7 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

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 2018. Please note dates are subject to change.

Principal’s Introduction

Welcome

Welcome to all our new students, their families and all those who have been with us before. What a fabulous start we have had especially with a shorter three day week for the children. It was lovely to see our students back keen and excited about the challenges ahead. We welcome four new teaching staff. Miss Katie Ahrens with pre-primary, Miss Rebecca (Bec) Lane with year two, Mrs Andria Snelson teaching Music and Mr David Pemberton teaching Japanese. We also welcome back Ms Emily Anderson who is taking our third Kindergarten group, Miss Sarah Lydon and Mrs Warr who are on fixed term contracts replacing Mrs O’Dea and Mrs Balding who are on parenting leave this year. Ms Lauren Danker, year two, re-joins our staff after a stint away at the Professional Learning Institute.

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 Mrs Rhonda Yates and the Uniform Shop team and Mrs Karen Winton and the Booklist team who packed and distributed all the booklists. They all did a brilliant job.

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 4-6 students participating in the bring your own devices program.

The Newborough Way (Positive Behaviour Support)

I am sure you have heard about our school behavioural values RESPECT TEAM WORK KINDNESS and CHALLENGE YOURSELF and our catch phrase THE NEWBOROUGH WAY from your child(ren) as we launched into this Positive Behaviour Support program from day one this year. We have had an energetic PBS Committee training up and planning this for the last year and a half. This program compliments the 1, 2, 3 Magic consequential program by adding the explicit teaching of desired behaviours with a strong whole school reward system. When students do the right thing they are rewarded with a Goldie token. The point from the Goldie goes onto their own score and accululates for class points. Once a class reaches the allocated target (Our first target is 300 per class) the class receives a Class Pass. Class Passes are displyed on the noticeboard next to the Admin entrance on the veranda. When all classes have achieved their Class Pass the whole school is rewarded with Golden Time. Like the previous Ripper Recess the children get an extra afternoon recess. Unlike Ripper Recess where children who have been referred to the office for poor behaviour missed out on the extra play, this time ALL children get rewarded. This may happen more than twice per term as was the case with Ripper Recess. We are a team and I am sure every child will have received a Goldie and made a contribution. There are of course instant consequences, including parent contact, for those who have been referred to the office through the 1, 2, 3 Magic process.

The impact around the school has been phenominal and no doubt will grow as we start to explicitly teach the desired behaviours and reward the behaviours we want. You will see a range of visual prompts for our four behaviours around the school and in classrooms. Many of these are still being made up and will hopefully arrive shortly. The PBS team are putting together a fridge magnet (or similar) with guidelines so you can use these at home. We have scheduled Tuesday Mini-assemblies straight after lunch to introduce and teach our behavioural values and for Golden Time. Mrs Boulos and her class will introduce the first topic relating to classroom behaviour next week. We have a schedule matrix to introduce and teach the desired behaviours throughout the year.

The photos shows our very first Goldie recipient Tyhaia Mubarakai, year 1, from Mrs Tennant’s class. The second photo is Claudia Dovaston-McGavock from Mr Freeman’s Year 5 class letting me know that herclass was the first to get a Class Pass.

Class Structures and Staffing Placements

As a principal and teacher for over 35 years this is the first year I have ever been in a school with straight classes all the way through. We have two classes of each year level excepting Kindergarten where we have three classes. This is the result of a little bit of good luck and some good management. Several teachers have agreed to take slightly higher numbers and receive extra support rather than have split year levels. Whilst we have this structure for 2018(unless numbers dramatically change) there is of course no guarantee for future years. There are many advantages including preparing and teaching the curriculum for one year level rather than two, greater opportunities for like year level collaboration, easier for camp, sports, excursions and joint activities and for classes to work together. Teachers of like year level classes have joint Duties other than Teaching (DOTT) time to assist with collaboration.

You may have noticed that we have changed the room number allocations starting with Kindy as room 1 sequentially moving around the school to the Japanese room 18. Room 5 (Mrs Watson’s old room) is our multipurpose room for our Chaplain, Multilit and various meetings. Being central it is easier for movement.

Curriculum Changes

This year we have two changes to our curriculum. Firstly Japanese Language will only be available for years 3-5. We would love to have continued Japanese for the year sixes but simply don’t have the expertise available. Unfortunately Mr Pemberton, our new Japanese language teacher, is only available for one and a half days a week as he teaches in other schools. The year sixes will have Mr Stenhouse for Technology rather than Japanese Language.

This year we are not be able to run our Musical. With the sudden, unexpected change of Music teacher we are not in a position to plan and run this event. Hopefully we can reintroduce this next year.

Arrival/Departure at School

Parents/guardians 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. Pre-Primary students use the Pre-Primary playground. Both areas are 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 front 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.

At the conclusion of the school day students are required to go straight home unless they are with their parents/guardians. We welcome after school play but do require students be under the direct supervision (Within eyesight) of their parent/guardian. We do not have duty teachers available after school. If parents/guardians are running late we ask students to wait at the office where their safety is assured and parents know where to pick them up from. Please don’t instruct children to wait at the Nature Playground or other areas of the school.

Our playground rules apply both in school and out of school hours for all children.

I have asked the cleaners to leave the Junior boys and girls toilets open until 4:00pm for all students. At 4:00pm they are cleaned and locked. All the other toilets are locked once they have been cleaned. We do ask that the Kindergarten and Pre-primary grounds are vacated by 4:00pm so that staff can get them ready for the next day.

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.

Facilities Update

During the holidays we had major works to repair our west wing (Rooms 5 – 10) roof that had been damaged by white ants. This required the removal of asbestos eves, removal of the clay roof tiles, replacement of support timbers and new eves. This extensive works was completed the day before students returned. As a result we were unable to get the resurfacing of the quadrangle done as we had hoped. This will now be done during the Easter break.

Japanese Students Visiting

Join the fun & host Japanese Students Sunday 25 to Sun 1 April (Easter Sunday) – 7 nights.

Newborough Primary will be hosting a visit from a small group of girls (12 years old) who attend English language classes at ECC Japan.

This visit does overlap the Easter holiday so Shoji Australia are offering to take host siblings (one free of charge) on a full day excursion to the Swan Valley (Caversham Wildlife Park & the Chocolate Factory) on Friday 30 March (Good Friday).

We are looking for host families who can ideally host a pair of girls or 3 girls as they would like to be hosted together. Apart from friendship and the opportunity to participate in family life, host families only need to provide a bed (a mattress on the floor is OK) and meals (as normal). Shoji Australia offer 24 hour bilingual support to students and host families.

Families will be given a payment to cover living expenses. The Japanese students will start and end their day at the school in line with the usual school day. The students will attend English lessons and participate in school life.

Exchange visits are not just about language but are a wonderful way to increase cultural awareness and develop cross-cultural communication skills for all participants. It’s rewarding and fun for families to experience another culture, share their experiences learning about Australia and form international friendships.

We need families to REGISTER NOW so organisation can be completed well before the group arrive. Please support this rewarding school program.

Contact Shoji Australia for more information or to register interest (no application needed if you have already hosted for Shoji Australia). Ph: 9385 6911 / 0419 901 867 or e-mail: jenni@shojiaustralia.com.au or go ahead & fill in a confidential application form below.

John Worthy
Principal

Term Dates

School Directory

Payments for 2018

The Department of Education has announced plans to introduce a new, state of the art financial and administration system called WebSIS across the entire department. Roll out will commence in targeted schools in 2018, with all schools across WA to be using the new system by 2020.

In anticipation of moving across to the new system and in order to streamline the voluntary contribution and excursion/incursion payment processes in 2018, Newborough Primary School has moved across to a cashless system from January 2018. All payments will be requested to be made via direct deposit through internet banking, which ensures that there is a clear paper trail for all payments, parents will have lodgement receipts from their banks and payments can be processed in a timely manner. The majority of our families have already embraced internet banking and direct deposits are the preferred method of payment, using mobile devices or computers.

If you do not have access to internet banking, please see our Manager Corporate Services, Sharon Singleton, to make alternative arrangements.

Visitors to the school

If you are visiting the school to deliver your child’s lunch, hat etc or volunteering in a classroom, please ensure that you sign in at the front desk. This is a risk management procedure to ensure that all people on school grounds are accounted for in case of emergency and for the safety of our children.

2018 Voluntary Contributions

The Voluntary Contributions fees have been established and approved by the School Board, in line with Department of Education requirements. The contribution fee for 2018 will remain at $60 per child.

While contributions are voluntary, the quality of our teaching/learning programs will be enhanced by your contribution, which is used to supplement expenditure in the following areas.

• Reading Resources
• Mathematics Resources
• Art/Craft
• Technology

Total Contribution $60

The P&C contribution will remain at $25 per child for 2018.

Payment is requested at the commencement of the school year.

Absentees

Just a friendly reminder that if your child will be absent, please contact the School directly either by:

SMS: 0409 088 585 (preferred method)
Email: Newborough.ps.absentee@education.wa.edu.au
Phone: 9446 1025

Please include only the student’s name and room number, reason for absence and the date in any messages – the use of apostrophes, a colon or emoji results in the school receiving a blank message, and we are unable to accurately update your child’s record.

For Example: “John Doe Room 13 absent 1/2/2017 sick with flu”.

Thank You
Administration Staff

Music News

New Music Specialist

Hello, I am thrilled to join the Newborough Team this year. I will be teaching music to PP – Year 6 students and conducting our junior and senior choirs. I am looking forward to meeting all the students and parents. I will be teaching at Newborough Primary each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Performances

Planned performances this year include Count Us In and the WA Massed Choir Festival with our first performance scheduled for the Anzac Day Ceremony.

Help Wanted

We are looking for a parent volunteer with piano playing skills to help with our performances and/or rehearsals. If you can help and support our choir with playing the piano, please contact myself via email: andria.snelson@education.wa.edu.au or come and visit me before or after school.

I also require some assistance with gluing labels to the front covers of our new music books – this is a very simple job that can be done whilst watching TV! If you’re able to assist, please come and see me in the music room this week.

Mrs Andria Snelson
Performing Arts Specialist (Music)

Japanese News

Welcome back students and parents. This is a photo of me with Emi Nakamura, a Japanese teacher from Chiba, near Tokyo. She came to Perth at Christmas time and we exchanged pen pal letters. She was very excited to share the letters from Newborough Primary School students with her students upon her return to Japan. I hope that students at Newborough Primary School will continue to enjoy language and culture exchange with Nakamura Sensei's students for many years to come.

As you probably already know, I am taking leave for 12 months to accept a PrePrimary teaching position at another school. I wish the students well in their Japanese studies with Mr Pemberton in 2018.

Kind regards,
Andrea Kurasho
Japanese Teacher

P&C News

School Banking

Welcome back super savers! Banking in 2018 will have new rewards and new competitions and incentives.

The drop box is not up and running yet, so for next week I will be in the library on Wednesday before school for anyone who would like to make a deposit.

My family and I are moving overseas at the end of term so I need someone to take over the Banking reigns. Please let me know if you can help keep this valuable program going

Megan Cowan
School Banking Co-ordinator
0410 101 035

Uniform Shop

Welcome back to the returning families and hello to the new ones!

Uniform shop is open Tuesday 2:15pm-3:00pm. All orders out of the hours, please email thru and will be delivered to class after payment is received to P& C account on order form. newboroughuniforms@gmail.com.

We're always looking for more volunteers. Why not drop in and say hi!

Rhonda Yates
Uniform Shop Co-ordinator
newboroughuniforms@gmail.com

Canteen News

New Rooms for Students and Room numbers for the school

Dear Parents,

As room numbers have changed for both your child and the school. You are now required to log in to your canteen online account and change room numbers etc. This will help us greatly in the canteen. Thank you for your understanding

Canteen Menu

Volunteering

We are always looking for help in our school canteen. If you could spare a hour once a week that would be appreciated. Please click on the link below to register.

Regards
Kim Riseley
Canteen Manager

Scholastic Bookclub

Scholastic Book Club catalogues were sent home earlier this week. Please ensure that when purchasing book(s) that you clearly mark:

• Child’s name
• Room number
• Book(s) being ordered.

Return correct money and form in a well secured envelope to your class teacher by Friday 16 February.

As per previous years, there is a new easier system for credit card payments- the LOOP system. It is done online and there is no need to return order forms. Any concerns, please let me know.

Spare brochures are available in the front reception area.

Online brochures are also available below.

As always, if you have any queries regarding the Scholastic Book Club please contact:

Rhonda Yates, 0415 665 256 or simplyrhonda@yahoo.com

Please continue to support the Book Club and enjoy the rewards that it brings to the school. Every purchase results in credits that allow us to order extra literary resources for the school.

Happy Reading!
Rhonda Yates
Scholastic Co-ordinator

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.

Community News

Netball News

We are looking forward to another successful year of Netball. Please keep an eye of for registration forms coming out in the next week or so. Places are limited and preferences will be given to girls who have played before. Registrations close on the 14th of February.

We are looking for a volunteer to coach a skill session once a week during term 2 for the year 2’s. If you are interested please give me a call.

Thanks
Alyson Stevens
Newborough Netball Club Co-ordinator
0438 975 124

Barnes Karate

Safety House

Newborough Primary School has been a proud supporter of the Safety House Program in our community for many years. We currently have 9 safety houses in our neighbourhood. The Safety House Program is always looking for new volunteers from the local community to become a ‘Safety House’, if this interests you, please email halijah.hyder@gmail.com for more details. FEELING UNSURE? KNOCK ON A SAFETY HOUSE DOOR!

Halijah Hyder - Safety House Coordinator

Are you interested in safety for kids in your local community? It’s easy to help and you could make a difference.

Safety House is a community based “Good Neighbour” program of volunteer householders organised by a local Safety House Coordinator. It’s easy to be a Safety House, it will cost you very little for a 3 year Working with Children Card and you could be doing something important to help protect vulnerable young children. The program is supported by the school and the local Parents Association. You can make a difference for kids in your local community.

WHO CAN BE A SAFETY HOUSE?

A Safety Householder must be a caring adult who is usually in or around their home during school travel times and be ready and willing to assist any child who might seek help at their door. This is to make sure that a child in need will find someone at home if they knock on the Safety House door for help. Your house must have easy street access to the front door, no screening walls or trees and a Safety House sign easily visible from the street. If you have a dog it should be secured behind a fence at the rear of the building or be kept under control in the house.

This is to make sure that a young child will be able to find the Safety House door easily and will not be frightened away.

Before you can be a Safety House, any eligible adult who is likely to help a child at the door must have a valid Working with Children Card. Also everyone living in the house aged fourteen and over must consent to having a continuously monitored police check which is fully paid for by Safety House. Your local Safety House Committee will help you fill out a simple Safety House WA application form. We need to make sure that anyone who might answer the door at a Safety House has been carefully checked out.

For further information please fill in the coupon below and leave it at your local School Office or you can contact the Safety House Head Office direct by email at safety@safetyhousewa.org.au and our website is below.

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