Dear Parents, Guardians and Community Members
Today a team of students from Years 4-6 competed in the Interschool Swimming Carnival, Division A. Students demonstrated great sportsmanship and achieved their best for our school. We placed third overall. Congratulations to Albany Primary School for winning the carnival. Thank you to Mr McFarlane, Mrs Tierney, Mrs Henrickson, and Mr Richardson for supporting the students throughout the day.
Our school was fortunate to have a special visitor tour our school today. The Honourable Mark McGowan MLA, Premier of Western Australia, visited our school to see the great learning programs our students do. This included visiting the Year 4/5 class who were engaged in their Maths daily review, touring through our refurbished library and talking with our student leaders Jake Elliot and Tessa Hartley. Mr McGowan also visited our nature play area which was completed with a grant through the P&C from the Labour Party election promise last election. This grant allowed us to complete the nature play area, providing a range of balancing and climbing opportunities for students. Thank you to our student leaders who represented our school positively throughout this visit.
As you may be aware there has been some hype surrounding the Prime Hydration Drink which arrived in supermarkets recently. As the packaging clearly states the drink is not suitable for children under the age of 15 years, and the school has determined, in line with our Healthy Foods and Drink policy, this drink and other energy drinks should not be consumed by students during the school day. We ask parents to please not send these drinks to school. If students bring these to school, they will be confiscated and returned at the end of the day. Water is the best source of hydration for children and students are encouraged to drink water throughout the day. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Our school was a sea of orange on Harmony Day. Classes across the school participated in a range of activities to celebrate ‘everyone belongs’ and to learn about the many different cultures and backgrounds we all come from. The P&C sold orange items for recess and the students loved having the opportunity to purchase some special treats on this day. Thank you to the P&C and other parent volunteers who supported this day.
Next term we will have a number of changes to staffing across the school. Mr Max Kosovich, our Indonesian Teacher, will be taking long service leave for the remainder of the year and Mrs Gaea Gandhi will be taking over the teaching of Indonesian (Yr 3-6) and computer skills (Yr 1-2). We wish Mr Kosovich a great holiday break. Mrs Cailtin Wyatt will be joining our school and will be teaching in Room 45 on Thursdays and in Room 26 on Wednesdays. We welcome Mrs Wyatt to our school.
Despite the drizzly weather, students and their families took to the paths on their wheels for Ride2School Day last week. It was fantastic to see so many students and parents riding to school and our bike rack full! Thank you to the P&C for providing a yummy breakfast and for students and families for engaging positively with this initiative.
In Volume 3 newsletter we asked for nominations for our School Board. We had two parent nominations and I would like to warmly welcome Mr Matt Stenhouse and Mrs Meg Hartley to the Board. This year our School Board consists of the following parents and staff representatives:
Parents: Lee Stonell (School Board Chair), Lisa Bryan, Sam Levingston, Sarah Young, Kirsten Yates, Kellie Powell, Antionette Hayden, Matt Stenhouse, Meg Hartley, Staff: Belinda Smith, Carol Walsh, Raelene Scott, Robin Marwick, Gemma Larham. We thank these people for the time and commitment they put into our school governance.
Notes went home with students on Thursday regarding the P&C Easter Raffle. Tickets are due back by Wednesday 9am and winners will be drawn at a special mini-assembly at 11am on Wednesday 5 April. If you would like more tickets, please see the front office. Thank you to all families and staff who donated to the raffle we appreciate your support and generosity. Good luck to all entries!!
We will have a special ANZAC assembly on Thursday 6 April at 9am in the hall to commemorate ANZAC Day which falls on the 25 April. ANZAC Day is national day of commemoration for Australia and New Zealand for recognition of the role of their armed forces. We ask all students to bring a flower to school on Thursday 6 April. These flowers will laid at our flagpole after the assembly to make a whole school wreath as a sign of respect for those who have served and died for our country . The Choir will be singing at this special assembly, and it will be hosted by our student councillors. Parents are welcome to attend.
Our school will be marching in the City of Albany RSL ANZAC service on Tuesday 25 April. If your child/ren wish to be part of this march, please return the note sent home last week, by Wednesday 5 April. Student will meet on Grey St East at 9:30am on this day, the with march commencing at 10am. Students attending this march and service must be in school uniform.
Term 2 will commence for student on Wednesday 26 April. Monday is a School Development Day for staff to attend professional learning and Tuesday is the ANZAC public holiday. I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday break and look forward to seeing students and their families next term.
Kind regards
Gemma Larham – Principal