Dear Parents

It should come as no surprise that it has been a busy term.  At different times in the past ten weeks, children have been on excursions to Yanchep, Kings Park, Scitech and Year 6 camp.

We have listened to African drummers, enjoyed Grandparents visits and Mother’s Day activities, learnt some first aid and did some football drills with two of the Fremantle Dockers. Mr Thompson was in purple heaven!

Term 3 is always about faction athletics and Mrs Putt and Mrs Kenny have been busy distributing the rules of games and organising staff so that we can begin training.  If you have time during the holidays, it would be great if you could take some time to practise overarm and underarm throwing.

Teachers are also planning more excursions, interesting learning experiences and reviewing the curriculum for Term 3.
I would like to thank the school staff for a fantastic term.  I hope that you enjoy a lovely holiday and come back ready to do it all again.
To the children and their families, have a great holiday.  I am sure that there will be plenty of time to see “Finding Dory” and “BFG”, do a bit of book reading, have some sleep ins and catching up with family and friends.

STAFF NEWS

At the end of the term, we will see some changes to staff for Term 3.

We welcome back Mr Alek Gryta and Mrs Carol Bodycoat who are returning after long service leave.  It will be lovely to have them back in classrooms doing what they do best – offering interesting learning programs that support student learning.

Mrs Yvonne Leonzini, Mrs Susan Cromb and Mrs Vicki Coote will begin their long service leave for six months.  I wish them a very happy time away from school and look forward to their stories when they return.  Mr Tom Norman will be moving to the Year 1 class and he is looking forward to getting to know some more of the Mount Hawthorn children.  Mrs Jane Miles will be teaching with Mrs Psaltis-Watkins in the Year 2 class.

A very special thank you to Mrs Jodie Elvin, who has worked in the Year 2 class.  She will continue to be one of our regular relief teachers, so no doubt we will see her in the first few weeks of Term 3.

Mrs Heather Kerr, one of our Kindy teachers, is retiring from the Department of Education.  She is going to further her love of early childhood education in Victoria.  She has been offered a position which will give her the opportunity to share her knowledge with another staff.  I congratulate her on her appointment and wish her all the very best for this new venture.  Mrs Rachel Lewis will be teaching in Kindy Yellow for second semester.

Mrs Linda Gennoe has been one of the school officers who has provided valuable support to many families and the staff.  As the first person that many of us come into contact with, it has been wonderful to have someone who is as patient and considerate as she is.  Mrs Gennoe will be leaving us in her fulltime role but I am confident that she will back here as relief school officer when we have lots to do.

Mrs Leanne Beeck worked each Tuesday and was a huge support working in the office doing all of the jobs we stockpiled for her.  Mrs Beeck will continue her work at Kyilla Primary School.  We appreciated the experience that she brought to the office.

Welcome back to Mrs Fiona Oates who will resume her work in the office.

Federica Tagliabue has been working alongside Anne Monisse, Italian teacher, during Italian lessons to encourage children to speak in Italian.  Federica has developed a lovely rapport with the students and provided them with valuable insight to the Italian culture.  She created some great resources that will be used well after she has left us.  Federica will be returning to Milan to continue her studies.  I would like to thank her for all of her work at our school and wish her the very best for the future.
Thank you to the Teo and Wood families for opening their homes to Federica and making her part of their families.

FIRST SEMESTER REPORTS

Today all of the children received their first semester reports.  Please take some time to read them.

STUDENT COUNCILLORS

The new Student Councillors have been elected for second semester.  Congratulations to:
Jack and Naomi – Room 21, Lizzie and Luke – Room 22 and Shaun and Milla – Room 23.All of the children gave wonderful and compelling speeches as to why they should be elected.

SAFETY AROUND THE SCHOOL

During the school holidays the City of Vincent will be doing more work around the streets by installing speed humps and marking the roads.  This work is all part of the City’s commitment to helping children and their families walk safely to school.  It is very important that you understand that the City of Vincent will be increasing their patrols and infringing people who do not obey by the parking rules.  Save your money for something other than topping up the City of Vincent coffers!

SCHOOL CROSSWALK ATTENDANT APPROVED – VOLUNTEER REQUIRED

In trying to create a safe place for students to cross the road, the P&C along with Carol Selley and the City of Vincent have been busy this year implementing traffic improvements at the intersection of Woodstock and Matlock Streets closest to the school oval entrance.

We have also recently been successful in our application for a type B Crosswalk which will be trialled in term 4.  We are now seeking expressions of interest from any person in the community who may be interested in volunteering for 45 minutes in the morning, and/or 45 minutes in the afternoon to assist us with our trial.

If you know of a parent, friend, neighbour, retired person, relative or anyone who may be interested in the position on a full time or job-share basis can you please ask them to contact Karen Sheilds karen.sheilds@yahoo.com.au for more information.  All training and a uniform will be supplied.

ITALIAN FESTIVAL 2016

The Italo-Australian Welfare and Cultural Centre hold an annual Italian Festival. This year some of our students entered the competition and I would like to congratulate the following finalists:

Year 6 Room 23 – Jasmine
Year 5 Room 38 – Maea, Natarsha, Daniel, Loren and James
Year 4 Room 34 – Jamie, Olivia, Millie, Jasmine and Priya
Year 3 Room 26 – Leanne, Room 33 – Hamish, Mardi, Layla and Eden, Room 36 –  Hugo, Room 41- Kira and Joshua
Pre-primary Room 16 – Henry, Ava and Quinn

YEAR 1 MUSEUM

Room 1 and Room 12 have been learning how to write letters. A perfect opportunity arose to write to one another when it was announced that Room 1 would be opening their very own Museum of History. The children naturally thought it was a good idea to ask others to visit and wrote their own invitations to Room 12! The very next day Room 12 wrote back with the happy news that they will be visiting. We encourage others to pop by and have a look at the museum. It opens on Monday the 20th June in Room 1 and closes at the end of term.

INSTRUMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES 2017

In Term 3, the Year 2, 3, 4 and 5 students at Mount Hawthorn will be completing a Music Aptitude test as part of the assessment process to select School of Instrumental Music (SIM) students for 2017. For more information about the program and testing click HERE 

CROWN CONCERT

On the evening of Friday 26th August, the school orchestra and choir, The Hawthorn Hummers, will be performing at the annual WA Government Music Society’s Crown Concert Series. They are eagerly preparing for this big event which enables students to perform at a world class venue.
On the morning of the concert, the choir and orchestra will be travelling by bus to Crown Theatre for a rehearsal. This gives them a chance to see how the backstage operations work and calm the nerves for the evening concert.
Costume preparations are under way for the choir and all students are rehearsing with their directors, Mrs Hardman and Mrs Symmington. Congratulations and wishing both groups all the best for this exciting performance.

FARMER FRIDAY

Akeevah from Year 6 Room 23 delivered a very passionate speech about supporting our Aussie Farmers in need and in drought. On Friday, 29^th July students may come to school dressed as a farmer and bring a gold coin donation for the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners. They rely on donations to deliver free hay to farms. Their slogan says “pay one buck to get hay on a truck”.

IMPORTANT DATES

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

JULY

Monday 18^th – School Development Day STUDENTS DO NOT ATTEND

Tuesday 19^th – Year 4 and 5 Band Students at Camp

Thursday 21^st – Scitech Excursion PP – Year 2

Tuesday 26^th – Fremantle Literacy Centre Excursion Year 4

Friday 29^th – Dress as a Farmer Day

NATIONALLY CONSISTENT COLLECTION OF DATA FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY

All schools in Australia, including Independent and Catholic schools, will participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability every year.

COMPUTER CLUB Year 5 and 6 – Term 3

This program will run on Tuesday afternoons from 3.00 to 4:30pm after school and focus on teaching children how to make Apps on their tablets using MIT App inventor.
Hopefully, children will have tried Scratch programming in previous years so that we can build on this, but this is not essential and enthusiastic newcomers are welcome.

Volunteer Admin Assistant Needed for Computer Club

We need someone to assist with general administration tasks, including liaising with the school, organising and emailing out a weekly roster and disseminating information to parents (*NB being computer savvy is not required)!
The Year 5 and 6 parent administrator will have access to the Year 3 and 4 Procedures Manual for computer club which outlines the tasks required, timelines etc. It would be advantageous if the computer club co-ordinator attends all 10 sessions. It is an enjoyable, mainly administrative role that supports the students and allows the school to offer this after-school club.
If you think your child might be interested in the program and you could help me in this capacity, please let me know at keatingseesall@gmail.com ASAP. Adrian Keating