School Newsletter – 1 June 2016

From the Principal

Dear Parents

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DAY – This Friday 3rd June 2016 is a School Development Day which means that students do not attend school.
The professional learning that the staff will complete includes:  a presentation by Di Wilcox from The Seedlings Project, a resilience and social skills program for children and young people; design technologies, Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework; providing students with good feedback about their learning; and SEN reporting.  The content for the professional learning has been selected as it links with the business plan, complies with Department direction, and matches staff needs and requests.  Di Wilcox’s presentation has been made possible because the school received a grant from Hawaiian Pty Ltd.

School Faction Cross Country Carnival

On Tuesday the Year 3 to 6 students competed in the Faction Cross Country at Menzies Park. The weather was kind and it was wonderful to see so many parents attend to support all the children in the spirit of the event with a focus on participation! Each faction cheered on the participants in a lively, spirited way and all the competitors gave their best effort.
Congratulations to the winning faction – SHAKESPEARE!
Visit the website to see lots of pictures and the champion runners from each year level.

Student Safety

Ensuring student safety is a job for everyone.  I am very concerned about the roads around the school – the movement of traffic, where people park, and the number of children and families who cross the roads.   A number of measures have been put in place such as no parking areas around the school, yellow lines, and alterations to the verges to help everyone stay safe.  These measures are only going to be successful if everyone does their bit to abide by the rules of the road, exercise some patience and look out for their own and everyone else’s children.  A child injured on the way to or from school has huge ramifications for all of the people involved.  Please do your bit to make sure that 827 children leave the school at 3.00pm and 827 children return the next day.  It makes everyone happy!

Staff Congratulations

We have some lovely staff news to share with the community.

We extend our congratulations to Mr Rohit Azra, our gardener, and his new bride Gauri on their recent marriage in India.

Miss Bree Rampel and Tom, her partner, are celebrating the birth of their son, Louie in April.

Mrs Ane Bogdanoski, one of our cleaners, and her husband Dejan are the proud parents of Antonio.

We wish all of these new families every happiness today and always.

Enrolments

Enrolments for Kindy 2017 are being accepted at the office.  Children must be born between 1st July 2012 to 30th June 2013 to go to Kindy in 2017.

The enrolment process for Kindy is:

  • Complete an application for enrolment before Friday 22nd July 2016.
  • The Principal considers all applications and takes into account local intake area and number of classroom places before advising parents if their application is successful.
  • If there are too many applications for the available spaces, those who do not live in the intake area are no longer considered. If there are still too many applications, priority is given to those who have siblings enrolled at the school and who live closest to the school, and then those who live closest to the school but without siblings at the school.
  • Once a decision has been made about each application, parents are notified and they can complete the enrolment process.

Please note:  Acceptance into the Kindy program does not guarantee placement in the Pre-primary to Year 6 program at Mount Hawthorn Primary School.

For current Kindy children the enrolment process is simple.  Families will be notified through the newsletter and liaison parents that they need to advise the class teacher if they are or are not returning to the school for 2017.  Contact detail forms are sent home towards end of year to ensure details are up to date ready for the next year for any communication.  During Pre-primary orientation in Term 4, parents are required to present two items as proof of residence within the local intake area to the school office. We keep a checklist of the address we have on record and the address which is on the proof of residence document.

The documents that are required include birth certificate, immunisation records (available from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register), proof of address, and if relevant, Family Court orders.

Parent Conduct at Sporting Events

Once again our children are participating in a range of sporting events such as cross country and interschool sporting carnivals.  Whilst there is always an element of competition, the focus for these events is on participation, having a go, improving skills and working as a team, and generally they are umpired by teachers who volunteer.  This means that sometimes:

  1. the best players get subbed out;
  2. children decide the make-up of the team so it might not be perfect;
  3. children play in an unfamiliar positions; and/or
  4. umpires get it wrong.

It is important that we all remember that teachers are in charge of the team arrangements and it is their job to oversee events and make decisions for the good of all involved.  Parents are very welcome at all of the school’s events and have a responsibility to spectate respectfully and to enjoy the opportunity to see their child compete with others, do their best and importantly have fun.  There really is no place for behaviour which is inconsistent with our school values of being responsible, respectful and caring.  The overwhelming majority of our parent community do hold these values and we can be very proud of that fact.  However, I am raising this issue because I have been concerned about a number of recent examples of parent comments and/or behaviour at sporting events which on any view have been unacceptable.

Naidoc

All students in Years 2, 3 and 4 have paid $5.00 towards a NAIDOC incursion which will take place on Friday 10th June 2016 .The NAIDOC Day Experience has links to the History curriculum for these three year levels. The day will be led by students from Balga Senior High School. The day will start at 10.10am with a thirty minute Opening Ceremony. Then from 11.00 -11.45am the Year 2 students will be involved in a six activity rotation. The Year 3 students will participate in the same rotation between 11.50am and 12.35pm and the Year 4 students will have their rotation from 12.35 to 1.00pm and then following lunch 1.40 -2.05pm.
During the lunch break there will be Kangaroo/Damper Tasting.  As this is just a tasting experience students need to bring lunch from home as there will not be an opportunity to order lunch that day.
Parents are very welcome to attend part or all of this NAIDOC Experience. Bronwen Mears, Associate Principal

Tales of Times Past

The ladies from “Tales From Times Past” came to talk to all the Year 3 students about how things were when they were children growing up in Perth. Olivea, Jane, Rosemary and Rosalie talked about growing up in the country and in the city in the olden days.
We were amazed at how much they recycled and reused things. Life was hard but a lot of fun because they always had something to do. Do you know that if they wanted to go to the toilet, they had to go the whole way to the end of the backyard to the “dunny” and they used recycled newspaper for toilet paper! We learnt a lot from these kind ladies. Year 3 Room 41 students

Italian News

Che Serata Stupenda! – What a Wonderful Night!  This year a record number of students attended the Year 6 Italian Dinner at Siena’s – eighty one students in total! See the school website for more pictures. Signora Monisse

From the Schools Board

Members of our Schools Board (which serves both the Primary School and the Education Support Centre) serve two year terms.  Those terms expired at the end of Term 1 this year and so nominations were called for.  As the Schools Board’s Terms of Reference were amended at the Term 2 meeting (to increase by one, the number of parent and staff reps on the Board) the number of nominations received did not exceed the number vacant positions available.  As a result, all Board nominees were declared duly elected.  The Board members for the period Term 2: 2016 to Term 1: 2018 membership are: Michael Jenkin, Lorena Rock, Jane Gillies, Kaye Ward, Shari McKeown, Alex Castle, Kimberley Mann, John Siamos, Edward Greaves, Catrina Campbell-Fraser and Scott Bywaters.  Michael Jenkin was re-elected to the position of Chair.  Carol Selley and Alison Harman, (Principal, Education Support Centre) and are ex-officio members of the Board. I note that there is a still vacancy on the Board for a staff representative.  I would like to extend a very special welcome to Catrina Campbell-Fraser who is the newest member to the Board.  I am looking forward to Catrina sharing her knowledge in public policy issues and advocacy strategies during her term on the Board.
Finally, I extend my thanks to all of our Board members for their ongoing support of the work at our campus.

National Schools Opinion Survey

As a school we value feedback.  Teachers give it to children when we mark work and talk about their learning, they talk about what and how we teach through collaborative meetings, and the administrative team meet weekly to hash out what has happened and what we do next.  One of the things that we want to know is what parents think of the school.  Using the National Schools Opinion Survey we have a tool that allows us to collect and analyse data.  The data you give us will be added to the information that we already have, as well as what we collect from staff and students.  Please use the link below and complete the survey online before 17th June 2016. https://www.schoolsurvey.edu.au/s/3Rxh9v9h

Inner City/Western Suburbs High School

As I am sure we are all aware, numbers at our school continue to grow and that trend is repeated at the high schools in our catchment area.  Churchlands SHS currently has 2,486 students and is projected to have 3,872 by 2025.  For Mount Lawley SHS, the figures are 1,562 (2016) and 2,372 (2025).

Clearly, there is a need for another High School and the recent announcement regarding the old City Beach site has created some confusion as to where and when the new High School (or Schools) will be built.  It seems that a number of options are under consideration by the Department of Education – but as yet, no information had been released publicly.

In the meantime, representatives from the Boards and P&C’s of local and affected schools (i.e.: Mt Hawthorn, North Perth, Kyilla, Highgate, Wembley and West Leederville Primary Schools) plan to meet on Wednesday, 1st June 2016 to discuss options and work on ways that we can work together to ensure that the Department delivers a workable solution.  I will report back on progress after the meeting.

This is bound to be an issue which receives a great deal of attention in the run up to the next State election which is due in March 2017. Michael Jenkin, Chair – Mount Hawthorn Primary Schools Board

Important Dates

For the very latest updated information on coming events please check the School Website.

Thursday 2nd June – Year 1 Science Alive Excursion

Friday 3rd June – School Development Day (students do not attend)

Monday 6th June – WA Day Public Holiday

Thursday 9th June – Bullying and Resilience Presentation Year 1 to 6 students

Friday 10th June – Assembly Year 3 Room 36, Year 6 Winter Sport MHPS v Wembley PS, NAIDOC Day Year 2, 3 and 4 students.

Monday 13th June – First Aid Focus week

Wednesday 15th to Friday 17th June – Year 6 Camp

FROM THE P&C

School Banking

One of the services offered through the school is School Banking.  Each Tuesday morning a team of willing volunteers collect money, record the details in your child’s account and give prizes when milestones are reached.  If you would like your child to have their very own account or want more information, pop into the library on Tuesday mornings from 8.15am.

The 2016 Entertainment book begins on 1ST June 2016!

Just a reminder that these are now available (E-version or hard copy) as a school fundraiser.  Payment can be made by form (drop box in the office) or on line using this link:
https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/89z155

Parent Fundraising

  • Lisa Bayakly, a school parent, is participating in the CEO Sleepout on 23 June 2016, which involves senior WA business leaders sleeping outside at the WACA on cardboard to raise awareness and funds to reduce homelessness. For more information click HERE.
  • School parents Rachelle Rose and Helen Davey are fundraising to walk the Great Wall of China Challenge 2016 for Breast Cancer Network Australia. They are holding a Silent Disco on Saturday 25th June 2016. Tickets available at trybooking

2016 Census

Field Officers needed, Apply now at abs.gov.au/careers