11 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Introduction

Welcome to all our new students, their families and all those who have been with us before. Staff have been back for a week preparing for the new school year. It was lovely to see our students back keen and excited about the challenges ahead. We also welcome two new teaching staff. Mrs Hannah Holmes (nee Smith) is our new Performing Arts teacher replacing Mrs Edwards (nee Farah). Mrs Edwards had a lovely little baby girl, Layla, in January. We also welcome back Mrs Kara Varcoe who will be taking Kindergarten DOTT on Fridays.

Thank you to all parents for your preparation of students in school uniform and the friendly and warm manner everyone bounced back into school with. The staff and I look forward to catching up with old friends and meeting newcomers. Please make yourself known. If you have any queries, good ideas, problems or concerns at any time please let my staff and I know. We are keen to understand and help!

Nearly all students wore the school uniform and a hat to wear out in the sun during the breaks. This is so important as it gives a sense of identity and belonging as well as being most functional. Having clothing, pens, pencils etc. labelled clearly with names is most helpful. The P&C have once again been fantastic with their support running the uniform shop. Many thanks Melissa McNally and the team.

We know that preparing our children for school and settling into good patterns really helps with learning (and sanity at home and school). Please ensure your child (ren) have a substantial breakfast, plenty of sleep and get to school in time to prepare for the day ahead. Every day at school is important. Don’t let TV and electronic devices rule your life. A little time and effort put into these areas now will set up a great year. We remind everyone that our school policy is that any students with mobile communication devices, including mobile phones, are dropped off at the front office before school and picked up after school. The exception to this is the years 5 and 6 trial for bring your own devices.

EXCITING YEAR AHEAD

Last year was such a phenomenal year with our 60th Year celebrations, ANZAC Dawn Service, Moort Boodja, the brilliant fete and so much more. Whilst we don’t have the fete, 60th Year and will revert to an in school time school ANZAC service because of the timing of ANZAC Day. There is much to look forward to including the vast array of regular sports carnivals, assemblies. Excursions and incursions. The bi-annual school musical is on this year. It will be sensational!

PARENT INFORMATION EVENINGS 2016

Parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to attend your child (s) classroom’s Parent Information Evening on either Tuesday 16th or Wednesday 17th February from 6:00-7:00pm. These meetings are very important in establishing communications with parents and developing standards and routines to help children with their learning. We encourage that children do not attend. For children that do come to school we ask they play in the quadrangle and playground in front of the Music room only.

CLASS STRUCTURES AND STAFFING

ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL

Parents are reminded that students should not arrive at school before 8:15am. Teachers open classrooms by 8:30am (Except Kindy). Students from years 1-6 may play a variety of games in the main quadrangle or play in the playground located in front of the Music room between 8:15 and 8:30am. This area is supervised by the Principal and Deputies. At 8:30am ALL children are directed to move to their classrooms to get ready for the day.

School commences at 8:40am Sharp! Late arrivals need to go to the office with their parents to sign in and get a late note. If a late student is not accompanied by a parent the parent will be contacted. Lateness disturbs learning for ALL children.

ATTENDANCE

Every day at school is important for every child from Kindergarten to year 6. Our attendance mantra is EVERY CHILD, EVERY DAY AT SCHOOL. This includes being on time and ready to start the school day.

The school and principal does not endorse children’s absences to go on holidays, greeting or saying goodbye to fly in fly out parents, special shopping trips and the like. These are unacceptable excuses that we hear too often. Parents are responsible and legally obliged to ensure their children attend school every day possible. Poor attendance not only severely impacts on your child’s learning but also on other children in your child’s class.

If you are having any difficulty getting your child to school let us know and we will try and help. Sometimes it seems easier to give into a child and keep them home for trivial reasons. This is fraught with short term and long term danger. We have had a lot of success in this area when parents and the school work together. Make no excuses for not attending school.

LUNCHTIME CLUBS

There is a lot of excitement about the new Lunchtime Clubs for years 1-6 students that is being introduced this term. On the first Monday back we held a mini assembly to welcome students and talk about the clubs. Teachers involved spoke to the children about each club on offer and what they might do. Students had till Thursday lunchtime to put in a nomination should they choose to do so. There were 128 nominations for the 85 positions which is an amazing response. If possible children got their first choice. Where too many children opted for a club such as woodwork and gardening children were selected by raffle. All those who missed out will get priority next term.

Help Wanted: If you are interested in helping out with the Woodwork Club on Wednesday lunchtimes 1:00pm-1:40pm) I would be very appreciative. We are making bird nesting boxes and Little Library book exchange boxes. Maybe there’s a grandparent or friend you know who might be able to help. Thanks, Mr Worthy

BUNURU – Noongar Season for February/March

Bunuru is the hottest part of the year with little to no rainfall.

People would stay close to the coast and to reliable water sources due to the drying up of water bodies inland.

Fish were trapped and speared. They made up a large part of the diet and fish bones were a good source of calcium.

Many reptiles including Kurda (goannas) lay their eggs at this time and the Kabart (dugite snake) may be active during long hot days.

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

Helen Keller

Kind Regards

John Worthy
PRINCIPAL

Term Dates

Dates to Remember

Note : Incursions, Excursions, Assembly days will be updated each term This is an outline of the events that will be coming up in 2016. Please note dates are subject to change.

Deputy News

Connect

By now you’ve probably heard others in our school community talking about the introduction of the online environment called Connect.

So in case you have missed the discussion around its use in our school, here’s a little run down about it.

Connect is a secure online environment developed ‘in-house’ by the Department of Education for staff, students and parents in public schools. It will give our teachers a tool to deliver content to the students via an online classroom. This means your children will be able to share with you what they are learning about, submit assignments and discuss issues together online anywhere, anytime - in fact easy access to information relevant about your child’s classes and learning such as assessments, teacher feedback and attendance data.

We are rolling out Connect slowly and teachers who are comfortable using Connect will be using it early this year. It is hoped that as teaches become more familiar with the program, more classes will begin to use it. You can find out more information from your child’s teacher and there will be information sent out to the classes that are beginning this term.

Check out the short video clip on Connect at

Nick Stenhouse
Deputy Principal

School Photographs

2016 SCHOOL PHOTOS INFORMATION

Our School Photos will be taken on:

Wednesday 2nd March 2016

Thursday 3rd of March 2016

Our school photographs will be taken in Week 5. Personalised Envelopes will soon be sent home to parents. PLEASE NOTE You now have the option of placing your photo order ONLINE instead of filling in the pre-paid envelope, refer to your child’s personalised envelope for details about online ordering, or phone MSP Photography on 08 9342 3465 if you have any queries.

If you are placing your order through the pre-paid envelope please make sure that your child brings the envelope to school on photo day to hand to the photographer, otherwise your order will be missed. NOTE: If you have placed your order online, you DO NOT need to bring in your envelope to hand to the photographer.

If you wish to purchase a family photo, please come to the administration office to collect a Family envelope. It is the eldest child’s responsibility to collect their siblings at the scheduled time for family photos. On delivery of the school photos the family photos will be left at reception for parents to collect, they will not be sent home with the children. NOTE: Family photos cannot be ordered online.

NO CHANGE will be given so please ensure correct money is enclosed in your envelope. We now offer online ordering for your convenience. Payment for photos can be made by cash, cheque or money order in your prepaid envelope or via Credit Card for Online Purchases Only.

All children will have an individual portrait taken whether purchasing photos or not for the school data base. If you have not placed an order on photo day you can still ORDER ONLINE up to 6 days after the last photo day. If you wish to place an order and it is after the 6 day period please phone MSP Photography on 08 9342 3465.

PLEASE NOTE: Orders placed after the 6 Day period will incur late fees.

All children will have the opportunity to purchase Specialist Group Photos, once the photos have been delivered to the school, at $15.00 each. The photos will be available to view and order online up to 2 weeks after the delivery of our photos for ordering. The school will send out a new newsletter with instructions once the photos are available to order. Any Special orders placed after the due date (featured in the second newsletter) will incur late fees.

Teachers will let you know the time your students photographs will be taken on the day.

Harmony Day Incursion – ZimboyZ

Newborough Primary School has organised an incursion to help celebrate Harmony Day for all Pre-Primary to Year 6 students for Thursday 17th March. ZimboyZ is an Africa acrobatic team who perform a world of impossible acts like chair balancing, human pyramids, fire hoops and chinese poles. You can google ZimboyZ to look at some the acts they may perform at our school. A note will go home soon in regards to the incursion. The cost is $6.60 per child. Payment is necessary by the due date for your child to be able to attend. Please see our registrar, Sharon Singleton if you need to organise a payment plan for the school.

2016 Musical

Keep these dates free: Thursday 2nd November and Friday 3rd November 2016

Yes! It’s a school musical year! Cinderella Rockerfella was such a success in 2014 that Newborough Primary School is going to put on a musical performance again in Term 4 this year. We would like to extend an invitation to any parents of Year 3-6 students who would like to part of our Musical Committee. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding. If you have any sewing skills, that would help too! Please either email me or see me if you can be part of this committee. My email address is Karen.tucknott2@education.wa.edu.au

National Quality Standards

Newborough Primary School staff are currently incorporating the National Quality Standards across our K-2 classrooms. Below is a description about the Standards and what this means. Each newsletter will highlight one area of the Standard.

Background

In December 2009, all Australian governments, through the Council of Australian Governments, agreed to a partnership to establish a National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (‘National Quality Framework’).

The Australian Government and state and territory governments recognise the importance of increasing their focus on the early years to ensure the wellbeing of children throughout their lives and to lift the productivity of our nation as a whole. The drive for change is based on clear evidence that the early years of children’s lives are very important for their present and future health, development and wellbeing.

The National Quality Standard

The National Quality Standard (NQS) sets a national benchmark for quality in education and care services across Australia and establishes a set of Standards that all service types are expected to meet. It also gives the Western Australian schooling sector a Standard and procedures to allow them to demonstrate how they are meeting the NQS in early childhood education programs, Kindergarten to Year 2.

Western Australia’s approach to implementing the NQS in schools has been jointly developed by the Departments of Education and Education Services in consultation with the Catholic and Independent school sectors.

The National Quality Standards are delivered through approved departmental frameworks. These include The Early Years Learning Framework and The Western Australian Curriculum.

Approved learning Frameworks

Early Years Learning Framework

Belonging, Being and Becoming the Early Years Learning Framework describes the principles, practice and outcomes essential to support and enhance young children's learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school.

The Western Australian Curriculum

The Western Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understanding and skills and general capabilities important for all Western Australian students. The Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline sets out the curriculum, guiding principles for teaching, learning and assessment and support for teachers in their assessment and reporting of student achievement.

The Outline includes information about early childhood curriculum and assessment to support the development of high-quality learning across Kindergarten and Pre-primary programs.

Kindergarten Guidelines, that will complement the Early Years Learning Framework and the Western Australian curriculum are provided to support seamless transitions within and across early years settings.

Quality areas, standards and elements

The National Quality Standard comprises quality areas, standards and elements.

There are seven Quality areas.

QA1 – Educational program and practice
QA2 – Children’s health and safety
QA 3 – Physical environment
QA4 - Staffing arrangements
QA 5 – Relationships with children
QA 6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
QA 7 – Leadership and service management

On-Entry Assessments – Pre-Primary

Making sure your child has the necessary skills for future literacy and numeracy development is crucial.

During weeks 3 – 6 of Term 1 all Pre-primary children will be participating in the Department of Education’s state-wide On-entry Assessment Program.

The purpose of the program is to provide teachers with an opportunity, early in the year, to collect information on the essential literacy and numeracy skills and understandings of each child in their class. This will assist your child’s teacher to develop informed and intentional play-based teaching programs, designed to reflect individual needs and foster each child’s learning.

Some assessment tasks can be included in the daily teaching program and some will be carried out one-to-one, in a quiet area. This will provide your child and their teacher with valuable time together, as well as give the teacher the opportunity to observe the behaviours and processes your child uses in responding to questions.

In Literacy, the program includes:

• Speaking and listening
• Reading – recognising simple rhyming words, listening to and identifying the sound at the beginning of a word, and listening to and talking about two stories
• Writing – drawing a picture and, if appropriate, attempting to write their name and some words.

In Numeracy, the program includes:

• Number – looking at small amounts and numbers, matching and counting
• Measurement – comparing length and hefting (lifting objects to find out which one is heavier)
• Geometry – looking at shapes and showing an understanding of simple ‘position’ words.

With the purpose of the program being to meet each child’s learning needs in a play-based environment, it is anticipated that all children will be included in the program. If you would like further information, or to discuss your child’s participation, please contact your child’s teacher or myself. Karen Tucknott

Year 4 Room 7 Report

Year 4 Room 7 students recently went through a process of generating our classroom rules. They exhibited cooperative behaviours as they thought for themselves, shared their ideas with their group, agreed which ideas were most important, and then used a Round Robin to share ideas and their importance around the class. Each group then proposed the three rules they thought most necessary. Creating a "democratic" classroom nudges students toward understanding the social structures that allow our society to operate functionally. Students who generate their own rules and agree on their importance are more likely to abide by them. You could ask your child, "What is the difference between a rule and a law?"

Dan Luxton

2016 Student Leadership Group

Faction Captains

Chaplaincy Articles

2016 Chaplaincy

Here at Newborough Primary we follow a philosophy of providing pastoral care for our students as part of our aim in achieving academic excellence. Working with our Student Services Team, Chaplaincy is an important part of our strategy. Our School Chaplaincy Service is provided through YouthCARE by Ali Dee.

YouthCARE Chaplains provide holistic pastoral care to students, school staff and members of the community, irrespective of their faith or cultural backgrounds. The pastoral care provided has a broad scope and includes one on one and programmed group sessions addressing physical and mental health issues, social and values education, behaviour management, emotional support and professional referrals among other out workings.

Although the school strongly supports our Chaplain, we understand that you, the parent, may have objections to your child/children interacting with or accessing the services of the Chaplain.

YouthCARE Chaplaincy is an ‘Opt-Out’ programme, and thus if we do not hear from you the assumption is that you give permission for your child to access Chaplaincy services if needed. If you do object please advise a member of the administration team so your child/children can access help through other avenues of our student services team.

DoE Security

Keep an eagle eye on our school!

School Watch encourages the school community to report any suspicious activity in and around school grounds, after hours and on weekends, as well as during school holidays.

Telephone 1800 177 777 (freecall) or 13 14 44 (WA Police).

Please do not approach any individuals, just contact security and they will investigate the situation or contact the Police. Working together will help protect our school.

P&C News

MOORT BOODJA

It’s a family run with a twist….

It’s back! A little bit different, a little bit warmer weather but with similar hops, drops and slops! Newborough Primary School’s P & C Committee and staff are again organising one of the school’s major fundraisers for the year – Moort Boodja! The children will be running, climbing, skipping, swinging, twisting, sliding, balancing and crawling their way around the school grounds. Obstacles will be challenging and fun, and easier options will be available if required. More information will follow over the next few weeks but we are after some initial help to get sponsorship and prizes.

WOULD YOU OR YOUR BUSINESS LIKE OBSTACLE NAMING RIGHTS?

Sponsorship packages are available to name an obstacle from as little as $100. Please speak to Liesel Lavender or Fiona Irwin (details below)

DONATION OF PRIZES

If you or your business are able to help with donating prizes to this event it would be much appreciated! We are running a raffle for children who collect money through sponsorship and are in need of prizes of any size.

If you can assist in any way or have any queries, please contact Liesel Lavender on 0409 465 000, liesell@iinet.net.au or Fiona Irwin on 0438 426 740, dfirwin@aapt.net.au .

Canteen

Hi Everyone,

We are back.

I am Patty Vallini, the Canteen Manager. Andy Howell is our Canteen Co-ordinator, she will be in charge of organising our volunteer roster and assisting in special canteen events and fundraising. Christine Reger is our Canteen Assistant and she will assist with our food preparation and meal service.

Our canteen operates Wednesday to Friday from 8:30am to 1:30pm. Our mission is to provide healthy, tasty home cooked meals and snacks at an affordable price. We cater to some special dietary requirements and operate within the School Canteen Association Guidelines, with only Green and Amber foods available. We use fresh produce from the school vegetable garden, buy local produce where possible and use free range chicken and eggs.

Our Canteen can only operate with the assistance of volunteers. If you are interested in becoming a canteen volunteer please contact Andy via email at andyandwilliam@westnet.com.au or mobile 0428 280 234, or myself directly at the canteen. Please look out for our Canteen Volunteer Roster being sent home soon.

The canteen is an online canteen and we encourage people to place orders using this service. You can register at www.ouronlinecanteen.com.au . You can access the menu via the school website or the link to the canteen menu from the newsletter.

I look forward to meeting you, and wish you a great year ahead.

Patty Vallini Canteen Manager

Uniform Shop

2016 UNIFORM ORDER FORM NOTICE

Welcome back

We have in Stock the new Sports Shorts for the boys just $15 , micro lite shorts .

My apologies for the delay of Polos Tees , for those that have preordered, I will send out an email when they arrive for you to collect .

Thank you for your patience

Regards

Melissa McNally

SCHOOL BANKING NEWS

Hello and welcome back to another year of school banking. This year the theme is the Outback with new rewards for every 10 deposits made.

If your child or children are interested in being part of school banking you just need to go to your local Commonwealth bank with your ID and child’s birth certificate to open an account. They will then be provided with all they need to begin banking at school.

If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact myself, Rebecca Gregory; 0402 688124

See you Thursday mornings, 8:20 to 8:40am in the library.

Happy banking!

Community News

Scarborough Junior Football Club

Registration & Open Day

The SJFC Open Day is on Sunday 21 February from 11am to 1pm at the Scarborough Sportsmen's Club (upstairs), 75 Deanmore Rd Scarborough. Please come along for:

• Registration assistance
• Meet the Coaches
• Uniform fitting
• Purchase new boots (Sports Specialists)
• Boot exchange
• Club merchandise including training jumpers
• Discounted Scarborough Sportsman Club Family Annual Memberships ($65 per family)

Northern Conference Junior Girls Competition

Scarborough will again be fielding a team in 2016 for the Junior Girls competitions. The competition format is designed to give girls of all levels the chance to develop their skills and have fun playing Australian Rules Football. The competition is open to all girls in Year 4 to Year 7. Training & games will be held at 4:30pm Friday afternoons and the season runs for 9 weeks from Friday 6 May to Friday 12 August.

Come down to registration to find out more!

If would like to know more information about any of the above, please contact SJFC President, Stephen Cross via president@scarbjfc.com or 0419 040 175.

Deanmore Dental Therapy Centre

During business hours – 9245 2664

Should an emergency arise after clinic hours or during a public holiday please contact the emergency service on 9325 3452, your local practitioner, or the Oral Health Centre of Western Australia on 9346 4400.

WestSwim

WestSwim is an established learn-to-swim programme managed by Swimming WA, the peak body for swimming in WA and a not-for-profit Association. Children will have access to experienced instructors, a first class programme, and will learn to swim well!

Venue: Churchlands Senior High School Pool Hale Road, Churchlands WA 6018

Classes available on:

• Tuesday afternoons
• Thursday afternoons
• Saturday and Sunday mornings

Cost: $17.00 per lesson; 10 or 15 Week Term

Please contact WestSwim on 9328 4599 to secure your place!

Ready Steady Go Kids

Term 1 is here!

Enrolments are open for Term 1 with Ready Steady Go Kids, Australia's largest and most reputable multi-sport and exercise program for preschoolers (aged 2.5-6 years). With seven locations in Perth's northern suburbs, our high quality, physio-designed program teaches children the fundamentals of 10 different sports in a fun, non-competitive, team-based environment. Ready Steady Go Kids seeks to develop a lifelong passion for physical activity and sport, decrease childhood obesity, increase confidence and prepare children for participation in school and the broader community. We'd love to offer a free trial for your 2.5-6 year old child. Please visit www.readysteadygokids.com.au or call 1300 766 892 for more information.

Wembley Downs Junior Football Club

The Wembley Downs Junior Football Club is looking for new members aged pre-primary to Y12. We are a great local club and are committed to AFL and our local community.

Please come to our Registration day on Sunday 21 February from 10am to 12noon at AS Luketina Reserve, Buntine Rd, Wembley Downs.

Or you can register on-line at www.wembleydownsjfc.tidyhq.com

Bounce down is on 1 May 2016

For further enquiries, contact wembleydownsjfc@mail.tidyclub.com or Michael on 0411 238 709.