6 September 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome to week eight of a busy and productive term three.

Last Friday we celebrated the Excellence in Education Awards. This was the second year of giving the annual awards and the initiative was once again a great success. Staff members were nominated by their peers and the final recipients were also decided by their peers. On behalf of the school community I would like to congratulate Samantha Fyfe and Emma Claxton for winning the Teaching Award and Laraine Rose for winning the School Support Staff Award.

In this newsletter you will find further information about continuing to recognise the amazing work our teachers do. There is information about the nomination process.

We are currently working with families to provide support with the transition process across all sites for 2018. Mrs Whelan has been running Transition meetings for parents across all sites and PLDS teachers will be meeting with parents of exiting students to set priority goals to focus on for the remainder of 2018.

Open nights will be happening across all sites giving parents further opportunities to view their children’s classes and chat to the teachers and support staff. This will also be a great opportunity for Board members to network with the school community. The opening of the Artacular exhibition will take place on Open Night at RLPS campus. Art work from all PLDS students will be on display. I would like to thank Ms Hirsiger for her tireless work in coordinating the exhibition, along with staff who helped her and students who created fine works of art.

In this newsletter you will find news from all PLDS campuses including the sports carnival in Pinjarra and Mandurah along with Book Week in Bungaree.

The School will once again be sending out the annual survey to parents. Feedback is highly valued in our journey of school improvement and further information will be sent out shortly.

Could parents and caregivers please check that emergency contact numbers on file at PLDS are current and updated. It is vital that in the event of an emergency, we are able to contact a family member or delegate.

Please make sure that all items of clothing are named. As the weather begins to warm up in the coming weeks students will take off jumpers and jackets. The Sports Carnivals will be held this term, so please make sure footwear is appropriate to join in active sports lessons.

Stay warm and enjoy the rest of this exciting and productive term.

On behalf of PLDS I would like to thank the P & C along with their busy band of volunteers for the many ways they help PLDS and RLPS throughout the school year, particularly the recent disco and 5 cent Friday this week.

Shelley Collins
Principal

Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards

Nominations for the 2019 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards are now open.

Offered through a partnership between the Commonwealth Bank and national charity Schools Plus, the Awards recognise and reward great teachers who are delivering transformative and measurable outcomes for their students.

It’s a big opportunity to recognise the incredible work teachers at your school are doing. It will also give them a chance to become one of 12 teachers and school leaders who’ll receive a $45,000 Teaching Fellowship. The Fellowship includes support for professional development as well as $30,000 for a school project that improves student outcomes.

So, if there’s one, two or even three great teachers working at your school, make sure you put them forward for the 2019 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards.

Artacular

Artwork made by all PLDS students from across all four campuses will be displayed at the annual Artacular event. This will be held during Open Night at Rockingham Lakes campus on Tuesday 11 September at 5.30 – 6.30pm. Parents and caregivers are invited to come and view the spectacular art pieces students have been working hard on throughout the year. Artacular is also open for parents during school hours, Monday 10 – Friday 14 September.

RLPS Campus

Kiss and Ride Clarification

Bus Bay no longer available for parent use

The City of Rockingham has notified us that we cannot use the Bus Bay at the front of the school as a ‘Kiss and Ride’. Parents who were unfortunately fined for using this area may submit an online infringement appeal. Moving forward, parents must not use the Bus Bay. Rangers will continue to patrol and will fine anyone parking contrary to signage.

Open Night

Tuesday 11 September will be our school Open Night from 5:30 – 6:30pm. Classrooms will be open for your child/ren to show you their work and perhaps even teach you a thing or two. The choir will perform at the end of the evening at about 6:15pm. As well as this, the Library will be open for our annual Artacular display. Artacular will officially open on Monday 10 September and be open to parents before and after school each day until Friday the 14 September. We look forward to seeing you at school.

3.3

It’s business as usual in 3.3, we are working hard on our literacy and numeracy and getting ready for year 4. We are also in the middle of our assembly practice for our assembly on the 2nd of November. Some of us have a lot to memorise, but we are not scared of hard work! We hope all our loved ones can come to see our assembly as it is going to be very funny.

We welcome Miss Cuder into our classroom. Miss Cuder is a final year prac student from Notre Dame University. She has been practicing how to be a real teacher in our class. We think she’ll be a pretty awesome teacher next year.

Books on Blankets

On Friday 24 August students at our Rockingham Lakes campus celebrated Book Week. Part of the celebrations included the annual ‘Books on Blankets’ event which was held on the oval. This great literacy event started off with a fantastic parade followed by a reading session with our favourite books. Thank you to parents and caregivers for assisting your children to dress as a book character. It was wonderful to see so many different well-known and unusual characters around the school.

Mandurah Campus

We are coming to the end of a very busy and exciting term. We have enjoyed participating in a variety of activities and celebrations during our NAIDOC week. Students made sand art, engaged in cooking activities, played games and learnt about Aboriginal culture and traditions. A huge thank you to Cade’s Dad, Gerard Ugle, for coming and helping on the day. Everyone had so much fun!

A big thank you to Bunnings for coming and helping our students to create some beautiful presents for our Dads, Pops and other special people. Everyone enjoyed creating their gifts and we hope everyone enjoyed their Father’s Day with loved ones.

Sports Carnival

On Friday 31st August Mandurah held their Sports Carnival. The weather was beautiful as everyone was geared up for a great day. The students had a lot of fun competing in age races, team games, jumps, throws and relays. I am very happy to say that Peel Language Development School was represented in the champions during presentations. Congratulations to Nathaniel Nawanawa who won Year 3 Runner-up Champion Boy and Jaxson Radford who won Year 3 Champion Boy. We are very proud of your achievements boys. The students had a terrific day as Cooper (blue faction) was triumphant and won the shield. Thank you to our parents, students and staff for supporting yet another successful carnival day.

Bungaree Campus

During week 6, Bungaree celebrated Book Week. All students had the opportunity to visit the book fair in the library, which was decorated and set up by the amazing Bungaree P & C committee. The library was transformed into a realistic ‘space theme’ and all students got to view and buy a huge variety of books on display.

On Friday the 24th of August, all students and teachers dressed up as their favourite book character. We were surrounded by a variety of costumes including princesses, pirates and superheroes. Well done to all, for the big effort put into dressing up and what a really fun way to end Book Week celebrations.

Pinjarra Campus

Last week students participated in our annual Sports Carnival. All of our students from Pre Primary to Year 3 displayed phenomenal participation and resilience in joining with students from Pinjarra Primary in events including running, pass ball and flag races. Congratulations to Zev Hutchison for receiving runner up boy for Year One. A special thankyou to our wonderful PLDS staff for their hard work and flexibility throughout the day.

As our host school’s annual ‘Scarecrow and Wheelbarrow Race’ approaches, the PLDS students have been busy assembling our Bunnings Scarecrows for race day. We are all very excited to participate and are busy practising our wheelbarrow pushing strategies.

Fun Facts

• There are over 130 million books in print
• The three most read books in the world are The Holy Bible, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, and Harry Potter
• Dr Seuss invented the word 'nerd', using it in his 1950 book 'If I Ran the Zoo'

• The term 'bookworm' originates from insects who live in and feed on the binding of books
• The first book ever written using a typewriter was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• Alice in Wonderland is based on a real 10-year-old girl. Her name was Alice Liddell, and her family was close friends with author Lewis Carroll. While on a boating trip, she asked him to tell her a story — and that’s how Alice was born.
• It takes an average of 475 hours to write a novel

School Nurse

Dental Health

Keep your child's teeth healthy

Teeth are important possessions. Here are some tips for keeping them healthy.

• Clean teeth, gums and tongue at least twice a day with a soft toothbrush. Parents should supervise tooth brushing until children are 8 or 9 years old as children do not have the dexterity to brush the molars properly until then.
• Adults and children should use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Toothpaste should be spat out after brushing and never eaten or swallowed. Do not rinse your mouth out with water after brushing your teeth.

• Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly after brushing and store it hygienically. Replace your toothbrush regularly.
• Older children and adults should floss their teeth daily.
• Eating and drinking healthily is important for keeping your teeth healthy – try to keep away from too much sugar, especially between meals.

For more dental health information, go to the links below. The School Dental Service provides free general dental care to school children throughout Western Australia, from pre-primary through to Year 11 (or 17th birthday). Contact your closest School Dental Therapy Centre or Dental Health Services on 9313 0555 for further information. If you require Interpreter Services, please refer to the Dental Health Services Interpreter Service information.

Body image

Tips for helping your child have a healthy body weight and a healthy body image

• Be a positive role model and encourage healthy eating and physical activity, by providing healthy meals and snacks and getting active.
• Organise fun, family activities which encourage everyone to be active.

• Help children to see ‘treat’ foods, such as lollies, biscuits, chips, cakes and ice cream, as food which should be eaten only occasionally – not every day.
• Help your children to understand that there is no such thing as an ideal body shape and that ‘healthy’ people come in many shapes and sizes.
• Help your children feel special about themselves. Provide rewards and treats which are not food.
• Teach children that a person’s value is not determined by how they look.
• Avoid making comments about body weight. Focus on growth, not on scales.
• Don’t focus on weight and food restriction – focus on improved health, fitness and having fun.

School Chaplin

Calming Down

One of the best ways to manage anxious feelings is by having a huge list of coping skills and strategies to try. With time and practice, your child will find a few that work well and some that don’t work at all.

Calming Ideas

• Hang a page with feeling faces on the refrigerator or bedroom door. Ask your child to point to what they are feeling.

• Allow for creative expression. Set out crayons and paper or a notebook and pen, encourage scribbling, note writing or drawing
• Create a calming spot in the house. Make it a normal part of the day to visit the calming spot by themselves to relax or recharge.
• Have fidgets available. Play-dough, slinkies and stress balls are all great for a child who needs to keep their hands busy.
• Model deep breathing throughout the day. Say out loud, “I’m going to take a deep breath,” use bubbles, balloons, candles or a pinwheel to make it fun.
• Make relaxation part of the routine.
• Get moving. Go outside, run around, go to a park, swim or play catch. Enroll your child in activities that give them opportunities for movement.

Community News

Behaviour Management Parent Course

A humorous look at parenting, a serious look at discipline for parents of 2-12 year olds.

This course is designed to help manage difficult behaviour in children, calmly and effectively. Learn how to use empathy so kids begin to identify their emotions and become better at managing them. This enables them to take more responsibility for their own behaviour.

You will learn:

• The two approaches to parenting
• How to discipline without arguing, yelling or smacking
• How to handle kids testing behaviour
• How to show empathy while developing emotional intelligence in your child
• How to teach and encourage positive behaviour, social skills and independence
• How to strengthen the relationship with your child
• How to control obnoxious behaviour

Available as a LIVE webinar or face to face training in Wembly
Held over 3 sessions 7-9pm. $180pp or $340 for 2
Thurs 30th Aug, 6th & 13th Sept OR Wed 24th, 31st Oct & 7th Nov