Newsletter 6 – Week 6, Term 2, 2021 – Message from Admin Team, Students Do Not Attend School Friday 4 June, Science of Reading Free Parent Session, Bakers Delight Free Bread, Shenton College HP Learning, Scribblers Festival, Book Club, Canteen

Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear parents and caregivers

As we approach the mid-point of the term and the weather cools down, it’s inevitable that the health and wellbeing of students, parents and staff can start to be affected. For our staff, there are a number of wellbeing measures in place this term to ensure we can be our best selves for our students, community and our own families. Throughout the term, I have implemented a few designated ‘no meetings’ weeks to give our staff permission to slow down and take a breather in a busy reporting term. This week is one of those weeks for our staff. How is your family going? I encourage all families to think about ways you can support your little people and yourselves as parents and caregivers to be the best version of yourselves. It will likely look different for everyone but when we start to get a little tired, reducing extra-curricular activities after school and more family time/play time at home can be just what the doctor ordered to reset and give everyone that extra energy for the weeks ahead. As a parent of an almost 4 year old little girl in Kindy, I know a weekend of quiet time, and skipping one swimming lesson has helped enormously to tackle the week ahead!

Grantham St Underpass  – A number of local residents have contacted the school expressing their concern about the number of parents crossing Grantham St at drop off or pick up time. As we know, it’s a very busy road and can be dangerous to cross, particularly with young children. Please use the underpass at every opportunity so we can keep everyone safe. Thank you for your continued support.

Teaching and Learning

Last week, classrooms across the school took part in National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS). NSS is held annually across the country, with a featured picture book being read in schools, libraries, childcare centres, bookshops and many more at the same time. This year, the featured book was, ‘Give me some Space!’ by Philip Bunting. Excitingly, the book was read by NASA astronaut Shannon Walker from the International Space Station!

The topic prompted lots of curiosity and excitement, especially with our Year 1 students who all joined together as Mrs Thompson read the book to the whole year level. In Room 10, students were very interested in the topic, leading to a mini-inquiry into all things space-related by connecting the storybook to a range of learning experiences and learning areas. The results were amazing! Lots of rich thinking through connections to prior knowledge, explicit references to being creative learners, high level writing and imaginative designs. Room 10 even developed their own sustainable mission in response to the book, which references looking after planet Earth. You can see a sneak peek in the photos below.

Learning Environment

Thursday marks the start of National Reconciliation Week, a time for us all to learn about shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation needs to be more than a word, it needs to live in our hearts, minds and actions as we collectively build communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures and futures.

We will be launching the week by joining the National Acknowledgement of Country at 9am on Thursday with a student–led assembly on WebEx. Our student leaders, Juliet and Lachlan, Head Boy and Girl, and Angel, our Cultural Ambassador worked with Jasmine this week, Barbara Jackson’s great-granddaughter to learn the Acknowledgement to Country in Noongar. We have formed a very special connection with the Jackson family following our student-led change project in 2020 to re-name our factions. Jasmine is a final year pre-service teacher at ECU and proud Noongar woman who will be spending some time with us at the school this year and sharing her culture. We are so very thrilled to be continuing to develop this relationship with the Jackson family and work towards positive and meaningful connections and reconciliation.

Community Engagement

Don’t forget to reserve your place at our free cyber safety education session for parents on Tuesday 1 June at 6:30pm. The team from ySafe are facilitating this session, who are a leading education provider working to assist schools and parents ensure the safety of children in this digital world. Registrations are essential, please refer to the link further along in this newsletter to book. Following the session, attendees will have access to the ySafe Cyber Safety Parent Hub with further resources and help to assist parents.

Collaborate, Connect, Communicate.

Yours in learning

Executive Admin Team

Tamara, Alan, Rachel and Melinda