8 April 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Appointments

Deputy Principal

It is with great pleasure that I announce that our Deputy Principal, Louise Carroll has been appointed permanently as Deputy Principal at Somerly Primary School. Louise has done a great job in her 12 months at Somerly Primary School and I know she is very excited to be able to serve as one of our leaders for years to come.

Principal

My tenure at Somerly Primary School has come to an end and I will be unable to continue next term due to personal reasons. I thank the staff, students and community for making my short time at Somerly Primary School a rewarding one. The staff have done a great job negotiating a few ‘curve balls’ that have been thrown at us this term such as the school flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic. At all times they have put the students’ needs first and I am very grateful for their commitment. I have also enjoyed getting to know the students at recess and lunch and having my before and after school chats with parents and I am thankful for the kindness everyone has shown me.

Our current Deputy Principal, Zoe Stenhouse has been appointed Acting Principal for Term 2 and she is excited about the prospect of leading the school. Congratulations Zoe. Zoe has several years’ experience as a leader and has an intimate knowledge of Somerly Primary School. I extend my best wishes to her and all our staff for the upcoming term.

Somerly Primary School has made good progress over the past 12 months and I am certain that when we all emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic our school will bounce back to normal as quickly as possible.

Paul Eaglestone
Principal

Stars

School Holidays

School will be closed for the regular holiday period from Friday 10th April (Good Friday) to Monday 27th April. At this stage school will recommence on Tuesday 28th April – more information will be provided once we are advised further from the Government and Department of Education.

Somerly Primary School Connected Learning

Students connected to their schools. Teachers connected to their students. Schools connected to their communities.

This is very important to us at Somerly Primary School, staying connected during this time of crisis. We have made significant developments in our Connected Learning Program as you would have seen earlier this week, as we know that our students’ education is important. Thanks to the amazing work of our dedicated staff, we have developed a consistent, targeted online platform for learning to occur. Last week staff participated in professional learning to establish this platform with further collaboration, professional learning and curriculum discussions taking place this week.

Although we have begun the implementation process to outline what education will look like throughout these uncertain times, our first and most important priority in this time of crisis is ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, families, community members and staff. Students are dealing with a substantial amount of change in their lives which could range from lack of social connection, to lack of routine and cancelled events all of which can cause stress, anxiety and disappointment. Parents and families within our community may also be experiencing stress and anxiety for a varying number of reasons. For learning to occur we need to be supportive, continue to maintain relationships and not put pressure on our children, ourselves or each other.

So what does this mean for you and your child/ren?

In these early days our focus is purely on connection and engagement. Connection through phone and through the Online Learning Program. We have set our first week of activities so they can be accessed at any point over the three-week holiday period. Staff will be in contact over the coming days and weeks, to find out how you are going. This is an opportunity to ask for help with anything you need and not just from an educational perspective and connecting to the platform.

We acknowledge that parents and carers will not be able to spend their entire day educating their child/ren. We will try to balance activities that require adult supervision with ones that are student independently driven. What this looks like and when these can be done in every household will be different and dependent on the number of children and their abilities.

We know your child may have difficulties with motivation and completing set tasks. In these early days, focus on them engaging with the platform and their teacher to reconnect their relationships. As time progresses we aim to be flexible and will still try to provide differentiated learning. This will be an evolving process and one based on feedback from you and your child/ren at given opportunities. Please allow them time to adjust and look after their health and wellbeing as a priority. Talking, meaningful play, connecting to nature, cooking, doing hobbies, playing with siblings are all valuable learning opportunities.

What do we ask of you?

Be Respectful – These are stressful times for the whole school community including our staff. There is no rule book for this and staff are experiencing significant new learning experiences themselves as well as a possible array of personal issues. Be kind to each other and our staff. Be respectful of their mental health in respect to responding online over weekends and the upcoming school holidays.

Be Responsible – Please take the time to give constructive feedback when called upon as we navigate this new form of education. Help to establish a routine that suits the needs of your families.

Be Safe - Please contact us for help via Seesaw, email or phone if we can support you in any way. Set good practices around online screen time and safety and take regular breaks.

We acknowledge this process will be an evolving one that requires flexibility and constant communication, while we try to balance the various situations and needs that arise. We thank you for your support and will try to be clear and consistent with our expectations and messages over the coming months.

Zoe Stenhouse
Deputy Principal

Cyber Safety

Recent developments with the COVID-19 crisis has required an increase demand of students and parents using the internet for school and work purposes. Last year the school ran a Cyber Safety Workshop where we were provided with valuable information through the WA Child Safety Service.

Please click on the link below to read some important safety information for Parents and Carers online during this time.

The Arts

Hi Everyone!

We have missed many of our small people over the last few weeks, but we are sending lots of positive energy and warm wishes to our wonderful Somerly families! Miss Olsen and I are excited to be moving on to Seesaw for connected learning and to see what musical and artistic creations you can come up with! The last few weeks we have been enjoying connecting through community songs and creating artwork that lifts our spirits and brightens up people's lives. Have you noticed any rainbows or teddies in your neighbourhood? I have! Across the world, people are creating rainbow chalk art on their properties or putting teddy bears in their windows as symbols of hope and peace. Communities are also enjoying bonding through music and singing songs together at a social distance.

Thank you for brightening up our lives this term, we look forward to sharing many more creative activities next term. If you love Art and Music and want some extra ideas in the holidays, you will find optional, fun activity ideas in our respective folders in Seesaw.

Big smiles, rainbows and happy tunes!

Miss Bartley

Harmony Day Video

Winners!

We are delighted to announce two of our students won the Outer North NAIDOC Celebration Logo Competition.

Students from years 4–6 designed a logo for the 2020 local NAIDOC celebration. All entries were submitted to the Outer North NAIDOC Celebration Committee, they conducted a 3-stage elimination process to determine the winners. It was decided to combine two designs to create the logo for the event. Committee members acknowledged all entry submissions and stated, “we truly have some amazing talent at Somerly Primary School.”

Our two winners Chantel and Naman, both received a $50 voucher and will be acknowledged by the Outer North Celebration Committee once a date is confirmed for the local NAIDOC 2020 event.

Chaplain’s Corner

Good day everyone,

It truly has been a whirlwind week so far and it seems that it is not going to slow down very soon. For us as parents, it might be difficult to adjust with having the students at home all the time and to try to motivate them to do some school work at home. I have had my first week of home schooling my children as well and what I have learned, very early on, is that I am many things BUT I am not a teacher!!!!

Dealing with all of these changes could be really difficult and then it is easy to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. In order to prevent this from happening, I found this awesome resource that I would like to share with you.

Sometimes it might not feel that we are able to cope with all the changes that are happening so quickly and that is OK too BUT it is good to talk to someone about our feelings. By phoning a friend or a helpline or someone that you trust, it will give us the opportunity to let go of all our anxiety, insecurities and worries.

If you would prefer to talk to someone that is not a close friend or relative, a few options might be the following:

• Beyond Blue Tel. 1300 22 4636 , Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak
• Emerging Minds Tel. (08) 367 0888, Supporting Children during the Coronavirus outbreak
• Helping Minds Tel. (08) 9427 7100 , Counselling and support for family and friends
• Kids Helpline Tel. 1800 55 1800, Private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.

The up-side of being home with our children is that we can use this time with our children to form stronger family bonds. We can focus on having some fun with our kids again and laugh about silly things. Every dark cloud has a silver lining; we just have to decide if we are going to focus on the silver lining or the dark cloud!

Stay safe, stay connected, and remember that I am always ready to help in any way I can. I will be at the school every Tuesday and Friday in Term 2. If there is any way I can support your child/children, or yourself during this uncertain time – please feel free to give me a call on (08) 6206 4200.

Have a blessed Easter and a wonderful break with your family!

Kind regards,
Marilize Basson

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