4 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back to term two. I hope all families from our Rockingham Lakes, Bungaree, Mandurah and Pinjarra classes had a happy and safe break. Our students across all campuses have settled back into routines and learning programs.

I would like to thank the families who were able to attend the ANZAC services across all campus sites. Thank you also to the staff and students who contributed and took part in the ceremony.

Term two will be a busy term with NAPLAN taking place in week 3, Teachers writing reports and ILP's and PLDS annual Open Day in June. There will be further information sent out about these events.

We are just concluding the final Individual Language Plan meetings with parents and carers. Attendance at these meetings is an important part of building our partnership with our parent community and building your knowledge of your child’s education.

We hope you enjoy reading about the news from across all sites in this newsletter. Students in 1.3 at our RLPS campus have been learning about ocean animals, our Mandurah students have been busy with swimming lessons, while students across all sites have been learning about the history of ANZAC and the importance of honouring this event.

I would like to welcome our new Chaplain Eleanor Clayson to PLDS. We look forward to working with Eleanor in 2017 and welcome the value she will add to our school community. You will find further information in the next newsletter about Eleanor’s work at our school.

The School Board will be holding an Annual Public Meeting on Thursday 11th May. Members of the wider school community are welcome to attend and view the PLDS Annual Report.

During term three the Department of Education will be reviewing PLDS as an Independent Public School and our progress towards the milestones of our Business Plan 2015-2017. We will welcome the discussion and feedback as we continue to provide the highest level of teaching, learning and service to our communities.

Thank you to parents who have updated contact details with the front office. It is essential that we have up to date contact numbers in case of an emergency. If your child is on the bus, please alert them to any changes in the daily schedule along with a note to the class teacher in the Communication Book.

Have a safe and happy week and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Shelley Collins
Principal

RLPS Campus - ANZAC Service

On the first day back after the school holidays, Peel LDS joined with Rockingham Lakes PS to commemorate the ANZACs in an ANZAC Memorial Service. The service was a solemn but moving tribute to the dedication, courage, mateship and sacrifice of the original ANZACs as well as to all of the men and women who have served, or are currently serving in the armed forces. Charlie Dwyer was a deserving representative of Room 1.3 to lay a flower at the base of the flag pole during the service. The children behaved beautifully and showed tremendous respect during the ceremony. After the service, we read the story of “ANZAC Ted” to better understand the significance of ANZAC Day.

Room 1.3

Room 1.3 has been learning about ocean animals. We have studied seahorses and whales and now we are learning about sharks. Did you know that there are over 400 different species of sharks in the world? They range in size from about 7-8 inches to over 50 feet in length! We made some cute sharks and recounted how we made them. Using a Venn Diagram, we compared sharks and whales and discussed their similarities and differences. Nathan told us that blue sharks are pelagic (they live in the oceans a long way from the shore).

During our busy school days, we occasionally enjoy a brain break and dance to songs on the Go Noodle website.

Mothers Day Stall

Mothers Day is Sunday 14th May and we are holding a Mothers Day Stall for your child to purchase some gifts. This will be held on Thursday May 11th (Room 3.3, 3.4 & ECE4B) and Friday May 12th (Room 1.3, 1.4, D1, D2, D3, ECE3, ECE5 & ECE4A)

Mandurah Campus

All classes have had a wonderful start to Term 2 at Mandurah! The children have been very settled and were excited to come back to school.

On Thursday the 26th of April, we all attended the ANZAC ceremony held at Mandurah Primary School. We learnt all about what ANZAC means and we read the story ‘Lest We Forget’. We made our own Poppies to wear and planted our own field of Poppies for the ceremony. The children then made their own ANZAC craft and in their own words, described what ANZAC means to them.

Swimming lessons have started this week (from Monday to Friday only). The children have been well behaved and are learning lots about how to swim. Just a reminder to please make sure that your child has all their items labelled.

We will be having our catch up ILP meetings soon, please look out for notes regarding this in the communication books.

Bungaree Campus

*** Please note, on 22nd May 2017 there will be a Staff Development Day, students do not attend school this day ***

Term 2 started with a special commemoration assembly for ANZAC Day at Bungaree. Our ANZAC day assembly was held at the front of the school and included a visit from some local community members and veterans to help mark this day of remembrance.

In class we learned about the history and significance of ANZAC Day and why it is so important to people from Australia and New Zealand. It is a day that we honour and remember all the soldiers who fought for our freedom and safety.

Pinjarra Campus

Welcome back to a wonderfully sunny term 2 (so far).

To commemorate ANZAC day we learnt about the symbol of the poppy. The poppy is a special flower that people wear on ANZAC day because it was one of the first plants to start growing on the fields where people were fighting. A lot of people died in the fighting. We wear the poppy to remind ourselves of the people that died.

We further commemorated this with a whole school ANZAC assembly. At the assembly, the Australian flag was lowered to half-mast. We heard a veteran speak about his experiences. A veteran is someone who was once in the armed forces.

Lest We Forget.

Mothers Day Stall

Mothers Day is on Sunday 14th May. A Mothers Day stall is to be held on Thursday 11th May. Gifts will vary in price from $1 - $10.

Year 3 Students

NAPLAN 2017 Year 3 Students

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Year 3 students at Peel Language Development School are encouraged to complete the NAPLAN testing. It is carried out in a safe, non-threatening environment usually in their own classroom, supervised by their own teacher.

NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken nationwide, every year, in the second full week in May.

NAPLAN is made up of tests in the four areas (or ‘domains’) of:

• Reading
• Writing
• Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
• Numeracy

NAPLAN tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum.

Your child’s NAPLAN report will be sent home in late September. You can get more information regarding the NAPLAN testing process by accessing the national NAPLAN website: