Edition #2 March 5 2020

~ The Lighthouse ~ Bunbury Primary School Newsletter

An Independent Public School

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK Dear Parents/Carers, Wow! Almost 5 weeks down already – can you believe it? I can’t. It feels more like 8 weeks! Schools are becoming busier and busier places for both the children and the staff. Hopefully things will begin to settle down and our routines will ‘normalise’ (and, yes, I have been accused of being an optimist on many occasions).

UPDATE FORMS The school sent home a copy of our student enrolment information, as held in our database, for parents and carers to check, adjust if necessary, and return to school. We do this on an annual basis so that our records are up to date and accurate. To have current information about contact numbers and who can pick up your child in an emergency is important and I cannot stress enough the essential nature of this data. We have had children become unwell during the day and have not been able to contact parents/carers because their phone numbers were no longer valid. Should you change your residential address, we need to know. Changing your residential address has absolutely no impact on your child’s enrolment – once they are enrolled, they stay enrolled unless you choose to change schools. If nothing has changed on the information we sent home, please still return the form to your class teacher so that we know that nothing has changed.

COVID-19:-INFORMATION UPDATE While media and public commentary in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to raise concern, public health authorities are advising that the current risk remains low in Western Australia. However, precautionary measures are necessary to ensure the safest possible environment for our children. As a result, the Education Department has advised that all school-related international travel, with the exception of travel to the USA, Canada and New Zealand (providing that this travel does not go through Asia), be ‘banned’. This does not affect us as we had no such trips planned. However, it has led to the school being asked about children returning from trips to Bali. I have been advised that, as of Wednesday, there is no issue with this. The current requirements for the 14-day self-isolation period relates to people returning from mainland China (EXCLUDING Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) or Iran. Please refer to the Information Update sent home today on the school App or contact the school office for a copy of the Update.

MOBILE PHONES AT SCHOOL In the last Newsletter I included some extensive information on the Department’s Policy in regard to students having mobile phones at school. I accept that there is piece of mind for parents/carers that their child has a phone with them when travelling to and from school, and I am sure that you understand that there is no need to have access to the phone during the day. Leaving a phone in their bag on

the bag hook outside the classroom during the day is not particularly secure nor is it in the spirit of the departmental policy. This is why we ask children to hand their phone in to the office when they arrive at school. We have the same two or three children who regularly hand in their phones each day. If your child brings a phone to school, would you please check that they are handing it in to the office? Also, as of today, ask them for their ‘receipt’ to prove that they handed their phone in. This is something that we will do for the next week so that both the school and parents/carers can be sure that the children are complying with this requirement. Your support in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

THE GREEN PATCH The Green Patch (the old tennis courts) where the year 1 and 2 children play ball games will be closed for the next few weeks. I have had to take this action due to the deteriorating surface. We suspect a beetle infestation is causing the bare patches and are looking at how to best treat this to bring back the grass. This is a valuable play area for the children and we need some time to get it back to an acceptable condition.

STAFF CARPARK There are signs in the staff carpark that look like this image. The sign is fairly self-explanatory and has been put in the carpark for a specific reason. It is not because I want to be elitist and have an area just for us that we do not want share. It is about the safety of the children and the safety of my staff. There may well be some vacant parking lots in both the bitumen carpark and the grass carpark; it may well be that there are no vacant parking spots in the street parking close to the school; neither of these things justify parents/carers accessing the staff carpark. Already this year there have been a number of close calls between cars and children and cars and cars in the staff carpark involving people who should not be there. To paraphrase John Wooden “the true test of a person’s character is what they do when no-one is watching”. We teach the children about Respect, Responsibility, Caring, and Being Your Best. When you, as a parent or carer, ignore the signs and our repeated requests to not park in the staff carpark, what are you teaching your child? Is it that it is okay to be Disrespectful, Irresponsible, and Uncaring when it is convenient to do so? Is it that it is okay to do whatever you please because no-one is watching you? Remember that your child is watching you, your child is learning from you and your actions. What values do you want your child to grow up with?

Principal: Shane Doherty PO Box 1908, Bunbury, WA 6230 Ph: 97 212660 Email: bunbury.ps@education.wa.edu.au

Respect Care Excellence Our Motto: Strive to Achieve

DATES TO WATCH Tuesday March 10 - Solar Car Challenge Tuesday March 17 - Young Writers at BCGS Friday March 20 - School Harmony Day Friday March 20 - Interschool Swim Carnival

School news (Cont.)

ANAPHYLAXIS – please avoid sending food to school that contains nuts as it puts a number of our children at serious risk.

FACTION SWIMMING CARNIVAL Children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 participated in our annual Faction Swimming Carnival last week. Children self-nominate for events and the only selection criteria was that they had to have a swimming Level 5 or better. Once again Mrs Whittaker organised a superb carnival filled with excitement and fun. She was ably supported by school staff and a band of parent helpers. The children usually just see the carnival as an opportunity for competition as well as fun, they don’t realise that it would not happen without the support of the parents who take on roles within the carnival structure. Whilst I thank the staff for taking on the extra work and responsibility of the carnival, I am truly appreciative of the work the parents/carers do to support them so that such events can continue. Congratulations to Eagles in taking out the Faction Swimming Shield.

Best Regards, Shane

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL NEWS Bunbury Primary School were proud to be formally recognised as a Teacher Development School (TDS DigiTech) specialising in Digital Technologies. The certificate was awarded by the Director General of Education, Lisa Rodgers at the TDS Forum in Perth. Pictured with Lisa are Associate Principal Mrs Dillon, and staff members Mrs Marley and Ms Parry, who represented Bunbury Primary School. Thank you to Bunbury Primary School staff for sharing their knowledge and expertise with teachers, school leaders, networks and professional learning communities throughout WA. PARALYMPIAN MICHAEL ROEGER AND DR PHILO SAUNDERS Bunbury Primary were lucky enough to host two of the most talented and inspirational athletes in world; Olympic coach and lead physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, Dr Philo Saunders and T46 (amputee) 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m & Marathon WR holder – Rio 2016 medallist, Michael Roeger.

They shared their stories with our students, drawing upon their battles with adversity and delivered some crucial life lessons. Students had the chance to ask questions and learn about overcoming set-backs and achieving goals. Thank you to Ross Johnson

from the WesTrac Bunbury Geographe Gift for organising the visit.

PERTH GLORY Some of you soccer fans may have been lucky enough to see the Perth Glory W-League team play Western Sydney Wanderers at Hay Park last weekend. As part of their tour, we had the opportunity to have representatives from Perth Glory, Football West and Football Federation South West visit our school and run some clinics. Steve Purton, Peter Dohnt, Steve Golybovic, James Fraenkel and Brianna Wilson put our students through their paces and created some real excitement in the lead up to having some of the best female soccer players play right here in Bunbury.

Year Champion Runner up

3 Girls Ruby Macy

3 Boys Max Nate and Julian

4 Girls Sasha Ally

4 Boys Sage Spain

5 Girls Andie April

5 Boys Thomas Jackson

6 Girls Ella and Angel Annie

6 Boys Hinata Tex

School and Community News

Water Wise Tip . Use the dishwasher only when it's full.

ROOM 12 ASSEMBLY Room 12 's assembly provided an opportunity for the new year six students to showcase what leadership means to them. They worked hard to write their scripts, rehearse and perform skits that showcased good leadership across all domains of life. Our students have proven that they know what good leadership looks like and they are working hard to transfer their leadership lessons to everything that they do.

STORY TIME Each Tuesday lunchtime is Story Time in the Library. Each of the Library Monitors take turns to read a fun story to students. This week Zoe narrated “Aliens Love Underpants” while her friends acted out the story. Together they brought a mad capped choreographed and entertaining performance to their small audience. The addition of costumes and hand puppets sourced from the lunchtime activity tubs made it all the more colourful, chaotic and oh so entertaining. Students are welcome to come to the library after they’ve eaten their lunch to listen to a story; colour-in, read a book or, on Thursdays play a board game. It’s where the cool kids hang!

GIVE A DAMN—GIVE A CAN

This will be the 27th year Bunbury Leschenault Rotary will conduct their “Give A Damn, Give A Can” appeal and the community need seems to increase every year! Again, all collected food will be passed on to the In Town Lunch Centre, Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society for distribution to needy families. There is a collection box in the front office for donations of cans,

packets of pasta or other non-perishable food items. The Rotary Club will continue to award special certificates to the Outright Champion and Runner Up schools.

Let’s get on board this great community incentive.

TAJ—BASKETBALL SUPERSTAR You might know Taj better as one of our Faction Captains, but he is also a very talented basketball player. Recently Taj competed in the Under 12 Country Championships in Perth, his team just missed out on a berth in the Grand Final but Taj’s performance, sportsmanship and ability saw him awarded as one of the few “All Stars” for the competition. We congratulate you Taj and look forward to seeing you on the court in the future.

AWARDS, GOTCHA WINNERS & PROGRESSIVE FACTION POINTS

Bear Award: Rooms: Rms 1,2,3,4,6,13 Golden Bag Award: Rms 1, 2, 3 ,4 ,6, 7, 8, 9 ,10,11,

12

Congratulations to all the Winners!

1364 1344

992 1179

Honour Certificates

Congratulations to

all our recipients.

Year 1 Gabriel, Julian, Lucy,

Martin, Riley

Year 2 Blake, Hudson, Jessica,

Orson

Year 3 Jackson, Leni, Ruby,

Thomas, Ved

Year 4 Leni, Oscar, Sasha, Tyler

Year 5

Angela, Eva, Mirim, Theo, Zachary

Year 6

Hinata, Nate, Poppy, Will

Community News

Looking for a new interest for your child?

Let their adventure begin in the world wide organisation of Scouting WA Australia, and join us at 2nd Bunbury Sea scouts. If your child enjoys making new friends, having lots of fun, camping, hiking, canoeing, and learning lots of different skills such as cooking, first aid, orienteering, and much more; then Sea Scouts could be exactly what you are looking for. More information is available at the front office with a 4 week free pass to try it out.