28 February 2014

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Community

As many of you may know I have taken some extended leave, Danielle Stitfold has been appointed as Principal for this period of time. Danielle is a very experienced administrator and the school will continue to operate under her leadership with the management and development of Madeley Primary School. Jude James will remain Deputy Principal Early Childhood and Brenda Ovens will be Deputy Principal Middle Childhood.

Kim Anderson

I plan to continue to work closely with all the staff to build on Madeley’s Vision of Curriculum, Community and Care whilst leading the school in future endeavours. I am in a privileged position with a highly motivated staff who are always seeking and investigating best practise.

Kim felt comfortable to leave as he was confident he was leaving the future development of the school in good hands with a cohesive and collaborative staff who demonstrate strong leadership.

Danielle Stitfold

School Contact and Other Information

Martindale Ave
Madeley WA 6065
Phone: (08) 9302 3611
Fax: (08) 9302 1250
Email: madeley.ps@education.wa.edu.au
Website: www.madeleyprimary@wa.edu.au

Principal: Danielle Stitfold
Deputy Principal: Jude James
Deputy Principal: Brenda Ovens
Business Manager: Marie Lingard
Ministerial Officers: Tina Drinkell and Trudi Sutherland

School Board:
Chair: Mike Kelly
Principal: Danielle Stitfold
P & C Representative: James Dillon, Jenni Cangemi
Teachers: Dee Randall, Michelle Horrocks

P&C Association:
President: Dave Belcastro
Vice President: Jenni Cangemi
Secretary: Mariesa O’Donnell
Treasurer: Jason Rawling
Fundraising: Linda Falconer
Canteen: Shannon O’Farrell

Parenting Ideas – Michael Grose

Listen to yourself talk to your children for an hour. Take note of the words you choose but, more importantly notice the tone of your voice. Does your tone match your words, or is there a mismatch?

Children tune into tone of voice as much as the words. Toddlers learn from the tone of your voice whether you are pleased or mad at them. The words matter little as their vocabularies are developing but the tone of your voice, which matches the look on your face, conveys the message.

Children will often ignore the words if they are not matched by your tone of voice.

“Put your toys away, please and come to the table” which is simple instruction can be said a number of ways.

If your tone is whiny then you are indicating that you don’t expect your child to comply. You are teaching your child to ignore you.

If your tone is aggressive then you are issuing a challenge to disobey, which some kids just can’t resist.

If your tone is friendly yet firm then it matters what words you use. Your chances of getting cooperation will increase dramatically if expectation is conveyed respectfully and happily.

Tone of voice indicates mood & intent. Kids are natural mood detectives. They constantly have their radars up detecting the mood of their parents. It is a useful skill that prepares them for pre school, school and life beyond. However if their home environment is chaotic or dangerous then all their energy is taken up checking the moods of the adults in their lives, which is not in their best interests. These children are often highly stressed and anxious.

Communication between parents and kids is like a song - made up of lyrics and music. A good composer attends to both the lyric and the tune. He or she will make sure the tune matches the words. Romantic lyrics are amplified by a soft, slow melody. Kids will attend to the melody (tone) of your voice rather than the lyric (words). Most of us focus on the lyric (words) rather than the melody (tone) when we speak to our kids. Get a mismatch and we either teach our kids to tune out or we will confuse them, and they may wonder what is wrong with us or them.

Think like a composer next time you have something important to say or just want to make sure you get through to kids– i.e. focus on the melody (tone of voice) as much as the lyric (words you choose).Get the match right and your communication will improve out of sight.

Parent Session – How to Recognise Anxiety in Children

Onpsych services are running in the Ashdale cluster of schools. The service provides Medicare funded access to expert psychologists for simple problems like making friends through to complex mental health issues. Onpsych also supports families through individual parent sessions and access to parent information sessions. We are very excited to have Kevin Fisher working with the cluster this year.

On Wednesday 5th March at 1pm Dr Natalie Flatt and Kevin Fisher, psychologists from Onpsych will be running a session for parents on recognising anxiety in children.

The session will look at;

• Generalised anxiety,
• Separation anxiety,
• Performance anxiety,
• School refusal,
• Perfectionism,
• Fears/phobias,
• Obsessive compulsive disorder,
• Social anxiety.

The hour session will look at anxiety and provide practical strategies which you can try at home to reduce anxieties. All parents are invited to attend this valuable session. People who have attended this session previously have said the practical strategies are easy to implement.

Medical Updates

The school office has recently sent out to some parents Emergency Action Plans which are required to be updated annually. Please ensure that these are returned promptly to the School Office.

Our ‘New Look’ Newsletter

Our new look Newsletter has received some very positive feedback and we hope you will enjoy seeing a very varied content in the coming months. Hopefully with many photographs of your children’s activities here at Madeley, including video clips.

School Calendar

Have you checked the sidebar and clicked on the School Calendar? The School Calendar will be updated regularly throughout the term with the content being ‘live’. You will find many important events and reminders on the calendar including your children’s classroom assemblies, term dates, sporting events i.e. Cricket Carnival and Swimming Lesson dates.

Forms and Documents

This section will have many of the regular forms which you may require i.e. Uniform Order Forms and Canteen Menu etc. New forms will be updated and added regularly.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Seen something you want to share with your partner or the children’s grandparents perhaps? Go to the Subscribe to Newsletter link on the sidebar and add their email address.

Donation Thanks

Thank you for the anonymous donation of material to the Drama/Music Room on Tuesday, Miss G greatly appreciates it.

Uniform Shop

Click Here to Download Uniform Shop Order Form

P & C News

Madeley On A Plate Cookbook

There are still "Madeley on a Plate" cookbooks available for sale so if you missed out on a copy or would like to buy another couple of books for gifts please order through the front office. Books are $25 each and sales are cash only. This fundraiser has the potential to earn over $22,000 which will then be used to purchase much needed resources in numeracy and literacy for our children.

Click Here to Download Cookbook Order Form

Can you help?

The P & C are looking for volunteers to give a couple of hours of their time to man a cookbook stall at some upcoming events. We will have a stall at Easter on the Green - Friday 4th April, the Whitfords Lions Annual Fair, Sunday 13th April, and a stall at Darch Shopping Plaza from Thursday 27th - Saturday 29th March. A chance to have a coffee and cake with a girlfriend while raising money for our school community.

Please e-mail Tracey Rutter for more information: traceyrutter@westnet.com.au

P & C AGM

Last week the P & C had their AGM and it was a pleasantly full meeting. Welcome to all of our new members. We would like to thank all the members from last year for their support and the office bearers and executive for their time and help. The new P & C office bearers are listed under School Contacts with the addition of James Dillon who was nominated to fill the P & C representative position on the School Board. If you missed the meeting the minutes will soon be available on the school website. You are welcome to attend any future meetings and can become a member at any meeting throughout the year.

Save the Date

Easter on the Green will be on Friday 4th April this year.

More details will be available closer to the time.

Canteen

To order online go to www.ouronlinecanteen.com.au

• Go to sign up box and click on ‘Register’
• Fill out the section regarding email address and password
• Any days where the canteen is not open are marked on the calendar, and you will not be able to place an order. You will then receive an email to your nominated email address with your confirmation order
• A lunch order bag prints out in the Canteen on the morning of the order, and the lunch order is prepared.

Benefits of this system are:

• You can order up to 2 weeks ahead
• The system will save any regular/favourite orders to make ordering online even quicker.

Click Here to Download Canteen Lunch Menu

Volunteers

Voluntary helpers are always appreciated.

Please contact Canteen Manager - Rebecca Mauk on 0402 603 343.

The canteen is conducted by the P & C Association and is its largest fundraiser. All profits made by the canteen go to the P & C which then passes them onto the school in various ways which ultimately benefits all of our children.

Click Here to Download Keyed Up Music

Click Here to Download Junior Sports Flyer

Advertising in Newsletter

If you own your own business and would like to advertise in the Newsletter please call Dion Guthrie on 07 5450 2710 or mobile 0416 890 824 and he will advise you on how to become an advertiser.