28 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Classes for 2019

Staff have recently completed the process of creating class lists for 2019. When creating classes, some of the factors that are taken into account include male to female ratio, individual learning styles and learning requirements and student compatibility/friendship groups.

In order to reduce any anxiety for students in regards to their class for 2019, all lists will be placed on the library windows on Wednesday 12th December. Although the lists may change slightly it is hoped that students will be more relaxed returning to school already knowing who will be in their class and having met their teacher.

After lunch on December 12th, all students will spend 45 minutes with their 2019 teacher and classmates. Students not returning to Somerly in 2019 will participate in team game activities.

Nominations for members of the school council

We are calling for nominations for additional members of the School Board. The School Board plays an important role in ensuring the schools governance, in order that resources are correctly used and that community expectations are addressed and the schools priorities reflect the needs of all students. Should you wish to be a member of the School Board, please contact the school via email on Somerly.ps@education.wa.edu.au or 6206 4200. Nominations are due to the Administration Office by Friday 7th December 2018.

Events:

Friday 7th December

• Book Award Assembly at 9:00

Monday 10th December

• Graduation Excursion

Wednesday 12th December

• Year 6 Graduation at 9:00
• Class lists displayed on library windows
• Transition afternoon

Thursday 13th December

• Last day of school
• Christmas concert at 9.00 and students can dress in Christmas themed clothes.

Principal’s lunch

Congratulations to all the students who attended the Principal’s lunch last Thursday.

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, all lost property not claimed by Friday 7th December will be donated accordingly. The lost property bin is placed outside of the medical room at the rear of the Administration building.

Children’s Crossing

Our children’s crossing is designed to contribute to the safe travel of students to and from school and its proper use is vital to achieving the safety benefits for the children and any accompanying adults. In addition, the correct and proper use of a children’s crossing by children will assist them in learning how to cross roads safely. I have received notification that very few students are using the children’s crossing on Connolly Drive. If numbers don’t increase we will be at risk of losing the crossing.  As a matter of safety please encourage your child to utilise the crossing when walking across Connolly Drive.

New students

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Tyrese who recently commenced at Somerly Primary School.

Tracey Renton
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 3: Abriana and Brighton; Room 9: Ashton, Bree, Curtis, Sebastian and Eve; Room 10: Ella-Rose and Srinesh; Room 11: Chloe and Moksh; Room 12: Ebony and Ethan; Room 13: Dalia, Mikayla, Samara and Taryq; Room 14: Maaria and Shayla; Room 15: Emily, Ivy and Sophie; Room 17: Aisha, Felix, Lisa and Dean; Room 18: Dziah, Natalya, Sam and Sarah; PE: Ashlee and Room 15; MUSIC: Dziah, Geoffrey and Heath; ART: Eve and Sebastian.

Stars

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 8 is:-

RESPECT
WHOLE SCHOOL;

• We use kind words.
• We speak to each other in a manner we wish to be spoken to.

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.

Learning Focus

LOTE Term 4

The students in all year levels have been busy learning all aspects of the Italian language. The Year 3’s have continued to use adjectives on the topic of Going to the Beach (Andare al Mare) and it has been very pleasing to see some students continually trying to improve in all areas. Ottimo Year 3!

The Year 4’s have been increasing their vocabulary, have worked cooperatively with partners and are beginning to learn more about the Italian culture. Bravi ragazzi!

The Year 5/6’s have further extended their knowledge of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Italian by using ICT to write their own role-play! Magnifico ragazzi!

I would like to wish all families un Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) and hope you have a safe holiday.

Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress

As mentioned in the last newsletter the launch of our Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress program has commenced. All students from Kindy to Year 6 have completed a placement test and been introduced to the Reading Eggs program. Parents should have received a letter home with the student log in details on it, please see your classroom teacher if you have not received it.

This program is a researched based, highly motivational online reading program that links to the Somerly PS reading focus of phonemic awareness, phonics, concepts of print, comprehension, vocabulary, repetition and fluency. After completing the ‘Placement Test’ each student is placed on a lesson that matches their reading ability. Students have access to a series of lessons, games and activities where they earn ‘Golden Eggs’. It also includes activities for sight words, content words and spelling. Teachers are able to set reading books and assignments for individual students. They can monitor the activities, reading genre and time spent on the program for every student. This program comes at no cost to our families and will become the main focus of our home reading program from this week and moving into next year.

Every Monday at our Communication Assembly we will be presenting certificates to ‘Eggceptional Readers’ throughout the school who have shown dedication, improvements and application to the Reading Eggs Program.

Our Winners from week 8 were awarded for their dedication to the Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress program.

Elvis, Madalyn, Osama, Natalya, Margaux, Riley, Julia and Kyiah.

How can I Help?

Learning how to read and comprehend a variety of texts is the single most important precursor to success in school. Parental Involvement in the program will help students to gain higher levels of achievement over a sustained period of time. You can help by spending time with your child whilst on the program, particularly when they are reading the texts and completing the quizzes.

We will hold further parent information sessions at the beginning of next year. Until these sessions, we encourage you to log in over the last weeks of school and throughout the school holidays. This will enable you to spend some time with your child/ren familiarising yourself and them with everything the program has to offer.

Please see Parent Brochure attached for more information.

Reporting To Parents - Electronic Report Delivery Semester Two 2018

A reminder to parents that in Week 9 you will receive your child 's Semester Two report via email. It is important to note that the link to the report only remains active for 4 weeks. This means to keep a copy of the report you are required to download and save a copy ASAP after receiving it.

In Western Australia, student achievement in the learning areas taught, are reported on a five point scale for all years from Pre-primary to Year 10. Teachers use the Achievement Standards from the West Australian Curriculum to assess and make judgements on your child's achievement and progress. Teachers will also include information about your child's attitude, behaviour and effort and will include relevant comments outlining achievement and areas for improvement.

The Achievement Standards utilised by teachers from the West Australian Curriculum, outline the expected achievement for students for that year of schooling. If your child receives a 'C Grade or Satisfactory' allocation, according to the West Australian Curriculum they are achieving where they are expected for that year level of schooling.

English as an Additional Language or Dialect

Students who speak English as an additional language or dialect will also receive and EAL/D report. This includes students who speak a language other than Standard Australian English as their first language. Teachers recognise that EAL/D students learning Standard Australian English require on-going explicit language support over time in different contexts. They utilise the Progress Maps as an assessment tool to monitor progress and to make judgement on listening, speaking, reading/viewing and writing across 8 levels. The development of Standard Australian English acquisition is outlined across the 8 levels, from beginning, to emerging, to developing and finally consolidating.

To ensure you receive your child's report it is imperative that your email address held with the school is correct. If there have been any changes to your email/email addresses please contact the front office ASAP.

If you have any queries please contact me on 6206 4200.

Zoe Stenhouse
Deputy Principal

Christmas Appeal

Thank you to all the families for their generous donations for this year’s Lord Mayor’s Christmas Appeal. All of the donated items will be greatly appreciated by those who are in need.

P & C