31 October 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

2019 Term Dates

To assist you with any forward planning for holidays in 2019 please see below for the relevant term dates:

Term 1 - Monday 4th February – Friday 12th April
Term 2 - Tuesday 30th April – Friday 5th July
Term 3 - Tuesday 23rd July – Friday 27th September
Term 4 - Tuesday 15th October – Thursday 19th December

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 16th 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 Haize and Lewis who recently commenced at Somerly Primary School.

Tracey Renton
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 1: Kahn and Poppy; Room 2: Zain and Moon; Room 8: Psalm and Beyla; Room 11: Dharshini and Ethan; Room 12: Universe and Ameer; Room 13: Hailey, Joshua and Matilda; Room 14: Kiah and Sophie; Room 15: Madalyn and Sophie; Room 16: Clayton and Alia; Room 18: Bianca, Summer, Alex and Irene; Room 23: Kruze, Braxton and Emily; Music: Temwani, Gwen and Emily; LOTE: Jade, Dylan and Sanaver; Art: Elvis and Ywa Hae Tha.

Stars

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 4 is:-

RESPONSIBILITY;
WHOLE SCHOOL

• We listen actively

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 6206 4200, sending an SMS to 0437 480 486 or emailing somerly.ps@education.wa.edu.au.

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.

Planning for 2019

We are continuing to plan for 2019 and need accurate numbers so we can make up classes and ensure we have enough staff for the beginning of the year.

Please arrange to complete and return the Student Enrolment Survey that was sent home with students last week. Many thanks to all families who have already done so.

Kindy Enrolment for 2019

We now have a very limited number of Kindergarten places available for 2019. As Kindy is non-compulsory, enrolments will be on a first in basis and once places have been filled, we will operate a waiting list.

If you have a child that was born between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015 please come into the front office for an application form.

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.

Please click on the link below to access the Application for Enrolment for Kindergarten in 2019.

‘EGGsITING NEWS!!

We are very excited to announce the upcoming launch of Reading Eggs, a world renowned web-based learning programme for reading.

Your child will soon be able to access hundreds of fun lessons, activities and almost 2000 eBooks from any computer or tablet device.

ABC Reading Eggs will be an integral part of our reading programme and offers your child a wonderful opportunity to engage in rich games, activities and reading at home.

Your child will take a placement test at school (to start them at an appropriate level) and will have a lesson in how to use the site, before being assigned a User Name and Password.

Reading Eggs is a great investment for our community and we can’t wait to enable your child to begin an exciting reading journey.

Please look out for further information throughout the term as we will have a parent information session.

We value your support in this fantastic opportunity for your child.

Learning Focus

Numeracy

The children in Pre-Primary have been participating in building and describing a repeating pattern. They enjoyed making bead necklaces, sponge painting, using pattern blocks and using different materials to make their patterns.

Students have learnt how some patterns repeat and how to describe them. Most students are able to explain what comes next in a pattern and how they know.

At home, you can explore and have fun with patterns with your child using sequences of different sounds or actions, such as: clap, clap, stamp, stamp, clap, clap, stamp, stamp. Ask your child to continue the pattern and describe it in words. You could also encourage your child to create their own sound or action patterns. Throughout the day, try looking for natural opportunities for pattern play; being 'Pattern Detectives' and looking for patterns in the environment (e.g. stripes on a shirt) or noticing the repeating elements of songs.

With older students, we start to use numbers to create patterns, including skip counting by multiple of numbers e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8.... When introducing these with children, it is important that they can represent them with objects as well (for multiples of two, shoes can work well). Some good questions to ask are: "Do you see a pattern? Can you describe it?", "What comes next? Could you make this pattern with these different materials?" and "Can you continue this pattern and make it longer?"

We know that the Pre-Primary children have definitely enjoyed patterning and we hope you do too!

ICT

Seesaw App

This term, students are focusing on learning how to share appropriately in a safe online environment in accordance with the Western Australian Curriculum for Digital Technologies. Teachers across the school have been teaching students what is appropriate to post, how to use kind words and about cyber safety and bullying. Classrooms have been using the Seesaw app to share their work with parents and other students. Please see your classroom teacher for more information.

Book Creator

One app which can be used across all learning areas and year levels is Book Creator. Students in Year 2 have been using the application to create reports about Sea Creatures, changing the background, inserting text and pictures and much more. The Year 5/6’s are currently using the application to create fiction and non-fiction texts for a specific target audience.

ICT Skills

Teachers are working hard to support our students in learning how to navigate through computer programs (Word, PowerPoint, Publisher), safe searching online, referencing and acknowledging copy right issues as well a learning how to touch type. You can support your child at home by talking through safe searching online and helping them practice creating documents.

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 as soon as possible.

We also have a selection of children’s reading glasses in our school office lost property. If your child had misplaced their glasses, please call into the office to check if any belong to them.

P & C

Community Notices

VacSwim

With swimming pools and beaches a big part of the Western Australian lifestyle, ensuring your children can swim competently and safely is essential.

You can now enrol your children in VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays. VacSwim programs are held at pools and beaches all across Western Australia. No matter where you are planning to spend these summer holidays, your children can take part in VacSwim.

VacSwim is for all children – from beginners through to advanced survival, rescue and resuscitation. Your children can start as young as five years old.

Enrol your children in VacSwim now at education.wa.edu.au/swimming.

Text for school Apps

Enrol your children now in VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays.

Find a location near you at education.wa.edu.au/swimming.

Text for social media sites

Pools and beaches are part of the Western Australian lifestyle, and we need to make sure our children are safe in the water.

Enrol your children now in VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays.

To enrol visit education.wa.edu.au/swimming.