Newsletter 7 – Week 7, Term 3, 2021 – Message from Admin Team, Faction Athletics Carnival PP/Yr 1, Mr Scott’s Retirement Memory Book, MS Readathon, Faction Athletics Carnival Results, Interschool Basketball

Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear parents and caregivers

We are in the midst of a very busy few weeks of Term, with Book Week, athletics carnival, interschool events, school photos, ICAS testing, incursions, excursions and public speaking, just to name a few. Please keep a close eye on the school calendar on the school website for all important events. Term 3 is one of those very busy terms of the year so it’s understandable that students, staff and parents feel a little fatigued right about now! I’m sure families will be balancing commitments outside of school and giving our little people enough time to rest and have down-time. I’m sure parents will need rest and down-time just as much! It is timely that the P&C has opted to shift the annual lap-a-thon P&C fundraiser to next year, likely in Term 2, which will mean one less big school event this Term.

R U OK? Day: Next Thursday 9 September, we will be asking R U OK? And raising awareness of mental health by wearing yellow for the day. This year, the message behind R U OK? Day is ‘Are you REALLY OK?’. Life’s ups and downs happen to all of us so chances are someone you know is struggling and your genuine support can make a difference, whatever they are facing, big or small.

So please mark your calendars for next Thursday, 9 September and plan for your child to wear yellow to share the message within our school community. Last year we had parents and siblings dropping children off at school and they were also wearing yellow, and it was wonderful to see.

EA Appreciation Week: This week, we are putting the spotlight on our wonderful Education Assistants and thanking them for everything they do our students, staff and the community. Our EAs are the unsung heroes of our school, who go above and beyond every single day to make sure our students feel supported in their educational journey. The lengths they go to, often in their own time, is quite remarkable. Please join me in showing appreciation for our EAs this week, they deserve every bit of praise and thanks. Our staff will be celebrating their contribution with a special morning tea at recess tomorrow.

Teaching and Learning

Last week, our Year 5 students in Room 24 and 25 combined, whilst a number of other students were at interschool basketball, to complete a Mathematical Escape Room. Students were expected to be active listeners and participants, working together to solve 10 clues to help them escape the forest. Rich mathematical conversations, amazing resilience and fantastic attitudes were shown by all!  Great work Year 5s.

Leadership

Over the past few years, the Department of Education has been progressing its strategic directions in public school leadership, with one priority being a strengthening of the process to identify and select talented individuals in our system to take on team, school and system leadership positions with confidence. This process is known as the WA Future Leaders Framework and at Wembley PS, we have been involved in the development of this process from the early trial stages to now. A number of staff have now been identified and supported to engage in leadership professional learning through the Churchlands Regional Schools Network to equip them with the knowledge and skills to support their teams and school. Last week, our 2021 leaders began their journey with Mrs Lisa Evans, Mrs Debra Darbyshire and Miss Leila Sugden all being accepted into the Aspirant Team Leader PL and Mrs Natalie Mueller being accepted into the Aspirant School Leader PL in the Churchlands Regional Schools Network. By investing in our staff, I believe we will continue to create the enabling conditions in our school for our students to thrive. I congratulate all four of these aspirant leaders for their commitment to their own professional growth.

Community Engagement

Year 2-6 Athletics Carnival: What a day last Thursday! Although we tried to avoid the rain with the postponement, we did have a few showers to contend with over the day. I was blown away with how many parents we had willing to step in and help run the carnival. A huge thank you to each and every one of you, ably led by Emily Roberts. As Mr Bowman and Mrs Watson said at the final presentations on Friday afternoon, you have been an absolute star coordinating our parent helpers for the past few years. We thank you for your contribution and hope we have someone who can fill your shoes in 2022 and beyond! There were also many other star parent helpers on the day, thank you for your time. We most definitely could not run such a huge event without community help. Our students gave their best throughout the day and we managed to get through almost all events. It was great fun to finish off with the senior relays back at school on Friday afternoon along with some fun student-parent-teacher events. Congratulations to Farmer who were the overall faction winners and Winton, winners of the Spirit shield, a great effort by all.

Collaborate, Connect, Communicate.

Yours in learning

Executive Admin Team

Tamara, Alan, Rachel and Melinda