Moonah Primary School

05/11/2026

A reminder to those students going to the Interschool Swimming Carnival today. 'Don't forget to bring your swimming gear'

🏊🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️🏊🏻🏊🏻‍♀️

04/11/2026

Literacy Hub News

SPOTLIGHT ON HANDWRITING
Building the foundations for confident writers

Handwriting is an important part of learning to read and write. It involves more than just forming letters. Children also develop hand strength, pencil control, posture, coordination, visual perception, and muscle memory.

The Tasmanian Handwriting Guidelines highlight the importance of gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and good posture as foundations for handwriting development. The guidelines also recognise that handwriting develops over time and requires explicit teaching, regular practice, and opportunities to develop automatic letter formation.

Fine motor skills involve the small movements of the fingers and hands. Developing these muscles helps children control a pencil, manage writing tools and form letters.

Gross motor skills (building strong bodies). Strong core muscles help children keep a stable sitting position while writing. Everyday movement and active play offer wonderful opportunities to develop these muscles. Good posture provides a stable foundation for handwriting and helps children write comfortably for longer periods.

In the Literacy Hub, we support students to develop strong handwriting skills by setting up a writing space where students can sit at a table that allows them to have their feet firmly on the floor and back supported by the chair. Children’s forearms can rest comfortably on the table and they can use one hand to hold the pencil and the other to hold the paper steady.

Did you know?

Everyday activities such as playing, building, drawing, climbing and even helping in the kitchen can help develop the skills children need for handwriting. When children become more confident and automatic with letter formation, they can devote more of their attention to generating ideas, spelling, and composing their writing.

Fun fine motor and gross motor skills activities to do at home.

Spider push ups - press fingertips together and gently push
Piano fingers - tap each finger on the table.
Pencil Olympics - practise twirling a pencil between your fingers.
Play with playdough, using pegs and tongs to pick up small objects
Building with LEGO and construction toys.
Threading beads and pasta.
Cutting and drawing.
Completing jigsaws.
Run, jump, skip and hop.
Play ball games.
Climb playground equipment and monkey bars.
Play on swings and trampoline.
Ride a bike or scooter.

Little activities can provide opportunities to strengthen the muscles and coordination used for writing.

Remember:

Little hands need lots of opportunities to practise. Handwriting development doesn’t happen overnight. Providing children with regular opportunities to move, play, practise and explore helps build the foundations for confident writers. Short, regular and positive experiences can make a big difference.

The Literacy Hub Team

02/11/2026

30/10/2026

Happening today 👇

30/10/2026

Some students from 2/3 O'Dwyer had a fantastic time at our Halloween Disco on Thursday afternoon! 👻 Students loved dressing up in their creative costumes, dancing to some great music, and taking part in a variety of fun games. The afternoon was filled with laughter, excitement, and plenty of Halloween spirit. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces enjoying the celebrations with their friends! 🕸️🦇🧡

30/10/2026

Every Night Counts: Home Reading in Term 4

As we head into the final term of the year, we encourage families to keep up the great habit of home reading. Just 10 minutes a night can make a big difference to your child’s reading confidence, vocabulary and enjoyment of books.

Reading aloud to your child is one of the most powerful ways to support their learning, even once they can read on their own. Stories can be enjoyed just for fun, and information books help children learn about the world. Along the way, they pick up new words, meet new ideas and visit faraway places, all from home.
Some simple ideas to try:

• Let your child hold the book and turn the pages.
• Point to the words as you read, and talk about the pictures.
• Read with expression. Use funny voices, sound effects and faces!
• Ask questions as you go: What do you think will happen next? Has anything like that ever happened to you?
• Encourage your child to ask their own questions about the story.
Making reading part of everyday life:

• Visit the library and let your child choose their own books.
• Join the Big Summer Read with Libraries Tas over the holidays.
• Swap books with family and friends.

50 Nights of Reading

Home reading is something we really enjoy celebrating! When students reach 50 nights of home reading, they receive a special book to take home from Mrs Lacy’s office. It’s a great way to recognise effort and encourage a love of reading.

Happy reading, everyone!

29/10/2026

29/10/2026

We are excited to welcome our 2027 Grade 7 students to Cosgrove High School for their Orientation Day on 25 November.

28/10/2026

🎶 Our Grade 5 students brought Word Origins to life this morning as they explored the word transpose! Mr Williams used music to help students understand how transposing means changing something’s position or order, modelling how a song can be moved into a different key. A wonderful way to make word learning meaningful! 🎸 Department for Education, Children and Young People

26/10/2026

Her Court - every Monday at Lunch Time

We are so lucky to have Chloe come to join us from Her Court every Monday at lunch.

Today the girls and Chloe had a check in, played some games and practiced their shooting. They spoke about the 'Sweet Spot' on the board and the 'Hot Spot' on the court that helps them shoot goals every time.

All girls are welcome to join in with this lunch time activity on Mondays 💜💜