Primary School 9398 7233 www.wirrabirra.wa.edu.au

Ed Support 9398 1936 www.wirrabirraesc.wa.edu.au

SCHOOL PURPOSE

To provide a learning environment in which students are given the opportunity to develop their

individual potential and to acquire skills, attitudes and knowledge to enable them to become

responsible members of a changing society.

Fri 21 Sep

Last day of term

Celebration of Success Day

Free dress (gold coin donation)

Tues 9 Oct Students commence Term 4

Thurs 11 Oct Faction Sports Carnival

Mon 15 Oct Year 5/6 Dance Lesson

REMINDER: SCHOOL CLOSES EARLY 2.30pm EVERY WEDNESDAY

Newsletter No. 14 20 September 2018

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Dear Parents, Carers and School Community

BRAVO SCHOOL CHOIR AND MR KEADY

On Tuesday evening at the Perth Concert Hall I was joined by my wife and felt very privileged to sit in the Perth Concert Hall and enjoy the performance of not only our fabulous choir but to see them join with nine other school choirs and present ten fantastic songs. As a special treat the Music Specialist from the ten schools, including our own Mr Jack Keady, performed a short selection of songs. There was even audience participation led by the choirs. When you think this is the same stage that has seen such iconic performers as B.B. King, Ray Charles, Melissa Etheridge, Harry Connick Jnr and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, our choir students should be very proud to say “I’ve sung at the Perth Concert Hall”. Congratulations to our students for the way they conducted themselves on such a big occasion and special congratulations to Mr Keady for the long and hard preparation he has done with the students to achieve a very polished performance. The pride the children showed in their performance and the pride Mr Keady showed in his choir could be felt after the event. I for one was so proud of our students and teachers for their efforts that got Wirrabirra to the big stage with the best of the best. Sadly, I need to inform you that Mr Keady will only be with us two days each week next term and will not be continuing in his

role as Music Specialist but will continue in A4 tandem teaching with Miss Oldridge. Mr Keady will be taking up a three-day music position elsewhere with a view to full time music next year. If you had to finish on a high, it doesn’t get much higher than the concert on Tuesday night. Thanks and well done Mr Keady.

EDUCATION SUPPORT CENTRE ASSEMBLY

Congratulations to our ESC students and staff who presented the last assembly which was a multi-sensory, colour spectacular showcasing the circus skills they have been learning this term. I was unable to see the final performance but did see the preparations and to see the skill developed, confidence gained and joy in their achievements that highlights just what fun learning can be and how it occurs in many forms. I’m sure they will build on these skills and confidence throughout their lives and look at circus performers with new respect and understanding.

OPEN NIGHT SPECIAL THANKS

I would like to thank the many families who joined us last night to celebrate the achievements of their children by visiting learning areas and viewing work samples and learning areas. It was lovely to see children leading parents, carers and extended family members on a journey of their learning and to see the keen interest shown for their work.

A special thanks to all teachers who have worked solidly to achieve some outstanding results and outcomes with their students and to create engaging and vibrant learning areas. It is a challenge to meet the needs of all students and I congratulate teachers on the learning they have developed to adjust curriculum learning for all children. A special thanks to Sonya, Leanne, Pennie and Bek from the P&C who provided a coffee break for visitors last night and some great deals in the Clothing Pool. We have a vibrant P&C who will always welcome and encourage parents and carers to join them in supporting our school. They are a terrific bunch and seem to have a lot of fun while working. Our school looked and felt like a positive learning community last night which is a goal we have set ourselves to achieve.

NAPLAN RESULTS

I will be sending home NAPLAN results for students in Years Three and Five today. With the reports is a parent information sheet to assist with interpreting your child’s report. Your child’s teacher will also be able to discuss the report and areas to celebrate and work on with your child. Might I remind you that these are individual assessments and it is not helpful to make comparisons with other children’s results. If your child is in Year Five you may like to compare their progress in the last two years and discuss this with their teacher. Although we haven’t received the full data set I am delighted to inform you that Wirrabirra is within expected levels in all

Wirrabirra School is an ALLERGY FRIENDLY SCHOOL. What does this mean? It means that we will respect the individual needs of students who have identified allergies (with care

plans) to such products as nuts, kiwi fruit, milk and eggs to name a few. In particular, food products that have nuts or are made from nuts should NOT come to school - ie: peanut paste, Nutella and nut bars. Our canteen is “nut free” and “kiwi fruit free” to accommodate

individual students with special needs.

PAGE 2 NEWSLETTER NO. 14

20 SEPTEMBER 2018

Dear Parents/Carers

Our staff and students were thrilled to host the assembly last week. Thank you to all parents who came to support us and watch our performance. I was delighted and proud of the way the speakers presented and did their announcements, as well as the superb individual circus acts and whole school songs. All the students were stars and played their roles brilliantly. Photos from the day are streaming on our display tv in our admin area and don’t forget to visit the web page as well.

Yesterday we had our open classrooms and parents were invited to join their children and participate in a science lesson. Thank you to the parents who took the time out of their busy schedules to come along and have a go at participating in completing a hands on science experiment. Whether you were making ice cream, circuits, plastic or learning how to code a robot the students were thrilled to have you join them in the classroom. We hope those who attended enjoyed the morning tea the students prepared whilst enjoying the sunshine in playground.

On Monday we started a series of golf sessions with Jeremy from the Gosnells Golf Club. Rebecca Scoble Wood secured funding from Schools Sporting Program to be able to fund this program and give the opportunity for our students to have a go at learning how to play golf.

Today we had our Lapathon and once again thank you to those parents who supported this event and came along to walk and run laps with their children. It was such a great atmosphere out on the oval. Good luck to all those who returned their donations for the up and coming prize draw.

Friday is Celebration Day and Free Dress Day. Please ensure you have returned your money to participate in the events offered for the day. Free dress is a gold coin donation which needs to be given to your child’s class teacher on the morning.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all families a safe and relaxing holiday. We all look forward to hearing about any exciting things that have happened during the holidays from the students when the return. Don’t forget the first day back for students is Tuesday 9th October.

Kind regards

Julie Dawson

Principal

Wirrabirra Education Support Centre

areas of assessment and above expected in three areas at the Year Five level. I will present a summary of this information to the School Board and in newsletters as it becomes available. The initial assessment of data is that we are making strong progress towards our set targets.

LAPATHON

Thank you to everyone for your participation in the Lapathon today and to Emma for setting out the track. This is a great fundraiser for our school and we appreciate the effort of families and friends supporting students to raise money. Thanks also to the parents and carers who joined us today to enjoy the excellent sunshine and fun, finishing the day with a brisk walk. Our P&C have negotiated some prizes of bikes and canteen vouchers for when money is collected, so I encourage you to call in all your sponsors to be in the draw. Thanks for a nice finish to the day.

CELEBRATION DAY

Tomorrow is Celebration Day and Free Dress Day where we are celebrating all the achievements students have made this term. The day will be broken up with three activities, a Magic Show, Balloon Twisting to a Circus Show. These are always nice ways to finish a term and I urge you to send in your money for your child to participate. We also had an extra play today to acknowledge our students earning over 50,000 Eco Slips for positive behaviour. Super effort.

END OF TERM AND START OF TERM FOUR

Thank you to everyone for the support this term to complete a very busy schedule of work and events. As always I ask you to keep a look out for our school and if you see any suspicious activity or behaviour around the school to please call School Security on 92644771 or Police on 131444. Emma our Gardener, will be in all holidays and our cleaning team will be in the second week.

Term Four will start on Tuesday 9 October and will be ten weeks long. In the first week back we will have our Faction Sports Carnival on Thursday 11 October, so please place this in your diaries. This is great family occasion but I do remind you that older siblings who are enrolled in high school are required to attend their school and not be at the Carnival. I have a legal duty of care to inform another school if one of their students is not attending. Thank you for your support to make this day a special occasion for our students.

On behalf of all staff at Wirrabirra have a lovely holiday

break with your children and stay safe and well.

Regards, Steve Richards, Principal

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

Excellence Awards were presented to; Vaughn (C5), James (A6), Arissa (A2), Jacob (C3),

Laura (B3), Cross (D1)

Citizens of the Month Jaimie (TLC), Neel (C4), Kye (C3), Manaal (A1)

Student Councillor Awards Uniform Award - A1

Tidy Class - C5

Positive Behaviour - Jack (A6)

Congratulations Everyone!

NEWSLETTER NO. 14

P&C Report

Hi everyone

Open Night

It was lovely to meet many of you last night at the Open Night. Research shows kids are more successful at school when their parents participate and show an active interest in what they do. Yesterday was a great example of Wirrabirra parents and carers doing just that and it was fantastic to see how excited all the kids were to show off their work.

Lapathon

Thanks to everyone for their support of the Lapathon today. It was perfect weather and I’m sure we raised plenty for the school. Don’t forget to get your sponsorship money and form back to school as soon as possible so you can go in the draw for one of two scooters donated by Southern River MLA Terry Healy, or a canteen voucher.

Sports Day

Thanks to those who have already put their name down to help out with the sausage sizzle on Sports Day. We still desperately need more help to make sure all the snags get cooked and served on the day. Please put your name on the roster in the office or come and offer us a helping hand on the day. Half an hour makes a BIG difference – plus you get to stand in the shade! It would be awesome to have a volunteer from every class. Just like you, we don’t want to miss our kids’ events so if we all pitch in, we can all have a great day. Also, don’t forget to pre-order through the canteen by Friday if you want a lunch order or sausage sizzle on the day.

Moonlight Markets

This will be our main focus for Term 4 and we appreciate all the interest we have had so far. Please speak to your class teacher to see how you can help out with donations and with the stall roster on the night. We also need help planning and setting up on the night so please come along to our next meeting on Monday 22 October which will be all about the markets.

Awards

Congratulation to Miss Nish and Emma Dunne the School Gardener on receiving Certificates of Recognition at the last assembly. Your awards are well deserved. If you have a teacher or staff member you would like to nominate, visit the office to complete a nomination, or email us.

Enjoy the holidays!

Sonya Kimbar, Wirrabirra School P&C President wirrabirrapandc@gmail.com

NEWSLETTER NO. 14 PAGE 3

Chaplain’s Chat

Hello everyone

I am sure you have heard the saying ‘it’s how you play the

game not whether you win or lose that matters.’ This may

be true, but it is not easy to explain to a child who has just

experienced the disappointment and frustration of losing.

The focus of the PBS lesson over the last couple of weeks

has been on being a good winner or loser. It takes patience

and understanding to teach this to our children. One of the

things I used to say to my children was that there will al-

ways be someone stronger, smarter, more beautiful – this is

the reality of life. Embrace who you are and build on your

abilities and talents. It involves more than saying these

words however. Here are some tips for parents that could

be useful in helping children to be good and honourable

winners or losers:

Children are watching and listening to our responses,

reactions and tone of voice at home and socially. So, it

is important that we display a gracious attitude when

it comes to winning and losing.

Remind children that as adults we win and lose too

because it is not just a part of fun and games but of

daily life. Now is the time to accept that they will not

be good at everything.

Even professionals and highly talented people make

mistakes. Research the experiences of sporting greats

or successful people in other areas of life. Note with

your children how they have dealt with winning and

losing.

Make the focus about getting better at what they do

rather than winning. Highlight their improvements.

Encourage them to be thankful for their abilities, gifts

and talents and not take them for granted. It will

guard against the pride-fulness that can arise when

they win.

Allow them to experience small disappointments.

Resist comparing your children. Praise them for their

efforts as unique individuals with different strengths

and abilities.

Encourage them to have a good attitude towards others

whether they win or lose.

“Your strength doesn't come from winning. It comes from

struggles and hardship. Everything that you go through

prepares you for the next level.” ― Germany Kent

Take care, have a lovely holiday and enjoy some special

time with your children.

God bless and take care

Helen Ivatts

YouthCARE School Chaplain

School Watch

School Watch is a partnership between Western Australia Police and the Department of Education and Training, and is

closely linked to Neighbourhood Watch.

School Watch is a community-based crime prevention awareness program developed to improve safety and

security in Western Australian schools by reducing theft, vandalism and arson. School Watch encourages crime

prevention awareness among local school communities, staff and students to protect educational sites and resources.

Report suspicious behaviour at schools to School Watch

Security on 9264 4771 or the Police 131 444.

2018 TERM DATES FOR STUDENTS

Term 3 Tuesday 17 July - Friday 21 September

Term 4 Tuesday 9 October - Thursday 13 December

Go to itunes or android to download your free app:

Please allow notifications to receive our school up-

dates and reminder messages.

Absentees Canteen Menu

Newsletter Term Planner

Change contact

details

P&C, School

Board Minutes

PAGE 4 NEWSLETTER NO. 14

SCHOOL PHOTOS Parents can now view and order any sport

(cricket, football, hockey, softball, netball,

soccer) and special photos (Band, Choir, Envi-

ronmental Monitors, Faction Leaders, Record-

er, Student Councillors, Whizz Kids). When vis-

iting www.kapture.com.au/event.asp you will

need to enter the school code under the Sports

& Event tab to access the gallery; Code:

FACTION CARNIVAL

THURSDAY 11 OCTOBER

SPORTS DAY CANTEEN MENU ORDERS DUE NOW

Thank you to all our families who ordered over the

term. A special thank you to Katie for your help in the

canteen this term. Tomorrow we have some Eagles jelly

for $1.00 but stock is limited so be quick. There will also

be other specials to choose from.

We are looking forward to a great Sports Day and

encourage you to help out on the day.

Next term’s menu will be out at the end of the first

week back.

Enjoy the holidays!

Rebecca McBride

Canteen Manager

PH: 9398 1636

Wirrabirra Dental Clinic will be open during the

school holidays on the following dates:

26 September - 2 October 2018

For emergencies outside of these days, please phone

Westfield Park Dental Therapy Centre on 9390 8434 .

COMING HOME TODAY

NAPLAN Report for Years 3 & 5 students