1 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

2018 Term Dates

To assist you with any forward planning for holidays in 2018 please see below the 2018 term dates and public holidays:

Term 1

Wednesday 31st January - Friday 13th April
Labour Day - Monday 5th March
Good Friday - 30th March
Easter Monday - 2nd April

Term 2

Monday 30th April – Friday 29th June
School Development Day - Monday 28th May
Western Australia Day – Monday 4th June

Term 3

Tuesday 17th July – Friday 21st September

Term 4

Tuesday 9th October – Thursday 13th December

Protective Behaviours Parent Workshop

The Protective Behaviours Program provides children with strategies to keep themselves safe and cope with situations which threaten their wellbeing, specifically in areas of child abuse and bullying.

The program in essence empowers the individual with the right to feel safe and sets out ways in which they can gain appropriate help when they are not feeling safe.

A 2 hour parent workshop will be held in the staffroom on Thursday 2nd November 2017 - 9:00am – 11:00am.

Mayor’s Christmas Appeal

Once again, we will be participating in the Mayor’s Christmas Appeal; all donations will be distributed to those that are less fortunate throughout the community.

Non-perishable food items can be placed in the donation bin, which is located in the front office. We will be accepting donations until Friday 17th November.

FACTS ABOUT ATTENDANCE

• Research confirms that to maximize your child’s learning successes; they need to attend school 95% of the time. (This equates to an absence of 2½ days per month).
• Regular attendance enables children to build upon their knowledge and skills every day.
• Children who miss out on the basic skills may experience difficulties later on due to gaps in their learning.
• Regular attendance helps students to develop confidence in areas such as social skills, organisation and teamwork.

The law requires students to attend Primary School from Pre-primary to Year 6.

New Students

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Taj, Lochlan, Heidi and Jaxon who recently commenced at Somerly Primary School.

Tracey Renton
Principal

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 4 is:-

RESPECT;

CLASSROOM

• Pay attention and listen attentively;
• Obtain permission to use other people’s equipment;
• Use inside voices;
• Respect others that are learning by staying in your seat;
• Respect other people’s opinions.

Merit certificates

Room 1: Josie and Dylan; Room 2: Emily and James; Room 3: Shad and Emily; Room 4:P Ivy and Osama; Room 7: Aidan and Ava; Room 8: Danielle and Gurshaan; Room 9: Ella and Alicia; Room 10: Ozear and Praise; Room 11: Matilda and Chase; Room 12: David and Levi; Room 13: Harmony and Isaac; Room 14: Jessica and Esther; Room 15: Grace and Maddison; Room 16: Ameer and Mark; Room 18: Jessica and Chloe; Room 23: Lisa and Angela; Art: Jessika and Emily; LOTE: Chantel, Moses and Skye.

SOMERLY STARS!

Kindy Enrolment for 2018

If you have a child born between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2014 please come into the front office for an application form to enrol for Kindergarten in 2018.

As Kindy is non-compulsory, enrolments will be on a first in basis.

When applying we need a copy of your child’s birth certificate or passport, visa if applicable, current Medicare immunisation details and proof of address.

If you know someone who has a child due to start Kindergarten next year, please let them know that enrolments are open.

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.

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.

Lost Property

We have a large amount of lost property located in the green buckets outside the medical room. If you have misplaced an item at school, please check the buckets.

2018 Booklists

Our 2018 booklists were sent home with students last week. If you have not received your copy, please call into the office to collect one. Online ordering with Officemax is now available with free delivery until 3rd December 2018. Voluntary contributions for 2018 can be paid via Officemax when purchasing your booklist items.

Booklist items can also be purchased at News Express in Ocean Keys. Please see flyer below for further information.

Vegtember

Somerly Primary School participated in Vegtember, having each class try to eat the most vegetables during crunch and sip in the month of September. The winning class for Vegtember was Mrs Fawcett's Year 2 class!

As the winning class, Room 18 got to make their own banana and strawberry smoothies. They did a great job at adding all the ingredients and now know how to make a healthy smoothie.

Well done Room 18!!!

Miss Rosielle

Kindergarten Assembly

Room 5 and 6 chose to complete their assembly item of "What's the Weather Like Today?", after completing the theme of Weather in oral language time this term. The Kindergarten students have been completing semantics, grammar and comprehension tasks to extend their knowledge within the theme of Weather. Students dressed for the different types of weather in the song, being windy, rainy, sunny and snowy.

Well done with your first school assembly Kindy, you did a fantastic job!

Miss Rosielle and Miss Avins

Harmony Day 2018

I will be coordinating Harmony Day (which promotes different cultures from around the world) next year (21/3) and I am seeking parents and community members who can demonstrate/instruct the students in any of the following activities: dancing, cooking, playing instruments, art and craft and singing. The activities are to be held for the afternoon session of the day.

Thank you for your assistance.

Rosaria McCulloch
LOTE Specialist

Learning Focus

Room 7 – Year 4/5

We have been learning about Magnetic Force with Ms Ixer, our ECU Pre-service teacher.

We have explored magnetic and non- magnetic materials and have investigated the magnetic forces of attraction (pull) and repulsion (push) by powering toy cars using magnets and non-contact force. This week we have been designing, creating and evaluating our own games, to show our knowledge and understanding of magnetic attraction and repulsion.

Art

In Art we have been creating magic trees with the Pre-Primary and Year 1 students. Students have also enjoyed painting and drawing the patterns, colours and shapes they can ‘hear’ in music from Japanese, Maori and Aboriginal musicians. We enjoyed dancing and moving our bodies to warm up before getting creative. The patterns and the energy students have created in their work through this activity is very inspiring!

Room 23 has created colourful little koalas to join our special World Wildlife sponsored koala.

Students from various year levels have created beautiful little islands in response to Maki Horanai’s work ‘forgotten quiet.’ Maki chooses to use lower-case letters to describe her lovely, reflective work. She is a Japanese artist based in Queensland and she works in conjunction with her husband who is a teacher and poet.

I have been working with some classes on a little exhibition in Ocean Keys which should be on display for 2-3 weeks during November. I will inform students of exact dates, depending on the Shopping Centre’s needs, as soon as possible.

Please feel free to visit it near Target, leave a comment card for the artist and complete some awesome student-designed colouring-in sheets! I’m really proud of the students’ efforts and I know the local community will love seeing their work.

Miss Bartley - Art Specialist

P & C

We're Fundraising with The Entertainment Book

Order forms can be collected from the school office.

Alternatively, you can order your book or your Digital Membership securely online by visiting the link below:

20% from every membership sold contributes to supporting our fundraising.

Community Notices

Kurlangas Aboriginal Playgroup

Welcome to term 4. This term in playgroup our theme is shapes and continuing to learn our colours. We are making shape collages, painting different shapes, using shape sorters and playdough cutter shapes.

For our babies, there will be tummy time (to strengthen their back and neck muscles), push and pull toys, some wonderful books to look at and songs to sing.

As the weather is warming up please remember to bring a hat and drink bottle for your child.

Playgroup is FREE, and held every Wednesday at Somerly Primary School during term times between 12.30-2.30pm, 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