19 October 2022

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 Back Term Four

What a busy and productive start to the term already! Welcome back to term 4 and a very special welcome to our new students and families. We commenced In term swimming lessons last Wednesday with nearly 100% of students attending. The only ones not attending have medical exemptions. I have just signed off the selection of tender for the Nature Playground refurbishment. Works will commence very shortly once we have had a start-up meeting.

Last term concluded with a wonderful WA Massed Choir Concert at the Perth Concert Hall with our Newborough Choir shining. We were very proud of the solo performance by Rose Hiscock who received great accolades from many sources. It was very uplifting evening. Thank you to Mrs Snelson, Mrs O’Dea all our supportive parents and friends and everyone involved.

This weekend we have the Colour Run. It will be entertaining and lively. I believe certain staff have volunteered to be slimed. I must remember not to wear my best shirt this year! This is a great opportunity for our school community to celebrate and enjoy time together. It was lots of fun last time so I am sure this one will be too.

During weeks three and four we will be conducting a broad range of assessments to monitor progress, assist with reporting and help plan learning programs for the future. The school recently received our 2022 NAPLAN results. These results were very pleasing with both year three and five students collectively achieving above National, State and Like Schools in most categories. The results are particularly pleasing given that when testing was undertaken, we had so many students and staff impacted by COVID. If you are interested in the school’s progress in NAPLAN there will be a session to look more closely at our results and future directions at the Open Board Meeting on Tuesday 1st November at 5:00pm in the Library. Parents, staff and community members are welcome to attend this Open Board Meeting. Entry through the Karrinyup Sports and Mulberry Tree gates.

Later this term the school will celebrate the Re-opening of the Koorlangka Marlak Kadadjiny (Children’s Bush Learning), Nature Playground and commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee Tree planting on Friday 9th December commencing at 1:40pm with a special assembly in the amphitheatre. Parking on Hazlitt Field. Our brilliant choir will be performing, and Mr Neville Collard will entertain and teach us about the importance of boodja (Country) and connection to bush learning. The Minister for Education, Ms Sue Ellery, will officiate the opening and recognition with Mr Stuart Aubrey, Ms Kate Chaney, Mrs Jo Harris, Mr Steven Watson, Chris Hatton, Karlo Perkov and members of the School’s P&C and Board as special guests. Mr and Mrs Wes and Bec Gregory, former P&C President and great contributors to the school and Nature Playground project will also join us. There will be an afternoon tea, hosted by the Newbie Knights, in the Sustainability open classroom after the assembly for any community members and dignitaries who wish to stay a little longer.

Then of course we have all the usual Term 4 events such as graduation, awards, planning for 2023 and our much more. Have a wonderful term.

Student Placements for 2022

If your child (ren) will not be attending Newborough PS next year could you, please let us know in the office by the 4th November 2022. This will assist us with planning for 2023.

As is always the case during Term 4, Newborough PS’s class organisation for the following year takes place. A number of considerations are taken into account based on improving student performance. These include staffing numbers, resourcing, recommended class sizes, a balance of academic abilities within each class, the need to evenly distribute students with special needs (academically, socially and behaviourally), an equitable distribution of gender, the ability to work independently if placed in a multi-age class. It is very likely that there will be a number of multi-age classes across the school in 2023.

If you wish to communicate to me your child’s special needs or considerations, please present your correspondence to the Principal via the office marked “Private and Confidential” by Friday 18th November (Week 6). You may wish to email your correspondence to John.Worthy@education.wa.edu.au. Please note, this information will be considered when placing your child, however, all parent preferences may not be facilitated. Requesting a particular teacher will not be considered. Only sound educational reasons will be considered. This information will be added to the data we already have.

The placement of children and the make-up of classes is made in consultation with teachers. It is not a parent decision. Every child is equally important. The final decision for placements rests with the Principal. If you have any queries or would like to discuss this, please contact me to make an appointment.

It is unlikely that the structure of classes, their location and teacher will be presented at the end of this year. With our numbers constantly fluctuating it would be unfair to announce classes this year and then restructure when students return. Classes will be posted on classroom doors when you pick up your booklist items at the start of 2023.

Teachers Make a Difference to the Lives of Newborough Students Every Day - Hats off to teachers this World Teachers’ Day!

World Teachers’ Day 2022 is celebrated across Australia on Friday 28th October. It’s a chance to recognise and thank teachers who work in our public schools. Why not pop into class give a thumbs up and say thanks.

Despite the challenges of last year, teachers bring their best to work and continue to put their students first. Teachers play an important role in our community and we thank them for their passion and dedication to inspire children and young people.

Our teachers have shown great resilience during challenging times, all so they can give Australian students the best future possible.

Take a moment to share your ‘hats off’ selfie to celebrate teachers and tell us what they mean to you. Grab your hat – beret, beanie, bucket, bowler – create a post on social media, make sure to use #WTD2022 and @aitsl

Acting Principal Semester One 2023

I am pleased to be able to announce that Miss Karen Tucknott has the Regional Director’s approval to be Acting Principal for Semester One in 2023 whilst I enjoy long service leave. Karen is well placed to do this as she has earned great respect from staff and the school community in her current role as Deputy and as Acting Principal in the past. She also brings a sound knowledge of the school’s culture and operating processes giving everyone confidence and certainty. I know she will do a great job, and everyone will be very supportive.

Mistakes Are Integral to Learning

During the break I attended my 15th ACEL National Conference. They have all been very good and quite inspiring. One of the keynote speakers this year, John Hattie, spoke about the importance of failure and learning. This made me think. We need to value failure. What good is it if a learner always gets 100%. It simply means we have geared learning capacity to a mediocre level for that learner.

Wouldn’t it be so much better if we raised the bar to challenge and get a few things wrong so there is enquiry and learning happening. The learner wouldn’t lose capacity because if you revert the test backwards to the previous level, they will still get 100%. Making mistakes, in a supportive learning environment, encourages learners to learn how to learn better and not have anxiety when they face deeper learning challenges. Let’s value mistakes and how they assist learning.

Ms Kris Williams Retires

Sadly, for our school, students, colleagues, parents and former NPS members I have just received official confirmation that Kris has formally retired. Kris has been a wonderful contributor to our school as PE teacher, mentor, and friend for nearly 30 years. I am meeting with her to work out how we can celebrate such a wonderful career and contributor to our school and community.

“Failure is the key to success.”
John Hattie

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

John Worthy
Principal

DEPUTY NEWS

2023 Booklists

A heads up to all parents and guardians! The School is currently working on the Booklists for 2023. These usually cost between $30 for Kindergarten to $180 for the upper primary years. This excludes the Annual Voluntary Contribution and P& C Contribution. We appreciate that parents will have many costs coming up for school in the next few months. We would like to prepare you for these costs for next year. We anticipate the Book Lists will be sent home in Week 4 of Term 4 after consultation with staff, P&C and the School Board.

Karen Tucknott
Deputy Principal

Yr 5 Parents 2023 School Camp Meeting

We would like to hold a parent meeting for Year 5 parents in Week 1 next term, on Thursday, 13th October. Camp has been booked for early Term 2 2023 and we would like to give you information as early as possible. Please register your attendance by clicking on the link below:

Regards
Nick Stenhouse

Year 5 Information

This term we have a couple of events for Year 5 Parents to be aware of. There will be an email coming home for parents with some detailed information but so you are aware, these are these are the events:

Year 5 Growth and Development Talks

The All About Growing Up, Me, Myself and I puberty, relationship and development lesson is soon to be delivered to the girls in your child’s year group by the school health nurse and teaching staff on Tuesday, 15th November. You will receive a letter outlining further details so be on the lookout in your email.

2023 Student Leadership Positions

This term, Year 5 students will be invited to apply for Leadership positions for 2023. We will be looking for nominations for a range of positions including Student Leadership Team, Faction Captains, Music and Science Captains, Sustainability and PBW leaders. However, this year, only students who are apply for positions on the Student Leadership team well be doing speeches. The speeches will be held at 12.00pm on Tuesday, 22nd November. We will send out more detailed information to parents closer to the time.

Parent/Carers Pick Up and Drop Off Changes

Now that COVID restrictions have lifted we are changing the process to allow Parents/Carers to drop off library bags, hats, lunchboxes etc. to classrooms/students/bags. Parents/Carers sign in at the front office on Passtab (will be given a Visitor sticker to wear), drop the item off to their child’s class, and then sign out from Passtab at the front office.

Parents/Carers continue to advise teachers and the front office via email for pick up for appointments etc. so children can be made ready and on time. Parents/Carers sign the child out at the front office, will be given a ‘Sign Out’ card (to hand to the classroom or specialist teacher so they know the student has been signed out), and then go to the classroom to pick up their child.

The new process will commence at the start of term three. This process will reduce the need for staff to bring children to the office for collection. It will also reduce the number of children waiting in the office corridor.

TERM DATES

School Directory

Useful School Information

SIREN TIMES

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES

Department of Education (Western Australia) policy states that all children from Pre Primary attend school for 5 full days as from the commencement of the school year.

Attendance details are entered electronically twice daily by classroom teachers and the information fed onto a school database. An SMS messaging service endorsed by the Department of Education operates to enable parents to inform the school by text message if their child is going to be absent. The system also automatically sends a message to parents if their child has not arrived at school and no notification has been received. This service assists parents to advise the school of absences and also ensures the safety of children by letting parents know that the child has not arrived at school.

If your child will be absent/sick or late, please contact the School directly either by:

Please include only the student’s name and classroom number, reason for absence and the date in any messages. For Example: “John Doe Room 13 absent 1/2/2021 sick with flu”.

Notes are requested from parents for:

• Any absence from school
• Permission to go on vacation during term time
• Permission to leave the school grounds at any time including lunch time
• Non participation in sport and physical education lessons

LATE ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL

Parents/guardians are reminded that students should not arrive at school before 8:20am. 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 PASS.

SIGNING OUT EARLY

If your child needs to be collected from school during school hours (e.g. 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 - at least 24 hours beforehand, where possible. 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.

EXCURSIONS AND INCURSIONS

During the year teaching staff plan a range of suitable excursions and incursions to introduce, develop or reinforce learning experiences for their class.

Incursions are an opportunity for the children to experience high standard performances covering a wide range of learning areas. The children are able to see national, and sometimes international, performers including musicians, storytellers, artists and many others at a reasonable cost. Particular attention is given to developing the social skills of the children, as well as their confidence and independence.

Formal written permission is required before any child can be taken on an excursion. Every endeavour is made to space excursions/incursions during the year to avoid costs being too great at any one time. If payment is not received by the due date and a payment plan has not been entered into, students will not participate in that particular excursion/incursion and will join a buddy class on that day.

MONEY COLLECTION

When paying for incursions, excursions, or other school activities, please pay via direct deposit into the school bank. Newborough Primary School does not accept cash payments.

Money can be paid by online banking (please include your child’s surname and incursion/excursion name as reference). eg K Smith Edu-dance. Our school bank details are:

BSB: 016 350
Account No: 3408 71304

SCHOOL DIARIES AND LIBRARY BAGS

If your child still needs a school diary and/or green library bag from their booklist they can be purchased from the front office.

Please make payment via direct deposit to the school’s bank account (diaries are $10 and the green library bags are $6.95), including the child’s name and the item in the reference section eg Janet Smith, diary/bag. Once the transaction appears on the next morning’s bank statement, we will deliver the item/s to your child in their classroom.

MUSIC NEWS

WA MASSED CHOIR FESTIVAL

I would like to congratulate the senior choir on their outstanding performance and exceptional behaviour at the WAMCF at the end of last term. As always, I was super proud of each and every one of our students as they challenged themselves during the preparation and performance for the concert. They showed great resilience and perseverance during the performance night! Well done, everyone! A special congratulations to Rose for her amazing solo performance during the concert.

REHEARSALS

Junior and Senior choir rehearsals have resumed with a small adjustment to length of time for senior choir:

• Junior choir - Tuesday at 8am-8:30am
• Senior choir - Wednesday at 8am-8:30am

Leading up to the concert, we will have a combined rehearsal for both senior and junior choir in week 9 on the Tuesday and Wednesday mornings in the undercover area.

BOOK THE DATE

Our next exciting event scheduled is the IMSS and Choir Concert on the 9th of December in the undercover area at 8:40am. More information will be sent home closer to the date.

Both junior and senior choirs, IMSS years 5 and 6 students, The Marimba Ensemble and the Newbeats will be performing at this festival of music and we look forward to entertaining you with our instrumental and vocal performances.

MUSICAL PRODUCTION 2023

Great news, our application for the licensing of our musical for next year, has been accepted! In preparation for the musical, I welcome all expressions of interest to be part of our production crew, however small or big. This may include all aspects of production, including costuming, props, set build, coaching, ticketing, programmes, posters, make-up and hair on the performance night, bump in and bump out at Churchlands and postproduction clean up. Please contact Mrs Snelson via email to be included in the pre-production meeting which could possibly be held in term 4 this year. I look forward to having an amazing community crew again!

MARIMBA ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

A big congratulations to Mrs Snelson and the wonderful students in the Marimba Ensemble! Please see the link below to view their performance in the 2022 Education Africa Virtual Marimba and Steelpan Festival. The students performed the Wanjoo (Welcome) song, originally written and performed by our school patron, Gina Williams. This was a huge accomplishment for the students and it was great to see their performance alongside Marimba ensembles from other countries.

The Newborough students perform 11mins 45 seconds into the video, if you would like to cut straight to their performance.

Click the link for the performance:

Gifted and Talented Secondary Entrance Programs

P&C News

Colour Run – Saturday 22 October

The Colour run is here everyone! If you have not created a profile Go to the link below, it’s easy. Everyone has done a great job so far but let's see if we give it a last push and beat last year's total!

There will be an ice cream truck and If you need a white T-Shirt there will be more available on the day too.

Please jump in and volunteer, we need plenty of hands on deck to run the event

See you at the start line at 1:30 and don't forget to stick around and see some of your favourite staff and friends of Newborough get slimed!!!

Laurie McCallum
P&C President

Booklists 2023 and Beyond

As many of you may know, Newborough Primary School organises students’ booklist/stationery requirements through the Newborough P&C. This is a major fundraiser for the P&C, providing valuable resources to the school.

This will be my last year managing the Booklist process and I am looking for someone to succeed me, shadowing me this year and taking over the following year.

Processing of orders occurs towards the end of Term 4, with packing and distribution occurring in the two weeks before school starts. If you have that time available and are interested, let me know.

All training will be provided! Any queries, please contact me on: 0400 098 303

Jackie.stott@westnet.com.au.

Canteen News

The school canteen operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for morning recess and lunches.

Term 4 Menu – New Items

We are pleased to add the following items to our Term 4 menu:

Snacks

Snack Pack – Rice Crackers, Vegie Sticks, Cheese, Hummus and Sultanas.

Wednesday Special (Alternating)

Mexican Tortilla Boats – Lightly seasoned mince & kidney beans cooked in a tomato-based sauce, placed in a warmed tortilla boat, topped with salad, corn and grated cheese.

Icy Treats

Slushies – Slushies have returned for the hotter months. This is a 99% fruit juice product, with a 4.5* health rating and is approved by the WA School Canteen Association.

Prices

Small Cup (Year’s 1 and 2) - $1.50
Large Cup (Year 3 to 6) - $2.00

Please note:

* All Icy Treats are not sold after 1:30pm.
* Sharing of money or buying for friends is not allowed.
* Icy Treats are to be finished by the end of Lunch time.

Pricing Changes

Some of our items have increased in price. We endeavour to keep prices as low as possible to allow as many children as possible the opportunity to purchase Canteen items. However, unfortunately we must make small pricing adjustments from time to time.

Volunteers

We are always looking for help Monday / Wednesday / Friday from 9am - 11am and 11am - 1pm. However, any time you can spare is very much appreciated. Please contact me at anmeyer18@gmail.com or come over to the Canteen.

Regards
Amanda
Canteen Manager

Uniform Shop News

Due to relocation, the Uniform Shop will be closed until further notice. This includes online orders via Quickcliq.

Any questions email: newboroughuniforms@gmail.com

Thank you
Uniform Shop Volunteers

Birthday Cakes/Gifts for Students

A reminder that we are do not allow the sharing of birthday cakes, presents etc. for birthdays or other celebrations.

No Animals (Including Dogs) on School Grounds

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 (free call) 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

Barnes Karate

Target Sports