Survey
Every two years the school surveys the community, staff and senior students. It provides us with valuable feedback on how we are going. This can help us with celebrating strengths and focusing upon areas that may need improvement. The survey closes this Friday 28 August, so please take this last opportunity to provide us with some feedback. Thanks to those people who have already done so.
https://www.schoolsurvey.edu.au/s/HPd8M6UR
Open Night
Each year we have an Open Night to report to parents in Term 3. This provides parents the opportunity to see what work has been completed in the class. It also provides students with the opportunity to share their learning journey with parents and they are often very proud. This year we had to decide whether we could run the night due to the COVID19 conditions that we are still facing. We decided upon making a couple of changes. Open night is scheduled for Thursday 3 September 2020, we are starting a little earlier to provide a wider window of opportunity for families and hopefully thin the crowd out a little. This year we are starting at 4:30pm and going until 6:00pm.
Parents will also be asked to be aware of social distancing and to give time for classes to reduce in numbers if there is already a number of people in the classrooms. Thanking You for your support.
Board Meeting
Each year the School Board holds an ‘open meeting’. This meeting is designed to encourage community members to come along and see what the Board is about and to meet the Board members. This year’s meeting will be after the open night Thursday 3 September 2020, starting at 6:00pm in the school’s new meeting room in Cluster 1.
State of Emergency
Just a reminder that although WA is doing well in its battle against COVID19, we are still in a state of emergency and need to ensure that we don’t get too complacent. We are still making decisions to do what we can at school. An example of this will be the open night, this year we will be spreading families out over a longer time and asking parents to manage the numbers that are in each classroom. If we keep following good practices, we might avoid a second wave.
Loose parts play
This year Mr Kellow is taking over organisation of the Loose Parts play.
We are looking at revitalising our materials collection for Loose Parts play.
For those unfamiliar with this program loose parts play provides an assortment of odds and ends. During lunch and recess on one day a week, students can test their construction skills and stretch their imagination with friends.
As you can imagine there is a fair amount of wear and tear on these objects and we are reaching out to the community for some new material to brighten up our collection.
If it’s free of sharp edges and you can imagine building your dream fort or fanciful costume out of it – it’s probably right for us!
Some popular components at the moment are – tyres, duct conduit and trolley carts, colanders, netting and tarpaulins.
Any donations can be placed neatly near the shipping container at west end of the school for sorting and safety check in week 6 and 7 (August 24 to Sep 4).
Please leave a note or email a photo of your donation so we can thank all of our contributors!
Items being donated must:
- Have no protruding nails or sharp edges
- Be clean
- Not be too large and heavy for a year four to heft around
- Be non toxic
- Hardy
This is an exercise in imagination, we won’t be needing toys or play sets please.
There can be too much of a good thing so save any large loads for verge collection.
2021 Year 4 1:1 iPad programme
We would like to note that we are at the tail end of the expected Apple ‘release cycle’ and that some time in September new hardware and products are likely to be announced.
As a practical note, the price of current generation devices tend to drop significantly in the weeks after these announcements and the school will update its policy and advice including the Winthrop Australia portal to reflect the these new products and iPad pricing which is currently unannounced.
If you are intending to purchase an iPad for next year it may be worth waiting a month or so for the price to drop and assess new options.
If you already have a device the current and previous generations are more than capable- we do not expect students to require pro devices or cutting edge hardware.
Defibrillator
A big thankyou to Bec Larsen and the P&C for providing the school with a community Defibrillator. Read the attached P&C newsletter for more info.
Positive Behaviors
Week 7: I have a go and do my best at everything.
Week 8: I respond quickly to signals and instructions.
Our Glory Championships Soccer Teams
A message from the Chaplain
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I wish to let parents and guardians know I am seeking to provide a helpful supportive programme called RAINBOWS – SPECTRUM. It is designed especially for Students who have experienced grief or loss from a life-altering crisis.
The Rainbows – Spectrum program offers peer support for Students who have experienced a loss, either through death, divorce or separation in their family, this can also include moving to a new school or losing a pet, even those who struggle at times with friendships and/or bullying, FIFO families or a major move from the country or immigration. Rainbows teach strategies to help children who are experiencing difficulty and helps with resilience and social/emotional skills.
It has been found that when something significant happens in a family, the entire family is affected. If a parent dies or separation/divorce occurs, not only does the parent grieve but the children do as well. In the course of the programme students:
- Learn to deal with their feelings
- Improve self-esteem
- Accept what has taken place in their family
- Get on with being who they are as a person
May Wong
School Chaplain