14 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Please refer to the side panel “School Calendar” section for the “live” calendar of events for information

Principal’s Introduction

STEAM Week

STEAM Week is in full swing with some really fantastic events highlighting the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, The Arts and Mathematics. So far it has been wonderful to see so many parents come in and help with the World of Maths incursion and visit the Science room. I really enjoyed joining in with the pre-primaries as they learned about the first landing on the moon. Mrs Metcalf had the children making playdough models of the moon and bombarding them with mini meteorites to make craters. They watched an animated video of the first moon landing and discovered many facts about space suits. The Science room is open to visitors during Science classes all week.

The World of Maths is a really hands on, challenging and fun incursion with many practical activities the children challenge themselves, work in teams and move around.

This Friday is going to be really exciting as everyone dresses up for the theme ‘Destination Moon’, with a choir performance at 8:50am in the undercover area and classrooms open for parents and family from 9:00 till 9:30am.

Come and share the excitement.

Djilba (August September)

The Noongar people of the south west of WA have developed a six season calendar over thousands of years that reflects the changing seasons and subsequent flora and fauna that sustained human life.

We are now in the season of Djilba (August/September – Winter/Spring). Djilba is the time when the days become warmer, rain becomes less frequent and the winds begin to ease as they cross the coast. The Kolboko (Coastal Pigface) begins to flower as does the thick leaved Fan-flower or Minndit. This plants’ flowering indicates to the local Noongar people that the eggs from the Mountain Ducks were ready to be collected. Djilba is also the breeding season for Yoran or Bobtail lizard. If you are on the coast Mamong (whales) can be seen as their migration takes them south. The yongka (kangaroos), wetj (emus) and ngwara (possums) have fattened up and are ready to eat.

Next time you are at the local lakes or down at the coast you might observe these features of Djilba.

Calendars in the Newsletter

We’ve had a review of the newsletter and discovered that we have four calendars. I am sure this is quite confusing to most. We are condensing all the calendars into one to reduce confusion and assist with readability. Please refer to the “School Calendar” section on the left side of the school newsletter

Nature Play

In recent years one of the most important and influential improvements in our school has been the Nature Playground. I am always amazed at the number and range of children who flock to this area at recess and lunch each day, even after school and on holidays. There is always about 30-50 children all playing in so many ways. There’s chasey, exploring, building, talking, balancing, swinging and simply chatting. You see teamwork, negotiation, acts of friendliness and kindness, cooperation between children of all ages and lots of happy faces. There are the nature lovers who discover beetles, ants, caterpillars and recently lots of worms. With the construction of our new Sustainability shed and outdoor classroom the contractors excavated the site removing a pile of mulch to the Nature Playground. This has been really popular to climb, make castles, dig, roll down and run over. There is always something new, something different and fun to play.

The P&C designed, built and funded the Nature Playground as a gift to Newborough to celebrate our 60th birthday in 2015. Like a living thing it needs some tender loving care. Unfortunately, the maze has been closed down as there has been an infestation of white ants exposing some nails and splitting timber. The rope on the bridge has deteriorated and needs replacing and some general maintenance is required. Personally I would love to see the maze removed and part of it replaced with copper logs saved when the new fence went in. In this open area we could place a load of thicker branches and relocate a small shed that we fill with ‘stuff’ to make cubbies. I am sure this would be another highlight. I love making cubbies as a kid and I’m sure all kids do. I will be approaching the P&C to have a busy bee at the Nature Playground and possibly help out with the Sustainability hub.

If you are interested in children’s play in nature have a look at this site full of ideas not just for kids but all the family.

John Worthy
Principal

Term Dates

School Directory

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.

Payment of Incursions and Excursions - NO CASH PAYMENTS ACCEPTED

Payment of Incursions and Excursions –

Newborough Primary School is a cashless school – all payments must please be made via internet banking only.

If you need assistance with making payment and would like a payment plan, please contact Sharon Singleton, Manager Corporate Services to make alternative arrangements.

Non payment of future incursions or excursions

Non payment of the incursion or excursion by the DUE DATE will result in your child not attending the event – they will be placed in another classroom while the incursion or excursion is taking place.

2019 Voluntary Contributions

Thank you to the families who have paid their voluntary contributions for 2019. These fees were approved by the School Board, in line with Department of Education requirements, and 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 has now increased to $30 per child for 2019.

If you have not yet paid the contribution, please consider doing so as soon as possible as the funds directly benefit your child this year.

Absentees

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

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

Collecting Students during school hours

Parents/guardians are reminded that if they are collecting students during school time they are required collect a sign out pass and provide this to their child’s teacher from the front office. We do this for safety, security and accountability for student wellbeing.

Deputy News

Welcome back to Term 3! We had a very smooth start to what is going to be a very hectic term!

STEAM WEEK – WEEK 4, TERM 3 12TH-16TH AUGUST

This year, Newborough Primary School has highlighted the National Science Week through our STEAM Week, rather than focussing on Book Week. (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics)

DESTINATION MOON, DRESS UP DAY, CHOIR PERFORMANCE AND OPEN CLASSROOMS

On Friday 16th August, we will begin the day with a whole school gathering in the undercover area to listen to the Senior Choir sing one of their WAMCF songs “Space Race to Every Question.”

From there, all classrooms will be open to parents and family from 9.00-9.30am where teachers will be organising a range of STEAM Week activities for parents to participate in with their child.

We are also asking students to Dress-Up on Friday 16th August in a Destination Moon costume or outfit. Students may come dressed up as an astronaut, cosmonaut, astronomer, rocket ship, a star or anything related to the theme of Destination Moon

IN-TERM SWIMMING LESSONS – WEEKS ONE AND TWO, TERM FOUR

The In-term Swimming lessons are in Weeks One and Two of Term Four. While this may sound like a whole term away (and it is), we need to have the In-term swimming completely organised by the end of this term. (Ten weeks does seem to go VERY quickly) The Excursion Advice Form has been sent home for all students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 but is also on the Newborough Primary School website in case it is squashed at the bottom of your child’s school bag, along with soggy sandwiches and the World of Maths note!

The final date for payment for swimming lessons is Wednesday 25th September – Week 10 of this term.

The cost per child is $41. The payment for swimming must be paid in total by this date Wednesday 25th September for students to be able to attend. (No pay, no go!)

The In-term swimming program is ONLY eight days long. To be of benefit, students must participate in all eight days. It is essential that payment is made this term.

The school will not be accepting pro-rata payment for parents of students who only participate in a few days of the swimming lessons due to holidays or illness.

Please do not hesitate to contact the administration staff to discuss payment plans now for your children if needs be.

As the In-Term swimming lessons provide essential swimming skills and life skills for our students, we expect all students to participate in the program.

However, if your child/ren are not going to be participating in the In-term swimming program, it is also essential that your email newborough.ps@education.wa.edu.au to state that your child is not participating in the program and the reasons why. Can you please inform the school ASAP if this is the case.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries about swimming lessons next term.

Chaplain News

The cupboard is bare!

We know that our school community here at Newborough cares for others. At times, within our school community and the wider community, people need some help and we want to be able to meet some of that. To do this we are going to offer the opportunity for families to donate non-perishable food supplies that can then be distributed in hampers as needed. Some of this will also be given to the Salvation Army to support their community programs or another school that is in a difficult situation.

Some suggestions of what to donate: long life milk, tins of tuna, pasta, pasta sauce, noodles, cereal, pasta meals in a packet, tinned vegetables, tinned soup, muesli bars, rice cakes, rice sauces, biscuits, crackers. Think about things that can be put together as a basic meal…

The other option is for people to donate a $10 Woolworths gift card. This would be used by me (not given to families) when there is an immediate need that the stock I have doesn’t meet.

The plan is for families at Newborough to bring food items to Room 11 before school during week 6 (26th -30th August), any day that week.

If you have any questions please see Ali Dee (Tuesday & Friday) or Natalie Kos (Rm 11)

Thanks,

Ali Dee
School Chaplain

Music News

WAMCF 2019

Our senior choir is very hard at work learning their ten songs for the Western Australia Massed Choir Festival. This performance will take place on the Friday, 27th September at Perth Concert Hall at 7:30pm.

Ticket sales will be online through the Concert Hall or Ticketmaster at a cost of $27. Bookings open at 10am on Monday, 19 August.

Each concert will have an official photographer and will be digitally recorded and offered for sale as a DVD. More information to follow soon.

SPORT REPORT

Interschool Cross Country

Congratulations to all members of the Interschool Cross-Country team who participated in this event at Butlers Reserve on Friday 2nd August. Once again, our students demonstrated the “Newborough Way” values and also showed great athleticism, endeavour, resilience and sportsmanship as they competed against the best cross-country runners from our local school area. This year, twelve students finished as top 10 placegetters for their year and gender race. Of those twelve students, seven students finished in the top five place getters. Congratulations to Michelle Ochoge, Year 3 who finished in first place, Cambell Weir, Year 2 and Jordan Watson, Year 6 who finished in second place, Riley Tlach, Year 5 and Finn Joyce, Year 4 who finished in third place. Overall, our school finished in a creditable fourth place.

Final School Placings:

1st - Wembley Downs, 2nd – Doubleview, 3rd- Deanmore, 4th – Newborough, 5th -Yuluma, 6th- Scarborough

Faction Athletics

With the carnival only a few weeks away, all students are currently training very hard for the faction carnival in their physical education and sport sessions.

As everyone knows, a successful and memorable school carnival requires the assistance of parent volunteers to help with a range of small jobs. At our school we are very fortunate to have so many willing parents to lend a hand at our carnivals. This week a hard copy note will be sent home with every child from Years 1 – 6 requesting assistance from our parents for our faction athletics carnival. Parents who are able to offer their assistance are asked to return the form to their child’s classroom teacher as soon as possible.

Physical Education Athletics Program - Key Dates

Kris Williams
Physical Education Teacher

Ripper Reader Program

The Ripper Reader program has been a great success over several years. We have had hard working Mums and Grandparents assisting and supporting many students with their reading skills. There has been so much positive feedback from students, parents and teachers and we all agree it is making a huge difference to the confidence of our students.

If you are interested in joining our fantastic Ripper Reader team, it might only involve 10-20 minutes of your time!please see Mrs Tennant (vicki.tennant@education.wa.edu.au) in Room 9 or Mrs Murray (nadine.murray@education.wa.edu.au) in Room 7

P&C News

Entertainment Book

Buy a new Membership from
Newborough Primary School today and get
a BONUS eGift Card!

Right now, when you buy an Entertainment Membership you will
also receive a bonus $10 JB HI-FI eGift Card!

Entertainment Memberships are packed with thousands of valuable offers
for everything you love to do, all while supporting a great cause.

Jerelyn Tierney
0403167135
jeryt@hotmail.com

Uniform Shop

Manager Needed

We are looking for a new uniform shop manager for 2020. This position requires approximately 1-2 hours of your time per week.

Your responsibilities include the following:

• opening and closing the shop weekly (morning or after school is up to you)
• helping parents and carers select uniforms
• taking payment by credit card, cash and bank deposit
• depositing the cash payments for the week
• ordering when stock gets low
• delivering online orders to classrooms at your convenience

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will still be at the school next year for any help needed.

FYI

The school faction carnival is just in the three weeks. Why not support your faction with your own shirt? We carry up to a youth size 16.

Volunteers

Without our volunteers the uniform shop cannot run so please help if you can. Enquiries to newboroughuniforms@gmail.com

Uniform Opening Hours

Uniform shop is open Tuesdays 8 - 845 am. Alternatively you can pay via bank deposit into the P&C account and email me your order. I’ll deliver the order to your child’s classroom.

For out of hours, please email through your order and it will be delivered to class after payment is received to the P& C account. newboroughuniforms@gmail.com.

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

Canteen News

New Term 3 Menu

Below is the new menu for Term 3. Soup of the Week is a new feature while the weather is cold. Look out for the weekly options via the link below.

Kitchen Scraps

We try not to let anything go to waste in the Canteen so we are contributing all our kitchen scraps to Mr Worthy's worm farm.

Volunteers

We've revisited the system of allocating volunteer shifts to classroom years. So far this has been working really well with one Dad coming back twice in one week. Thank you to those who have already participated, it has really eased the pressure.

Dads, if you make a mean toastie or want to try your hand at making pizza, please put your name on the volunteer roster. Below are some of the happy Dads who have volunteered in the past fornight.

Regards
Amanda Meyer
Canteen Manager

School Banking

One of the great things about school banking is that it’s designed to reward regular savers. It doesn’t matter how much the kids deposit – what’s important is making saving a regular part of their weekly routine. If your child hasn’t banked in a while, pop in next Wednesday to check how many tokens they’ve already earnt (tokens don’t expire each year). This term we have 8 rewards to choose from with new goodies added every term.

And if the kids need any more motivation to save – it’s worth reminding them they earn a bonus 1.8% interest on their account (on top of their standard 0.5% interest) if they make at least one deposit and no withdrawals each calendar month.

See you before school next Wednesday in the library.

Sonia Johansen
School Banking 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

Vac Swim

You can now enrol your children in VacSwim swimming lessons for the October school holidays.

With swimming pools and beaches a big part of the Western Australian lifestyle, it’s important your children are safe in the water.

Programs are available for children from five to 17 years and cater to all skill levels – from beginners to those doing their Bronze Medallion. They are being offered at pool venues across the State.

Enrol your children in VacSwim now at

Warwick Senior Highschool – Trials for 2020

Limited places available for the following programs for 2020

Academic Extension Program
Dance Elite Program
Music Elite Program
Specialist Netball Program

Please refer to pdf attached for trial and audition dates and times

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.  FEELING UNSURE? KNOCK ON A SAFETY HOUSE DOOR!

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 in the link below.