Newsletter 6 – Week 7, Term 1, 2021 – Message from Admin Team (Parent/Teacher Interviews, Sun Smart, School Board, Yr 5 Pixal Art activity, P&C, Kiss & Drive, Faction Swimming Carnival, Winners Harmony Week Writing Competition, Canteen (Harmony Day, Busy Bee), P&C General Meeting, School Photos Kapture Photography, YMCC Hockey

Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Last week’s Year 4-6 Faction carnival was a wonderful spectacle of great swimming with the highlights being courage, sportsmanship and outstanding parent support. We thank the large number of volunteers who worked all day to ensure the carnival ran smoothly and finished on time. Events such as this would not be possible without this level of engagement.

Congratulations to the Year level champions and 2021 Champion Faction – Farmer.

Learning Environment

This week we celebrate Harmony Week. The ongoing theme of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’. By participating in Harmony Week activities, we can learn and understand how all Australians equally belong to this nation and enrich it.

Mrs Hawkes, our English as an Additional Language specialist teacher has been organising a range of Harmony Week activities at Wembley PS including:

Writing competition – Junior, Middle and Upper Primary, winners of the $30 vouchers were announced today. Congratulations to: Raphael Year 2, Hina Year 3 and Ruby Year 6 (see below).

Dress in Orange Day – Wednesday, 17 March

Canteen Day – Orange recess and Mexican lunch on Wednesday, 17 March

Teaching and Learning

Reporting to Parents Term 1 – Parent/Teacher interviews are scheduled for Tuesday 30 March 3:30 –6.00pm and Wednesday 31 March 12:30 – 3:30pm.

This is a half day of school and students need to be collected from pick-up zones at 12 noon.

The SOBS booking system will be open at 9.00am on Thursday (18 March).

Please note:

• Kindy A, B, C, D, E, F and Pre-primary 4 have differing dates and times on the SOBS system.
• Pre-primary 1, 2 and 3 – Year 6 are scheduled at the advertised times above.
• Book interviews with a gap to allow yourself time to move from class to class if you have more than one child.
• It is a 10-minute session only. Longer meetings need to be booked with your class teacher at a different time.

Sun Smart

Hats: The weather is still warm and the UV index remains high! Unfortunately, over the past week, dozens of students have been missing out on play as they do not have a hat. I understand that hats are in short supply from the uniform shop, however, any brimmed hat is acceptable until new stocks become available. Caps are not permitted.  Please check with your child that they do have a hat and their name is clearly labelled on it.

Sunscreen: New stocks of sunscreen have been delivered to all classrooms. Although teachers do not apply sunscreen, students will be reminded to apply before recess, lunch and PE.

Leadership

1. The 2020 Annual Report has been endorsed by the School Board and is on the website. It is a great read!
2. School Board Parent Representative Nominations:

Nominations are now open for three (3) parent representatives on the School Board. The functions, roles and responsibilities of Boards are prescribed by the School Education Act 1999 and the School Education Regulations 2000.

WPS Board is an unincorporated Board. Board members participate in school governance by supporting the Principal and school staff to implement the strategic directions outlined in the Department’s 2020-24 strategic directions Every student, every classroom, every day and Building on Strength and the WPS Business Plan 2020-22 to achieve year-on-year improvement.

• Endorsing and reviewing the school budget and Business Plan
• Processes to review school performance
• Processes to determine satisfaction levels
• Reporting school progress and achievement and endorsing the Annual Report
• Input into policy development
• Communicating with the broader community, the functions of the Board.

The Board is seeking parents with diverse skill sets. We are currently in the development phase of two strategies: communication, and a buildings and grounds master plan.

Please forward your nomination to the Principal via email donna.snow@education.wa.edu.au

To nominate, include name, occupation, year levels of children at WPS, and a brief description (no more than 100 words) of the skills you would bring to the Board.

Student Leadership

To mark Harmony Week, our Year 5 Digital Leaders ran a digital Pixel Art activity for Year 1/2 students this morning at recess. With support from the student leaders, the junior students designed their own Harmony Day logo using an app on the iPads. Thank you to Mrs Lee Geelhoed for her work supporting the Year 5 students to extend their digital and leadership skills at school. Look out for more activities led by the Year 5 Digital Leaders in the coming weeks.

Community Engagement

P&C Fundraising

The school was a hive of activity on Saturday when the community came out to vote. Many positive comments have been received around the community vibe as a result of the P&C’s fundraising initiatives and the inviting school grounds. Congratulations to all involved and thank you to our parent volunteers.

Kiss and Drive: Simper St and Alexander St

The smooth operations of the Kiss and Drive zones are a shared responsibility. A reminder to all parents and caregivers who use the Kiss and Drive on both Simper and Alexander Streets, it is a standing area only. The driver is to remain in the car and keep moving forward as space becomes available.

 

Collaborate, Connect, Communicate.

Yours in learning

Executive Admin Team

Donna, Alan, Tamara and Rachel