2 July 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Update

Dear families,

As the term ends, we continue to work with the impacts of COVID-19 on our community. I would like to thank all our families, for the way in which you have continued to support the ongoing education of your child during this time. On Wednesday, I was fortunate to be able to share our students’ achievements directly with each class, in lieu of the cancelled Assembly. I look forward to you also sharing your child's progress and achievement, through the Student Report that has been sent home today.

IEP planning meetings will commence again in Term 3. Please make a time to come in and meet with your child's teacher to discuss your child’s learning goals for Semester 2. When parents/carers work closely together with the school, students are more likely to be successful and we can ensure the best outcomes for our students.

Merrilee Wright has been successful in the substantive position at Malibu School. On behalf of the school community, I thank her for her leadership and the positive influence she has had on our students' since commencing at the school in 2015. I wish her well in her ongoing leadership at Malibu School. Next term, the Principal position at GPESC will be advertised permanently. Whilst this process is occurring, I will be continuing in the Principal position next term.

Enjoy a wonderful break with your children and families. Stay safe and I am looking forward to seeing all our student back for an exciting Term 3.

Kind regards,
Natasha Naylor
Principal

School Photo Day

Wednesday 21st July 2021 is School Photo Day. Please ensure that you send your child’s order form back to school with them, even if you are not ordering any photos.

Merit Awards

Congratulations to the following Merit Award winners for Term 2, 2021.

Aussie of the Month

Congratulations to the following Aussie of the Month winners for Term 2, 2021.

Kindy – ES3

This term we have been very busy in Kindy, and everyone is looking forward to a break from school. During literacy our focus letter sounds in the last few weeks have been P and I. They have listened to the story Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear, then painted pink and purple penguins, collaged pineapples and polar bears. For I we have read a book about items starting with the two sounds that I makes, then made a capital I into an insect. This week for Naidoc Day they listened to a story then painted an aboriginal artwork illustration with bright paint pens.

Playdough is used every day in Kindy, it helps to develop fine motor skills such as finger strength. Students enjoy using the letter stamps, making shapes of letters as well as rolling, cutting, poking, squeezing and cutting shapes with the playdough.

In science they investigated plant materials. The students went for a walk and picked leaves off a tree, picked up sticks and dried plant material, then put it in a basket to investigate further in class. They also smelt and touched a range of fresh fragrant leaves and herbs. Not everyone enjoyed the experience.

They continued the nature theme in Maths, by sorting dried seed pods from several different plants, and trees into groups. Recently we purchased some new double sided wooden number boards, with a board for each number to 10. One side has small hollows which they have placed pom poms into spaces using hand size plastic tweezers. The reverse side has a recessed space to count items into to match the number. Students have enjoyed using this new resource.

Students have made a lot of progress communicating using their natural voices, as well using communication devices such as the App TouchChat on iPads and paper based resources. Our toileting program continues, and we have had some students gaining independence going to the toilet. This has been very exciting and the students love getting a sticker for using the toilet.

We wish everyone a great holiday, and look forward to seeing all their smiling faces again next term.

Jan Collier and staff ES3

Pre-Primary/Year 1 - ES1

ES1 students have had an amazing time this term. We have explored the school community learning to stay in a group together and follow rules and instructions. We have visited the rainbow room, bike track during the bike program on Friday and the pirate ship and flying fox. The students have also demonstrated appropriate behaviour when traveling on the bus to and from swimming on Tuesday.

At swimming, all students have engaged in their swimming lessons and enjoyed spending time in the water, learning to duck dive and float on their backs. It would be wonderful to hear from those students that continued swimming lessons outside of school as this is a fantastic life skill to have while also beneficial to their health and fitness.

During Literacy, we focused on letter sounds and celebrated World Ocean Day by reading ‘Commotion in the Ocean’ by Giles Andreas. The students created a window display and added to it ‘C’ for crabs and ‘O’ for octopus.

We looked at parts of the body in health and created student size bodies. The students had fun lying down and striking a pose to be traced out so they could paint themselves. We have also started to use clay and natural materials to make faces when we talk about feelings and emotions in protective behaviours.

STEM in design and technology has been a focus this term. The students have constructed with boxes, Lego and last week we constructed a new shelf for the students to house their lunch boxes and belongings. We looked at the instruction guidebook and the students demonstrated listening skills when following the instructions. They learnt how to use the electric drill and helped put the shelf together as a team.

Next term, the students will visit the school Library for story sessions on Tuesday, and we will also be participating in music sessions with Mrs Meikle. We see Logan moving to ES2, who we will dearly miss in the classroom, and we welcome Hunter and his family to ES1.

Enjoy the holiday break and stay safe and we look forward to seeing you next term.

ES1 Team - Ms Williams, Miss Hubbard, Miss Hills, Mrs Chris, Mrs Heidi, Mrs Rogers, Mrs Seaton and Mr Watts

Year 1/2 - ES2

BUDDING ENGINEERS OF ES2

ES2 has been buzzing with learning and laughter this month. The students are getting to know each other and starting to build close friendships in play and learning. It is wonderful to watch and we are so very proud of our growing students.

One highlight this last month has been our HASS lessons. A focus in this subject area this term has revolved around our environment. We have created a Season tree for our classroom. The tree is designed to build our awareness and understanding of the seasons and the impact it has on us within our own environment.

As a class we collected the branches from the school grounds, we taped them together to form a tree. One of the biggest challenges we experienced was finding a way to secure the tree in a pot. Thankfully, our busy class of budding engineers quickly worked out a solution, MORE tape! Before long eight sets of little hands working together secured the tree with care, precision and approximately 14 metres of tape. We are proud to report it was a success and the Season tree stands tall and strong as a result of teamwork at its best, well done ES2!

We have also travelled to our Nature Playground within the school to collect deciduous leaves falling from trees to add to our Season tree as we enter the autumn months. Our Season Tree was looking beautiful with coloured leaves, these now falling and drying in the pot below as Autumn passes day by day. Well, that was until Monday, when we arrived at school to discover our Season Tree had grown Easter eggs over the weekend. We were very excited to see the eggs and are keeping a look out for anymore Easter eggs that may be hiding around our school.

Another highlight this term has been starting to learn about growing numbers and how different groups of objects change in size and look in groups up to 100. We set a challenge to ourselves to record all the laps we make as we ride our bikes around the school bike track over the term. It is so exciting to come and record the number of laps we have ridden after each of our Health sessions or Bike Club. Already we are well underway to meet our target of 100, some of our friends already a third of the way or more, wow!

The time has come now for us to take a little break for the Easter holidays. We will miss our ES2 friends and look forward to another term of adventure, learning, friendship and fun on our return. We wish all our ES2 friends, their families and friends a safe and happy holiday. We hope you take the time to recharge your batteries, as we will too. See you soon.

Kind regards

Mrs Makse, Mrs Kitson, Mrs Brooks, Mrs Seaton, Mrs Taylor, Mrs B2, Mrs D, Mrs Halligan and Miss Wayne.

Year 2/3 - Rm 15

We have had a very busy end to Term 2, so what an interesting way to end! Thankfully we have had some beautiful sunny winter days in between the rainy ones so the students could get outside to run around and move their bodies.

The students have enjoyed participating in the bike program. Each week they picked a bike to clean, and then ride – with helmets of course! Its gives them a chance to work on their gross motor skills as well as fitness levels, and caring for others property.

The students have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes in class. They have really enjoyed discovering the different aspects that identify the shapes from one another. They have made shapes in shaving cream, used playdough to make models, and have drawn shapes in chalk outside the class. They had a great time “drawing on the school”.

We have been painting during Art, and if you have been to the class, you will see the student’s artwork displayed. They have been experimenting with different tools, and mixing colours.

We hope that you have a great Term 2 holidays, and we will see you in the new term.

Jasmine Mbewe and the staff in Room 15.

Year 3/4 - Rm 19

Hello parents and carers,

English

Students in room 19 have been busy during English. We had a special day called ‘World Oceans Day’, on Tuesday 8th of June. The book of focus was called, Commotion in the Ocean”. Students learned about the oceans and the various sea creatures they would find there. We talked about the activities that we do at the beach and what is the best thing they like about going to the beach. We talked about how we need to take care of our beaches and oceans. We made various sea creature such as an octopus, fish and whale and made a class collage picture. We also listened to a popular story called the Rainbow fish.

PE

The students have been challenging themselves and learning new games and skills during physical education. They have been skipping, playing Hop Scotch, using the balance ball and the pedal boards. They have also been learning tricks using the hoops. These old favourites have been a great hit with the students.

STEM

StudentYour guide to driving and parking safely near schools

guidance on parking restrictions.

have had the use of the STEM equipment over the past semester. This equipment is rotated each fortnight between classes in the centre. It has been interesting to explore these activities with the students. The equipment seems to fully engage their imagination, which is wonderful to see. They have made interactive spinners with the Snap and Lock set. The Osmo has been great integrating it with Maths, Art and English. They have created shape pictures, played number games, spelling games and sketched drawings. We also had fun with the Spero creating artworks. The students used it to paint a picture. They also practised directions by steering it around a course.

Have a great winter holiday with your children and keep warm and stay safe.

Mrs Lori room & 19 staff

Year 4 - Rm 17

We have been very fortunate with the weather this term wit ten energetic students that need to get out and stretch their legs during the day. There have been many class votes to determine where we should venture to for these sensory breaks but the nature playground seem to be a winner on a lot of occasions.

The class celebrated World Ocean Day with a story and the students did some magnificent ocean scenes. Some even featured shipwrecks and skeletons. There was a great interest in the history of the titanic and researching this information on the internet.

Graphing was a focus area in math this semester and allowed the students to venture out of the class and ask their peers to complete surveys to gather data. This was then transferred to bar graphs and data interpreted. Chocolate Ice- cream was the favourite with the students.

This term we have continued to enjoy music with Mrs Meikle. The students have enjoyed creating their own music on the interactive whiteboard and watching line rider’s zip across the screen. Next semester it is time to put on our dancing shoes for dance lessons with Mrs Briggs.

The highlight of the term has been swimming lessons. The students have had a wonderful time at the Thornlie pool learning to swim. Mrs Halligan has done a wonderful effort to get us there each week and being in second group we have had time for a five minute free swim before having to get out and change back into our school clothes for the trip back to school.

Congratulation to our Letters and Sounds award winner Anthony for a wonderful effort at reading every session and completing all the tasks that have been set for him.

Wishing you all a safe and warm break and see you back in term 3.

Melissa Jenkin and Staff Year 2/3.

Year 4/5 - Rm 18

Wow, all of us in room 18 have had an amazing end to term 2. Students have worked hard all term and as a result should be truly proud of achieving many of their IEP goals.

In Letters and Sounds we have been reading daily and as a result have progressed in leaps and bounds with our reading. Many students have progressed to harder levelled readers and have been eager to practise their skills both in sentence writing and story writing. There has been a focus on placing capital letters at the start of sentences when writing and completing our sentences with full stops. Room 18 students should all be commended for their efforts and the progress they have made in this area.

For numeracy we have all been working with Australian money and browsing catalogues for items we could purchase with a given amount of money. Students have also been identifying all coins and notes and are able to order them from highest to lowest value with minimal prompting. All students have been working on both a mix of subtraction and addition sums and have been utilising many materials to support this such as number lines, counters and even our own fingers. Once again there has been notable improvements with the independence of students to attend to math’s tasks and achievement in this area has been wonderful to see. Students particularly enjoy playing Friday maths games such as Monopoly Junior, Snakes and Ladders and a game called Sorry which all involve the application of addition and subtraction and help to promote social skills and interaction.

Due to room 18 having an abundance of lemons being donated to the class – Mrs G decided we would all make lemonade using a Thermomix. The students were all really excited to see how home-made lemonade is made and all students requested seconds as the lemonade was super refreshing after a hard school day’s work.

With so much positive behaviour being supported and displayed in the classroom, Room 18 were rewarded with another excursion to the Armadale Library. The excursions promoted community access skills and all of the students displayed exceptional behaviour when representing our school in public. Mrs G had prepared scavenger book hunts in the library and all the students enjoyed using the computers to search for the books and then locating them on the shelf. Armadale librarians let us eat our recess and read our books in the children’s corner which consisted of bean bags and many large books which we enjoyed reading. Students also had some Subway snacks and once again displayed wonderful manners and behaviour throughout. All students and staff should give themselves a pat on the back for making this excursion such an enjoyable occasion.

Finally, we would like to wish all our students and their families a safe and fun-filled holidays. After an amazing 11 week term it is definitely much deserved and we hope you all enjoy the downtime in preparation for term 3.

We look forward to seeing you all back and ready to learn in room 18.

Mrs G and Rm18 staff.

Year 6 - Rm 16

We have had a busy term in Room 16. Everyone has been working hard and achieving their goals. We recently participated in the World Oceans Day activity, listening to a story about our oceans and then completing an art activity. The students used lots of imagination and creativity to create their own ocean pictures.

In Maths, we have been looking at collecting votes and presenting the data in a tally. The students have enjoyed visiting different classes to collect votes on which colour playdough they would like. We have also been looking at patterns and using the interactive whiteboard to complete them.

I am pleased to see the development of reading in our class this term, using our decodable readers in letters and sounds. Students are applying their knowledge of sounds to sound out tricky words. It is great to see students completing their home readers.

Over the term, the students have enjoyed participating in music and dance lessons. Our class have thoroughly enjoyed participating in these lessons and learning new skills. In music, students have particularly enjoyed using the virtual piano to play different tunes. Our dance lessons have seen us explore different styles of dance across the world. Thank you to Mrs Briggs and Ms Meikle for providing fun and engaging lessons this term.

I look forward to seeing what the next semester brings our class. We hope you have a safe and fun holidays.

Mrs Kaukau and room 16 staff

Sport

During Physical Education this term, classes have been continuing to participate in activities that have helped to develop and strengthen the students’ gross motor and fundamental movement skills through a range of different games and movements. Some adapted games we have played this term have been; What’s the time Mr Wolf, Pokémon Tag, Wana (Traditional Aboriginal ball game), Pirate’s Treasure, Dodgeball, Simon Says, Big Fitness Ball Soccer, Football and Bean Bag Toss.

Big Fitness Ball Soccer has been a huge hit with the kids as the ball hardly fits in the goals so there are a lot of laughs mixed with determination to try and score a goal. It is a great game to build up strength in student’s legs when they are kicking the ball and is also much easier for students to kick with it being a much larger ball. Staff also have fun playing this game and are usually the ones who get easily distracted as goalies which allows the students to score. Lots of fun all-round and will be a game we will continue throughout the year.

During the colder and wetter days, sport lessons have been conducted inside the classroom or room 16a where a mini obstacle course has been set up and students engage in the equipment available. This includes practising rolls on crash mats and doing activities such as hopping where the students roll two sport’s dice to see how many of each activity they need to do. Hopefully, we never roll another 12 combined with push-ups again. That was tough!

The students have really enjoyed these adjustments to make common sport games based around themes which they enjoy such as Pokémon. Participation and enthusiasm has increased and as a result more skills have been developed. These skills will be useful heading into next term where we will begin to practise events for the sport’s carnival and learn some more team building games such as tunnel-ball, relay race, tee-ball and soccer.

All students have made noticeable progress with their movement skills and it will be really exciting to see further progression of these skills throughout next semester.

I hope everyone enjoys the school break and I look forward to seeing you all next term.

Samantha Ewen-Hinson

Science

Science Term Two – Chemical Science

We have come to the end of another fun and engaging term of Science learning. Students have continued to explore mixtures and how they can be changed, honing their observational skills along the way. Our investigations have been designed to provide opportunities to broaden the range of sensations they are willing to engage.

Leading into NAIDOC celebrations, we investigated made and natural materials and how particular material properties can fit a purpose, e.g., strength, flexibility, durability. Students learnt about how Aboriginal peoples used the raw materials in their surroundings to make tools to meet their needs.

Then to finish off the term, we had a go at chromatography using texta and paper towel and Rooms 18 and 19 did the Mentos and Coke experiment.

Next term, we will be exploring Earth and Space Science. The students and I look forward to telling you about our adventures as we go “to infinity and beyond! “ to quote famous intergalactic explorer Buzz Lightyear.

Mrs Mold – Science Specialist/DOTT teacher

Science Award

Term Two’s award goes to…

Madison Butler - She has displayed tremendous growth in her confidence and her enthusiasm for this learning area. Madison always listens to instructions carefully and strives to do her best. She is willing to share her observation with others and ask questions to further her understanding during investigations. Congratulations on your fabulous work this term Madison.

Web Links for Science at-home learning over the holiday

Chromatography Facts for Kids (kiddle. co)
8 Hands-On Experiments to Teach Kids About Chemical Reactions - Owlcation
8 Simple Chemistry Experiments That Your Kids Can Do at Home | 3P Learning
Chemistry for Kids - Fun Experiments, Free Games, Cool Projects, Science Online (sciencekids.co.nz)

Messages from the Front Office

Contribution Payments

Thank you to those who have made payment for this year’s contributions. The funds raised support our cooking and gardening programs which provide the children with authentic garden growing, harvesting, food preparation, cooking and eating activities. We appreciate your support of these valuable life-skill learning programs.

Information for families

You’re Invited!

APM Communities invites you to Gwynne Park ESC to ask any questions you may have about the NDIS on 27th July 2021, 12.30pm -2.30pm. Please see attached flyer for further information.

Apply to Enrol

2022 applications for enrolment in a public school for Kindergarten, Pre-primary and Year 7 are closing 23 July 2021. Please refer to the attached flyer for further information or contact the school.

Byford Secondary College

Year 7 Enrolments for Byford Secondary College 2022 are now due! Please refer to the attached flyer for further information.

Better Health Program

The WA Department of Health is funding the Better Health Program in the Perth metropolitan region. The ten-week program is available to families both face-to-face and online We are currently accepting registrations.

What is the Better Health Program?

The Better Health Program is a free, healthy lifestyle program for families. The program is evidence-based and is developed and delivered by qualified health professionals to support families with making sustainable health changes. Children (and their families) are eligible to participate in the program if they are:

• Aged 7-13 years
• Above a healthy weight

In Term 3 Face-to-face program locations include:

• Herb Graham Recreation Centre Mirrabooka, Tuesdays commencing 20th of July 2021
• George Burnett Leisure Centre Karawara, Wednesdays commencing 21st of July 2021
• Rebound Arena Port Kennedy, Thursdays commencing 22nd of July 2021

Note: Additional locations to be announced shortly!

For those unable to attend a face-to-face program, the online program includes:

• Weekly interactive modules
• Weekly phone coaching support with a health professional
• Lots of freebies (including a garmin fitness tracker and other great resources)
• Prizes

Benefits to families:

• Learn about healthy habits in a fun and engaging way
• Support and resources to establish healthy habits
• Flexible program delivery - Face-to-face in the community or online

Please refer to the attached flyer for further details.

North Metropolitan TAFE

Looking for work or a career change?
Can you see yourself working in a school?
Need help to find work in the coronavirus craziness?

Schools and other organisations are regularly hiring people for the following roles:

• Gardener, cleaner, administration, management, canteen, education assistants and many other roles.

Starting in July 2021, North Metropolitan TAFE are running a one-semester course on the skills required to be a successful candidate for employment in a school or elsewhere. The course aids in preparation for entry into gardening, cleaning, administration, management, education assistant and any other types of work.

We have had huge success supporting people to find work and the chances of gaining employment are strong. This course is suitable for existing gardeners, cleaners, administrators etc., and people looking to change career or people looking for a return to work.

The course includes:

• Training in skills specific to the role you are interested in e.g. IT skills
• Work experience in a school or other organisation
• Help and support to find work
• Help accessing further training as required e.g. Certificate III in Education Support
• Development of your job application cover letter, resume and help with selection criteria

Entry requirements:

• 18+
• Strong work ethic
• Good oral and written communication
• Must be able to read procedures, safety sheets and chemical bottles
• Must be able to send and receive emails
• Successful completion of an entry interview
• Working With Children Check and a Department of Education Clearance

Course details:

• Dates - Starts Wed 21st of July and finishes Thu 9th of Dec 2021 (20 weeks)
• Days - 3 days per week, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9:15 until 2:45
• Cost - Approximately $170 (subject to change) total course fee for full 20 weeks
• Location - North Metro TAFE Leederville and on work experience
• Qualification - GATE (Gaining Access to Training and Employment) Certificate I

If you would be interested in this course then please email:

Trudy Smith
trudy.smith@nmtafe.wa.edu.au

Disclaimer: North Metropolitan TAFE does not guarantee work after completing this course. This course supports you to find work. The course is run by North Metropolitan TAFE (RTO code: 52786) and is not endorsed by any authority or government department other than North Metropolitan TAFE.