Newsletter 10 Term 3, 2020 – Message from Admin Team, Important Dates, AMC and ICAS, School Photos, Music Showcase, Library Book Week Parade, Cookie Dough Fundraiser Prize Ordering, French Recess, Wembley Supa IGA, Tennis Lessons, City Farm Kids in the Garden, Newman Churchlands Swim Club

Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear Parents and Caregivers 

Last week’s French recess was incroyable! Many thanks to Madame Ibbotson, our fabuleuse canteen manager Genna and the merveilleuse parent volunteers for your inspiration and skill. It was the busiest day on record!  

Teaching and Learning: 

Science Week was launched with a bang yesterday – quite literally! Year 5/6 students started the day with a ‘Lava Lamp’ Science show before school by combining oil, water, food colouring and fizzing tablets to demonstrate the properties of oil and water in a very fun way. At lunch time, there was lots of excitement as the first of the water bottle rockets were launched on the oval. The science festivities will continue throughout the week with more before–school and lunchtime science demonstrations, in-class activities involving hunting for minibeasts and their life cycles in the school gardens, solving scientific challenges through digital quizzes, Year 11 Churchlands SHS students assisting in the Science room and Dr Asha Bowen visiting with a team from the Telethon Kids Institute for students to see a real life demonstration by scientists. Wembley is powered by STEAM this week!  

Leadership: 

Congratulations to our amazing Deputy Principal, Tamara Doig who was selected for the inaugural Aspirant Principal Preparation Program (APPP). This program is a part of a professional learning suite and a cornerstone of the Department’s Leadership Strategy.  

Student leadership – We are at the exciting point of our new faction name process; voting time for our Year 3-6 students! Miss Cox, Ms Chadbourne and Mrs McGovern have lead our student leaders through a rigorous change process. This process was presented to the School Board by Year 6 leaders Charlotte, Henry, Ella and Ben in Week 8. Prior to voting, students will have the final eight nominees; indigenous and non-indigenous Western Australian men and women presented via a video link. The videos introduce the candidates; Barbara Jackson, Dr Glenda Kickett, Dr Fiona Stanley, Edith Cowan, Ric Charlesworth, Tim Winton, Ernie Dingo and Graham (Polly) Farmer. Their significant contributions, decorations, the values they have exhibited throughout their lives and how their work aligns with our School CARES values are highlighted in the videos.  

The new Faction names will be announced during the WebEx assembly on Thursday morning, prior to approval from the individuals/families.  

Learning Environment: 

Last Friday we celebrated the completion of the playground improvement – the junior primary playground featuring the climbing frame and boat.  

School Oval 

Over the past two years and nine months, the continuous repair of the oval has been a costly drain on resources and limited the enjoyment of the facility due to its poor condition. The oval issues have been repeatedly communicated through newsletters, Board and P&C reports. However, after many conversations with the Department, the school made the decision to ‘save’ the oval by installing a permanent fence.    

1. The temporary fence has been repeatedly reported as a safety hazard and the Council have instructed us to remove it.
2. The oval surface has not been restored to a manageable state even after the P&C, school and Department have spent in excess of $70,000 with a number of external experts guiding the ongoing program of repair.
3. The compact rates remain well above expected levels after nearly two years of keeping the general public off the oval.  

While this may not be a popular decision in the short term, we have 825 students who need a healthy, green oval to play on as it is the only open space we have. 

 It seems that most of the long–term issues with the turf are caused under certain conditions, for example, using the oval immediately following rain causes significant damage. The fence provides an opportunity to better manage the turf and prevent it from degrading again to a point where recovery is time–consuming and costly. If and when the oval is healthy, the gates will be open to encourage community use. If it is not healthy, the gates will be closed to give the turf time to repair.  

Collaborate, Connect, Communicate. 

Yours in learning

Executive Admin Team

Donna, Alan, Milani, Tamara