22 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents

It is hard to believe we are already 4 weeks into the term! As I have visited classes it has been great to see the rigorous learning taking place as well as the high level of engagement of all students.

A common characteristic of successful schools is the provision of a positive, engaging and challenging learning environment and it is really pleasing to see this exemplified at Somerly Primary School.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day, 21st March, celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. It’s a day for all Australians to embrace cultural diversity and to share what we have in common.

The central message for Harmony Day is that ‘everyone belongs’, reinforcing the importance of inclusivity for all Australians.

Students at Somerly Primary School will engage in a whole school activity of making a chain of hands to acknowledge and celebrate Harmony Day. Students are also encouraged to wear/dress in Orange on the day.

School Council

We are calling for members of the School Council 2017.

The major focus for the School Council this year will be to ensure the school has all the necessary practices and protocols in place to best enable the school in becoming an Independent Public School in 2018.

Other tasks for the council also include:

• Establishing and reviewing the school’s priorities and general policy directions;
• Financial planning;
• Evaluation of the school’s performance;
• Promotion of the school throughout the wider community;
• The approval of charges, contributions and fees, items for personal use and advertising and sponsorship.

Our first School Council meeting will be held on Wednesday 1st March at 2:00pm, we would love to welcome any new members.

Vegetable Garden

If you love gardening and have a hour or two to spare on Tuesday between 12.00 and 2:30, Miss Julie would appreciate some help in the vegetable garden.

Blankets

The Early Childhood teachers are seeking donations of picnic blankets that can be utilised for the students to sit on when eating lunch. Any donations can be dropped off at the front office.

Tracey Renton
Principal

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 4 is as follows:-

SAFETY

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.

SCHOOL PHOTO DAY IS COMING!

Dear Parents,

Our school photo days are Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd March 2017.

Orders for sibling photo packages need to be placed online, but please be aware there may be a limited number of sibling orders that can be placed due to time constraints on photo day. Please place your online sibling order as soon as possible when you receive your personalised envelopes.

Please note late requests cannot be granted.

YOU HAVE TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT !!

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

We have 4 $50 Lowes vouchers to give away. For your chance to win, simply pay your Voluntary Contribution by the end of Term 1.

Thank you to those of you who have already paid your 2017 Voluntary Contribution.

Voluntary Contributions play a significant role in providing resources for students in the classroom. The continuing partnership between the school and parents is vital to ensuring that all students receive a level of education sufficient to carry them forward in today’s society. Voluntary Contributions are utilized to purchase books, resources and equipment for classroom use and to support our school in the delivery of quality educational programmes. To enable the school to continue to deliver our excellent educational programmes, we urge you to consider paying your Voluntary Contribution at your earliest convenience.

Voluntary Contributions for 2017 is set at $60. However, if you pay before the end of Term 1 you will receive a discount of $10.

You can pay by cash, cheque or EFTPOS in the front office any day between 8:30am and 3:30pm or you can pay by direct deposit to Commonwealth Bank – BSB 066 040 - Account No. 19902052. Please type surname and room number in description field as a reference.

Thank You.

Susan Rose
Manager Corporate Services

“Chaplain Chat”

Hello Somerly Primary Parents and Carers,

A big warm welcome back and to new families at the school - as we are well underway into Term 1 2017!

My office has now been relocated to the demountable that’s located in the seniors block and is a blue building with student art work painted all over it. If you can’t find me floating around the school on Tuesdays and Fridays you will find me there.

Please pop in for a tea or coffee at any time to chat about any concerns for your child or any way I can offer support or just to say Hi!

As the term goes on I will keep you posted on the programs we will be running this year here at Somerly.

Have a great week!

Lauren D’Castro
Chaplain

Contact:
Tuesdays & Fridays
08:00AM-03:30PM
email: lauren.dcastro2@education.wa.edu.au

Learning Focus

Art

Somerly students have jumped back in to Art to create some colourful hearts and similes that describe what the love for our families looks like, sounds like and feels like. Some great examples from our senior students were:

'Love is white like the kiss of a candle in the whisper of dark.' - Kaitlyn, 10

'Love is waterfall-ridge blue like a budgie soaring through a waterfall.' - Charlize, 11

'Love is blue like ocean waves crashing against dry sand.' - Josh, 11

Our younger students had some great ideas, too:

'Love is yellow like cute little chickens.' - Lily, 7

'Love is light pink like a baby bird.' - Chantel, 8

Students have also formed some social, academic, creative and athletic goals for the year. You can see some of these on display in the office. Linking with numeracy, we have been exploring the use of maps to locate different types of Art galleries in Western Australia. Moving in to the term, we will be exploring creatures, landscapes and a few key illustrators. Thanks to all students for a great start to the year!

Maths is F.U.N…N.Y!

Welcome back everyone! We have been so busy already this term and especially in maths. The year started when I ran a professional development workshop for staff where we analysed our school data and identified school focus areas including money, multiplication, division and mental maths strategies. We learnt a lot about growth mindset and the power of believing in yourself and then tried a lot of new ways to solve problems… mentally. Check out Jo Boaler … She believes EVERYONE can be good at maths… and we all agree!

Another area we are working on this year is Digital Technology. I am super excited to be involved with the Digital Technologies implementation plan for our school and I have been working with Ms Mundy to link digital technologies into the maths classroom. We have a lot of new digital equipment to introduce throughout the year and you may hear your children talking about robotics, coding, Dash & Dot, Sphero, Makey Makey, Edison & OSMO!

This term I am working with the Year 3 and Year 5 students and teachers and we are so lucky to be using our favourite new toy… OSMO! The students really love using OSMO in maths class, but what they don’t realise is that the games that we play are actually educational and link into the WA Curriculum. Osmo is an interactive gaming system that works with the ipad. Players work together, not against each other, to solve addition, subtraction and multiplication problems to progress and unlock levels.

Here is a short video clip of the students using their mental computation skills to play OSMO!

Save the Date!!!!

To celebrate and showcase all the fantastic work everyone is doing in maths we’re having a Maths Morning on Thursday 30th March from 8:30am onwards! – we’re pretty excited to show you that maths is not scary and something we can all be good at if we put our minds to it. I hope you’ll be able to spare half an hour or so to check out what your children are doing in maths! This will be followed by some parent activities in the Library …! Pop this on your calendar now… More details to come soon! Hope you can make it!

It is a FUN way to do maths that is actually helping students to improve and extend their mental maths strategies and recall of number facts for addition, subtraction and multiplication. Times-tables have never been so much F.U.N!

Mrs Longthorn
Numeracy Coach

Block 1

Kindergarten

5 Little Ducks Ordering Activity

For this activity the students were asked to order the ducks from 1 to 5. We will be supporting the understanding of numerical concepts which includes number recognition to 5, ordering numbers to 5 and 1:1 correspondence.

Kellie MacNicol Room 5
Aneka Rosielle Room 6

Pre-Primary

In Pre-primary we have been exploring our new classrooms and the emotions we faced on our first day. The students have settled into the classes fantastically and have drawn a self-portrait of how they felt on the first day. In maths we have been exploring numbers through subitising, number lines and number formation. We have also been learning the sounds that letters make and how to blend them in words.

Leigh Angerson and Tamara Bachiller

Italian

Students Late to School

If your child arrives late to school they are missing critical morning routines and learning activities. The school day begins at 8:40am and students will be considered late if they do not arrive by this time. If your child arrives after 9:00am you are required to enter through the front office and provide us with a reason for the lateness. A late slip will be printed for you to give to the class teacher.

Dogs on school grounds

Dogs are wonderful pets; however, like children they require care, education and restraint. Some children have an aversion to dogs while others have an allergy associated with dogs. Please refrain from bringing dogs onto school grounds.

Not Feeling Well?

If your child is not feeling well before school, please keep them home and notify the office by phoning 9407 7142 or sending an SMS to 0437 480 486.

Late Collection of Students

Somerly Primary School has a student finish time of 2.45pm each day. If your child has not been picked up before 3pm, you will be required to come to the front office to sign them out.

School Banking

School banking will be available every Tuesday morning from 14th February 2017 between 8.00am and 8.15am in the school library.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Kurlangas Aboriginal Playgroup

Welcome to the start of a new year for playgroup. This half of the term our theme is “All About Me”. We will be looking at what makes us, “us”! Some of our activities will include, hand and foot prints, paper plate faces and body outline pictures. There will also be Playdough, painting, water play, woodwork, cooking, stories and songs.

Playgroup is FREE, and held every Wednesday at Somerly Primary School during term times between 10.00-12.00pm, 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