1 May 2015

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members

ANZAC Ceremony

Last week we celebrated the Centenary of ANZAC Day. This was a wonderful opportunity to remember our war dead and those who have served our nation as part of the armed forces. Special thanks go to Mrs Chester for her organisation of the ceremony. It was a very moving and powerful event which was well attended by parents and members of the community.

Farewell to Frank

Unfortunately, our gardener has been away for a number of weeks which has resulted in areas of our school becoming overgrown with grass and weeds. Last week we were informed that our gardener would not be returning to the school. We wish Frank all the best for the future and thank him for the work he has done at our school over the past 6 years. We have not been able to replace Frank as yet. We have employed some relief gardeners and are looking to find someone as a full time replacement in the next few weeks.

Unsafe Parking

We have a few parents who persist in parking unsafely and in areas that are illegal. There is one particular vehicle which regularly parks in our disabled bays and another that parks on our paths. The registration of these vehicles has been reported to the Wanneroo City Ranger. The safety of our students is more important than the inconvenience of having to wait for an appropriate parking spot. My thanks go to the majority of parents who do the right thing.

Parent – Staff Communications

Our school is an open environment with parents welcome to make appointments with relevant staff members to discuss their child’s educational progress or any concerns. Please remember that meetings need to be made by appointment as teachers are not always available due to teaching or personal commitments. Concerns are best dealt with directly with your child’s teacher. Parents should not contact other parents or students to discuss concerns. Remember that your child’s perception of events will not always be accurate or reflect the full picture, so talking with their teacher is important.

We endeavour to keep parents up to date with the latest news and information that is happening around our school. We use email, Twitter, Facebook, my Principal Blog, letters home and this newsletter to share information. Our website is also being updated and will be available soon. Parents are encouraged to use the available communication tools to stay up to date.

NAPLAN Testing

Students in Years 3 and 5 will be completing NAPLAN tests in Week 4. These tests will provide us with information on how well our school is assisting students to achieve the expected standards in literacy and numeracy. More information about the tests can be found online.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Stephen Bevan
Principal

Important School Dates

School Development dates and holidays are already detailed on the Schoolzine calendar but please check for updates during the coming weeks. This calendar can be accessed at any time and printed. The calendar will be updated regularly and includes details of your child’s classroom excursions and incursions as they arise.

Voluntary Contributions and Charges

Thank you to all the parents who have paid their voluntary contributions this term.

Congratulations to the Corica family who were the winners of the $250 Coles voucher prize in the early payment of school contributions draw.

A reminder that all payments can be made in the administration office during school hours where EFTPOS is available for your convenience. You can also make payments directly into the bank for any other school charges during the year eg. Swimming lessons, excursions, incursions, camps etc.

Madeley Primary School 2015 Anzac Ceremony

Our Anzac Commemorative service was held on Thursday 23rd April. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony run by a wonderful group of Year Six students and School Councillors.

Among the invited guests was The Mayor, Tracey Roberts, from the City of Wanneroo, Local Members of Parliament and representatives from Madeley School Board, the P&C, Ashdale Secondary College and Bendigo Bank.

The guest speaker was Sergeant James Dillon from the 79th Squadron, RAAF Pearce.

The ceremony was concluded with the release of 16 doves to represent the symbol of peace.

Dawn Chester
Madeley Primary School

Faction Swimming Carnival

On the last day of Term 1 all our Year 3-6 students participated in our Faction Swimming Carnival. It was a great day with fantastic sportsmanship shown and students pushing themselves to achieve their personal best. Thankyou to all the staff and parents who assisted on the day. The results were:

Jarred Moon
PE Teacher

Congratulations to Brandon

Congratulations to Brandon on being awarded a Music Scholarship. Brandon began learning the drums 18 months ago and has shown a real talent with this instrument. The scholarship was presented at the Heath Ledger Theatre in Perth where he was privileged to meet Heath Ledger’s parents.

ICT Acceptable Usage Agreements

At Madeley we have several “ICT Acceptable Usage Agreements”. The purpose of these agreements is to ensure that students, parents and staff are aware of the behaviours students need to display to take care of the ICT resources and to use them safely and appropriately. No computer bag or ipad cover protects children from never causing damage to resources. No Parental Control software protects children from never seeing an unseemly website, being a cyber bully or being taken advantage of online. The best way to protect our students is to teach them safe behaviours. Talking about responsible ICT use from an early age gives us the best chance of instilling these behaviours into adulthood. The updated K-3 agreement has been sent home this week. The 1:1 and Yr 4-6 agreements have also recently been updated. Parents, please ensure you talk to your children about these agreements and support them in learning these behaviours.

Cybersmart http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ is an excellent website that provides information for parents and activities for children of different ages. It is a good idea to do the activities with your children so you can discuss any issues that come up.

Anti-Bullying Survey

Our school has volunteered to be part of a national study to discover what schools are doing to tackle bullying.

Schools from across Australia will tell of their anti-bullying approaches and what is working well. Information will be collected from students, parents and teachers. A final report will be available in December and will summarise what is being done about bullying by Australian schools. The report will not name individual schools.

At the beginning of Term Two, students from our school who are in years Five and Six have been invited to complete an on-line survey during school time. Students may only participate if they return the consent form signed by their parents. If you would like your child to participate this form needs to be returned to school by 5th May. Parents will be able to give their opinions about student-to-student bullying in schools. The staff at our school will also join in the study.

Parents have your say about tackling bullying in schools. We invite parents from our school to join in this research. Your views are very important and what you say can help us to understand what is happening and how the lives of children at school can be made safer and happier. You can find out more about this survey at http://www.kenrigby.net/School-Action

We think this is important research and we are pleased that our school will contribute to a better understanding of what Australian schools are doing to tackle bullying.

Please contact Danielle Stitfold if you would like further information.

Ashdale Secondary College Tour

School Banking

All children have the opportunity to utilise the Bendigo Bank or CBA School Banking Service. School Banking is conducted weekly on Tuesdays from 8.30 am – 8.50 am in the Library. Account opening packs are available from the Library on Tuesday mornings.

Please note: CBA School Banking will not be available this coming Tuesday 5th May for one week only.

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop opening times are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.30 am to approx. 9.15 am. Payment can be made by cash or EFTPOS. You can also hand your uniform order into the school office, send by fax: 9302 1250 or by email Madeley.ps@education.wa.edu.au

P&C News

Easter on the Green

Thank you again to everyone who made this event such a success. I’m pleased to announce that the total profit made for the school (including P&C and teacher run stalls) was $6,735!

Canteen

As of Term 2, the canteen will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays until further notice. The canteen has noticed a reduction of sales this year and in order to remain profitable (so we can return profits to the school) we have reduced the opening days from 4 to 3. The canteen will be open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for lunch orders and recess sales. Please continue to support your canteen- all monies raised in the canteen are donated back to the school to fund much needed resources for our children.

Please help your canteen

Volunteer assistance is always appreciated. Got 30 minutes to an hour to spare after drop off to help make sandwiches and pikelets? Just pop by and see Rebecca 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.

Winter Menu

The canteen has now changed over to the winter menu for Term 2 and 3. Winter items include Pumpkin soup (with a bread roll) and Lasagne. We have also incorporated all of our Daily Specials into our regular menu so you can order all your favourite items on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

Cookbook

The school cookbook, “Madeley on a Plate”, is still for sale via the front office or P&C. The price has been reduced to just $10 and would make an ideal gift for friends and family.

Do you own a business or work somewhere with good traffic flow? If so we’d love you to take a few of our cookbooks to put on your counter to sell for us. We have sold over half but with 350 cookbooks to go we would love to sell them at our new reduced rate and use the profits to purchase resources for our children. Please contact Mariesa O'Donnell at mariesa76@iinet.net.au if you're interested.

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 Finance

At the last P&C meeting, the following funding submissions were received:

• Physical Education – uniforms and jerseys for interschool teams ($1834) (Approved)
• Early Childhood – set of climbing frames to be permanently set up outside the kindy block ($3390).
• Science – portable electric hotplate ($70).
• Physical Education – (outstanding from last year) another set of soccer goals ($3080).

Next P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 6th May 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.

Tania Leach
P&C Communications Officer

SSWA Interstate Cross Country Trials

UWA Survey

Researchers at UWA are still looking for parents with children aged between 8 and 16 to participate in their research study. The survey is done over the internet and takes approximately 15 minutes each (parent and child).

For more information please contact Kate Loren Derry | PhD student Mobile No. 0411 811 212

Child Study Centre | G.11
School of Psychology | The University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Hwy Crawley WA 6009

P: (08) 6488 3259
E: 10520497@student.uwa.edu.au

West Coast Fever Netball Clinics

Clinics are run by West Coast Fever players which is exciting considering they are doing so well in the ANZ Championships and had 5 members of the team make the Diamonds Squad last week!

Ready Steady Go Kids - Term 2 starts soon!

Enrolments are open for Term 2 with Ready Steady Go Kids, Australia's largest and most reputable multi-sport and exercise program for preschoolers (aged 2.5-6 years). With seven locations in Perth's northern suburbs, our high quality, physio-designed program teaches children the fundamentals of 10 different sports in a fun, non-competitive, team-based environment. Ready Steady Go Kids seeks to develop a lifelong passion for physical activity and sport, decrease childhood obesity, increase confidence and prepare children for participation in school and the broader community. We'd love to offer a free trial for your 2.5-6 year old child. Please visit www.readysteadygokids.com.au or call 1300 766 892 for more information.