Issue No.10

45 Gawthorne Drive,

Millars Well, Karratha 6714

Upcoming Events

In term Swimming – 24

October to 4 November

KSHS transition – 2,9

November

Welcome to Summer

Disco – 4 November

Library Book Fair – 7, 9

and 11 November

TA 14 Assembly – 10

November at 8.25am

Welcome back from the break and the beginning of Term 4. The last week of Term 3 was an adventure for our Year 6 class, Mrs Arnott, Mr Howden Mrs Botes and myself as we enjoyed the Ningaloo Adventure Camp in Coral Bay. Our students were amazing and had the opportunity to take part in reef snorkelling, sand boarding and team building activities. Mr Howden volunteered his time driving the bus and assisting in all activities. Mrs Botes also supported the camp adventure with her fundraising coordination and parent help. Mrs Peck provided an array of delicious food and drink for everyone for the bus trip to Coral Bay. A great deal of planning and commitment is required for this type of event to be successful and I am sure parents will join me in thanking Mrs Arnott, the fundraising parents and our helpers for making this year’s camp a successful adventure for students.

Events This term we have a few special events happening, with swimming lessons commencing next week on Monday 24

th October. Children in PP – Year 6 take part in these lessons which are

conducted throughout the day at the Karratha Leisureplex.

Our P&C have a School Disco planned for Friday 4th November and on Monday 14

th November

we will take part in the National Diabetes Blue Day where students can dress up for a gold coin donation to Diabetes Australia. .

Community

Newsletter

:

End of year reports Throughout the term our staff will be working towards the completion of end of year reports. These will be sent home on Friday 9

th December. You may like to

arrange a convenient time meet with the teacher to discuss the report later this term.

Transition Year 6 students begin a Transition to High School program this week and attend Karratha Senior High School with their class teacher. The transition program is designed to give a real experience of learning in a secondary setting. The students will attend each Wednesday for 4 weeks and need to make their own way to the school.

Keep your Kids Safe Online What do you need to know? Parents and Children, you’re invited to a discussion about cyber safety at the Karratha Library, Ph. 9186 8660

Class Structure 2017 We are considering class structures for 2017. Our role is to ensure that children are placed in classes that best suit their needs and allow them to develop to their full potential. One of the things that have been a great tradition in the school has been the input that parents have had to this process. If you have a request, please put it in writing and address it to the Principal marked Private and Confidential.

You may also decide to make an appointment or phone me at school on 08 9185 2400

Enrolments 2017 Will you be here next year? If you know that you will be leaving town before the commencement of the new school year (1

st February 2017), or that your

child(ren) won’t be attending Millars Well PS next year, please advise us at the office as soon as possible. Thank you to parents that have already indicated they will be leaving in 2017. This helps with our advance planning for class structure and staffing.

If you know of young families that have not yet enrolled please encourage them to do so as soon as possible.

W eston Jackson

Principal

Civics and Citizenship This week TA 4, 5 and 7 hosted visitors who presented information on Civics, Citizenship and Government. They were able to learn about the upper and lower houses of government and the process in developing laws. This visit added to the information that is covered in class with teachers. On the following page are some TA4 student comments.

Awesome Attendance Congratulations to these students who attended 100% in Term 3. Mariah Acebes, Mikhaela Acebes, Paige Brown, Coen Bryce, Hudsen Bryce, Theresa Budd, Grace Byrne, Ethan Crabbe, Salomon Gathmann, Banin Ghambarie, Johannes Grimme, Sanne Grimme, Legacy Harris, Zac Howden, Tyde Lovell, Brandon Mackinnon, Giovanni Montalvo, Archy O'Brien, Samson O'Brien, Aaliyah Parsons, Trenton Peck, Mitchel Plester, William Pritchard, Waliya Siddiqui, Nikita Smith, Leigh Turner, Tex Vidler and Mikayla Woods. The graph below indicates the attendance of year groups in our school this semester (Term 3 and part of Term 4). The blue indicates the number of children with regular attendance - 90% or more. Our poorest group of regular attendance is in the early years of schooling being Kindy, Pre Primary and Year one. Learning behaviour and attendance patterns are formed early in a child’s life and valuing regular attendance is very important. I hope that as parents you can see this and help improve this current data. Classes are open at 8.10am and our school day starts at 8.20 am. Being in class before 8.20am allows children to review their work for the day, get ready and even begin mental maths or letter writing on their small white boards. These are important opportunities that get them warmed up and prepared for the days learning. They learn to be on time and to be prepared. It is noticeable that Early Childhood classes are still filling up after our school day begins. Congratulations to our Year 6 on their attendance. The yellow group are “indicated at risk”. It is a concern that several year groups have less than half of their year group as regular attendees. This graph is reinforcement that the situation has room for improvement and that the number of young children at risk of low attendance and being late can be reduced.

Please note the following

Students who have their lesson at the beginning of the day (8:30-9:25) please wear their bathers to school.

Upon returning to school, students will need to change back into school uniform. Please supply your child with a plastic bag in which to place their wet bathers and towel.

Children are permitted to wear thongs to and from the pool but MUST have shoes at school.

All children MUST wear a swim vest (rashie) or T-shirt

and have sunscreen on.

Children may bring goggles to wear, however the swimming instructor will decide if goggles must be removed for a particular skill.

Some lessons run during recess or lunch. Where this occurs children will be given a break after swimming to change, eat and drink and have supervised play.

Children not attending swimming will be supervised at school.

It is suggested that children in TA11 and TA13 eat a little more at recess, then after their lesson have another snack. For children in these TA’s that order lunch please order from the cold menu (NOT HOT FOOD).

If your child has asthma and may need their puffer during swimming lessons, please ensure that this is packed with their swimming gear.

Students cannot attend unless payment has been made by Monday morning

Introducing Mrs Brown We would like to congratulate our Manager Corporate Services Tammy Ferris who in the recent holidays married her partner Glendon in a beautiful ceremony in Bali. We would like to introduce to our school community Mrs Tammy Brown

Interesting Facts TA4 Learnt About Government and Making Laws.

Here are some of our government facts:

* There are three levels of government - local government, state government and federal government, and they all have different responsibilities. Michael

*There are two houses in Parliament- the Lower House and the Upper House. Alyssa

*There are 95 politicians in the lower and upper house combined. Piper

*There are three stages in making a law- it must be passed through the lower house, the upper house and then the Governor must sign off on the bill. Josh

*The lower house has a mace made out of gold and the upper house has a black rod. Triana

*Malcolm Turnbull is the Prime Minister of Australia. (Federal Government) Jacob

*The premier of Western Australia is Colin Barnett. (State Government) Hari

*Karratha's mayor is Peter Long. (Local Government) Mackenzie

In Term Swimming In-term swimming will commence this Monday 24

th October

and will finish on Friday 4th of November (Week 3 and Week

4). Payment must be made before students can attend. The lessons will be conducted at the Karratha Leisureplex and there will be five lessons per day, as outlined below.

Lesson 1 (TA10 & TA5) Bus leaves School Lesson times Bus Leaves Pool

8.30 8.45 - 9.25 9.35 Lesson 2 (TA9 & TA4)

9.20 9.35 - 10.15 10.25 Lesson 3 (PP2 & TA14)

10.10 10.25 - 11.05 11.15 Lesson 4 (PP1 & TA7)

11.00 11.25- 12.05 12.15 Lesson 5 (TA11 & TA13)

12.00 12.15-12.55 1.05

Karratha Young Writers Competition On Thursday 15th September, Mrs. Michael and I proudly attended the Karratha Young Writer's Competition Award Ceremony, where six amazing young writers represented Millars Well Primary School for their clever story writing contributions.

Class teachers had identified their top 5 'Olympic-inspired' stories, which were then submitted for judging by the Moderation Panel consisting of one to two teachers from each school involved across Karratha. The Moderation Panel selected the winning entries and these students were then notified by invitation to the Awards Ceremony Afternoon Tea and their writing pieces were displayed for all to see at the Karratha Shopping Centre.

Millars Well Primary School had by far the greatest number of winning contributions and those clever and dedicated writers were rewarded for their effort with some amazing prizes (even a tablet for one lucky winner!!!). Our school's prize-winning writing pieces will be displayed in the front office of our school and I encourage anyone interested to take a look at the quality of writing produced.

Here are our champion writers and their awards:

2nd Place Junior Div: Andrea Smith (TA9) 3rd Place Junior Div: Jorja Eversden (TA9)

Encouragement Award Middle Div: Trey Kittle (TA4) Encouragement Award Senior Div: Hudsen Bryce (TA7) 1st Place Senior Div: Theresa Budd (TA7) 3rd Place Senior Div: Sidney Benson (TA7)

Mrs Arnott

P&C News Welcome to Summer Disco

Tickets will be sold in front of the school on Monday, Thursday, Friday after school and Tuesday, Thursday before school. We would ask parents if possible to please provide correct change and a contact number when they purchase their ticket. The contact number is in case we need it on the night. Thank you and we look forward to a great event.

P&C News cont.

The canteen is holding another $10 credit competition for online canteen users. Register at Ouronlinecanteen to be in the running.

More competitions will be held this term for classrooms and individuals, stay tuned by following FB, noticeboard at canteen or through your teacher.

As our Summer menu is now in creation, we are always chasing new menu ideas in the canteen. If you have any ideas you would like to share, please email them to millarswellcanteen@gmail.com

PP1 have been busy learning all about 'Space'. We love dressing up as astronauts and

Connor - My favourite part was when we got up close with a gigantic reef shark under a ledge on the big boat.

Corby- My favourite part was night games.

Theresa- I liked it when I got to be around all my friends and I got to know a bit more about them.

Ella- I thoroughly admired the gorgeous marine life and the majestic coral.

Lewis- My favourite part was late at night.

Mitchell- The best thing was when we played spotlight in the bush.

Holly- I loved it when we went to watch the graceful whales and majestic dolphins and turtles.

Library News Thanks for your Issue 7 Book Club orders and especially to those parents who ordered via the new LOOP option on the Scholastic website. This certainly makes it easier at this end!

I will host our annual November Book Fair over Week 5 this term. As my work days have changed, I will set up on Monday 7th and items will be available to purchase that afternoon after school. Sales will continue on Wednesday 9th, Friday 11th and also Monday 14th. Flyers will be sent home with students in the week prior with the dates. Purchases can be paid for with cash, cheque or credit card. It is a great opportunity to pick some lovely Christmas presents and support our Library. I am looking forward to seeing your families in the Library for Book Fair.

Robyn Rayson, Library Officer Facts about space This term PP1 students have been busy learning about space. We have been reading informational texts to learn more about what we want to know. We have a lot of space experts in our class.

The blue Planet has lots of storms – Josh R; The Earth goes around the sun. – Joshua C In space you float around. Pluto is a dwarf

planet and Mercury is called the dead planet – Tom; The moon is not a planet and it is not made out of cheese. – Lincoln The sun is not a planet. – Giselle

Ebony- I really enjoyed playing an army version of spotlight on the first night we arrived.

Alex- I enjoyed the part when we gracefully sand boarded down the sand dunes.

Amelia- I thoroughly enjoyed the marine biologist talk about Manta Rays.

Tayla- I really loved going on the boat tours with my crazy friends.

Kasidi- I loved snorkelling because there was beautiful fish down there.

Cayden- I enjoyed myself and loved everything.

Miggy- My favourite part was night games and the Amazing Race.

Hudsen- I enjoyed the glass bottom boat tour.

Jacob-My favourite part was when we got to do night games.

Trenton- Spotlight was the bomb!

Marcus- Drift snorkelling was awesome!

Logan- Nights as cold as Greenland!

Zac- I really liked spotlight.

Paige- I loved seeing the sea creatures.