12 June 2015

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members

In today’s newsletter I want to talk mainly about the importance of social/emotional education which is a focus of our school. Schools are social places where people interact and exist together. Success at school is as much about how you get along with others as it is about results in Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Social/emotional understanding and skills do not come naturally and need to be taught. Some students learn them quicker than others.

Consider the social/emotional skills that a child needs in a classroom environment. They need to recognise and understand specific behavioural expectations that their teacher may have. They need to learn routines and procedures. They need to learn the behavioural and emotional characteristics of other students i.e. they can say and do things to one person that might upset another. They need to learn appropriate (strong) responses to the behaviour of others. They need to manage their own feelings and emotions. They need to be resilient when things don’t go their way….etc….etc…. When students move into specialist lessons such as PE or Art another whole set of expectations and social/emotional skills are required. The playground requires another set. On top of all this, students also need to learn how to spell, read, write etc. As you can appreciate, a school is a dynamic social environment.

When students have a problem in social situations our role is to help them self-reflect and then teach appropriate (strong) behaviour. We use a ‘Reflective Language’ guide to help us as we counsel students. Questions we ask include:

• Was what you did the right thing or wrong thing?
• Did you make strong or weak decisions?
• Were your feelings or your thinking in charge of your actions?
• Do you want to be your own boss or do you need me to take control of this problem?
• Are you running away from the problem or dealing with it?
• Am I trying to help you or hurt you?

We aim to help students develop core values which include: Courage, Respect, Persistence, Tolerance, Friendliness, Resilience, Manners and Self-Motivation. We provide explicit instruction on what these values look like in action. We promote the overarching rule – ‘Treat others the way you want them to treat you.’

It is essential that parents understand and support us in our efforts to teach students these social/emotional skills and understandings. It is also important that parents appreciate the complexity of the school environment when managing student behaviour. Students rarely see the full picture when problems occur at a social/emotional level. Their perceptions are not always accurate and their behaviours need to be considered in relation to the bigger picture. Sometimes parents too readily accept everything a child says about a problem that has occurred at school. In reality, the child’s perception does not consider the full complexity of what happened and their role in either making a problem better or worse. At Madeley we try to focus, not on blaming children for weak social/emotional behaviour, but on teaching them to self-reflect and improve their behaviour so that they can be successful. We don’t rely on rewards and punishments as they do nothing to create real changes in behaviour. If a child makes a weak behavioural decision, which hurts others, we work to repair damaged relationships through acts of restitution.

At the end of your child’s time at our school we want them to be very prepared to tackle the social/emotional challenges that high school will bring. We appreciate your support as we work together to make our students and your children independent learners and successful members of society.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Bevan
Principal

Important School Dates

School Fun Run – Wednesday 1st July

The student leadership team are organising this year’s school Fun Run. Money raised by the Year 6 classes will go towards their camp and other money raised will go towards buying resources for the whole school. Fundraising is completely voluntary and all children in PP-6 will be involved in the Fun Run regardless of whether they have raised money or not.

When collecting sponsorship we strongly recommend that students do not door knock unless they are accompanied by an adult. We prefer that students collect sponsorship from friends and family and not strangers.

As part of a school goal setting initiative, we are challenging all students to set a “lap goal”. Students will be asked to consider how many laps they can complete in 30 minutes?

Please return the sponsorship form and money in an envelope to your child’s classroom teacher by Friday 26th of June. A sponsorship form is available for download below.

Student Absences

Student’s attendance is required to be documented and any absences noted with the relevant reason for absence.

Parents can advise either by:

1. telephoning the school (9302 3611) and speaking to one of the office staff
2. leave a message on the answer machine if out of hours
3. email to madeley.ps@education.wa.edu.au
4. a letter sent to school within 3 days of the absence
   (only required if the absence has not been provided by any of the first 3 methods)

Please note that the Madeley email address is the preferred point of contact regarding absences as emails to individual staff members may not be seen if staff are away from school.

If you are planning an extended absence a written request to the Principal prior to the absence is required.

Year 3 Cockman House Excursion

On Tuesday the 19/5/2015 all the Year 3’s went to Cockman House and WRM (Wanneroo Regional Museum) for an excursion.

Group 1 went to Cockman House where we met a guide called Bryce. We completed a timeline from before 1829 to today. Going inside the house we discovered lots of things about the history of Cockman House. We had an alphabet search all around Cockman House. There was even a letter beside the vegetable patch! We also had to draw a picture of Cockman House. In the end, we learnt that there had been 3 generations of Cockmans living in Cockman House.

After we had left Cockman House we swapped over and had lunch at WRM. Group 2 then went to Cockman House to do the same thing as us. In WRM we learnt how the old household items were different to modern items. Then we had a mini-tour of 4 museum displays which were the Garden Shed, Beach Shack, Electricity/Technology Area and the Post Office. We became museum curators/PIs (Past investigators) and completed an activity book.

Some groups got to go in the red telephone box to find Ezio Luisini’s phone number which was 210. We learnt where piggeries, poultries, dairy farms and market gardens were. They were near lakes for a source of water.

After that exhausting day we went back to school by bus. We got off the bus and it was already 2:15pm. We loved the excursion and we wish we could go again.

THE END

Grease Lightning!

On Friday 29th May the Year 6 students from GLA 1 and 2 performed their class assembly item for the school. The students danced, acted and sang to their own version of a revamped ‘Classic Grease’ meets ‘Modern Day Grease’! Lots of fun was had as students portrayed various characters under the direction of Mrs Chester and Mr Taddei. The Pink Ladies, the T-Birds and the rock ‘n’ roll girls and boys were so excited to perform their item in their amazing costumes.

We are so proud of our excited and talented group of students who gave every ounce of energy they had to perform with so much flair and pizzazz! Thank you to the parents who went above and beyond to ensure the students looked magnificent!

Mrs Chester and Mr Taddei

Children and healthy weight

Our modern society makes it very easy for children to gain too much weight too quickly. About a quarter of Western Australian children are overweight by the time they start school. Recent research shows that children in WA are among the most overweight in Australia.

It is so common that it is difficult to tell what is ‘normal’ anymore.

The good news is that simple lifestyle changes for children and families help everyone. Think about changes that could work for your family, such as;

• more active play (try stopping at a park on the way home from school)
• walking to school two or three times each week
• plan active outings on the weekend
• make food portions a little smaller
• cut out some food treats
• provide fewer soft drinks and fruit juices.

Is your child of a healthy weight?

As children move through puberty and into adulthood, being overweight often becomes more obvious and more difficult to manage. It is easier for children to move towards a healthy weight before puberty and adulthood.

Help your child to introduce small, achievable, healthy habits every day. For some ideas, go to 100 ways to Unplug and Play – or Nature Play WA – www.natureplaywa.org.au

It is important to avoid discussing weight with children. Weight loss is not recommended for children, unless under medical supervision. Healthy habits help children to ‘grow into their weight’.

What is body mass index (BMI)?

The body mass index (BMI) is a simple measure which helps to keep track of weight status. The BMI does not directly measure body fat, but is a useful predictor of the proportion of fat in the body for most people. Research has shown that BMI results which are too low or too high are linked to increased risk of ill health during childhood, as well as later in life.

For more information about BMI, go to www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html

Physical activity for kids

Physical activity should be part of a child’s daily routine. Physical activity is not only fun, but also important for healthy growth and development. Being involved in physical activity helps kids to make friends and learn physical and social skills. The two points to remember are;

• Children need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day
• Children should not spend more than two hours a day using electronic media for entertainment (e.g. TV, computer games, internet), especially during daylight hours.

Remember, by encouraging your child to be active when they are young, you are helping to establish a routine that will stay with them throughout their life.

For more information, go to www.natureplaywa.org.au/ or http://raisingchildren.net.au/nutrition__fitness/school_age_nutrition.html

Year 6 Fundraiser- Cake Stalls

The two Year Six classes will be holding Cake Stalls to raise money for their end of year graduation. Cakes will be available for purchase at recess (and lunch if still available) for small change donations.

Dates of the Stalls:

Week 9 - Tuesday 16th June 2015
Week 11 - Tuesday 30th June 2015

Phys Ed News

Results from last week’s interschool sports. Congratulations to all students participating.

Madeley scores are listed first.

Kindergarten and Pre-Primary Expressions of Interest for 2016

Kindy 2016

The closing date for Expressions of Interest is Friday 24th July 2015.

Parents will be notified of their success in gaining a position at Madeley Primary School for 2016 early in September. At this time, parents will be given a session preference sheet to request Kindy days (A) or (B). Please note the sessions are changing from those in our current Kindergarten

(A) Mondays and Thursdays and alternative Wednesdays from 8.45 am – 3.00 pm
(B) Tuesdays and Fridays and alternative Wednesdays from 8.45 am – 3.00 pm

The information pack for Kindy 2016 also includes an application form for the Play & Learn program which will commence on Tuesday 28th July, 2015. There will be two Play and Learn sessions:

9.00 am - 10.30 am or
11.00 am - 12.30 pm.

At the end of June parents will be given the opportunity to request their preferred session time.

Help Needed to Paint School Bins!!!

Our wonderful P&C has provided funding to put towards paint and materials for “Bin Funkification”. So we can brighten things up a bit, and to encourage the kids to use the bins & reduce litter around the school.

Last term Madeley students were invited to submit entries for Artworks based on the themes “Healthy Eating”, “Market Garden” & “Sustainability”. Now that entries are in, we are ready to announce winners and get the ball rolling.

If you think you could be of help, please contact Michelle Horrocks by email to register your interest and availability. Delicious refreshments will be provided!!

More hands make light work & your assistance would be hugely appreciated

Please email: michelle.horrocks@education.wa.edu.au

Thankyou,
Michelle Horrocks
Art Specialist Teacher

TravelSmart to School

Over the past few years at Madeley Primary students have been working hard to make active transport choices and join the thousands of students across Western Australia who walk and ride to school.

As part of our Travel Smart Program we are continuing to run our Walking Wednesday and Fuel Free Friday to promote the following benefits in our school;

• To keep ourselves fit and healthy
• To educate ourselves and our community about road safety and bike education
• Help cut down pollution by using less fuel
• To show a positive and healthy image for ourselves and our school
• It encourages slower and less traffic around the school during those busy times
• It also helps us learn about the road rules for when we become adults and start learning to drive
• Plus studies have shown that a little morning exercise can increase student focus and work ability
• Lastly, it really is a great image for a community to see so many young people taking advantage of where they live and caring about their health, safety, well-being and the environment.

We would love to see parents and our community continue to encourage their children to make active transport decisions when traveling around the area.

To assist our TravelSmart Program, Mr Moon, Miss Horrocks and Miss Foulds have been teaching the students all about road safety. Students are learning how to be responsible passengers, pedestrians and about the many laws associated with cars. The year 5/6 students are also learning how to use the TransPerth website, giving them lots of information for how to catch buses and trains safely around the city.

Over the coming months Madeley Primary School will be working with the Wanneroo Shire on a pavement stencil art program that involves our footpaths having helpful hints for students (and adults) who are walking and riding in our neighbourhood. Please see below the article ‘Your Move and TravelSmart to School’.

Keep up the great work walking and riding to school and making a positive and active change in our community.

Miss Foulds & the Travel Smart Committee

Your Move and TravelSmart to School

We are one of ten schools in the City of Wanneroo that are now part of the ‘TravelSmart to School’ network as part of ‘Your Move’.  ‘Your Move’ encourages residents to choose active and sustainable transport options by replacing some car trips with walking, cycling and public transport. ‘Your Move’ also provides participants with information and support to connect with local sport and recreation activities – find out more at http://www.yourmove.org.au/

Our school students and parents enjoy walking, riding, scooting and skateboarding to school because it’s fun, it increases our energy levels, it means we can reflect on the day and it is a great way to learn about our local streets and how to navigate them safely. We have completed our hands up surveys that recorded the way our students travel to and from school this term which means we are in the running for free bicycle education in Term 4. 

Everyone is encouraged to look at the ‘TravelSmart to School’ website - tsts.com.au – all our stories shared will earn our school double reward points that we can claim on prize packs and incentives for our event days.

‘Your Move’ - HBF Fitness Sessions

A reminder to all our parents and grandparents that if they have registered with ‘Your Move’ there are free HBF Fitness sessions at the Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex from June 23rd. Places are limited so register your interest on the Your Move website under the ‘events’ tab for the Tuesday or Saturday sessions!

Lost Property

A reminder too that the Lost Property box is still overflowing on a daily basis. Please remember to check the labelling of your child’s uniform items. Many are illegible. Every effort will be made to return items to students where possible. Please remind your children to check the box which is located outside of the Library.

The Molloy Cup: The ‘Squeakquel’ is coming soon!

Save this date - 5 September 2015.

This time around we hope to raise enough money to help the Molloy's purchase a much needed vehicle suitable for transporting the boys and their wheelchairs. Josh is now in a wheelchair full time and Tom's use of the wheelchair is increasing every day.

If you can help out by donating vouchers, goods or services, or would even like to sponsor the event, please contact Wendy Mitchell on 0412 823 297 or Tracey Andrioff on 0417 921 854. You can also make a cash donation by visiting our crowdfunding page www.chuffed.org/project/for-the-molloy-boys .

Tickets for the event will be available shortly!!

Local Events

Please remember to check the ‘Local Events’ at the foot of the newsletter.

School Information

P&C News

The P&C are organising a disco for Friday 19th June! Entry cost is $5, with pizza, snacks and glow products available for purchase on the night. The disco is organised by volunteers, but it will remain the responsibility of parents to supervise their children. The disco is primarily for Madeley Primary students; therefore we would discourage siblings who don’t attend the school from coming. As with previous years, there will be 2 sessions on the night:

We look forward to seeing all the kids on the night!

Entertainment Book 2015/16

These books should have either been purchased or returned to the school. If you still have the book at home, please return or pay for it as soon as possible so we can finalise this fundraiser. You can purchase this copy (and more copies), sell this copy to friends/family/colleagues, or return it to the school. Thank you again for supporting this venture – 20% from every Entertainment Membership sold goes to the school.

The Fathering Project

Our first event is coming, so save the date – Sunday 28th June

A soccer afternoon for dads, uncles and other significant male role models is planned for Sunday June 28th from 2pm to 5pm at the school oval for a kick around together. If there are enough people we might be able to have a tournament and even a prize or two. Stay around afterwards for a sausage sizzle for a gold coin donation.

Bring your best soccer skills, bring your kids, bring a mate and their kids. It’ll be a fun afternoon with all the other kids and dads, and have a great time socially.

Save the date and spread the word!

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

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 17th June at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Tania Leach
P&C Communications Officer

CAMP AUSTRALIA BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE

It’s time to book in for the Winter School Holidays at Camp Australia. We have many great excursions and club based activities you can find out about on line. For more information about the last fortnights activities and to register for Holiday Club please download the attached flyer.

The Ashdale, Madeley, Landsdale Cluster specialist dance students are preparing to enter WAKAKIRRI 2015- Australia’s Search for the Best Story! Our performance will include the dance students from Year 6 who are very excited to be taking part.

They will be participating in an unforgettable experience; by being involved in the creating, preparing and performing of our story-dance item. A story told to music using creative movement, dance and drama.

This term, the students and teachers will be looking at who and how people will be involved, the story outline and the plan for the weeks ahead before show time in Term 3.

We would love the support of parents so if you can help in any of the following ways, please contact Sherree Gull at Sherree.Gull@education.wa.edu.au In the meantime, visit the website www.wakakirri.com for more information and updates.

Perhaps you;

• Can assist with props and set making.
• Are able to arrange some catering for rehearsals and performance day.
• Have contacts for transport (students and/or props & sets to the venue on show day).
• Can help with fundraising & sponsorship.
• Could encourage your child to take part, get involved and ask how it’s going.
• Stay tuned to the website www.wakakirri.com and subscribe to Wakakirri to keep updated with the Wakakirri Story.
• Purchase tickets to the show to see your child and school perform LIVE at a professional theatre.
• Have skills you can offer the group; costume making, choreography, story ideas, make up and hair designing.

We look forward to sharing our 2015 Wakakirri Story with you!

Sherree Gull
Dance and Drama Teacher
Ashdale Secondary College