30 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents

Classes for 2017

At this week’s staff meeting, staff began the process of creating class lists for 2017. When creating classes, some of the factors that we take into account include male to female ratio, individual learning styles and learning requirements and student compatibility/friendship groups. At the moment the lists are quite fluid and consequently won’t be released until 31st January 2017, whereby the lists will be placed on the library windows.

P&C

The final P&C meeting for 2016 will be held on Monday 5th December at 9am in the staffroom. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all P&C members for the wonderful role that they have played in supporting and promoting the school this year. Without the support of the P&C we wouldn’t have been able to commence work on the senior nature playground this year. We are extremely hopeful that in 2017 we will be able to complete the final stage of the senior playground.

Events

Friday 9th December 9.00am: Book Award Assembly
Wednesday 14th December 9.00am: Year 6 Graduation
Thursday 15th December 9.00am: Christmas Concert

Lost Property

There is an overwhelming amount of lost property that has accumulated over the last two terms. Please make the time to come and look for any items your child may have misplaced, as all lost property not claimed by Friday 2nd December will be donated accordingly. The lost property bin is placed outside of the medical room at the rear of the Admin building.

Stanger Danger

Here are some suggestions to help your children stay safe:

• always travel in a group;
• walk on the right hand side of the road to face oncoming traffic;
• wherever possible, leave space between you and the roadway;
• stay in view – avoid going into areas that are hidden; be alert – earphones and headphones can reduce your awareness considerably;
• if you have a mobile phone, have it turned on;
• run from a situation if you feel at risk;
• report suspicious behaviour to your parents, school and the police.

To get the latest community safety information from police, visit WA Police on Facebook below or online below at

Principal’s Lunch

On Thursday 24th October, the administration team had the pleasure of hosting the final Principal’s lunch for the year. Teachers selected two students from each class that have consistently displayed the schools values of Respect, Responsibility and Safety. The students were treated to a Christmas Roast Dinner.

Tracey Renton
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 1: Wendel, Haziq, Crystal, Sierra; Room 3: Jia, Kai, Billie, Dziah and Maddison; Room 7: Jai, Eddie and Sahar; Room 8: Rojin; Room 10: Ozear and Josh; Room 13: Cooper, Carly, Abbey; Room 14: Riley and Sebastian; Room 16: Levi, Tia and Kaylee; Room 17: Maina, Moses, Lily, Amber and Jaime; Room 18: Erin and Gabriel; Room 19: Ethan, Batool, Elijah, Sharnae and Jacinta; Room 23: Grace, Chase, Milla and Daniel; Art: Sarah and Andy.

Somerly Stars!

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 8 and 9 is as follows:-

Classroom

Sit on chairs ‘4 to the floor’;
Clean up work areas;
Tuck in chairs when they are not being sat in;
Use equipment appropriately;
Walk in the classroom.

GUITAR ASSEMBLY 2016

On Friday 18TH of November Somerly Primary School’s classical guitar group performed a range of songs such as Ode to Joy, Ica etc. The members are Rojin, Sonia, Stephanie, Chloe and Chase and our teacher Mr Perry. Mr Perry is a great teacher that creates his own songs for us and other students to learn while teaching us new techniques every week. Over the past few terms, every Thursday we have been practising our guitar pieces and have given multiple performances for individual classrooms. We hope you enjoyed our performance and hear more from us over the next few weeks.

-by Rojin Zakholy and Sonia Sewpal

Lapathon

On Friday 18th November our annual lapathon event took place, which was organised by our dedicated P & C committee. The event, which began with a family picnic, was thoroughly enjoyed by all our students, parents and staff alike. Our students managed to earn some amazing prizes through sponsorship. Well done everyone!

The Schoolzine App update is now available

The update will automatically install on your Phone.

All app features and settings will remain the same.

Once you have updated the app, the following icon will appear on your Phone.

Depending on your devices settings you may need to visit the App Store/Play Store and search for Schoolzine to manually update.

If you are downloading the app for the first time, you will automatically receive the updated version.

The update features a new design and layout, with improved functionality and features. For more information about SZapp or for help installing SZapp, please see the instructions below.

If you have any questions regarding the release or experience any issues, contact us at szapp@schoolzine.com.au. Please include as much information as you can, including what device you are using, so we can assist you as quickly as possible.

2017 Enrolments

To assist our planning for 2017 please let the school office know if your children will not be attending Somerly Primary School next year. As you can appreciate with the opening of Catalina, the school will be under pressure to accommodate the growing population and we need as much advanced notification of enrolments as we can to plan for additional classrooms and staff. If you know anyone in the community with school aged children please encourage them to come to the school and enrol early.

Uniform Stock

We have a small amount of new uniform to be disposed of. The items include:

Girls – skirts: Size 8, 10, 12 and 14
Girls – skorts: Size 14 and 16
Leggings: Assorted sizes
Boys – shorts: 12, 14 and 16

Polo shirts – size 12: Yellow (Centaur)
Polo shirts – size 14: Yellow (Centaur) and orange (Villalta)
Polo shirts - size 16: Orange (Villalta) and school uniform

Adult sizes S – L: Red, orange and school uniform

The above can be purchased from the school office for a gold coin donation from 2pm – 3pm Monday to Friday.

Learning Focus

Numeracy

The end of the school year is fast approaching and we are all looking forward to a well-earned break. We have all been working so hard to teach the students at Somerly the mathematical skills and concepts that they need to know. From Kindergarten to Year 6 the maths curriculum has been bulging with so many concepts but often when you ask your child, “What did you do at school today?” you get a response of, “Nothing!” “I can’t remember” or “uh- huh.” Well to help you here is a short list of what we’ve been doing at school this year!

We have been:

Weighing, measuring, reasoning, naming & describing features, listing, modelling, telling the time, adding, subtracting, ordering & comparing, naming & writing numbers, counting forwards, counting backwards & skip counting, graphing, interpreting data, making tallies, sequencing, subitising, sorting, classifying, matching one to one, solving, adding money, investigating, exploring connections, rounding, checking, mapping, flipping, sliding, turning, rotating, making models, using mental strategies, calculating, creating budgets, partitioning, expanding numbers, describing number patterns, classifying, surveying, trialling, interpreting, finding unknown quantities, finding missing numbers …including x, identifying factors, multiples, odd numbers, and even numbers, describing prime numbers, square numbers, composite numbers and even triangular numbers, doubling, halving, looking for near doubles, dividing, sharing, grouping, splitting, making arrays, connecting fractions, decimals, percentages, converting fractions to decimals to percentages, solving word problems, locating numbers on number lines, constructing prisms, pyramids, 3D objects, rotating, reflecting using all four quadrants on the Cartesian plane, using brackets, exponents, indices, integers

… and finding the right answer!

WOW all this and so much more, surprised?

So, next time you get a shrug of the shoulders when you ask “What did you do at school?...”

I have had another fantastic year working with the staff and your children as the Numeracy Coordinator and Curriculum Leader and I am super excited to be working at Somerly again next year. I will be bringing coding, and robotics into the maths classroom using Sphero, Edison, Osmo and Dash & Dot! How COOL!

Have a safe, relaxing fun holiday and come back ready for EVEN more next year! And I wish our Year 6 Students Good Luck going to High School - don’t forget to visit us!

Happy Holidays

Mrs Longthorn
Numeracy Coordinator & Level 3 Teacher

Kindergarten

We have been consolidating copying and creating patterns. The kindergarten students are so amazing! They can do a two and three colour pattern!

Miss Rosielle
Kindy Teacher

LOTE

The students have participated in a range of activities on the theme of The Beach. The landscapes of Positano, Sorrento and Capri have shown Italy's stunning coastline. Learning tasks have included designing bathers, drawing beaches and posters featuring information on beach parties.

Ms McCulloch
LOTE Teacher

Scrap Material for Block 4

Do you have any scrap/left over material? If so, our Year 2 teachers would love to receive donations from you for craft activities. Thank you.

P & C NEWS

Hi. Your friendly P&C President here.

I would like to introduce our amazing, quick, patient, beautiful, Secretary Elise Scarlett.

Elise has 3 children, 2 attending Somerly at the moment, with gorgeous terror number 3 starting 2018. So get used to seeing this amazing woman. She's going to be with us for quite some time.

Elise has always been an amazing inspiration for myself and all peers and kids she meets, having coached Calisthenics for 25 years and worked in day care for 20 years. She is hard working, down to earth and approachable - the best Secretary I could have ever asked for. I know I don't tell her enough what a great job she does. So please if you see her around, pat her on the back and say thanks for all the help she gives for our school.

Thank you Elise, you are a superstar!

Regards
Trudy Orduna

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Kurlangas Aboriginal Playgroup

In these final weeks of playgroup, we are going to be focusing on Christmas. We are going to be making decorations such as Christmas wreaths, tree star toppers, tree ornaments and cards. During the making of these, we will be practicing our cutting skills, colour recognition and counting skills.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful parents, carers and children for attending the playgroup this year, and we hope to see you all back next year.

Playgroup is FREE, and held every Wednesday at Somerly Primary School during term times between 10.00-12.00am, for Aboriginal children up to 5yrs of age and their carers.

A morning tea of fresh fruit is provided for the children, and tea, coffee and biscuits for the adults. You do not need to have a child attending this school to attend.

Hope to see you there!

Aboriginal Early Years Team