20 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Back to School

The first few weeks back of term have been a really special time for staff and students. It has been so lovely to have the students back at school, so full of energy and positivity, with classes slowly getting back to business as usual. Week one we had approximately 60% attendance and this has steadily built up to 88% by the end of week three.

Another positive to come out of our return to school has been the increased use of technology. This has included the running of our communication assemblies and fortnightly school assemblies through an online platform. Our first online school assembly included the National Anthem, school song, class item, merit certificates, community song and the inevitable technological hiccups! It has been an amazing learning opportunity for all and the online assemblies will continue for the near future.

As stated in my previous letter, the State Government announced that as of this week, Monday 18th May 2020, all students are expected to attend school, except those students medically referred to learn from home.

I would like to reassure all parents that a continued focus will be the ongoing development of good hygiene habits and the limiting of physical contact. I will also take this opportunity to sincerely thank our amazing cleaning staff who have been doing, and will be continuing to do an outstanding job in making our school an extra safe place to be. In support of ensuring social distancing between adults we continue to ask that parents of students in Year 2 – 6 do not enter the school grounds and that Kindy to Year 1 parents only enter the school grounds for drop off and pick up. Thank you for your support with this - the staff and I have really enjoyed all the friendly chats with parents at the gates.

Building on Strength in Uncertain Times

Building On Strength in Uncertain Times is a video narrated by the Department’s Elders in Residence and senior Aboriginal staff. It provides messages that are relevant to all school communities and highlight the 2020 National Reconciliation Week theme In This Together which resonates at this time, as it reminds us whether in a crisis or in reconciliation, we are all “in this together”. You can view the video here.

COVID-19 Education Assistance Package from NBN

NBN is providing funding to assist phone and internet providers to support low-income family households with school-aged children, who do not currently have an active NBN connection at home. This funding will help phone and internet providers create more affordable offers to connect eligible families during Term 2.

If parents and carers want to take advantage of these offers, they can contact internet providers and ask for special COVID-19 deals. The participating provider will help determine if parents and carers are eligible for assistance. It is important they read the terms and conditions of the offers carefully.

Staffing

Congratulations to Mrs Lisa Hobson who has taken over teaching in Year 1 Room 15. Mrs Hobson has replaced Mrs Melinda Gane whilst she is on maternity leave.

We wish Mrs and Mr Gane all the best for the arrival of their new family member and we look forward to having another addition to the Somerly family.

We also welcome Mrs Kelsey Parker who will be replacing Mrs Lisette Carstens this Semester in Pre-Primary Science.

School Development Day

The Director General of Education has advised all public schools that they are entitled to an additional School Development Day (SDD) following the allocation of the one granted for COVID Response Planning Day at the start of this term. Somerly PS had not allocated this day as a School Development Day, so we were very pleased to be able to use this opportunity for staff development in the preparation for the return of students to school in varying formats.

The additional School Development Day or Pupil Free Day will be held on our originally planned day, Friday 29th May at the end of week 5. For families this will extend the Western Australia Day long weekend to four days providing opportunity to take advantage of the opening up of regional travel restrictions for a little extended break.

As with all School Development Days this is pupil free and parents/carers will need to provide supervision for their children.

P&C Update

On Monday 11th May our new P&C held their first official meeting of the year. It was fantastic to have such a promising showing of members, new and old. I am confident, excited and very much looking forward to working with the P&C to help support the school community.

The 22nd May 2020 is P&C DAY WA and is the one day a year dedicated to celebrating all the contributions P&C’s make to school communities. The members of the P&C past and present have played a major role in providing opportunities for community engagement and raising funds to provide additional resources for the benefit of our students. Some of the major projects funded by the P&C include the junior playground and shade sail and the interschool sporting uniforms. They have also run the vitally important Breakfast Club, contributed towards Year 6 camp to assist in lowering costs for our families, run the Mother’s Day stalls, Father’s Day raffles, Easter raffles and school discos. I would like to thank everyone involved past and present and recognise you for all the time, love and effort.

The P&C is still looking for new members and it is a great opportunity to meet new people. The next meeting will be held on Monday 8th June 2020 at 9am in the staff room.

Tell Them From Me Parent Survey

Thank you to all the families who completed the ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey at the beginning of the year. The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey is based on a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of parents' perceptions of their children's experiences at home and school. Successful schools foster greater communication with parents, encourage parental involvement in their child's schoolwork, and enlist parents to volunteer at the school and participate in school governance. The survey also provides feedback to schools about the extent to which parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment. The feedback provided to us through these surveys is analysed and used to improve outcomes for students. After feedback from last year we were successfully able to implement the half day closure for Parent/Teacher Feedback meetings. This meeting was a great success and as a result two subsequent half day closures were made for this year. Unfortunately, our first meeting was unable to go ahead due to COVID-19 restrictions. We were also able to streamline our use of Seesaw as a communication tool for parents.

This year we will continue to develop these areas and staff will critically analyse the information provided at the upcoming school development day to plan for future improvements.

WA DAY Monday 1st June 2020

Just a reminder to all our families that WA Day is on Monday 1st June, following our school development, pupil free day on Friday 29th May. WA Day is held on the first Monday in June each year and is a holiday for all people in Western Australia. WA day commemorates the founding of the Swan River Colony which was settled as a free colony unlike other parts of Australia. The name WA Day was changed from Foundation Day to recognise the much longer history of the Aboriginal people on the land.

I hope you enjoy your long weekend and take some time to enjoy the beautiful state we live in.

New Students

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Charlie, Willow and Inuka who recently commenced at Somerly Primary School.

Zoe Stenhouse
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 2: Liam and Ollie; Room 3: Tyler and Jedd; Room 7: Temwani, Shafayet and Chloe; Room 8: Memphis and Shayla; Room 9: Liam and Kaylee; Room 10: Taj and Drishya; Room 13: Gwen, Amber and Drake; Room 14: Ruby and Aaron; Room 15: Alysha and Amie; Room 16: Tien and Noah; Room 17: Sophie and Chiara; Room 18: Aiden and Allii; Room 20: Imogen and Koby; Room 23: Maahipal and Vladimir.

Stars

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 4 is:-

CLASSROOM

RESPECT

• We obtain permission to use other people’s equipment
• We treat other people’s equipment with respect
• We respect other people’s opinions, ideas and that everyone learns differently

SOCIAL SKILLS

• Active listening
• Using manners

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.

Uniforms

With the mornings now being very chilly, we are encouraging all students to wear their school jacket or jumper to school as only Somerly Primary School jackets or plain black jumpers/jackets are acceptable. The school jacket can be purchased from Uniform Concepts Nell Gray, 1 Sarasota Pass, Ocean Keys, Clarkson. Please ensure jackets are labelled with your child’s name to avoid them being placed in lost property.

Kindergarten Enrolments 2021

We are now taking Kindergarten applications for 2021. If you have a child that was born between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017 please come into the front office for an application form or visit our website.

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 History Statement (Refer to paragraph below) and proof of address.

Kindergarten children must be up to date with all scheduled immunisations for their age to be able to enrol.

To enrol in kindergarten, a child must have one of the following documents:

• an Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) Immunisation History Statement, no more than two months old with a status of 'up to date’
• an AIR Immunisation History Form, no more than six months old, if the child is on a catch up schedule
• a valid immunisation certificate issued or declared by the Chief Health Officer.

If a child does not have an up to date Immunisation History Statement, exemptions because of particular family circumstances may apply. These exemptions are determined by the principal.

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

Please click on the link below to access the Application for Enrolment for Kindergarten in 2021.

Learning Focus

Art

Hi everyone,

A warm thank you to students and parents for jumping on board with Seesaw or using home booklets to complete some beautiful artwork at home. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the range of visual and verbal Art responses coming through digitally. It has been delightful to have a little insight into where and how you like to create at home. You've sent me LEGO sculptures, flashing digital art, assembled mixed-media mandalas, painting, collage, recycled craft and more! Each piece of work coming through gave me a big smile. In our gallery here I have shared some of the beautiful, mindful Mandalas.

I will now be using Seesaw periodically to provide optional extension activities and information about focus vocabulary in Art. It is so valuable for our students to be able to use key words in everyday experiences outside of school.

Did you create your own Driveway Dawn Service or wreath for ANZAC Day? Some of our Year 6s made reflective Art responses for ANZAC Day. We used expressive colours to create vibrant patterned work to show appreciation for our ANZACs and hope for a peaceful future.

Autumn colours have finally arrived! Surely it is an Art teacher’s dream season?! Everywhere I look, beauty abounds. In the golden light pouring through amber and lemon leaves, the wide blue sky with scooting white clouds, and the joyful faces of dogs racing around the oval!

If you feel inspired to share a free form poem (no rules- just expressing your feelings and observations without needing to create rhyme or rhythm), or some special Autumn photography, I’ll share a Seesaw activity link next week that you can respond to. Parent/carer contributions are VERY welcome - we have many creative families out there! I will choose some to publish in future newsletters, so please send through items that you are happy to share with the whole school community.

Best wishes (and burgundy leaves!)
Miss Bartley

Chaplain’s Corner

Good day parents and caregivers,

How wonderful it is to see all the students back at school!!! It is really heart-warming to see all their smiles and happy faces!

Even though we are slowly getting back to normal, it is still a new “normal” our children have to get used to. This is still a form of change our children have to deal with and this can make them feel worried or anxious sometimes. Worrying itself is a normal emotion. We all worry sometimes. However, when those worries grow or don’t go away, it can be a real issue for kids.

Anxiety and worries don’t always even appear as worries. This is a common misconception about anxiety that can be confusing.

Sometimes, children might exhibit defiant behaviour, aggression, a lack of focus or stomach-aches and pains. Other times, students might try to control situations or have extremely high expectations for themselves with their school work. When challenging behaviours occur, it’s helpful to consider what emotions are actually behind them. I have found a wonderful visual online on the Pathway 2 Success website that could be useful to us as parents to identify possible anxiety in our children. Note that the visual below isn’t intended to diagnose anyone, just to show that feelings of worry and anxiety can manifest themselves in many different ways.

In our next newsletter, we will have a look a few coping strategies that might be helpful to help us manage our tough emotions on the spot.

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. If there’s any way I can support your child/children or yourself, please feel free to give me a call on (08) 6206 4200.

Have a great week!

Kind regards,
Marilize Basson

P & C