A close encounter for Hailey from Room 36

P&C ASSOCIATION

Last Monday the P&C Association held a very successful AGM at which new office bearers were appointed as a number of people stepped down. I would like to acknowledge the work of Mr Tim Swart, outgoing President, Mr Graeme Gleeson, outgoing Secretary, and Ms Alex Castle, outgoing Vice President, for the many hours that they have given to the school through these roles.

The new P&C Executive has thirteen members, some of whom have long histories of working with the P&C Association and others who are relatively new to the group. Amongst the Executive, the following people hold specific responsibilities:

President:  Scott Yelland
Vice President:  Tracey Denham
Secretary:  Mary Gwynne
Treasurer:  Rachelle Rose (Thank you for agreeing to do another year in this role!)

Thank you to everyone who attended the P&C Sundowner on the 19th February. It was a lovely evening of getting together and reconnecting with other school families.

STAFF NEWS

I would like to extend a welcome to Mrs Yvonne Ogden who is now working as an Education Assistant in Kindergarten with Mrs Jacquard. I am sure that the children and staff will enjoy getting to know Mrs Ogden.

BEST WISHES TO BEV LAWRENCE

Last week the staff farewelled Mrs Bev Lawrence who has been a long standing staff member having has worked in Pre-Primary and more recently in Kindergarten. Mrs Lawrence was known for the care that she showed to the children and being a well-regarded staff member. She had a keen interest in the school’s Values and Virtues program and made sure that these key concepts were part of her learning program. Mrs Lawrence is looking forward to putting her feet up and enjoying  some well-deserved time away from schools. 
Congratulations to Bev on her retirement and our best wishes for the future.

SCHOOL BOARD

Last week the School Board met for the first time this year. It was a pleasure to be part of the discussion and for Alison Harman, Principal, Education Support Centre, and I to outline what is ahead for the school. For your information, I have attached a summary of my report.

STEM

You are going to hear and learn a lot about STEM in the coming two years. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Occasionally you will hear reference to STEAM which is Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Last week the school was selected to be a Teacher Development School for STEM. This means that our staff will have access to current professional learning in STEM, work alongside other schools who are similarly focused and provide support to schools who are just beginning on implementing STEM. I would like to thank Mrs Jen Townsend for the work that she put into the successful submission.

SWIMMING LESSONS

Congratulations to all of the students who did a fantastic job of progressing to the next stage and improving their skills through the swimming program.

CARS AROUND SCHOOL

Please remember the speed limit around the school is 40 km/hour between 7.30 – 9.00am and 2.30 – 4.00pm.  There are always lots of children and families crossing roads and walking along the paths and on the surrounding roads and walking between cars.  It is absolutely vital that parents (both those driving and those who are walking with children) are vigilant in looking out for each other.

In addition to the reduced speed limit there are a number of things that you can do to help:

• Use the ‘Kiss and Drive’ on Killarney Street – ‘Kiss and Drive’ means that parents do not leave their cars and children come to the car and jump in.  As a car leaves, you drive forward allowing another car to come in behind.
• Walk or ride your bike to school.
• Make sure that you abide by the parking rules around surrounding streets.  Do not double park, park on verges, or on solid yellow lines. Please show courtesy towards our neighbours and their property, this includes tying your dog to the fence.

AMBULANCE ACCESS

Last week one of the students in the Education Support Centre required an ambulance.  The access point for the ambulance is in the small parking space off Scarborough Beach Road, under the overpass.  There is space for three cars to park and the ambulance pulls up behind the cars.  Unfortunately a car had parked in the space and this meant that there was valuable time lost whilst the driver of the car was located and the car moved.  “No Standing” is painted on the driveway and it is important that this rule is observed.

MT LAWLEY AND CHURCHLANDS SHS VISIT

Staff from Mount Lawley and Churchlands Senior High Schools visited our school to talk about the learning program and opportunities available to the Year 6 children for 2017. On Thursday 31st March Mount Lawley SHS is holding an information evening for any parent of our school who is interested in learning what Mount Lawley has to offer. It will be held in the new Year 9 building at Mount Lawley SHS and parents from all year levels are welcome to attend.
Churchlands SHS is holding a tour for all Year 5 and 6 parents on Friday 4th March at 9.20am in the school hall on Lucca Street. Please RSVP to Administration on Ph: 9441 1700.

WORLD’S GREATEST SHAVE

Lola from Year 5 is participating in the World’s Greatest Shave and she would like your support.
Click HERE to make a donation.
Mrs Denise Brown from the Education Support Centre is also participating and you can support her HERE.

LOST AND FOUND

Everyone loses or misplaces stuff and it appears that school children are notorious for losing hats, water bottles, lunch boxes and containers. We have an ever growing pile of bits and pieces that can’t be returned because they are not labelled with a child’s name. Please take some time to check that every thing has a name on it so that it can be returned to the rightful owner.

YEAR 3 ZOO EXCURSION

Yesterday the Year 3 children had a fantastic day at the Perth Zoo.  They took observations of the monkeys and their enclosures, supporting the Technology and Enterprise program. They will consider the needs of the monkeys to design their own monkey enclosure. The children also learn’t about the conservation of rain forests and how this will help protect animals for future generations.

HARMONY ASSEMBLY

Room 38 will host the first assembly for 2016 on Friday 11th March at 9.00am in the Hangar. This will be a whole school assembly, but only students from the GOLD Assembly group will receive merit awards. The assembly will be a celebration of Harmony Day, when we celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. It is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. The focus on Harmony Day reflects the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) Learning program. The theme for Harmony Day 2016 is our diversity is our strength.

On the day, students are encouraged to wear costumes that reflect the ethnicity of Australia’s culture. If students do not have a costume they can wear the colour orange which is the symbol of harmony. Students are asked to donate a gold coin for the privilege of wearing a costume or the colour orange. These proceeds will go towards the Fiji Disaster Relief Fund. At the conclusion of the assembly there will be a parade of students who have dressed up. The Pre-primary students are also encouraged to dress for the occasion and they will only attend the parade.

IMPORTANT DATES

Please make sure that you have noted the following dates in your diary:

Monday 7th March         Public Holiday – Labour Day

Tuesday 8th March        Parent Information Session for Year 5 about purchasing tablets

Thursday 10th March    Faction Swimming Carnival for Year 4-6 children at the HBF Stadium in Mt Claremont.

Friday 11th March           Whole School Assembly – Harmony Day celebrations

CLASSROOM CASH – COLLECT THE COUPONS!

Please collect the “Classroom Cash” coupons in The Weekend West on the weekends of the 5^th, 12^th and 19^th March 2016. The more coupons that are collected the more chances we have to win cash for the school.  Coupons can be dropped in the box in the library.

OSCA

OSCA (Out of School Hours Care Centre for Mt Hawthorn) operates from 2:30pm – 6:00pm every school day during the term. At the moment we are having a few difficulties with school families blocking the Undercroft shaded area and sandpit play area.  Can we remind families that:

• Our staff starts with food prep and setting up for the afternoon at 2:30pm every day.
• OSCA needs this space from 3:00/3:15pm at the latest for this is the time staff get back from collecting children form the PP and Year 1 & 2 areas.
• If parents could take their children not attending OSCA to play elsewhere apart from the sandpit area.
• We have 60 kids on any given day and normally hold our afternoon meetings in the shaded area and our children find it difficult for to hear our staff when non OSCA children are playing in the sandpit area.

MT LAWLEY SHS – FORMER STUDENT SUCCESS

Congratulations to former Mount Hawthorn Primary students Maxsim Bacovic, Arden Wise-Petering and Chaz Carrington-Wilson who were inducted into the 90s club last week for achieving an ATAR of 90 in the WACE last year. Clancy Davidson won the Music scholarship from the Rotary Club of Mount Lawley. More details are on our school website.