24 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message

Last week finished on a high as we watched our students perform at the One Big Voice concert at Perth Arena. Those of you who attended will agree that this was an incredible event. Over 4,000 students from schools all around Perth gathered to create this giant choir.

A giant choir

As you can see from the photograph, the vision alone was spectacular, but the addition of children’s voices singing beautifully and in harmony sent ‘shivers down the spine’. Watching and listening was a truly memorable experience, one I’m sure the audience and students won’t forget. Our students were amazing on many levels - behaviour, performance and keeping those white tops pristine! In addition, Toby (Room 11) made us proud when he performed a guitar solo in the young talent section of the show, as did Room 11 students, Yorkabell, Riley, Will and Dylan, who presented a rap to accompany one of the songs. The whole evening was a wonderful experience. Thank you Mrs Ameduri for organising the event and ensuring our choir performed at their best. Without you, this event would not have happened. Also, thanks to our parent volunteer, Tarryn Culverhouse, for helping get the choir ready at the Arena. We really appreciate your support.

At school we are currently preparing for NAPLAN online, which will begin at Mullaloo Heights next year. In the coming weeks, we will be organising a trial run. Year 3 and 5 students will take part in a mock NAPLAN test to check how prepared we are at school. It will test our internet connection and assess whether we have sufficient devices for this task. As this is a test of infrastructure rather than student ability, there will be no resulting report of the students’ performance. However, it will give them a taste of how the test will be presented next year.

This online test will have many benefits for the students. In addition to being presented in a more engaging format, the test will mark the students’ performance as they work through the test, modifying subsequent sections of the test according to their need. For example, a student doing well will be given more challenging questions, whilst students who need simpler questions will be directed to those. This will make testing more tailored to individual ability, leading to higher motivation for the students and more accurate assessment data for teachers and parents. More information about the school readiness test is below.

Next week is Book Week and there’s a lot to look forward to. The week kicks off with ‘Guess the Book’ in the library on Monday morning followed by our whole school literacy rotation. Don’t forget the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party on Thursday and our Book Week assembly on Friday. I can tell you our staff have been learning their lines for our annual play and working on their acting skills. It’s going to be a great week!

Caroline Booth
Principal

Dates to remember

Merit Certificates

Room 11 Assembly

The students in Room 11 have been working hard and shared the fruits of their labour in an amazing assembly last week. We were listened to poems they’d written, laden with descriptive language, viewed outstanding artwork and marvelled at their use of technology to convince us they were in the middle of fires and floods. Apparently, the latter is the result of an app called Green Screen - very clever! It was great to see the high standards of work being produced by our older students. What wonderful role models we have for the younger children! Well done, Room 11!

Science Week 2018

Mullaloo Heights Primary School's Science Week officially took place in Week 4 and provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate all things science. It was a great week with a variety of activities going on, including a visit from Science Bites, a Science Fair run by our Year 5/6 students, a Science Quiz and many classes undertaking some extra science activities as part of our week.

All of the students participated in an incursion from Science Bites. The PP – Year 2 students participated in a hands-on chemical science workshop and had lots of fun mixing together different ingredients and watching the amazing results. The Year 4-6 students took part in a very informative and engaging robotics workshop where they learnt about robots and programmed them to perform a variety of different tasks.

On Wednesday afternoon we held our Science Fair. The Year 5/6 classrooms were opened up and these students displayed and explained their ‘Pooper Scooper’ inventions to the rest of the school that came to visit. All the students can be very proud of their amazing projects and how well they described them to the other students.

A ‘Science Quiz’ was also sent home as part of our Science Week celebrations and this generated some healthy science debate during the week. The prizes for highest percentage of quizzes completed went to Room 9 (Mrs Chrimes) for the junior award and the senior prize went to Miss Southworth's Room 12 students. A great effort by the students who attempted this and thanks to all the families for getting involved.

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Science Week a great success and very special for our students.

Please enjoy some photos from our Science Week.

Science Fair

Please enjoy a few photos from our Year 5/6 Science Fair.

Aussie of the Month

Our Aussie of the Month is Ruby.

Ruby is a kind, thoughtful and friendly student who is always willing to help her peers, teachers and members of the school community. Ruby approaches all aspects of school life positively and always with a smile.

Congratulations, Ruby.

Reading Club

Mathletics Gold

Dogs on School Grounds and the Oval

In response to queries regarding our policy on dogs and specifically their attendance at the Athletics carnival, we would like to remind you that dogs are not to be brought onto school grounds. A couple of years ago, we had an incident where a dog tied up near the Early Childhood Block nipped a small child. While this is very unfortunate, it could easily have been avoided. Dogs will often react differently around large groups of people and, regardless of size or temperament, can cause both physical and emotional harm. It is worth remembering that there are children who are frightened of dogs, no matter how friendly their owner perceives them to be. These children have the right to feel safe while at school. For these reasons, please ensure that dogs are not brought along to school.

With regard to Charonia Park, this is leased by the school from Joondalup Council and rent is paid by the Department of Education. The lease agreement states that during school hours, our school has ‘priority usage’. As a result, we ask that during whole school events, such as the Athletics Carnival and Family Fun Day, you support our school policy by not bringing your dog along when spectating. Your cooperation with this school policy is greatly appreciated.

Book Week is Coming!

Book Week takes place from Monday 27th to 31st August and is going to be a great week. Put the following dates in your diary and come along to any of the events that interest you.

• Literacy Rotation – Monday 27th August

Students will work in mixed groups, Pre-primary to Year 6, to complete a number of short tasks related to books. Older students will help and support the younger children as they move around school to complete fun activities between 9:00am and 12:00pm. Parents are welcome to help. Just let your child’s class teacher know.

• Guess the Book Competition – Daily

Clues related to children’s books will be placed in the library every day. Students examine them, make a guess at the title of the book and post their answer in the entry box. A junior (PP-Y2) and Senior (Y3-6) winner will be drawn daily. The library will be open at 8:30am and 2:50pm for children to try their luck.

• Drop Everything and Read – Daily

When they hear the signal, everyone, wherever they are and whatever they are doing, must stop and pick up their book to read. Parent helpers, if you are in school during Book week, don’t forget to bring your book just in case the signal is made during your visit.

• Book Based Project and Writing Competition

All students will be working on a project based on a particular book during this week. Talk to your child’s teacher to find out which one. One of the activities will be to produce a book cover complete with illustration and blurb for the selected title. Their work will be judged and a winner and runner up for each year group will be announced at the end of Book Week during our special assembly. There are some fantastic prizes which will be presented in our the assembly on Friday 31st August.

• Treasure Hunt – Tuesday 28th August

Students from Pre-primary to Year 4 get to watch a musical extravaganza based on the treasures that books bring. Aptly entitled Treasure Hunt, this performance incorporates shortlisted titles from the Children’s Book Council Awards for 2018 into an action packed adventure that promotes reading, not just as entertainment, but also as a means of understanding the world around us. The cost for this incursion is usually $6.00. However the P&C are paying half for every child bringing the cost to $3.00. Notes with more information have been sent out. Collect one from the office if you have mislaid yours.

• Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – Thursday 30th August

You should have received your special invitation to this wacky lunch in the Undercover Area next week. All parents are welcome to come and join us for a bite to eat, as long as you don a silly hat. Please send a plate to share – one per family (sweet for girls, savoury for boys) and join the fun. See you there at 12:15pm.

• Extreme Reading Display - Treasure Hunt

This year’s challenge is for the students to fill a Treasure Box with books and stories they have loved. Each child has been given a treasure box template this week. All they need to do now is add drawings of books, characters, settings or anything that relates to their favourite literature. Once complete, all pictures should be handed in to the office so that they can be displayed in the Undercover Area during Book Week.

• Celebrity Readers

Celebrities will be reading from their favourite books via video link this year.

• Dress as your favourite book character – Friday 31st August

Students get to leave their uniform at home and spend the day dressed as a favourite book character. Prizes will be awarded for creative costumes.

• Book Assembly – Friday 31st August

We will be having a special assembly at 11:15am to view everyone’s costumes. Prizes for the writing competition and most creative dress ups will also be presented. We will conclude the assembly and Book Week with a special performance of ‘Jolly Postman Pat’.

NAPLAN ONLINE – School Readiness Test

You may have heard that NAPLAN Online was introduced in 2018, with 274 schools Western Australian schools participating. Our school will be transitioning to NAPLAN Online in 2019.

NAPLAN online will provide better assessment, more precise results and faster turnaround of information. Your child’s results will be returned to the school faster, within a few weeks rather than a few months.

This trial, called the School Readiness Test (SRT), will enable us to assess our technical readiness to implement the new online assessments. In addition it will give us a chance to try out the new national online assessment platform in a real-life classroom environment

During September, students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in a trial of the assessment platform, by undertaking online readiness tests that include examples of the new NAPLAN online questions. Year 5 students will complete two tests, while Year 3 students will complete one. Each test will take about 45 minutes to complete.

Participating in this trial is important as it will help us ensure we have adequate internet connectivity, and also ascertain whether students have access to sufficient number of devices for NAPLAN Online testing. During the trial, our teachers will have the opportunity to practise managing the classroom logistics for an online assessment and the new test administration processes.

The readiness test has not been constructed to assess curriculum knowledge, but rather to provide students with an opportunity to experience the types of questions that will be included in the new online assessments. As such, reports will not be provided.

Participation in the SRT is a key step to ensuring a successful NAPLAN online experience in 2019.

Parent Information

Triple P – Positive Parenting Program

Getting Results - By Professor Matt Sanders

It’s natural to want your teen to do well at school and some parents use a reward such as money to encourage their teenager to get better grades. I’ve often heard of parents offering their child $20 or $30 for every “A” on their end of term report card.

One of the problems with giving teens financial incentives for good end-of-term grades is that the reward comes too long after the effort is made.

Rather than waiting till the end of term, it’s much more effective to set up a system of rewards which are brief and frequent and which encourage positive daily habits. These daily habits then build towards an eventual outcome, such as a good homework and study routine.

However, you can encourage teens to build good study and homework habits without having to resort to offering money.

Why not try a reward such as an activity they really like? Or you could offer a special treat you know they’ll enjoy. The object is to encourage good routines by giving extra attention and praise or small frequent rewards when they are doing the right thing.

When teenagers are struggling that little bit of extra attention can encourage them into new patterns of behaviour – and they may end up getting that A after all!

Professor Matt Sanders is founder of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program®. For more information go to the link below.

Mullaloo Heights PS are offering parenting support with Triple P, one of the world’s most highly-regarding parenting programs. This FREE SEMINAR is targeted for TEEN Year 5 and 6 parents and will be held at Mullaloo Heights PS on Tuesday 18th September (Week 10/Term 3) starting at 9am and will conclude at 2:30pm. Morning Tea and Lunch will be provided.

If you wish to attend, drop into the front office, or call, to register your place. School contact number is 6206 2100. This event will be conducted by our local School Psychologists, Priscilla Grainger and Lauren Twomey. Please RSVP by Friday 7th September 2018 to book your place.

VacSwim 2018

With swimming pools and beaches a big part of the Western Australian lifestyle, ensuring your children can swim competently and safely is essential.

You can now enrol your children in VacSwim swimming lessons during the October and December/January school holidays.

VacSwim is for all children - from beginners to more advanced swimmers and young people doing their Bronze Medallion. Your children can start as young as five years old.

Your children can join in the fun of learning to swim at pools and open water venues across the State.

Enrol your children in VacSwim now using the link below.

Choir News

Last Friday evening our choir students performed at Perth Arena along with some 4000 other children from other schools in the ONE BIG VOICE Festival. We had a few injured students who still rocked up to be a part of our amazing team, so well done to those children!

All our students did us proud with their beautiful singing and impeccable behaviour.

Thanks to Tarryn Culverhouse for assisting me, right until our departure at 9 pm.

Could the choir shirts come back to me ASAP please, washed and ready for the next event.

Thank you to those who have already returned them.

French News

Community News