12 August 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

As a new member of this school I have felt incredibly welcomed and comforted by the knowledge that the Somerly Primary School team is very focused on seeing the children as individuals and strive to support each child to be the best they can be. I sometimes say on student free days that, without the children, it is as though the school has lost its soul. The children are why we are here and why we love what we do.

Last week I attended a P&C meeting. The group participated in a WACSSO P&C training session and then had their general meeting. I would like to thank and acknowledge Safiyyah Khan (Vice Chair), all of the Executive Committee and general members who attended. Tony Osborne from WACSSO attended the meeting and Richard Brand met with us on Zoom to deliver the training. Some fundraising ideas were planned, including a coffee van for Sports Day, a disco for next term and a Father’s Day stall at the beginning of September. The P&C members also volunteer to run Breakfast Club and a sausage sizzle every Wednesday lunchtime. Please come along to the next meeting if you would like to help out. The Somerly Primary School current students and future students benefit from their work.

This week Somerly Primary School is celebrating NAIDOC. We had a beautiful assembly on Monday morning run by our Aboriginal students. They proudly spoke in Noongar and English. All classes are planting a bush tucker plant this week. Our Aboriginal students’ parents, carers and families had a breakfast with staff this morning. Over the year the choir students have learnt 'Wandjoo' - a welcome song in Noongar by Gina Williams. The students have also learnt about Aboriginal artists, the Noongar seasons and other cross cultural history and learning. I would like to thank Miss Hamand, Ms McLevie, Ms Ixer, Mrs Carroll, Miss Olsen, Miss Bartley and the Somerly Aboriginal students and choir that were a part of the assembly.

Western Australia continues to be in Phase 4 of the WA COVID-19 roadmap. We are so grateful for your support in helping us to manage the restrictions that are in place to help us to keep safe and so that your children can happily come to school. It is so important that if your child is well, that they come to school every day. The Department of Education is monitoring who is attending.

Somerly Primary School Attendance: Mid last term, attendance at school became compulsory again for PP to Year 12 students unless there was a medical certificate. Kindergarten attendance is very important as it sets patterns for pre-primary onwards. Looking at the attendance data for this term, Somerly Primary School is at 91.8% average attendance. It is important for parents to let the school know the reason your child is absent. Please use text, Seesaw message to teachers, phone the office, pop in, or send a note with your child on their return. A text message goes out each day for unexplained absences. If you reply to this, your reason is then recorded as an explained absence for the Education Department. Easy, quick and one less thing for busy parents/carers to remember to do.

2021 Enrolments

To assist our planning for 2021 would you please let the school office know if your child/ren will not be attending Somerly Primary School next year.

Government Maintenance Blitz

Somerly Primary School received $25,000 as part of the McGowan government’s $200 million School Maintenance Blitz. We are so pleased that Somerly Primary School can now install a shade structure over the Upper Primary playground. Our local member Mark Folkard MLA visited the school. These kinds of projects that also help generate jobs for local tradespeople.

New students

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

Felicity Dear AM
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 2: Sophia and Locklyn; Room 4: Myla and Chase; Room 7: Jacinta, Michael and Oscar; Room 8: Thomas and Patrick; Room 9: Naman and Faiz; Room 10: Chanda and Arhum; Room 11: Kingslee and Bridie; Room 12: Nadia and Louisa; Room 13: Ava and Jamaine; Room 14: Shehbaz and Lydia; Room 15: William and Ava; Room 16: Vanessa and Tyler; Room 17: Taleeya and Kevin; Room 18: Isaac and Alliyah; Room 20: Mason and Thiana; Room 23: Lily and Eva; LOTE: Wendel and Class 10; Art: Michael – Room 7 and Daniel – Room 20.

Stars

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 4 is:-

PLAY AREAS

RESPONSIBILITY

• We agree to follow the rules before starting
• We share and look after equipment
• We are thoughtful of others who might like to play
• We listen to others and talk calmly if someone gets hurt

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.

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 Kindergarten 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.

Science Week

Next week we will be celebrating National Science Week with a science display in the library and various fun science competitions. The competitions will run from Monday, 17th August to Thursday, 20th August. The winners will be announced on Friday during the assembly. We have a range of prizes up for grabs such as Lego, craft kits, puzzles and stickers. Our grand prize is a family pass (2 adults and 2 children) to Scitech.

We thank Scitech for their generous donation and supporting Somerly Primary School.

Parents are welcome to come and see the science display in the library. The library display will be from 8.30am-8.45am, and 2.45-3.00pm Wed 12th-Fri 14th, and Tues 18th- Fri 21st. Families will be welcomed in restricted numbers of 10 at a time. Please sanitise hands on entry and adhere to social distancing guidelines, keeping 2m from other families.

Kind regards
Charlynne Reyneke
Year 2 Teacher

NAIDOC & Science Week: Balarinji art & connections to the ‘Deep Blue..”

Parents and carers are welcome to visit the library display from 8.30am-8.45am, and 2.45-3.00pm Wed 12th-Fri 14th, and Tues 18th- Fri 21st next week. Families will be welcomed in restricted numbers of 10 at a time. Please sanitise hands on entry and adhere to social distancing guidelines, keeping 2m from other families. We would love it if you could take a moment to complete one of the small student appreciation notes while you are there, and leave it in the box provided.

This year we explored the connection between the Science week theme of ‘Deep Blue: Innovation for the future of our oceans” and NAIDOC 2020 theme of ‘Always was, Always will be”.

Our main artist study was around the collaborative book ‘Colouring Country’ by Ros Moriarty and Balarinji. Balarinji is a leading Australian design company, established by John and Ros Moriarty in 1983. Balarinji has received commissions from government, corporate and celebrity clients across the globe. Balarinji is part of the Indigenous art and communications company, Jumbana Group. Jumbana was the Aboriginal name given to John Moriarty at birth into the Yanyuwa community at Borroloola in the Northern Territory.

Spirit behind Balarinji designs

Inspiration for the founding of Balarinji Design followed the birth of the Moriarty’s first child, Tim. In 1983, John drew turtle designs and Ros printed them on Tim’s doona cover. From this initial collaboration came Balarinji, which is also Tim’s skin name from the Yanyuwa people.

Sacred water

Our art appreciates and responds to Balarinji’s striking compositions, with a particular focus on water: lagoons, watering holes, lakes, rivers, storms, rain, the ocean, and the birds and animals that inhabit these areas. We have also designed recycled vessels and underwater clay creatures, and painted underwater scenes.

We hope you enjoy our collaborative Art & Science Project!  Thank you to everyone who contributed to the displays.

Miss Bartley & the young Somerly artists/scientists! 

Background Information and photos:

Book Week 2020

This year, we will be celebrating Book Week during the week beginning the 24th August, with the theme - Curious Creatures, Wild Minds.

The following key dates have been scheduled:

• Book Fair – held in the Library from Tuesday 25th until Friday 28th August inclusive
• Book Fair Theme Dress Up Day – Friday 16th August, linked to the themes of ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’. We will host a parade from 2pm however due to COVID restrictions parents are unable to attend.
• Reading Eggs Challenge – There will be prizes for students who spend the most time reading from Reading Eggs/Reading Eggspress in the week leading up to Book Week - more information to come!
• Grandparents’ Morning Tea – We are unable to host this popular event due to Phase 4 COVID restrictions. All family members are encouraged to check out our Book Fair before and after school.

Book Fair

We are very excited to announce that we will be holding a Book Fair in the library from Tuesday 25th to Friday 28th August to celebrate Book Week. Children will be able to come to the library to look at some lovely new books and fill out a “wish list” with the title and cost of their favourite book. You may like to buy a book for your child and a percentage of the sales during the week will go towards new books for the library. There will be stationery items and posters for sale, with prices starting from $1, which are always hugely popular. Your children can look at the books before school, after school, at lunch time or at their regular library session time. Keep an eye out for the Book Fair catalogue which shows you some of our favourite titles.

Step Into School – Toddler Reading

Our first two Step into School – Toddler Reading sessions were fantastic but we would love to have more children come along.

Last week, Miss Bernau, one of our fabulous kindy teachers read the story Tickly Octopus. The children then made their own creative Tickly Octopus while practicing their fine motor skills, which is an essential pre-writing skill.

Step into School - Toddler Reading starts 8.45am Wednesday mornings – just follow the footsteps to the library.

The following themes will be coming up:

Week 4 – NAIDOC
Week5 – Science
Week 6 - Book Week
Week7 – Sports / Athletics
Week 8 – Visit from the Dental Nurse
Week9 - Guest Reading Activity
Week 10 – Guest Reading Activity.

Chaplain’s Corner

Good day Parent and Caregivers

It seems that winter has embraced us with its cold and rainy days. Hope you are all keeping warm and dry during these cold and wet days.

I am happy to inform you that our Community Pantry has been restocked and has more variety than ever before, thanks to a lot of donations that we received over the last week. Just to remind you again, the Community Pantry is located in the old uniform shop in the undercover area next to the Canteen.

The Community Pantry will be open Tuesday at 08:00am – 10.00am and then again from 14:00pm – 15:30pm. The same times will apply for the Friday as well. Even though the door might be closed, it will be unlocked. Please, feel free to go in and help yourself to any items you may need.

2020 has been a year like no other. This has also caused some of our students to feel more anxious or struggle with worries more than ever before. During the last few weeks, a few students have come up to me during break to ask if they can have a quick chat. This will normally be with regards to something worrying them or trouble on the playground or friendship issues. To make sure that our students needs are met, I would love to make sure that they are always welcome to come and discuss things that might prevent them from focussing in class – no matter how small or big the problem might be for them. Sometimes just saying the worry out loud might make them feel better already.

At Somerly Primary School, we want to make sure that parents are always aware of services that children might access at school. If there are any parents that would NOT like their children talking to the Chaplain, could you please let the front office know as soon as possible.

As always 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 is 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 (Chaplain)

We are Fundraising with Entertainment!

Please see below details of the latest offers from Entertainment.

Remember 20% of every membership sold goes to support our school.

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*All member offers are subject to terms and conditions. Check individual offers on the Entertainment Membership App or the website below for more information. For all dining offers, it is optional for participating businesses to accept your Entertainment Memberships on all official Australian and New Zealand public holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day. © 2020 Entertainment Publications of Australia Pty Ltd.

P & C