase what school life looks like here in Tasmania. These videos are now ready to be sent over—and I have to say, I’ve been so impressed by our 21st-century learners, who showed off their amazing skills in using ICT apps to film, edit, and create polished video messages. Their creativity, teamwork, and tech-savviness truly shone through!

Alongside this, our pen pal letters are all written and ready to go. The students have worked thoughtfully to introduce themselves and ask questions about daily life in Indonesia and share facts about their community. We’re all looking forward to receiving replies from our sister school and discovering what a typical day looks like for students over there—what they learn, how they spend their breaks, the food they eat, and how their culture and routines might be similar or different to ours. This has sparked some rich conversations in class, and we’re all excited to continue building these global friendships and learn more about life beyond our own backyard.

As the term wraps up, I just want to say how proud I am of each and every student. They’ve shown incredible growth, resilience, kindness, and curiosity—and it’s been such a joy to teach them.

And finally, I’m excited to share that I’ve been lucky enough to stay on for the rest of the year!

I feel so grateful to continue this learning journey with your wonderful children, and I’m really looking forward to all that Term 2 will bring

See you next term.

This week in PE we have had Shane from The Bicycle Network come down and run some Bike Education sessions with our students

Great fun and skills were enjoyed over the course.

Smoking/ vaping education session for grade 4-6’s.

In weeks 1 and 2 of term 2, Nurse Emma will be delivering education sessions on the topic of smoking and vaping to all grade 4, 5 and 6 students.

During these lessons the students will learn about:

• What’s in a cigarette?
• What is vaping?
• Laws around vaping.
• Health effects/ risks of smoking or vaping and benefits to not smoking or vaping.
• Nicotine addiction.
• Peer pressure.

In week 1 of term 2, all parents/ careers of students in these grades will receive a DECYP fact sheet on vaping to help in understanding the impacts of vaping on young people and provide support in having conversations with your children around vaping.