Kaya!

Welcome back and what a way to start Semester 2! Students are happy and already back to working hard and enjoying reconnecting with their friends and teachers. If you have had a change of circumstance, whether it be a change of address, a new diagnosis for your child or something else has changed, please speak with your classroom teacher or a member of the Administration team.

As you will be well aware, COVID is once again becoming a leading topic in conversation. We seemed to have reached a point of returning to ‘business as usual’ but are now revisiting contingency plans for a situation where we might have a number of students and staff impacted by COVID. To prevent and slow the potential reinfection/spread of COVID, we ask that parents please consider wearing a mask when on site and avoid entering school if you are unwell.

Cold and Flu season is upon us and we are seeing some extreme cases already, that are highly contagious. We are heavily invested in keeping our staff and students healthy and remind you to keep your child home if they have any symptoms of a cold/flu (e.g. runny/blocked nose, headaches, body aches, high temperature, coughing/sneezing, fatigue or similar).

We are expecting to receive another round of RATs that are being distributed by the Department of Education. Each child will have an allocation of 20 RATs available for collection by a parent/nominated adult. We will advise you when these are available but if you require any in the meantime, please contact the office and we will arrange some for you.

Upcoming important dates:

Receiving a call from the school in the middle of your day can result in a heightened sense of dread for some parents and we understand this. Although it is a common saying that ‘No news is good news’, it does not necessarily mean it is going to be bad news if we do call. Often we have a question we need to ask or some information we need from you, in order to best meet the needs of your child throughout the day. It is very important that we have current contact details for you and if you are unavailable at times, the details of a nominated person we can contact in your place.

Please continue to read and respond to SeeSaw messages from your child’s teacher and use this to directly communicate when your child is unwell, presenting new behaviours/interests, is absent, confirm appointments (e.g. IEP meetings) and the like.

Your child’s teacher will do their best to answer messages/emails and return phone calls between 8:00am and 4:00pm, between teaching and planning requirements.

Parent Morning Tea

Our next morning tea will be held in the staffroom on Friday 26 August at 9am. There will be a presentation by Brendan Everett about the Triple P Positive Parenting Program, with an emphasis on parenting children with disabilities of all ages. I encourage you to attend the morning tea and stay for the discussion. Brendan Everett is a registered School Psychologist with a background in education support and supporting positive behaviour in young people. Please RSVP to Kirsty.harris@education.wa.edu.au for catering purposes.

Parent Teacher Interviews (IEP Meetings) Reminder

Parents will have an opportunity on Thursday 18 August to attend a parent teacher interview (IEP meeting) to discuss individual education goals identified for your child, for Semester Two. In line with Joondalup Primary School and endorsed by the Department of Education and the Joondalup ESC School Board, we will be suspending lessons from 11.45am, to allow teachers to meet with parents. Interviews will run from 12.00 through to the end of the day.

Our intention is for these meetings to be face to face but are also prepared to hold phone meetings depending on the COVID advice received from the Department closer to the time. If you would like to request a phone meeting instead of a face to face meeting, please contact your child’s teacher. Your child will still need to be collected by 11:45 for teachers to be available to call parents for meetings.

If there are extenuating circumstances as to why you are unable to make arrangements for your child’s care at 11:45 am, please contact a member of the Administration team to discuss.

NAIDOC Week Community Picnic

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our NAIDOC Week Community Picnic at the end of last term.  It was wonderful to see so many families make time to enjoy lunch together and then do some activities.

Thank you to Chzantelle who gave the Acknowledgement of Country and to Mrs Bev Shaw, AIEO, for helping Chzantelle on the day and for her efforts to make NAIDOC Week, great.

Thank you also to the canteen team who put together many, many picky boxes which were quickly eaten.

School Uniforms

We are often on the look out for second-hand uniforms to support students and families. We are especially interested in shorts and pants as we often use these to change students when required. Our previous stocks of shorts and pants has now been depleted and we are desperately seeking more. If you are in a position to offer us your second hand items as your child outgrows them, we would be very grateful if they could be dropped in to the front office.

Improvements to School Grounds

We have been very excited to see the progression of our new Kindy playground which is nearing completion. The slide has been delayed but the rest is looking fantastic and certainly got the interest of the children! Additional recent work around the school that has been or is nearing completion includes painting and benches between the Kindy and Junior playgrounds, verandah and walkway connecting Room 35 demountable to the Arts block and a walkway over the ramp between D and E blocks. As we continually look for ways to improve the facilities for students, there are a number of other projects being planned to commence by the end of Term 3, including the refurbishment of the Sensory Garden outside B Block.

Kind regards,

Anna Eason

Principal