10 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message

What a great start to the long weekend we had last week, with our inaugural Swimming Carnival. Those of you who managed to attend will agree the day was an overwhelming success and the perfect antidote to the hot weather. It was wonderful to see so many of our student overcome nerves and enthusiastically take part in the many races organised. Sportsmanship was definitely the order of the day with students congratulating one another for successes and offering support for disappointments. Not that the latter were dwelled upon for too long; most students were too busy enjoying the opportunity for a refreshing dip. They all finished the day with rather weary smiles on their faces and I suspect there were many early nights sought on Friday evening, as a result of the day’s fun. I’d like to thank Di Thorby for organising this new event and applying her incredible organisational skills to make it such a great day. I also would like to extend thanks to all the parents who volunteered, working throughout the day to perform numerous tasks. Your help was another example of the school community working together to make a memorable experience for our students. Hopefully, you enjoyed yourselves and are keen to offer your skills again next year.

At our recent P&C meeting, a request was made to explain the decision to organise split classes in Year 3-6 this year. At Mullaloo Heights, we endeavour to listen to parent feedback and, at the very least, provide an explanation for our actions. With this in mind, I would like to outline the many reasons behind this year’s organisation of classes.

• Our first aim is to create balanced classes, with social, behavioural and learning issues evenly spread across rooms. Input regarding these issues comes from classroom teachers, as well as parents - see next point.
• During Term 4, many parents make requests for classroom placements based on the educational, social and/or emotional needs of their children. This information is used when compiling classes and has an influence on whether we can make one straight class of each year group or whether there is a need to spread students across a number of split classes.
• We are currently building a culture of collaboration between teachers at Mullaloo Heights. Teachers work in phase teams to plan units of work for their students, cross set for particular subjects and ensure consistency in expectations and standards. The current organisation of phase teams in Y3&4 and Y5&6 allows teachers to collaborate and support one another in the implementation of new whole school initiatives, of which there have been many recently.
• Having a child placed in the only split class in a phase group is unpopular with parents. For example, in the following class structure, Y3, Y3&4 and Y4, most people would not want their child to be placed in the split Y3/4. This assertion is supported by numerous written requests from parents regarding class placement each year.
• Most importantly, split classes promote differentiation. Teachers must teach to the individual child’s needs rather teaching to the middle with a ‘one size fits all’ program directed at a particular year group. In split classes, teachers ascertain the student’s level of skill and begin teaching at this point, regardless of their age.
• One of the other benefits is that split classes allow older students to develop leadership skills, while younger students can use the older students as role models.

The organisation of split or straight classes is something we evaluate every year and the final decision is always made with the best interests of the students in mind. If you have any other queries or concerns regarding split classes, I am more than happy to discuss them with you. In the meantime, have a great weekend.

Caroline Booth
Principal

Dates to remember

Harmony Week - What’s happening?

Make sure you save the date for Harmony Week (Monday 20th - Friday 24th March). There’s going to be a lot happening at Mullaloo Heights. Here is a taste of some of the events:

• Tuesday 21st March – Performance by MANA The Spirit of Polynesia

This includes students from PP-Year 6 and will take place in the Undercover Area at 1:45pm.The cost is $3.00 per student and should be returned to school by Friday 17th March. A letter giving more information has already been sent to families. Check your child’s school bag and your email.

• Art Hanging

Each student will contribute to a large banner based on the theme, ‘Everyone Belongs’. These will be hung in the Undercover Area.

• School Scavenger Hunt

A Harmony Day scavenger hunt, comprising of items that represent multicultural Australia, will be organised around school. Students will be provided with a map and challenged to them to find the items and places represented.

• Writing Competition

Each class will take part in a writing competition. They will write poems based upon the idea that ‘Everyone Belongs’. Prizes will be awarded to outstanding writers.

• Whole School Dress Up – Friday 24th March

Students are asked to come to school dressed in bright rainbow colours.

• Lapathon - Friday 24th March

This will take place at 9:00am on the Oval. All students should wear bright rainbow colours.

• Whole School Assembly - Friday 24th March (10:00am)

Prizes for our writing competition will be awarded directly after the Lapathon in the Undercover Area. This will start at approximately 10:00am.

• Whole School Lunch - Friday 24th March 12:00pm

Please donate a small plate of food to this whole school picnic – 1 per family. To promote cultural awareness, we ask you to donate your favourite food or snack from a different country. All are welcome.

If you need additional information, please talk to your child’s teacher. It’s going to be a great week!

We’re off to Camp!

Our Year 6 students were full of excitement as they boarded the bus bound for Fairbridge Village earlier this week. They are due back at the end of today, but in the meantime are having a great time. Look out for the photos in the next newsletter.

Swimming Carnival

We all had a great time at the Swimming carnival last Friday, as you can see from our huge grins. If you had the misfortune to miss out, you can at least enjoy the photos.

Out and About at Mullaloo Heights!

This week, the roving camera paid a visit to Year 1 to see what was happening. We were very impressed. We started in Room 8 where a sound could not be heard. This was because the students were far too busy to talk. They were concentrating on writing imaginative stories using some very complicated story maps - well complicated to our eyes, anyway. After a good read, we made our way into Room 7 where the children were working on their number bonds. As you can see from the pictures, numeracy and literacy skills are pretty slick in Year 1. We’ll certainly be paying them another visit sometime soon.

Cybersafety

As the new school year begins, our class teachers are ensuring students are well versed on cybersafety. Many of you will have viewed our school online agreement which sets out the rules and expectations for working online. Lessons have already started about the risks attached to social media and online activity and also how to treat others with respect and care when using these resources, both in school and out. We take cybersaftey very seriously at school and use a number of resources to explicitly teach key behaviours to apply whenever they go online. These include:

• Keeping personal details private – using a nickname rather than their real name and asking parents before giving out their name, address or phone number
• Not to share username or passwords
• To always think before posting something on social media, as once posted, messages can be difficult to remove
• Not to post images or messages that they would not want others to know about or that they would not say directly to the person
• Being respectful of others content, e.g., not to post photos without the owner’s permission
• The possible negative consequences of publishing identifying information, including images of themselves or others

We use age-appropriate teaching tools, from Kindy to Year 6, to reinforce these messages, many of which can be located on the Department of Education esafety website. This website also has excellent advice and resources for parents who are concerned about the dangers associated with online activity and social media in particular. Please investigate the following link to find out how you can support your children when they are working online. This will help to reinforce the message we are giving as a school.

Parent Information

Crunch & Sip

P&C News

Election Day Sausage Sizzle

We have a fundraiser 'sausage sizzle' outside the undercover area tomorrow, Saturday, 11 March, to take advantage of passing trade for the local election!

We are still desperately in need of some willing helpers to assist with set up, cooking and serving. If any mums and dads can spare an hour or so tomorrow morning, please contact Chris McCafferty on 0403 447773 and we can set up a roster to suit.

Otherwise, please at least come on down to the school for a tasty morsel - egg and bacon roll or snag!

A huge "thank you" to 'Mullaloo Bakers Delight', for supplying all the rolls and buns for the sausage sizzle at a very generous discount, and once again, for their very kind 'Free Block a Day' that is currently being enjoyed by our year 1 kids and their families.

AGM - 29th March 2017 at 6.30pm.

The P&C annual general meeting (AGM) is on Wednesday, 29 March 2017, at 6.30pm in the staff room.

It would be really lovely to see some new faces supporting our wonderful 'Parents and Citizens Association'.

Please be assured, there is absolutely no pressure to commit yourself in any way.

There will be some drinks and nibbles available, and it is a great opportunity to hear about the fundraising aspect of the school plus network with other like-minded mums and dads - and keep your 'finger on the pulse' of what is going on in our lovely Mullaloo Heights Primary School.

If you have any ideas for fundraising opportunities, or indeed any ideas as to where any money we raise could be spent, we would love to hear them.

Of course, if you would like to get more involved, there is always an opportunity to coordinate fundraising. This does not mean you have to do everything yourself ... but is a great delegation role! Plus, all the P&C officer roles will be available for nomination.

Hope to see lots of 'old' and new faces there!

Kind regards,
Chris McCafferty, President.

Community News

Joondalup Performing Arts and Cultural Facility

The Joondalup Performing Arts and Cultural Facility will be a crucial piece of social, cultural and economic infrastructure and the last piece in the jigsaw to make Joondalup the truly great City envisaged by Sir Charles Court when Joondalup was first planned. It is a key component in the development of the region’s cultural identity and social harmony through contemporary multicultural arts practice. It will also drive greater economic development opportunity and further strengthen Joondalup’s position as a major tourist hub, a Destination City and the Capital of the North. Please take the time to complete comment form with regard to this new facility. Use the following link:

Thank you,
Troy Pickard
Mayor of Joondalup