Newsletter Week 9 Term 1, 2023 – Message from Administration, Important Dates, Harmony Week, P&C General Meeting TONIGHT, Canteen, Have Sum Fun Competition, Library, Chaplains Corner, Mark Lee Football, Redhage Basketball

Message from Administration

Dear parents and caregivers

Last week we had a wonderful week of celebration across the school for Harmony Week, with extra special celebrations on Wednesday. It was a joy to see our students celebrating their cultural backgrounds through their clothing, food and the activities in class. Mrs Avanthi Fernando coordinated Harmony Week this year and I thank her for all her hard work in the background, including the special Bhutanese curry on the canteen menu last Wednesday. The special Harmony Day recess was incredible! Thank you to Genna and her hard working team of parents and carers who contributed to making this such a special event. There were foods from across the world and lots of orange-themed items.

One of the highlights of my week was having a special Bhutanese hot breakfast of kewa datsi (sweet potato, chilli, garlic, onion and cheese) brought to me in the office last Monday by one of Mrs Fernando’s groups and hearing our students from Bhutan, Turkey and other countries use this cooking experience as a rich language exercise, discussing the similarities and differences of cultures as a basis for writing. These students have been adjusting to life in Australia and with Mrs Fernando’s help, working towards improving their confidence with the English language. Appreciating each other’s rich cultural backgrounds is a key important feature of Harmony Day, as understanding is key to empathy, inclusiveness and kindness in our world.

Have Sum Fun Maths Competition:

On Saturday 18 March, a large group of over 40 students in Year 5/6 participated in the Maths Association of WA Have Sum Fun competition at Penrhos College. This was a highly challenging competition, and our teams did incredibly well. This was only the second time in recent history we have competed, and 3 teams placed in the top 10 with a 4^th, 6^th and 7^th position, behind The Russian School and Christchurch Grammar School. We thank all our teams who put in their best efforts and time on a Saturday to represent our school. Without the dedication of teachers, we simply would not have been able to field these teams and provide such a rich extra-curricular learning experience. I greatly appreciate Mrs Lisa Evans and Mr Jordan Tait for giving up part of their weekend to accompany our students to this event.

 

Synergy Schools Solar Car Challenge:

Congratulations to Mrs Sue Webber and our Year 6 team of Elyse M, Tyler S, Hugh D and Daniel J who came 2nd in the North Metropolitan Synergy Schools Solar Car Challenge last week. Mrs Webber integrates this learning into the Year 5/6 Science and STEAM programs but also spends countless lunchtimes with our team leading up to the event coaching our students. The challenge involves building solar cars with provided materials from scratch and being the fastest solar car vehicle on the track. Not only does the team need excellent scientific skills, their resilience, collaboration and problem-solving abilities are also put to the test under time pressure. Fantastic work by the team, we now head to the Grand Final event at Murdoch University being held next week! Unfortunately, there is a clash for two of our team members who are also in the interschool swimming squad on the day of the final so thank you to Zuriel L and Miles S for stepping in.

World Autism Month:

We are currently in World Autism Week and World Autism Day is on Sunday. We have many incredible students at our school who view the world through an ASD lens. How can we, as a community, build awareness and celebrate the strengths, achievements and uniqueness of people with Autism?

Autism Month can support with building understanding and igniting change for good, allowing us to grow together.

Kicking off the month with World Autism Week, there are some resources that are staff will draw upon in April that may also support conversations at home. You can access these here.

When is it?

There are three key dates this month:

• April is World Autism Month
• World Autism Week is from 27 March to 2 April
• World Autism Day is this Sunday 2 April

An amazing array of key landmarks and buildings are lighting up Perth and across WA over the weekend in a spectrum of colour to signify that we are a diverse community where each person has something to contribute and is valued. It would be great for our students to think about why these buildings are being lit up and will be a great conversation starter for households. You can access the Light Up The Spectrum schedule here.

Parking on neighbour’s driveways/lawns:

We are a large school in an inner-city area so traffic and parking will always be limited. I respectfully ask you not to park on our neighbour’s driveways and lawns. This is particularly prevalent near the Kindy and Pre-primary for our Jersey St neighbours at the moment and the school has received complaints. These residents are sometimes unable to leave for work and commitments due to parents obstructing their driveways. I encourage you to start walking, scooting or riding to school whenever possible and if you do need to drive, ensure that you park responsibly.

Kiss and Drive:

Kiss and Drive has seen an improvement, but I ask you to remember to always move as far to the front of the bays as possible, have children’s bags in the back/front seat with them (not the boot) and for parents to stay in the car. If your child is unable to exit the car themselves, please pull further forward past the Kiss and Drive section into a regular car parking bay and exit the car. Although the Kiss and Drive may seem quiet when you pull up, it can become congested within seconds and by exiting your car, the Kiss and Drive flow is impacted and queues form. We know you want to give a cuddle and kiss to say goodbye, but please do so in the car so we can keep Kiss and Drive moving. It can also be dangerous for children to be fetching bags from the boot independently. At drop off and pick up, can you also please allow space for staff to enter and exit staff carpark. Thank you for your understanding as we navigate the pressures of a very large school and keeping our kids safe. Importantly, please consider active travel and leave the car at home; walking, riding and scooting to school is a great way to start the day.

I understand the frustration by the community with the roadworks around the school planned by the Town of Cambridge. When the contractor came into the school yesterday afternoon to advise of the temporary closure at Jersey St and Ruislip St this was immediately communicated. If advance notification was provided, this would have been communicated much earlier. The school works to assist the safety of the community as best we can, however these issues are outside our control and I respectfully ask you to continue directing your queries around roadworks to the Town of Cambridge. The School Board and P&C have already made submissions to the council around these works late last year. We are advised that the disruption was only due to impact yesterday so I anticipate that the intersection will now be reopened.

Mrs Lisa Thompson’s Retirement:

A reminder that Year 1 teacher Mrs Thompson will be retiring at the end of this term after an amazing 41 years as a teacher in public schools and 15 years at Wembley PS. Mrs Thompson has taught thousands of children since 1982 and while we will be sad to say goodbye, we know that Mrs Thompson now deserves some time to relax and enjoy her retirement after giving so much to the education system throughout her life. With a career which has taken her from the Wheatbelt to various schools in the metropolitan area, we will be celebrating her contribution to public service with a special assembly this Friday 31 March at 2:40pm. We hope the community will join us to farewell Lisa alongside her family, staff and friends. Next term, Ms Sarah Ryan will be returning from maternity leave to work on Wednesdays in Room 9, Year 1 following Mrs Thompson’s retirement.

Artist Spotlight:

This term, The Year 5/6 students in Room 14 have been exploring David Attenborough’s Blue Planet, Hokasai Great Wave, The Myth of Moby Dick and the poetry of John Masefield to inspire their watercolour painting. Salt painting, wet-on-wet painting and one and two colour blend techniques have been incorporated into the work and the results so far are outstanding. These works are still in process but it’s always important to celebrate the progress towards the final product, not just the end result. Well done to the whole class on their creative work. Here you can see the progress for Lily S, April M, Ben T and Flynn L – outstanding!

School Board Election:

Thank you to all parents and carers who voted in the recent School Board election and to our five nominees. There was a total of 182 responses, including the 24-hour extension to voting due to the error with Eastern Standard Time ending the election earlier than advertised. I had hoped the response would be higher, with over 1000 emails sent out to the community with voting instructions. We are now in the process of finalising the election which takes at least 2 weeks to enable due process. The Board Chair, P&C President and members of the senior administration team are scrutineers for the results in accordance with Department of Education guidelines. At the Board meeting last Tuesday, we thanked our outgoing board members for their contribution to governance in our school community.

Important Dates : 

Mrs Lisa Thompson’s Retirement Assembly: Friday 31 March at 2:40pm

Interschool Swimming Carnival: Tuesday 4 April (HBF Stadium – Outdoor Pool)

Edu Dance Concerts: Tuesday 4 April 2:30pm (PP2, PP3, Room 9, Room 10, Room 5, Room 6, Room 1, Room 3)

Wednesday 5 April 2:30pm (PP1, PP4, Room 8, Room 11, Room 7, Room 4, Room 2, Room 26, Room 27)

ANZAC Day Service (Year 1-6): Thursday 6 April at 9am

Parent-Teacher Interviews ½ day school closure: Wednesday 3 May 12pm

Connect, Collaborate, Communicate, Care

Yours in learning

Tamara, Milani, Scott, Stacey and Natalie