3 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers

OUR SCHOOL VISION IS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN BECOMING STRONG, THOUGHTFUL AND INDEPENDENT INDIVIDUALS WHO ASPIRE TO BE THE BEST THAT THEY CAN BE. OUR ETHOS OFFERS STUDENT CENTERED EDUCATION THAT IS FOCUSSED ON BOTH THE PRESENT AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS OF STUDENTS.

Despite the challenging start, it has been a fantastic beginning to the school year. The staff and students have been working hard to establish routines and expectations to support students in having a successful year.

We encourage parents to continue to assist their child/ren in developing healthy routines for school including regular attendance and strong partnerships with the teacher through regular contact. The school home reading program utilises the Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress platform and we ask that this is another important daily routine you support at home. This year the school has developed a ‘Home Reading Log’ for all students to record their daily reading. Students will be rewarded for reaching different milestones for the number of nights that they have read. Teaching staff will connect you with your Reading Eggs log in information and can support you if you are having any difficulties. We look forward to presenting our first reading rewards soon.

School Board

The School Board had its first successful meeting of the year and participated in training on Monday 22nd February. The School Board was fortunate to welcome on board our newest parent representative, Alaa Abu Jayyab.

The School Board is still seeking another parent representative. School Board members take part in: establishing and reviewing the school’s objectives, priorities, general policy directions and evaluating the school’s performance.

If you are interested in supporting your school through the School Board, please email me. For more information, please see

School councils/boards - Department of Education

P & C Meeting

Thank you to all the parents that attended the first P&C meeting of the year. A big thank you to the P&C who raised money to invest in new furniture for our school Library. The students are loving the new colourful, comfortable library furniture.

The P&C welcomes new members and you can get involved with the P&C in a number of ways, by volunteering in any of the events that occur throughout the year. The cost to join the P&C is $1.

The P&C Annual General Meeting is to be held in the staffroom Monday 22nd March at 6.30pm. The AGM is the same as a general meeting with three special functions

• The election of office bearers and executive members including President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer
• Presentation of the financial report
• President’s report

The P&C requires Office Bearers and Executive Members. Please contact the front office for nomination forms.

Parent/Teacher Meetings

As per previous years, we will hold our Parent/Teacher interviews on Friday 26th March from 12pm to 5pm. This means that on this day, students will finish at 11.45am.

Parent/Teacher interviews were endorsed by our School Board and approved by the North Metro Regional Education Office. Reporting to parents in this way makes up part of our strategy to improve parent communication regarding students’ progress and achievement.

Bookings can be made via the link below.

Bookings will open at 5.00pm on Wednesday 10th March and will close at 5.00pm on Wednesday 24th March.

COVID-19

All school activities have begun to return to normal and as such I would like to remind you that parents are welcome on the school site and in the classroom. I would like to continue to ask for your support with ensuring children do not use playgrounds before and after school. As we are still operating under Phase 4 Restrictions, school playgrounds still require ongoing cleaning after every use. This is a big task for cleaners and we would like to limit this to twice per day.

Please remember physical distancing measures still apply and we encourage parents to maintain 1.5 metres between adults, where possible. We also ask you to ensure that good hygiene practices are maintained and to keep students home if they are unwell. Parents/carers and visitors may access school sites and we encourage you to sign in on the SafeWA app.

Second Hand Uniform

Please remember as we head into the colder months that our school uniform, including our sports and polar fleece jackets are available from Uniform Concepts in Clarkson.

If you are clearing your old school uniforms, please note that we always welcome donations of second hand uniform. We use these uniforms to support families in need and for students who may need them for various reasons throughout the school day. Donations can be brought to the front office.

Car Park Safety

The school is aware of the continuing and ongoing concerns being raised regarding the school car park at pick up times.

According to the current Department of Education standard the school contains an adequate percentage of car parking places available according to student enrolment numbers. This does not change the fact that parking is still an ongoing and difficult issue. The school is continuing to investigate different options to improve student and parent safety. In the meantime, the PBS committee will focus on modifying our behaviour matrix to ensure there is a place for explicitly teaching safety after school and in our car parks to our students.

We ask parents to read the attached document to see how you can support safety within our school car parks.

New students

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mareya, Sapphire and Leah who recently commenced at Somerly Primary School.

Zoe Stenhouse
Principal

Merit Certificates

Room 1: Jiya and Jade; Room 2: Hannah and Leon; Room 3: Aarya and Aminah; Room 7: Chayse and Shyla; Room 8: Ava and Lewis; Room 9: Kai and Jessica; Room 10: Dziah and Dani; Room 11: Taleeya and Harrison; Room 12: Tony and Bonnie; Room 13: Ataria and Jordyn; Room 14: Josie and Miah; Room 15: Kai and Summer; Room 16: Chase and Hazel; Room 17: Ethan and Shayla; Room 18: Nathan and Althea; Room 20: Moon and DJ

Behaviour Focus

Our behaviour focus for Week 5 is:-

RESPECT

Play Areas

• We agree on and follow game rules before starting
• We share and look after all 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.

Road Safety

You will note that we have a dedicated crossing area on Connolly Drive for students and their families to use when travelling to and from school.

Connolly Drive is an extremely busy dual carriageway and our students’ safety is of paramount importance. Please take the time to discuss road safety with your children, especially crossing our roads, using the designated traffic wardens who are now available before and after school and keeping to footpaths when arriving at school.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day is an opportunity to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. It is about respect, inclusiveness and a sense of belonging. We will be celebrating Harmony Week in Week 7 and students will take part in activities throughout the week. On Friday 19th March, there will be a Harmony Day Assembly and students are invited to come to school dressed in either cultural/traditional dress or to wear something orange.

Woolworths Discovery Garden Pots

Somerly Primary School is collecting the Woolworths Discovery Garden pots for the school community garden. If you have any vegetable or herb pots you will not be using, could you kindly donate them to the school's community garden. There will be a donation box at the school office and in Room 20.

Thank you in advance for your donations.

From the Science and Waste Wise Committee

NAPLAN 2021

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is held in May each year for all students in Year 3 and Year 5. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar, punctuation) and Numeracy. The results of the tests provide information for students, parents, teachers and principals and can be used to improve student achievement.

Between 11-21 May, our school will be conducting NAPLAN Online. To see the types of questions and interactive features of NAPLAN Online, you can visit the public demonstration site at the link below.

Students with disability may qualify for adjustments that reflect the support normally provided for classroom assessments. You should first discuss the use of any disability adjustments for your child with your child’s teacher. A formal exemption may be granted for a student with disability that severely limits their capacity to participate in the assessment, or for a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-English speaking background.

More information on special provisions or the process required to gain a formal exemption is available on request.

Jodie Brown - NAPLAN Coordinator

P & C