This week is National Science Week across Australia. An annual celebration of science and technology that has been running since 1997. It is estimated that over one million people participate in the science events Nationwide in schools, universities, libraries and museums. Classes at Glen Huon will have their own special activities to enjoy. Destination Moon: more missions, more science is the school theme for National Science Week in 2019.

The 76 page 2019 Resource Book of Ideas (24 MB, PDF) offers teachers, parents and students the opportunity to investigate the people, space agencies, universities, and science organisations that are all delivering solutions in space science. There is also an Australian Space Science Timeline (6 MB, PDF) and a Student Journal (8 MB, PDF) available. A high resolution Destination Moon poster (5.5 MB, PDF) is attached with a pop-art colouring version (3.1 MB, PDF) of the poster for older children to try.

Yesterday we had some special visitors to our school, six girls and one boy from Tokyo, Osaka, Okayama and Hyogo. The exchange students loved joining the 5/6 class to play Japanese Bingo. They especially enjoyed the bush playground and were pleased to learn what a ‘cubby’ is. Thank you to all our students for your beautiful warm welcome. The students are keen to keep in contact, so please let me know if you would like their email address.

Grades 4, 5 & 6 have started the first ‘Multiplicative Thinking’ sessions this week. We will focus on the ‘Big Ideas in Mathematics’, supporting students to reflect on their learning and make specific gains. Student grouping is dynamic.

’Multiplicative Thinking’ is not just ‘times tables’, it’s about working flexibly with a range of numbers and concepts, using efficient strategies, recognising problems that we can solve using multiplication and division and communicating this effectively. Trial you own approach on the Maths challenge for this week.

You may have heard your child talking about the ‘Zones of Regulation’. All classes have now participated in an Introductory session and will continue to develop tools throughout the year.

By grouping our states of alertness and feelings into four coloured zones we can begin to provide students with strategies and tools to become aware of their emotions along with independent strategies to control their impulses, sensory needs and overall ability to problem solve.

A critical first step is the need to identify and interpret our emotions. We have included more details in the article inside. Please take a moment to share the student resources displayed when you next visit the Office foyer.

This Thursday, Huonville Primary is visiting Glen Huon for an Inter School Sport event. Students from Grades 5 and 6 will be competing in Football and Volleyball. Go Glen Huon!!

Reminder for Book Week Parade at 9:15 on the 20^th August. One more week to think creatively about those costumes. Parents/carers are also encouraged to dress up for the parade.

Stephanie van der Schans

Acting Principal

Japanese Exchange Students