26 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members

Your P&C:

Last week the P&C held its AGM. At the meeting all the Office Bearer’s positions were vacated and new nominations and selections took place. Unfortunately, some of the critical roles were not filled, including both the President and Treasurer’s positions. It is important for all parents to understand that the P&C cannot operate without people in these positions. Your P&C have done an amazing job since the opening of our school, running our Canteen and raising thousands of dollars to support the education of your children. In 2015 alone they raised $21272 while the canteen turned over $74196 (the latter figure demonstrating there is a real need for this service).

Our school currently has 538 students from 372 families although only around 20 of these family groups are represented regularly at P&C meetings. This is around 5% of our population working to support our school through the P&C. It would be great if we could increase this to at least 10% in 2016. Ultimately, the P&C will cease operation at the end of Term 1 this year if all the Office Bearer’s roles are not filled. This will mean that in Term 2 the canteen will close and fundraising activities will no longer take place. The next (and possibly last) P&C meeting for 2016 is scheduled for March 30. I encourage everyone to attend and seriously consider taking up one of the available positions.

School Board:

The School Board plays an essential role in the life of our school. Some of the important tasks undertaken by the Board include:

Take part in:

• establishing and reviewing from time to time, the school’s objectives, priorities and general policy directions;
• planning financial arrangements necessary to fund those objectives, priorities and directions;
• evaluating the school’s performance in achieving those objectives, priorities and directions; and
• formulating codes of conduct for students at the school.
• taking part in the selection of, but not the appointment of, the school principal or any other member of the teaching staff if prior approval is given by the Regional Executive Director.

Approve of:

• a charge or contribution determined by the principal for the provision of materials, services and facilities;
• the costs determined by the principal to be paid for participation in an extra cost optional component of the school’s educational program;
• the items determined by the principal to be supplied by a student for the student’s personal use in the school’s educational program; and an agreement or arrangement for advertising or sponsorship in relation to a government school.

Attached to this newsletter is a document which provides more information about School Boards. We are pleased to announce that the P&C has appointed Mr Paul Wright as their representative on the Board for the next three years. Paul will be replacing Mrs Jenni Cangemi who has been a long term member. Mrs Natalie Italiano’s tenure on the Board has also come to a close. We wish to thank both Jenni and Natalie for their contributions to the Board. We invite parents who may be interested in a position on the Board to nominate. Nominations must be endorsed by at least one other parent and should be submitted to the office on the attached form by 11th March 2016. If more than one nomination is received an election will take place. If you would like to further discuss the role of a Board member please contact me.

Cluster Review:

This week the Department of Education Services conducted our school’s second Independent Public School Review. Through this process we were able to demonstrate the strong processes and strategies we have in place to assist your children to achieve their very best academically, physically, socially and emotionally. We look forward to the findings of the review which will be shared with the community when they become available. I wish to thank all the staff, parents and students who played a part in preparing and participating in the review. Great job everyone!!

Swimming Lessons:

Our swimming lessons are scheduled to take place between 29th February and 11th March. These lessons are an essential part of the Physical Education Program and it is expected that all students participate. Swimming is a skill that most Australians need if they are to safely enjoy our warm environment. The cost of attending these lessons is small if it helps ensure a high level of safety when in and around water. Please see Mr Moon if you have any concerns with swimming lessons.

Protective Behaviours:

We strongly recommend that parents spend time talking with their children about skills and strategies for staying safe when out in the community. These discussions should not scare children but provide them with practical ideas about how to stay safe and what to do if they feel unsafe e.g.

• when walking on a footpath walk away from the verge,
• if there is no path then walk facing oncoming traffic and make eye contact with drivers,
• never approach a car even if called to by the occupant,
• constantly look and listen and be aware of what is around you when crossing roads,
• never play in areas that are secluded and always let parents know where you are going to be,
• if someone says or does something to make you feel unsafe report it immediately to a trusted adult.

There are many websites with ideas about things to teach children regarding protective behaviours. One useful one is www.kidsafewa.com.au/

Have a great weekend everyone

Stephen Bevan
Principal

A Message from our School Board Chair

Have you thought about nominating for the School Board?

Boards aren’t that secretive, nor mysterious, they are just a group of people who bring their unique experience and background together with others to help shape the direction of the school. It’s not about the day to day running of the school. It is parents, community members, teachers and the Principal looking towards the future of the school and discussing how we get there.

This year two parents who have been valuable and active members of the board, have finished their 3 year term on the board. So if you are interested in continuing to make our school a great place for children to learn and grow, then I would ask you to nominate for what is a genuinely rewarding experience. The Board is an important part of Madeley being an Independent Public School, and part of the Ashdale Cluster of Schools.

Over the coming year I hope to have the opportunity to continue to let you know what the Board is up to.

Mike Kelly, Chair and Parent.

School Calendar 2016

Please refer to the Schoolzine Calendar for regular updates regarding activities here at Madeley PS. Classroom Assembly dates are detailed below. For further information regarding Term Dates, School Development Days, and all other school activities including your child’s classroom incursions and excursions please check the calendar regularly.

Student Services

Abilitations Occupational Therapy

Toni Farquharson provides a visiting service to Madeley Primary School to maximise your child’s potential in:

• Gross/fine motor coordination
• Handwriting
• Drawing, cutting, prewriting
• Attention and learning
• Sensory processing
• Visual perception

Private Health and Medicare rebates are available, please call Toni: 0419 960 577 for further information.

TLC (Therapy Learning and Communication)

Sarah Alger (formerly Llewellyn) is a Speech Pathologist who provides a visiting service here at Madeley Primary School. Sarah assists children in the following areas;

• Social skills;
• Speech/articulation skills;
• Pre-literacy and literacy skills;
• Auditory Processing;
• Comprehension of instructions; questions and vocabulary;
• Expressive language; vocabulary and grammar;
• Fluency/stuttering.

Please call TLC-WA on 9301 1154 for further enquiries or to book an assessment session with Sarah.

onPsych

Identifying a difficulty in a child can be a stressful and distressing time for parents. It is important to remind. We endeavour to work as a collaborative approach to achieve the quickest result possible by working with the school, the child and their parent. We aim to provide life skills that can help the child use appropriate coping and problem solving skills in the current situation but also in future situations to assist with their schooling and ongoing development. As an example, with a child struggling in math’s, they will be provided extra time by the teacher to develop and work on their skills. Similar to this, a child struggling with managing their emotions, onPsych psychologists will teach your child strategies to develop this skill. Furthermore, we will provide both the school and the parent necessary skills to teach the child how to best manage difficult or fearful situations and to continue this growth strategy for optimal emotional wellbeing.

For further information regarding accessing this service please contact Danielle Stitfold, Deputy Principal in the first instance Danielle.stitfold@education.wa.edu.au

Crunch & Sip

Crunch&Sip (timing at the teachers’ discretion) allows students to graze on cut fruit and vegetables and drink water in the classroom throughout the day. Madeley Primary School recommends Crunch&Sip® to support students to establish healthy eating habits whilst at school and in the future.

All students and teachers at Madeley Primary School enjoy Crunch&Sip® and eat fresh fruit or vegetables and drink water in the classroom throughout the day.

mini header:

Objectives

The objectives of the Crunch&Sip® break are to:

• Increase awareness of the importance of eating fruit or vegetables and drinking water every day.
• Enable students and staff to eat fruit or vegetables in the classroom throughout the day.
• Encourage students and staff to drink water in the classroom throughout the day, during break times and at sport carnivals, excursions and camps.
• Encourage parents to provide students with fruit or vegetables every day.

Develop strategies to help students who do not have regular access to fruit and vegetables.

For further information visit the Crunch&Sip website www.crunchandsip.com.au/

Chaplain News

I am really pleased to introduce myself to you as the new School Support Chaplain at Madeley Primary School. My name is Penny Eddison and in schools I’m usually known as either ‘Penny’ or ‘Miss Penny’. I am looking forward to working at Madeley Primary School on Thursdays as part of the Student Services Team.

To let you know a little bit about me: you might have already guessed that my husband is Mr Eddison who teaches here at Madeley PS. Perhaps you have also heard about our two delightful children! As a family we enjoy being outdoors and exploring our lovely country - we especially love 4 wheel-driving and camping.

Schools are a common factor in our family since I have also worked in schools in various roles over the years. I taught in high schools, but over the last few years I have enjoyed working with primary-aged children. I have been a Primary School Chaplain for four years and I feel privileged to serve in school communities and support children, staff and families through the changes and challenges of life.

My role at Madeley will involve just that – supporting the school community through pastoral care. A key service I will be involved in is one-to-one conversations for students with social or emotional issues (e.g. family separations, grief and loss, anxiety, conflict resolution, bullying and so on) and I am looking forward to spending some time with the Buddy Club in the library as well. I am available to liaise between families and support services in the community. Parents and carers, please feel most welcome to make contact with me through the school administration. I really look forward to meeting many of you in the near future.

Music News

Thank you

Thanks to Zoey Bailey (Yr 4) & Mrs Bailey for donating a large quantity of drumsticks to our school. We look forward to making good use of them.

Choir

Congratulations to all our 2016 Choir members. Rehearsals have kicked off this week and we already have several events to work towards. I expect to hear great things from these talented young singers.

SIM

Year 6 Flute and Clarinet classes have begun and the Year 5 selection process is almost complete. Best wishes to all our beginner instrumentalists.

Mrs Campione
Music Teacher

P&C News

Positions Vacant

Please note there are still a number of positions that remain vacant. The P&C is unable to continue to operate without these positions being filled. This would also force the closure of the canteen. If you are interested in nominating for a position or would like more information, please contact one of the P&C members or email madeleypandc@gmail.com All outgoing position holders will be around to guide you through the transition if you choose to volunteer for one of the positions.

The 2016 P&C office bearers are as follows:

President: Position still vacant
Vice President: Paul Wright
Secretary: Aimee Ingram
Treasurer: Position still vacant
Canteen Treasurer: Position still vacant
Canteen Coordinator: Position still vacant
Fundraising Officer: Tania Leach
Executive Members: Steven Young, Sophy Oatey, Jacqueline Murray and Mariesa O’Donnell.

Easter on the Green

Save the date - Friday 18th March 2016

Once again the P&C are hosting Easter on the Green for the Madeley Primary School community, there will be food for purchase, stalls and rides in what will be a fun evening at our school. Any help with the event would be appreciated either by the P&C or your classroom teacher. All funds raised go to the school community. Please contact the P&C via email at madeleypandc@gmail.com if you think you may be able to assist.

Masters Sausage Sizzle

The Madeley Primary P&C are hosting a fundraising sausage sizzle at Masters Landsdale on Saturday 12th March 2016. The sizzle will run between 8am and 2.30pm. We are requiring some volunteers to assist with cooking and selling on the day and will be making up a roster of volunteers in the coming weeks. We also need to source sausage sizzle supplies (sausages, rolls, sauce, onions etc), and would love if some of this could be donated. If you’re able to spare 1-2 hours of your time, or can help with sourcing supplies, please email mtanialeach@bigpond.com . Please note that in the absence of adequate volunteers, this event may not run.

Please support your school community on this day by coming down to Masters and enjoying a sausage sizzle. All proceeds go back to the school.

Canteen

Parents please be aware of the recess and lunch time changes for the next two weeks of swimming lessons. Our Canteen staff will be working with the changes but to assist them further please ensure your orders are sent in on time.

Please help your canteen

Volunteer assistance is always appreciated. Have you got 30 minutes to an hour to spare after drop off to help make sandwiches and pikelets? Just pop by and see Toni in the canteen (Wednesday-Friday), we would love the help. You can also assist the canteen by ordering online. Our online ordering system greatly reduces workload in the canteen so register today at www.ouronlinecanteen.com.au and start ordering.

Facebook

Did you know that the Madeley P&C has a Facebook group? Please look us up at “Madeley P&C” to join and keep up to date with the latest P&C information.

P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 30th March at 7.30pm in the staffroom. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Any new members of the P&C are reminded to bring $1.00 for their yearly P&C membership, which is to be renewed at the start of each school year.

Right Track – Public Transport Safety Advice For Students

Passenger safety is our number one priority, and this includes students travelling to and from school.

What to do if you ever feel threatened or unsafe on public transport:

• If available ask a Transit Officer or Transperth staff member for help or just stand near them for safety.
• Call 9220 9999 – save this number in your mobile.
• On a bus, speak to the bus driver.
• On a train, push the emergency button to speak to the driver.
• On a train station, push the emergency button on an information kiosk to speak to our Central Monitoring Room.
• On train stations, stay in well-lit areas in view of security cameras.

Other safety tips:

• If possible, have someone come to meet you, or tell friends or family when you expect to be home.
• On train stations, stand back from the yellow line on the edge of the platform. When trains go past they create a powerful draft that can unbalance you.
• Use only the proper access routes when you enter or exit train stations.
• Always stay off train tracks. Walking across them is dangerous and illegal.

Sophie Richardson
Communications Officer I Public Transport Authority
(08) 9326 2055 http://www.pta.wa.gov.au

WA School Sports Trials

Trials for this year's State AFL Team will take place during 1st term and the April School holidays. Please note that only players turning 11 and 12 years of age in 2016 are eligible to nominate. (Born 2004/2005)

This year's team will be travelling to Maroochydore in Queensland from July 22nd - 31st. The trial dates can be found on the School Sport WA website ( www.schoolsportwa.com.au ).

In order to nominate for the trials please visit the School Sport WA website where you will need to locate the 'Interstate' menu button which is located at the top of the page. All relevant details can be found on this website. If you have any queries please don't hesitate in making contact with me or the School Sport WA office.

Please also be aware that School Sport WA sends teams interstate for other sports as well. To nominate simply follow the same process as above. Below is a list of sports, their travel dates and their trial months.

Basketball: 6 - 12 Aug Adelaide
Cricket: 6 - 13 Jan 2017 Canberra
Cross Country: 18 - 22 Aug Canberra
Football: (Soccer) 20 - 26 Aug Perth (Port Kennedy)
Hockey: 30 July - 5 Aug Cairns
Netball: 27 Aug - 2 Sept Melbourne
Rugby League: 30 July - 6 Aug Canberra
Swimming: 15 - 23 Sept Darwin
Diving: 27 Aug - 3 Sept Lightning Ridge
Tennis: 21 - 30 Oct Albury
Touch Rugby: 23 - 28 Oct Perth (Mandurah)

For any further assistance or information please contact:

Alex McLennan
Tour Leader / Manager
State 12 Years & Under Team
School Sport WA
9276 5832 (Camboon Primary School)
0438 937 078
Alex.McLennan@education.wa.edu.au

Madeley Before and After School Care – Camp Australia

Better Buddies Program

Camp Australia in partnership with the Alannah and Madeline Foundation created our exclusive Better Buddies Program to help children feel safe and welcome while attending our services. As part of this program we have introduced activities such as Getting to Know You, Buddy Bear activities and have been creating a welcome bunting.

For further information and details on how to register please click on the attached flyer.

Perth College Open Day

Monday 7th March 2016
10.00 am to 2.00 pm

We’ve opening our doors to show parents and future students the environment we’ve created at Perth College.

A place where girls are encouraged to think creatively, embrace personal excellence and live generously.

For full details, schedule of the day and further information please visit our website.

Warwick Senior High School Open Day

Friday 18 March
355 Erindale Rd, Warwick
Tours commence at 9:00 am and 2:00 pm
Our school conducts programs in the following programs:

• Academic Extension
• Endorsed Specialist Netball
• Endorsed Specialist Football
• Dance Elite
• Music

Please call the school administration reception on 6240 4400 to book your tour.

Cricket and Tennis Trials

An email has been sent to our Year 6 families regarding the trials available for Specialist Cricket and Tennis Programs for Year 7 - 2017. There were several flyers attached for the various trials and information evening.

Participating schools are Belridge Senior High School, John Forrest Secondary College and Kent Street Senior High School.

Copies are also available from the Madeley School Office.