10 February 2021

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

WELCOME

Welcome to all our new students, families and all those returning. It certainly has been a different and interesting start to the year. If school had started as planned at the start of week one on the 1st of February we would endured a heat wave with sun screen and hats. With the delayed start moved to week two due to the COVID lockdown we faced a wet start in much cooler weather. I appreciate the support of parents and staff adapting to the lockdown and now post-lockdown periods and no doubt some upset and disappointment from students following the big build up to the postponed start.

We are going to have a fantastic year! It was lovely to see our students back keen and excited about the challenges ahead.

Our school prides itself on community engagement and parent involvement. The last year or so has been quite difficult so now is the time to get involved and contribute to this fantastic school. One of the best ways to do this is to join the P&C. The first meeting for the year is Monday 15th February in the Library starting at 7:00pm. Enter through the Mulberry Tree After School Care gate between the Kindergarten and After School Care rooms. I look forward to working with our fabulous P&C and getting to know new members. It’s a lot of fun and really supports the kids and school.

We welcome new and returning staff. Mrs Bree O’Dea (Mon, Tues. & Thurs.) who returned briefly at the end of 2020 will be teaching year one. Mrs Joni Gardner will be teaching various classes for teacher’s additional DOTT in PP-3 classes. Mrs Ashley Cross returns as an Education Assistant in Pre-Primary. Mr Moneer Markoub continues as our Acting Head Cleaner and is helping out with Gardening whilst Mr Riley, our regular Gardner/Handyman recovers from an injury. Mrs Kris Williams our valued PE teacher is also on a return to work plan following her knee injury and will be supported by Mrs Coleen Dayman (Mon/Thurs.) and Mr Andy Medland (Tues./Frid.) as she builds her capacity to work full time. Joining the school on her final Intern Practice is Miss Pepi Ott-Kelly in Mrs Murray’s year two class.

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! We are all working on how we can best embrace our school values so our theme for the year is “How can I help you?”

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 Miriam Lopes and Mrs Fiona McCallum and her team in the Uniform Shop and Ms Jackie Stott 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 4-6students participating in the bring your own devices program.

COVID LOCKDOWN AND RESTRICTIONS

Everyone has embraced and supported the lockdown period last week and this week’s post-lockdown arrangements. Thank you for your support of these measures.

The Premier has advised several post-lockdown measures be put in place for Perth and Peel schools. These include:

• ALL adults must wear a mask including staff. Teachers may remove their mask when instructing students
• 4 Square metre room capacity restrictions apply and 1.5 metre distancing for adults
• Kindy – 11 adults
• Pre-primary to year 6 classrooms - 14 adults
• Use the SafeWA app or paper register for adults entering the school

At school we are teaching and supporting students to wash their hands regularly and sneezing/coughing in the elbow bend. If your child has symptoms of a cold or flu please keep them home and seek medical assistance ensuring they are well before re-entering the school.

CLASS STRUCTURE AND TEACHER PLACEMENTS

Every effort has been made to place students to assist them with their learning journey and maintain social interaction with their like year level peers. We are fortunate to have excellent teachers in all classes.

FACILITY UPGRADES AND IMPROVEMENTS

The school has had quite a few upgrades and improvements just prior to the end of Term 4 last year, the school holidays and our extended COVID lockdown period. In the photograph we have our 2020 Graduating students with the school’s Patron, Mrs Liza Harvey, in the new shade shelter and with the coloured seats they painted. This area now includes the Friendship bench for children who might be feeling a bit down or need to finds a friend.

The eaves along all the verandas have been replaced and painted. This looks so much better and has considerably improved safety with the removal of older asbestos sheeting. The Administration block also had older carpets replaced and looks much sharper. During the carpet removal some suspect material was uncovered from an old gas heater. This was an asbestos product along with some of the lino sheets. These will be safely removed and air tested before the new carpet squares are placed. The area is protected and safe until for staff and visitors.

The school was expecting the new staff carpark to have started and be completed during the summer break This has been delayed by final approvals that have cleared and the works should get started shortly.

As a school we are continually looking at how we can improve facilities. The P&C are investigating and designing a revamp of the very popular Nature Playground this year. The School Board is assisting with a partnership with the City of Stirling to improve Jackson/Wilding Reserve including the possibility of access to toilets.

ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE AT SCHOOL

Parents/guardians are reminded that students should not arrive at school before 8:25am. When gates open. Teachers open classrooms at 8:30am. There is no play before school.

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 parent/carer. We welcome after school play but do require students be under the direct supervision (Within eyesight) of their parent/carer. We do not have duty teachers available after school. If parents/carers 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 3:30pm for all students. At 3:30pm 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 3:30pm so that staff can get them ready for the next day.

School gates are locked at 3:30pm. The Mulberry Tree gate next to the Day care and Kindergarten is left unlocked until 6:00pm.

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.

LORD MAYOR’S DISTRESS RELIEF FUND

I encourage everyone to join me and donate to the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund.

Our student leaders will shortly look into running a fundraiser to support this cause. See link below on how to donate

John Worthy
Principal

TERM DATES

2021

School Directory

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.

2021 Voluntary Contributions

Our School Board have approved the Voluntary Contributions and Charges, in line with Department of Education requirements, which will remain at $60 per child for 2021. These were sent home with family representatives last week

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 $30 per child for 2021

You can elect to pay the 2021 voluntary contributions via your booklist if you are ordering your books through the P&C, or pay the school direct via internet banking to our bank account

Newborough Primary School
BSB 016 350 Account number 3408 71304.

If you are paying the school direct, please ensure you use “your child’ surname and 2021” as the reference so we can credit the correct account.

Thank you to all those parents who pay these contributions early in the year, we really appreciate it.

COVID-19 and Sick Students

We are still amid the pandemic response and the risks are ever present, as witnessed by the recent unexpected outbreaks in South Australia. This means we continue to stick strongly to the health recommendations for social distancing, particularly for adults. Here at school, we actively promote washing hands, cleaning with disinfectant, staying home if unwell and sneezing/coughing into the crux of the elbow. Please do NOT send your child/ren to school if they are exhibiting any cold-like symptoms. The restrictions for social distancing of students has been relaxed by the Education Department on advice from the Health Department for schools. We still apply distancing as much as practical in the classroom and playgrounds.

Birthday Cakes/Gifts for Students

A reminder that we are not allowing the sharing of birthday cakes, presents etc. for birthdays or other celebrations due to the COVID restrictions. It remains too risky.

PICKING UP YOUR CHILD DURING THE DAY

If your child needs to be collected from school during school hours (eg. attending an appointment or leaving early), can you please email the school at newborough.ps.absentee@education.wa.edu.au and your child’s class teacher ahead of time (the day before or in the morning would be great). Please include a reason for early pick up and the approximate time you will be here. This will help with coordinating your child to be waiting at the office when you arrive and lessen your wait time.

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

Deputy News

Welcome back to the new school year. While it has been an interesting start for us all and we adjust to learning to wear face masks without fogging up our eye wear, all children are settled and it is business as usual. A huge thank you to all parents for your organisation of student requirements which has helped make the year the start of the year a smooth one in classrooms.

Also a massive thank you to our P&C and volunteering parents for organising the Book Lists and uniforms for our students for the start of this year. In particular thank you to: Jackie Stott, Karen Winton, Miriam Lopes, Bianca Birrell, Emma Martin, Bec Gregory, Fiona McCallum, Kym Carly, Alyssa Garrett, Blanche Blakeney, Bec Brown, Katrin Baur, Sonia Johansen, Chelsea Fawell, Gabby Richardson, Carly Fowkes and Chenoa Walsh. This has been a massive job for these ladies and we thank you greatly. (My sincere apologies if I have left anyone out.)

Parent Information Open Nights – Week 3

Due to the COVID lockdown, the dates for our Parent Information Nights have changed. Our Parent Information Nights are now next week: Tuesday 16th February and Wednesday 17th February from 6-7pm.

As these meetings are for parents, we strongly encourage alternate care for your children. However, if you have no alternate care, we will provide supervision in the school library for all school-aged children (Kindy-Year 6). Non-school aged children will stay with parents in the meetings. We request that siblings who no longer attend primary school do not come to the school. Students will not be able to play outside during these meetings. Thank you for your cooperation.

The Mulberry Tree, Karrinyup Sports Hall and Nature Playground gates will be open from 5.45pm

COVID SAFE: Please adhere to social distancing in the classroom, practise good hygiene and sanitise your hands on entry. Depending on the State Governments directions this weekend, please be prepared to wear a face mask during the meeting if required by Western Australian law.

School Photos – Week 4

Newborough Primary School’s School Photos are will be taken on: Wednesday 24th February 2021 Thursday 25th February 2021 by MSP Photography.

Every student will have their photo taken, whether they are purchasing photos or not.

We have chosen to use the online ordering system only and in the coming week or so, every child will be given an online ordering instruction slip and a unique student shootkey. (Due to COVID these have not arrived yet)

To order, you will need to Log onto the link below and follow the prompts to place your order.

If you lose your shootkey, your class teacher will have a copy to quote back to you.

The expiry date for online ordering is the 03.03.2021 Any orders received after this date will incur a $30.00 archive fee. You can email your order request through to reorders.perth@msp.com.au or call our office on 08 9240 8000

Family Photos

will be taken both mornings before school in the undercover area and envelopes can be obtained from Administration. Please ensure that your family envelope and payment are handed to the Photographers on photo day. If you do not have the correct money we will provide any change needed when photos are delivered to school. Family photos cannot be ordered online. Once school has received photos, family photos will remain at reception for parents to collect. Please Note: Individuals and Family Photos are not available to view online.

Wednesday 24th February 2021

8am Family Photos before school in the undercover area

Thursday 25th February 2021

8am Family Photos before school in the Undercover Area

Harmony Week – Developing Cultural Acceptance through Harmony Week- Week 8

Harmony Day (Sunday the 21st of March) celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. In schools we celebrate inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for all Australians, from the traditional owners of the land to those who have come from many countries around the world. The ongoing theme of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’. Harmony Day is a day of cultural respect for all and an understanding how all Australians equally belong to this nation and enrich it.

As part of our Harmony Week activities this year in Week 8, Term 1, we will have open classes in Japanese for parents to attend, a Harmony Day assembly and all students will participate in making Friendship Bands with their colour of their national flag/Aboriginal flag.

We will send out more information in the coming weeks in regards to Harmony Week.

School Musical – Matilda Jr – Week 7 Term 4 2021

I am not sure who is more excited, our students or our Performing Arts teacher, Mrs Andria Snelson but our School Musical is back this year in Term 4. The musical this year is Matilda Jr and all students from Year 3-6 will be performing in it. The musical will once again be held at the Churchlands Concert Hall on Tuesday 23rd November and Wednesday 24th November from 7-8.15pm. A lot more information will come out through the year in regards to the musical.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? The school musical is always a very big production and needs a committed group of parents to assist with us with organising it. Mrs Snelson and I are inviting any interested parents to form a committee with us to help organise the musical for your children please. Parents should have children in Years 3-6 and be willing to help with either adverstising materials, ticketing, costumes, sets, props, hair, make-up ect. It is lots of fun and very worthwhile. If you are interested, can you please email me as we will be keen to have a meeting mid term to start the process of organising this year’s musical. (We have seen those great home made face masks out there this week, so we know some people can definitely sew!!!!)

We wish you all a fabulous year at Newborough Primary. Please do not hesitate to contact either John Worthy, Nick Stenhouse or myself if you have any queries.

Parent Consent for Third Party Apps

The Department of Education has recently revised its Student Online in Public Schools policy and procedures. The policy was made immediately effective except a section which the school needs to implement at the start of 2021.

The section we need to implement is the section that relates to the use of third party apps e.g. Apps and programs such as SeeSaw, Schoolzine and other apps that students access in their classrooms. Evidence and research shows that parents are generally happy to have students use technology but want to know that their student is safe. This; along with the fact that schools are increasing the use of technology with students and have a responsibility to ensure students are safe online, has informed the changes to the Department of Education’s policy. Schools are required to gain parent consent for students to access third party apps that require students to provide information or to complete work in. The Department have a review process for third party apps and assess each app’s suitability based on the amount of information students need to provide to use the app.

This is done in a traffic light system:

Green (Minimal) – Little risk
Yellow (Low) – Minor risks identified
Amber (Medium) – Some Security and/or privacy risks
Red (High) – Do not use.

There are 3 categories that schools need to advise parents, these are:

• Notification (Green) – School’s are required to notify parents of the App/Program use, parents do not need to provide consent. These apps are rated very little risk by the Department of Education
• Bundled Consent (Yellow) – Parents are required to give consent for a range of apps for their student to access. These apps have been rated as a minor risk
• Explicit Consent (Amber) – Parents are required to give individual consent for each app’s use. These apps have been rated as having some security and/or privacy risks

On Monday you would have received an email outlining this information. If you haven’t completed the form, please click on the link below and complete the online form by Friday 12th February and provide your consent for your child to access online services and complete the section providing your consent to use the apps the school has identified.

Books for Bubs

Are you having or have had a new baby in 2021?

Newborough Primary School would love to welcome you and your new baby to our school. We would be delighted to present you both with a “Books for Bubs” bag with some gifts for you both.

Please fill in the slip below and return it to the office.

If you would like any information about the Newborough Primary School “Books for Bubs” program please contact me via email Karen.tucknott2@education.wa.edu.au or call into the school office.

P&C News

Our P&C are terrific and have organised quite a few events for this term (please see below)

However, there is a change of date from the original flyers handed out at Book List pick up time in January. This change is to the WELCOME BACK SUNDOWNER FROM THIS Friday 12th February to Friday 5th March from 3.30-6.00pm. More information will come out about this closer to the time. All parents welcome.

Please remember there is an Annual general Meeting on Monday 15th Feb at 7pm in the School Library. We encourage as many parents to attend as possible.

Events

Canteen Re-opening 2021

The Canteen will re-open on the Monday 15 February, 2021.

Regards

Amanda

Community News

Barnes Karate

Target Sports

Parish of St Dominic’s & Our Lady of Good Council School

The Parishes of St Dominic’s (Innaloo) and Our Lady of Good Counsel School (Karrinyup) will be holding sacramental parent meetings for Catholic children who intend to make a sacrament this year. At least one parent from each family is asked to attend one of the following.

Tuesday 16th February, 2pm - OLGC School Hall or
Tuesday 23rd February 6pm - St Dominic’s

Please contact the parish office on 9446 1666 or email innaloo.karrinyup@perthcatholic.org.au for more information.

Schoolzine App

Have all our school’s information accessible at all times – download the FREE Schoolzine app to your mobile device to readily access the latest information in real time.

Newsletter, School Calendar, Term Dates, Dates to Remember – It’s now all at your fingertips!!