NEWSLETTER #5 / AUG 2020

Sound Write

Crossing and Magpies

Sport and VacSwim  

Chaplain Chat

Welcome back to Term Three!

It is great to see all of our bright and happy students back to school with smiles from ear to ear. Nollamara definitely has the best students and it is so pleasing to be a part of a school where the kids and their families are so appreciative of the fantastic education and opportunities we provide them.

Term Three of school is my favourite by far. We have so many awesome things happening this term with excursions, incursions and other exciting things happening in and around our school. This all culminates in what is the best day of the school year, the Faction Athletics Carnival. This year, Mr Mosey has planned for the carnival to be held on Friday, September 4 and we thank him in advance for all the hard work and efforts he will put into planning this carnival.

As the state of WA continues to move through the pandemic of COVID, it will still impact events like the Athletics Carnival and other events like assemblies. We are still currently in Stage 4 of the WA Road to Recovery as this is now scheduled to be revised on August 29. This means that staff and parents are still encouraged to social distance and ensure proper hygiene practices are followed whilst on the school site. If WA remains in Stage 4 following the 29 August, we will still encourage parents to attend the Athletics Carnival but to do so ensuring they follow the practices above.

Nollamara Primary received some fantastic news last week. The state government, as part of their COVID Recovery Plan, has invested in the school and scheduled to spend $2 million dollars on developing and building new Early Childhood classrooms here at the school. This is planned to replace the transportable classrooms that are currently in this area. The timelines and schedule of works is still to be determined but it is very exciting for the school and our community.

Whilst we are on the topic of refurbishments and government spending, we are also undertaking classroom refurbishments in Rooms 1-16. Each room will have new carpets, painting and cabinetry installed and will look fantastic once complete. This long term gain means a little short term pain as we will have relocate classes that are having works done on them to either Room 12 or 16 during this time. Your teachers will keep you and the students informed throughout.

If at any stage you would like to come and have a look at the works that have been complete, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school and I would be happy to show you through the fresh, new environments your children will be learning in.

As you can see, there are some fantastic things happening at our school. If you would like to be a part of this movement and growth, I encourage all parents and carers to consider nominating for the School Board. The School Board is an important branch of school governance. It helps inform important strategic directions for the school, aligns resources to priorities, offers advice and influences decisions made relevant to the school. Ensuring that we have a good representation from all facets of the school is important, so that we gain perspective from multiple points of view.

Currently, we have one Parent/Carer position available on the Board. They meet twice a term

If you would like to be considered for a place on the School Board and/or would like further information, please forward me an email to Bradley.trpchev@education.wa.edu.au by Friday 21 August.

I hope everyone has had a smooth start to the term and I look forward to seeing the learning, fun and opportunities this term has in store.

Much love and stay safe.

Brad TrpchevPrincipal

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

SOUNDS WRITE

At Nollamara our teachers have been busy learning as we have embarked on a new whole school literacy program called Sounds-Write.

When reading and spelling, we will use letter sounds not letters, and you can help most effectively by encouraging letter sound usage when reading and spelling.

What are we trying to teach?We want the children to learn that letters are symbols for sounds, so that when they see the letters <m> <a> <t>, they say and hear /m/ /a//t/ ‘mat’.

To begin with, early readers will be working only with 2- and 3- sound words. These children need to say the sounds and listen to hear what the word is. For this reason, sounds need to be said very precisely. For example, when we see the letter <m> we say /m/ and ‘muh’. Of course, some sounds are much more difficult to say without adding a bit of an ‘uh’, but, with practice, it can be done. When your child has said all the sounds in a word and then read the word, ask them to write the word on a piece of paper or a small chalk board.

Playing games with the sounds in words can be good fun and will help your child to understand that everyday words are made up of sounds and that we can putt these sounds in words apart: thus ‘cat’ can be separated into /c/ /a/ /t/: and we can put these sounds back together again to form recognisable words: thus, /c/ /a/ /t/ gives us ‘cat’.

When you are reading a reading book with your child, do all the things you would normally do, such as talking about the story, discussing the characters, predicting what is going to happen next, and so on. But, whenever you come to a two- or three-sound word, which has in it the sounds your child has already come across, ask them to have a go by saying the sounds and listening for the word.

If you do this, you will find that your child will quickly move on to more complex words such as words with four or five sounds, such as ‘lamp’ and ‘crisp’.

If you have any questions about what you should be doing, or you meet any unexpected difficulties, just ask your child’s teacher. Good luck and enjoy working together with your child.

ROOM 18

Room 18 have been following a poetry treasure trail using a simple framework to create a poem.

They take an object and invent ideas: • I found it….• It is made of…• If let loose it can…• It dreams of…• If you saw it you would….

Here is Kendra’s poem I found it down low beneath the ground. It is made of mould that stays and never grows. Thorns of an old dead rose, as round as an old ancient clock that ticks And never stops. If let loose it will hit you with a rock. It dreams of turning into bedrock. If seen you would turn into an old rusty lock.

SCHOOL CROSSING AND MAGPIES

Nollamara School Crossing at Nollamara AvenueA recent review by the Children’s Crossings and Road Safety Committee (CC&RSC) found that a number of school children were not utilising the school’s Children’s Crossing.

For the safety of your children, please encourage them to use the Children’s Crossing should they need to cross Nollamara Avenue in the morning and afternoon and that the Traffic Warden’s instructions are followed.

Magpie swooping seasonThe City of Stirling would like to remind the community to take extra care when outdoors during magpie nesting season from August to November. Please be aware magpies may swoop to protect their young during this time.

Magpies usually swoop from above and fly low and fast over a person, often snapping their beaks as they pass overhead. However, instances where magpies swoop from below or ground level have also been reported.

Magpies are a protected native species in Australia and removing their nest is illegal and may cause nestlings to starve or freeze to death or result in the breakdown of the magpie tribe.

The following tips will help you stay safe and reduce the impact of a swooping magpie

• Look out for any caution signage placed in our parks and reserves, stay clear of nesting sites and plan alternative routes

• Do not provoke magpies as they swoop to protect their young

• Wear sunglasses, a wide brimmed hat (especially kids) or carry an umbrella

• Travel in groups if possible as the birds often target individuals

• If you are riding a bike, dismount and walk through nesting magpie territory

• If you are swooped by a magpie, stay calm, walk away but do not run, and avoid looking towards the swooping birds.

To report a swooping incident within the City of Stirling, phone (08) 9205 8555

SPORT AND VACSWIM

SportIn a lighting fast start to term 3, students across the school have been working hard in training for our Athletics Faction Carnival later in the term.

Students have been building their teamwork skills by encouraging other team mates in team games. With their factions, students have been competing for the opportunity to represent their faction in racing events and team games. With Yonga and Karda taking an early lead in the points chart, and Waitj closely chasing their tail, there’s no knowing which faction will come out on top this year. The heat is well and truly on and this year’s Faction Carnival looks promising to be one of the best yet.

Details will be released shortly and we look forward to welcoming our community for a show-stopping day of competitive sporting action.

VacSwim swimming lessons Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the October and December/January school holidays.

October is a great time to get your children ready for summer and January offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations during the long break.

Your children can start as young as five years old.

Enrol your children in VacSwim now at

education.wa.edu.au/vacswim

CHAPLAIN CHAT

Teaching our children to resolve problemsLearning to manage strong feelings and resolve conflicts are important life-skills for everyone to learn. In our year 4 girls friendship program, In Real Life, we teach the following steps to working through problems we are having with family or friends:

1) Talk about it together.

2) There are two sides to every issue or incident, so take turns in respectfully listening while the other person shares their experience.

3) Listen for the feelings behind the words, this is the real issue! (Fear, jealousy, disappointment, hurt, not being valued)

4) Decide together what you are going to do to fix it.

5) Make things right – forgiveness and a fresh start.

The most important step in resolving problems with others is naming the underlying feelings, then acknowledging and validating them. This allows each person to feel heard, cared for and feel as though they matter; and a great place to start building friendships stronger!

Kindy orientation video resource support The Western Australian School Canteen Association Inc. (WASCA) is contracted to support schools to implement the Department of Education’s Healthy Food and Drink (HFD) policy. The HFD policy is based on a traffic light system of categorising foods; Red foods are off the menu, amber foods should be selected carefully and green foods and drinks should fill the menu. The HFD policy aims to create a healthy food environment in schools. It does not apply to lunch boxes, however parents are encouraged to support the policy and their children’s health by not sending red foods such as lollies, chocolates and chips to school. WASCA recognises that:

- parents can build good life long eating habits in their children from an early age - children and teachers benefit when children consume nutritious wholesome food while at

school - children who eat well have the ability to focus, to learn, to play and to interact with others.

WASCA has delivered or facilitated delivery of kindy orientation presentations across WA since term four, 2011, reaching over 28,000 families. In the past six years WASCA has engaged with others such as School Nurses and Health Professionals, teachers and canteen staff in metro and regional areas to deliver these sessions on WASCA’s behalf. This has increased the overall reach of the sessions dramatically. To ensure consistency and provide additional support we are encouraging the use of the Kindy orientation video. This seven-minute video can be played at Kindy orientations to support and encourage parents to provide healthy choices for their children. The video is complemented by support resources such as the Packed with Goodness booklet and ABCD poster. In 2020 WASCA distributed 3,476 booklets in support of the video that was played via our Youtube channel over 1,200 times. To access the video click here or go to https://www.waschoolcanteens.org.au/schoolcommunity/parents/ To order support resources email Amanda.ferguson2@education.wa.edu.au using the template below. School name: Postal Address: Contact details (person ordering resources): Role (person ordering resources):

Resource Quantity Packed with goodness booklet (i.e 1 per new family) ABCD poster (i.e. 1-2 per kindy class) Traffic light poster (i.e. 1-2 per kindy class)

To access the video, please visit: