Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear Parents and Caregivers

You may have seen media coverage over the weekend regarding a Western Australian Police investigation that has uncovered a series of online grooming offences against young people in the wider community.

Charges of this nature are unsettling and we want to make sure that all parents/carers remain aware of the importance of cyber safety. We also want to reassure you that there is no indication that any of these grooming offences have taken place at a school.

Cyber safety forms part of the WA curriculum and at WPS its importance is highlighted in our suite of policies and the K-Year 6 health program. However, we know you are best placed to monitor your child’s online activity, put safety mechanisms in place and regularly talk to your child/ren about cyber safety. There are many resources to help guide you through this on the Department of Education website. Other online resources are available on the eSafety Commissioner website.

If you have any general concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact donna.snow@education.wa.edu.au

Teaching and Learning

‘It take a big heart to shape little minds’. This week is Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. It is an opportunity to acknowledge the important role of teacher aides, whose hard work and dedication make a difference to students, teachers and the school community. We have an outstanding group of education assistants in our school who go above and beyond every day to support our children. We will be celebrating our EAs with a special morning tea this week. If an EA has made a difference in your child’s life, this week would be a wonderful time to let them know.

Captain Sugden and her Year 3 class of pirates in Room 27 are engaging in the Creative Schools program this semester. Working with creative practitioner Cristy Burne, a science writer and children’s author, a world of imagination and creativity has opened up, prompted by the students’ interest in pirates. Linking this interest to the curriculum, Captain Sugden’s students have engaged in creative writing, wondering what a pirate ‘school’ might look like, a collaborative technologies project to design a galleon and are currently creating branching keys to sort and classify the sea animals that live in the deep blue below.

We congratulate Year 5 teacher Ms Lana Darragh on her selection as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2020/21. This global program is comprised of a group of educators who are chosen for their outstanding and purposeful integration of Microsoft technology in teaching and learning programs. Wembley Primary School introduced the Office 365 platform for teachers and students in 2019 to ensure our students are equipped with the skills needed for the digital age. If you haven’t seen the Minecraft School Tour created collaboratively by last year’s Year 6 students and finished by Ms Darragh’s current Year 5 class, please click here

Quality Learning Environment

Classrooms have been engaged in the inquiry learning process this term which helps students build a repertoire of skills and dispositions that enable them to develop a deeper understanding of key concepts. One goal of inquiry learning is to teach students to think about their own thinking. Research shows that when students become aware of the learning process, they gain control over their learning and build self-regulation, problem solving and study skills. On Tuesday 22 September, we will welcome families into classrooms to view their child’s inquiry learning journey. A booking system is being developed to ensure we adhere to physical distancing requirements. This will be communicated in the coming weeks.

‘September – May No Hat, No Play’

A gentle reminder that all students need to wear hats during recess, lunch and all outdoor activities from 1 September until 31 May 2021. Please ensure your child has a school hat in their bag.

Community Engagement

Next week, on Wednesday 9 September starting at 9am we will hold the Junior House Athletics Carnival on the school oval. For the first time, we are combining the Pre-primary and Year 1-2  carnivals to bring the community together. The Kindy students who attend on the day will also join us briefly so they can be part of the fun. We welcome parents and family members in these year levels to join in this community event and cheer on their children. As we are still in Phase 4 Covid-19, we ask that adults respect physical distancing guidelines still in operation.

Thank you to the parent volunteers who have assisted the P&C and Year 6 students with fundraising efforts over the past week. The Father’s Day stall has been a big hit with students eager to spoil their Dad or significant other person in their life this Sunday. The Year 6 students, parents and teachers have also been busy fundraising for their camp and graduation recently too, with a successful sausage sizzle on Sunday. We greatly appreciate your support for these initatives which is giving us the opportunity to bring the community together again.

A group of WPS students showed great CARES (service) by holding a cake and lemonade stall at the weekend raising $640 to support the group of Year 4 mums who plan to ‘Walk for Women’s Cancer’ this month.

Yours in learning

Executive Admin Team

Donna, Alan, Milani, Tamara