World Teachers Day Many thanks to the P&C and Parents who provided an amazing morning tea for the staff last Friday for World Teachers’ Day. Apart from being delicious, it was a very thoughtful gesture on the part of our parents to acknowledge the commitment and hard work of our staff. Thank you also to the many parents and children who wrote lovely notes of acknowledgement for their teachers. As a school, we strive to provide children with the best education possible and we are most appreciative of our parents’ support. Year 7 School Camp Congratulations to all our Year 7 students on their excellent conduct whilst away in Kalgoorlie last week. It was a tremendous camp and, this year, I had the pleasure of visiting for a couple of days. The activities provided showcased the history and geography of this mining town and provided our students with a wonderful insight into its development. Many thanks to the teaching staff who organised and attended both the Year 6 and Year 7 camps this year and provided our senior children with this memorable learning experience.. Primary Academic Class (PAC) Throughout the year, students from our Year 7 PAC in Room 22, have been attending extension classes each week at Leeming Senior High School. During this time, they have had the opportunity to study English and Mathematics at an advanced level. On Tuesday evening, the PAC students from both Wattle Grove and Caladenia PS conducted a presentation at Leeming SHS on their course work. The calibre of the work and their knowledge was outstanding and I would like to congratulate all the students for their fantastic effort. Roland Leach Poetry Competition – Congratulations to Amos Choo from Room 22 who has taken out, not only the Year 6/7 award of this competition, but also the 2014 Overall Award for his poem ‘The Weaver”. The Overall Award is

AN INDEPENDENT

PUBLIC SCHOOL

November 2014 The Official Newsletter of Wattle Grove Primary School Term 4, Issue 17

open to all students including university and high school students. This is a tremendous accomplishment for Amos. Congratulations also to Bella Marendoli-Murray who also received a Highly Commended Award for her poem ‘The Wattle’. Parent Survey The Australian Education Ministers have determined that all Australian schools will participate in parent, student and staff surveys. As a consequence, all WA public schools are required to administer parent, staff and student National School Opinion Surveys at least every two years, commencing in 2014. This term, we are therefore conducting a Parent Survey to provide us with feedback about a number of facets of our school’s operation – the school environment, the quality of teaching, communications, curriculum outcomes and responsiveness. Information from the survey will be discussed with staff and reported to the School Board. The information from the surveys will help the school validate parent views, plot parent opinions over time and will also assist with public relations. This year the survey will be available on line and details will be forwarded in the coming week. Enrolments 2015 If current families are aware of new residents in our area, who may be considering attending our school next year, please encourage them to contact the school as soon as possible. Also, any families, who will not be returning to Wattle Grove next year, are asked to please inform the Principal in writing.

Julie Roberts Principal

From the Principal

IMPORTANT DATES - Term 4

November

10 EDU Dance Mon lessons Humphreys Dance Years 6 & 7

11 EDU Dance Tues lessons Early Close 2.30pm

13 Kindergarten Transition 9.15 & 11.00 Humphreys Dance Years 6

14 Senior Assembly Room 10

17 Humphreys Dance Years 7 EDU Dance Mon lessons

18 EDU Dance Tues lessons Early Close 2.30pm

20 Humphreys Dance Years 6 & 7

19 LSHS Transition Year 6

28 School Development Day-Pupil Free Day Movie Night P & C

Visiting Boulder Council Chambers...

In this Issue: Year 7 Kalgoorlie Camp

Assembly News: Thank you to Miss Ryan, Ms Gazeley and the Kindergarten students from Room 1 for last week’s wonderful assembly. They entertained us with two plays, The Three Little Pigs and The Gingerbread Man. The confidence and performance ability of these very young students was quite remarkable. The students memorised lines and actions and spoke clearly. A huge thank you to all the parents and families who supported these students in their assembly. Well done everyone! Congratulations to the following Merit Certificate winners: Junior Assembly Kindy, Rm 1: Connor, Holly, Roentgen, Isabelle Kindy, Rm 2: Niah, Isabelle Kindy, Rm 3: Shreya, Bianca, Tyam PP, Rm 5: Jalen, Taj, Kayla Yr 1, Rm 7: Makayla, Ella-Louise Yr 1, Rm 8: Annabelle, Dyshon Yr 1/2, Rm 12: Jacob, Jack, Luke Yr 1, Rm 13: Isabella, Daniel, Yr 2, Rm 17: Naveed, Halle Yr 1, Rm 19: Riley, Nathan Yr 2, Rm 21: George, Joshua Music Awards: Year 1 Room 8 Art Awards: Year 1 Room 13 Uniform Award: Year 1 Room 13 Tidy Bag Awards: Year 1 Room 13 Congratulation to the Values winner for Excellence: Alyssa Room 1 Scarlet Room 1

Year 7 Camp to Kalgoorlie: Year Seven Camp: The Year Seven Students went to Kalgoorlie last week for their school camp. We stayed at the Goldfields Camp School for four nights. The accommodation was great and we enjoyed the wonderful meals the camp kitchen ladies provided for us. We travelled on the Prospector and arrived in Kalgoorlie after a very long train ride. We got to enjoy many activities that our teachers planned for us for the five days:

Some of these included: • Gold panning out near Lake Douglas. We were lucky

enough to strike it rich and find some small specks of gold to bring back with us..

• Visiting the Loop Line Locomotive Museum. • Touring Hannan’s Mine. • Visiting the Kalgoorlie and Boulder Town Halls. • Playing Bush Two – Up. • Visiting the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the

Weather Bureau. • Swimming at the Oasis Pools. Our time at camp will last in our memories forever. Thank you to the teachers who gave up their time to make the camp very successful. By the Year Seven Students in Room 10.

Above: Principal’s Challenge 100% Award Winners Left: Alyssa and Scarlet, Values Award Winners for the topic of Excellence.

See lots more photos of the Year 7 Camp on the school blogsite at — Google ‘wattlegroveps1’

Deputy Principal Corner: Swimming Lessons A reminder that swimming lessons will commence on Monday 24 November and run for 9 consecutive days, until Friday 5 December. (There is no lesson on Nov 28 due to the School Development Day). These lessons are open to all students in Pre Primary through to Year 7 and there are six groups going across each day. The actual lessons are free but there is a charge for pool entry and for the bus transport. This is a great opportunity for students to learn to swim in a structured way and we encourage all students to attend these lessons. The organisation does create an upheaval in the school’s timetables but we feel that it is a very worthwhile activity. The parent consent forms will be sent home this week and we look forward to all students attending.

Welcome to our Pre Service Teachers This term we have been very fortunate to have a professional and committed group of Pre Service teachers from Edith Cowan University working in our school. The placements have seen two teachers visit the school for five days in Term 3 and work here for three weeks this term. There are another seven teachers here full time for seven weeks of this term. We would like to acknowledge their fantastic work and say thank you to Katelin Bettanay, Joshua Gardiner, Nikeah Heydon, Emma McHugh, Jessica Owsiak, Amanda-Jane Purves, Kelsey Redfern, Amanda Salt, Mikhala Stacey and Karla Whitlock. Your work around the school has certainly enhanced learning for our students. Thank you also to the Mentor teachers who have worked with this group.

Louise Grainger

P&C News: As a huge thank you from the P&C to the school community for all your support throughout the year , we are again hosting a movie night on November 28th, featuring “Polar Express”. Tickets are limited to 250 and will be sold on a first come first served basis. Tickets are only $5 each and children under 2 are free. Forms have already been distributed, however, should you need another they are available at the front office. We sincerely hope that we can rely on your support to make this another successful evening. A sausage sizzle, drinks and ice-creams will be available for purchase or you are most welcome to bring a picnic hamper. Please note that this is strictly a non alcoholic event.

Tanya Oliver P& C President

School Board News: It is with great pride that over the past month, I have attended meetings with both the IPS Review panel and the WA Education Awards judge. To be considered among the top 4 WA Primary Schools in our state is an accolade to all in our school community as were the verbal commendations received in regards to our IPS status. It became very obvious that our school is indeed a place of Excellence in Teaching and Learning where we are privileged to have not only wonderful children and supportive families but dedicated and passionate staff, leadership team and P and C, who care so deeply about the education and welfare of our children. I would like to congratulate everyone in the Wattle Grove school community for their commitment to Wattle Grove Primary School and look forward to joining you all at the end of year celebrations . Jo Greenway Board Chair

School Development Days 2014 School Development Day – Friday 28 November 2014 A reminder to all parents that the next School Development Day is scheduled for 28 November. Children will not attend school on this day.

School Development Days 2015 The Department of Education has approved 6 School Development Days for schools in 2015. The following days have been scheduled as School Development Days in 2015 in which students will not attend school:

TERM 1 - Thursday 29 January, Friday 30 January, Thursday 2 April 2015 TERM 2 - nil TERM 3 - Monday 20 July 2015 TERM 4 - Friday 27 November, Friday 18 December Some of these days may differ from other schools.

Dogs on School Grounds / Oval Just a reminder to all parents and families that dogs are not to be brought on to the school grounds or oval at any time. This is a health and safety issue for students and it is most important that students are not put at any risk.

Student Rep Reports: Brock in Year 6, Room 15

Hi my name is Brock, I have been at

Wattle Grove Primary for 8 Years and

have eagerly waited to be a Student

RepM.and now I am! My favourite TV

show is Regular Show and my favourite

movie is The Conjuring. I play AFL for

Kenwick Royal. I have been playing AFL

for 5 years. I know what it is like to be part of a team. My

hobbies are playing outside and playing video games and

jumping on the trampoline.

Christian in Year 6, Room 15

Hi my name is Christian, and I am proud

to become a student representative at

Wattle Grove Primary School. I am 11

years old and I have been at Wattle Grove

for one year. Outside of school, I play

basketball rugby and soccer in my free

time. I enjoy hanging out with my friends

and playing sports. I am really excited to become a student

representative.

Zidane in Year 6, Room 15 Hi my name is Zidane I have been at

Wattle Grove Primary School for 5

months .I am proud to be a Student

Representative. I am 12 years

old .Outside of school I deliver

newspapers to houses, in my free time

out of school I enjoy being with my friend

or playing any games or sports. My hobbies are playing

new games on the computer.

Ciaran in Year 6, Room 15 Hi, my name is Ciaran. I am proud to be a

student representative. I am 11 years old

and I have been at Wattle Grove for 2

years. Outside of school, I play basketball

and footy. In my spare time I like to hang

out with my friends Jacob and Dylan. This

year I played in WABL which is the

Western Australia Basketball League. I am looking forward

to be a student representative.

Maths Problem Solving: Junior (Y1-3) #1 David found a model rocket in the toy shop. It

came in 4 sections. The first section was 48cm

long. The second section was half the length of

the first, the third half the length of the second

and the fourth half the length of the third. How

tall was the rocket?

Dylan in Year 6, Room 15 Hi, my name is Dylan and I’m proud to be a

student representative for term 4. I’m 11

years old and have been at Wattle Grove for

3 years. I love AFL as I have played it for 7

years, other than that I share an interest in

cricket and hanging out with my friends

Ciaran and Jacob. Next year, I’m going to

Darling Range Sports College, as I was accepted for the

ACES programme and AFL programme.

Values - Resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back when things in your life get tough. Being resilient doesn’t mean going through life without experiencing grief, sadness and other emotions when you face tough times and loss. Most resilient people “Roll with the punches” and adapt or change to adversity without lasting difficulties. Characteristics of resilience • Emotional awareness • Perseverance • Belief in self • Optimism-see the positive • Support - have supportive family and friends. Mrs Daphne Bennett Values Coordinator