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Talking of new, our head girl and head boy, Melody and Oscar, have made an excellent start to their new role. Their first 2 weeks have been spent organising announcements over the PA and helping their Year 6 peers organise sports equipment at lunchtime. They will soon be joined in their work by a team of student councillors. Elections have taken place with potential candidates presenting speeches to students in year 3-6. All voters have cast their votes and 8 new councillors for the year (4 for each semester) will be announced in Line Up on Monday morning. Although we can only appoint 8, all would-be councillors should be incredibly proud of themselves. Each individual prepared a well thought out and persuasive speech which they delivered calmly and confidently – a daunting task in front of such a big audience. Those who haven’t been successful should remember that there are more leadership roles to be appointed, such as Faction Captains, Peer Mediators, Library and Environment Garden Monitors. In the meantime, we will wait with bated breath to hear who our new student councillors are on Monday.
You will have noticed a couple of new but familiar names added to our staff profile this year. I would like to welcome back Miss Jodie Embling, who is teaching Y3/4 in Room 5 and Mrs Rachael Edwards, who is teaching music in Term 1 while Mrs Ameduri is on leave. Our students and parents have already given them both a warm welcome All staff, new and existing, are looking forward to working with you this year to create the best school for our students. Remember that if you ever have a concern or worry, pop into the office and have a chat or visit your child’s teacher. You are always welcome.
In the meantime, have a great weekend.
Caroline Booth
Principal
Thursday, 27 February | Cybersafety Parent meeting, 5pm |
Monday, 2 March | Labour Day, Public Holiday |
Friday, 6 March | Years 4 to 6 Faction Swimming Carnival, Craigie Leisure Centre |
Thursday, 12 March | Assembly - Room 12 |
Friday, 20 March | Pre Primary to Year 6, Colour Explosion Fundraiser |
Wednesday, 25 March | Parents Eve, 3-5pm |
Thursday, 26 March | School Photo day |
Parents Eve, 5-7pm | |
Thursday, 2 April | Harmony Day |
Assembly - Room 5 | |
Buddy Lunch, 12pm | |
Friday, 3 April | Pre Primary to Year 6, Singh Sisters Incursion, 1:30pm |
Thursday, 9 April | ANZAC Ceremony |
Last day of Term 1 | |
Friday, 10 April | Good Friday, Public Holiday |
Term Dates for 2020
2020 First Semester |
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Term 1 |
Monday 3 February – Thurdsday 9 April |
Students Commence |
Monday 3 February |
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Monday 2 March – Labour Day, public Holiday |
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Friday 10 April - Good Friday, public Holiday |
Term 2 |
Monday 27 April – Friday 3 July |
Students Commence |
Wednesday 29 April |
Please do not merge with the line above |
Monday 27 April – ANZAC Day, public Holiday |
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Tuesday 28 April - Pupil Free day |
Monday 3 June – WA Day, Public Holiday |
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2020 Second Semester |
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Term 3 |
Monday 20 July – Friday 25 September |
Students Commence |
Tuesday 21 July |
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Monday 20 July - Pupil Free day |
Term 4 |
Monday 12 October – Thursday 18 December |
Students Commence |
Tuesday 13 October |
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Monday 12 October – Pupil Free Day |
Cyber Safety Parent Information Meeting
Mullaloo Heights will be hosting a ThinkUKnow presentation on Thursday 27th February at 5pm. All parents and carers are encouraged to attend.
ThinkUKnow Australia is a cyber safety education program that educates parents, carers and teachers about how people are using technology, the challenges they may face online and how to help them overcome these in a safe and ethical way.
ThinkUKnow Australia is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.
The presentation will be delivered by a local law enforcement member and an industry volunteer. The presentation covers issues relating to children and young peoples’ privacy and security online, their relationships with other users and their online reputation. It provides insight into the devices young people are using, as well as the popular websites, apps and social networking sites they’re accessing.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology. If you plan to attend this meeting please RSVP to Sharmian.Moult@education.wa.edu.au by Monday 24th February.
For more information, you can visit
or contact Caroline Booth, school principal, at Caroline.Booth@education.wa.edu.au .
We are currently seeking nominations from parents to join our school board. The School Board plays a major role setting the school’s long-term future and maintaining an oversight of its operations. Below is an overview of what this may entail:
Boards take part in:
• Establishing and reviewing the school’s objectives and general policy directions
• Planning of financial arrangement to fund those directions
• Evaluation of school’s performance in achieving these
• Formulating codes of conduct for students at school
Boards determine:
• In consultation with students, parents and staff a dress code for students when attending school
Boards promote:
• The school in the local community
Boards do not:
• Intervene in the educational instruction of students
• Manage the day to day running of the school (for example, managing staff or assigning students to class)
• Intervene in the management of a school fund
• Represent any specific interest groups or dominate the agenda by special interests
If you are interested in joining our Board, please email an expression of interest to Caroline.Booth@education.wa.edu.au by Friday 21st February. I also encourage you to have a chat with our Board Chair, Kelli Pickford, in order to gain an accurate picture of what being a member of the Board entails. Please let me know if you require her contact details. If the number of nominees exceeds the number of vacant positions, we will run an election in which the parent body vote for their preferred representatives. Once all nominations are in, I will let you know whether this is required.
There were no complaints from our students, regardless of age or newness, on their return to school last week. They have embraced the challenges set by their new teachers and knuckled down to hard work with a smile on their faces. Enjoy these pictures of our youngest students who have wholeheartedly embraced their first fortnight in Kindy and Pre-primary.
Last year, an outstanding number of students achieved their 100 Club Badge for reading and Gold badge for Mathletics. These homework programs will continue this year and it is great to see how motivated our students already are: Bryce, Anna and Ruben from year 5 & 6 have already reached the first milestone for Literacy Pro - see the photo below. Please support your child in this endeavour by encouraging them to complete their home reading or Literacy Pro tasks and Mathletics. Talk to your child’s teacher to find out how best to do this.
Last year our school began its journey toward becoming a Waste Wise school and 2020 will hopefully see us achieve it. We started some great recycling initiatives and are hoping to build on these over the coming year.
Greenbatch bins are located in each of the teaching blocks and are to be used for recycling any number 1 or 2 plastics (you can find this number inside the little triangle made of arrows on the bottom of the container - they generally are juice and milk bottles, strawberry and tomato punnets and some beauty product bottles) as well as aluminium cans. Last year our school collected 6 ginormous bags of these plastics which were collected at the end of Term 4 and taken to the Greenbatch factory to be turned into 3D printer filament. I'd like to offer a huge thank you to all those who utilised the bins and saved a lot of plastic ending up in landfill.
Late last year we also introduced a collection bin for writing implements. All writing instruments (except for wooden pencils, crayons and chalk) are accepted. This includes any brand of pen, felt tip, highlighter, marker, correction fluid pot (must be empty), correction tape, mechanical pencil and eraser pen regardless of their composition. Please note that we do not accept glue sticks, erasers, rulers or other cutting objects that could disturb the recycling process. Please be careful not to include any of those items. This bin, when full, will be sent to Terracycle for recycling.
I am looking forward to a great year of reducing our waste and educating our school community - if you wish to be involved in the Waste Wise program, please contact Sarah Zuchetti at sarah.zuchetti@edeucation.wa.edu.au
Rangers Parking and Community Safety – Safety around Schools – 40km ZONE
Vehicles which park contrary to parking signage around schools are a major hazard and impact on the safety of children, pedestrians and other road users in these areas. It is imperative that drivers are aware of, and park in accordance with, the parking conditions which apply near schools.
As part of the City’s continuing effort to provide a safer environment for everyone City of Joondalup Officers conduct patrols of school parking in the mornings and afternoons throughout the school term.
As part of this initiative Officers use patrol vehicles, which have been fitted with Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras, to capture digital images of vehicles which are parked contrary to parking requirements near schools. Any infringement notices, issued as part of these patrols, will be sent via mail to the registered owner of the vehicle.
Please see the link below for a copy of the City’s School Parking brochure which provides additional information in relation to parking near schools. This is a reminder for parents and caregivers of their responsibility in ensuring that they park correctly near schools.
Mobile Phones & Smart Watches
A reminder that mobile phones and ipods etc, need to be signed into the front office at the commencement of each school day. These are stored away for the day and students come back at the end of the day to collect them. Students wearing smart watches must ensure that it is on 'areoplane mode' while they are at school.
Communication to or from parents or carers, during school time, regarding any issues relating to students is the responsibility of the school and will be managed by the school. Parents who need to contact their children during the school day can contact our school on 6206 2100.
Mobile phones/ Smart watches can be effective means of communication between parents and their children before and after school hours. However, during school time, they are a distraction to students and have the capacity to negatively impact on the learning environment and the safety and well-being of students. Please view our school policy for additional information.
Schoolzine App. (SZapp)
Please see below the instructions on how to install the SZapp, which is a user friendly app for parents.
Install now and start using the app to notify us of your childs absence, access newsletters and more.
Use of Staff Car Park
In the interest of safety, parents and students are NOT permitted to access the school through the staff car park on Charonia Road before or after school. Our staff car park is out of bounds to all pedestrian and motor traffic other than staff themselves. The staff car park is not to be used for dropping off or picking up your children.
There are two pedestrian paths/access points either side of the staff car park on Charonia Road to facilitate safe entry to our school. The staff car park in Charonia Road is our Emergency Access point also. This must be free to allow ambulance, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles entry at all times. Please do not block access to the bitumen area.
Voluntary Contributions
Thank you to all who have paid their child’s contribution for 2020. Monies collected through this scheme enhance the learning program at MHPS. If you have overlooked payment, please come in and see us at the front office or alternatively, payment can be made via direct deposit into the school bank account.
Bank Account details for MHPS.
For your convenience to make direct deposits:
Mullaloo Heights PS (MHPS)
BSB: 066 040
A/C No.: 19903178
Please include your child’s name as reference.
Eftpos facilities at MHPS.
We have Eftpos facilities available, accepting Visa and Master Card. Please see the front office to make payments.
Crunch & Sip
Our school is a Crunch and Sip School. All students are encouraged to have a water bottle in their classroom, every day: not juice or cordial. Students are also encouraged to bring in a small container of chopped fresh fruit and/or vegetables. Your child is encouraged to participate in Crunch and Sip, but this is not compulsory and your child may choose to only eat at recess and lunch time. If you have any concerns, please speak with your child’s teacher.
Sun Smart
Our school is a Sun Smart School. We encourage all students to wear our school bucket hat. Should a student forget their hat or choose not to wear it, they will be required to play in the covered assembly area. Students are encouraged to put on 30+ broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen before leaving for school or they can apply the sunscreen at school. Sun screen is available in every classroom.
Student Health Form 2020 (Excursions)
A hard copy of the 2020 Health Form for Excursions has been sent home with students. Could parents/ guardians please complete these forms and return to the Front Office by Friday, 28 February 2020.
Parent/ Guardian Contact details
If you have changed any of the following details, could you please notify the school, as soon as possible;
- Residential address
- Contact numbers – home, mobile
- Emergency contacts
- Email address
Medical updates
If there has been any change in your child’s health, that you may feel the school needs to know, for the safety of your child, for example; If your child has an anaphylactic reaction to anything, an allergic reaction or asthma, please notify our school in writing so that we can update our medical records.
Welcome to a new school year! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you’re having a great start to school.
This term I am looking forward to continuing some past programs and running new ones. I will be training some new peer mediators for this semester, as well as running a mentoring program where some mentors will come in and run activities and games with the students, and discuss important topics on self-esteem, confidence, resilience, goal setting and friendships.
Bullying No Way! Day is an important event at our school and is coming up in a few weeks. I will be organising some activities in the classes, as well as a guest speaker for the students- we will keep you posted.
Please see the following article on ‘Relationships with school-age children: ideas and tips’ by the Raising Children Network, suitable for parents of children 5-8 years old.
Warm, stable and responsive relationships are fundamental to children’s development and wellbeing. Your child will become more independent when he starts school, but family relationships are still the biggest influence on his development. That’s because your child’s relationship with you helps him feel secure and gives him confidence. This security and confidence is important as your child meets new children, tries new things and takes on new responsibilities when he’s ready.
Jess Smith
Chaplain