Dear Students, Parents & Carers, Staff and Community,

We have started the week with Three Way Conferences. The students were thoughtful in their discussions around their achievement and progress, sharing chosen work samples with their families. Thank you to Mr Harvey, Mrs Bouckaert and Mrs Evans for all the time and effort you put into preparing and running such a successful day. The day was positive and valuable for students, parents and teachers to discuss and reflect on areas of strength and challenge and to set new learning goals. Thank you to Mrs Bond and Mr Watts for providing engaging learning opportunities throughout the day. The students thoroughly enjoyed their Visual Arts and Digital Technologies sessions.  We wish Mrs Bond all the best on her pending arrival. We will miss you!

This week we celebrate National Child Protection Week to shine a light on what children need to grow up safe and supported. In the lead up to this week we hosted ESafety workshops for our students and families based on the theme Cyber Safety and Digital Wellbeing. Presenter Kayelene Kerr is one of the Telethon Kids Institute’s trusted Expert Cyber Educators. Her sessions were very informative and provided comprehensive, evidence based up to date information and included conversation starters, practical strategies and resource recommendations for our families. Thank you to Cascade and Salmon Gums Primary School for joining us for the day.

The Staff Development Day in Week 6 was a productive day for staff. The day was spent reflecting on the school performance for each domain (Relationships and partnerships, Learning environment, Leadership, Use of resources, Teaching quality and Student achievement and progress) of the School Improvement and Accountability Framework. Sessions included Leading Cultures of Teaching Excellence and Teaching for Impact; Analysing student data using Elastik platform to make judgements and communicate progress and achievement for Three Way Conferences; Strategic Plan and Operational Plans review; and staff Future Leaders Framework portfolios.

During the year our student leaders organised an event to support Hero Hunter Day. Hero Hunter Foundation donates and delivers healthy, ready-made meals to carers staying on the cancer ward at Perth Children's Hospital, as well as offering professional cleaning and gardening services, fuel vouchers, advocacy and educational material to these families fighting their biggest fight. Director of Operations Kate Bettenay, Hunter's mum, has been nominated by the community as a Westfield Local Hero. Kate is one of 3 finalists, and it all comes down to community votes now. If Kate wins, she will receive $20,000 for the Hero Hunter Foundation. This grant will pay for an ENTIRE YEAR’S supply of meals for the carers on the children's cancer ward. Would you please be so kind to vote through the link below?

https://HHDvote

Last week was Education Assistant Appreciation Week. We have three of the best. Thank you to Mrs Guerini, Mrs Crawford and Mrs Bale for your outstanding care and support for our students, staff and families. We are very grateful for you.

Next Thursday is R U Ok Day? Touch base with your colleagues, family and friends. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just be a good friend and a great listener. Students are encouraged to wear yellow on Thursday 14 September.

Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

1. Ask R U OK?
2. Listen
3. Encourage action
4. Check in

Kind regards,

Lynley Neill

Principal

BOOK FAIR

A huge thank you to Mrs Guerini for organising the Book Fair this year, raising $345 in books for our school. The students looked amazing in their Book Fair costumes and introduced themselves so confidently in front of all our families during the parade. It was lovely to see all our families and 2024 Kindy students attending for the morning. Thank you to all our families for supporting this event and to Mrs Tyrrell for organising the P&C morning tea. It was lovely to see so many families staying on to enjoy the weather for a play in the playground after the event. 

NAIDOC DAY

On Friday 18^th August, the students participated in the inaugural Combined Schools NAIDOC excursion at the Esperance Indoor Stadium. The event was organised by Nulsen Primary School with the support of many community groups including Tjaljraak, Dabungool, ESHS Stars, NPS Little Yogas, Centrecare. Escare, Department of Communities, Esperance Library and Police. We had a great time creating clay sculptures, plaiting wrist bands, having our faces painted and decorating pots to plant seeds. When we were not rotating through the cultural activities, we joined the other Mallee Schools for some sports activities. Thank you to NPS for a great day and for your support with transporting students to the event and the sausage sizzle lunch. It was a valuable event to connect and acknowledge Aboriginal Culture.
Mrs Evans

SIDE FRENCH VISIT

Students had a very special visit from their SIDE French teachers last Tuesday. Students dressed up in the French theme. Thank you to Madame Laura O’Neill, Madame Emanuelle Dupart and Madame Kara Guard for visiting our students and engaging them in a fun morning of activities including trying French bakery treats and singing songs.  

JUNIOR MALLEE TEACHER DAY

In week 5 I attended the Junior Mallee Teacher Network meeting. We started off with some Professional Learning about Cognitive Load Theory, followed by a Moderation session. This term we moderated Reading tasks and provided each other with valuable feedback on student work samples as well as our Reading teaching programs. We discussed Swim Camp, delegating roles to staff members and planned our STEM challenge. The STEM challenge was carried out on Tuesday 29^th August as a Webex across the Mallee with great success. Thank you to Cascade Primary School for joining us for the day. 
Mrs Evans

SENIOR MALLEE TEACHER DAY

Our meeting began with a comprehensive review of the upcoming swim camp week, the first item on our agenda. We reviewed the planning and supervision details, confirming the most essential aspects.

During our discussion, we addressed whether staff members have been using resources from Elastik. It was noted that some staff have been effectively utilising these resources to enhance their teaching methods.

We also inquired about implementing Real-Time Writing Tasks among the staff. It was confirmed that these tasks had been incorporated into teaching practices and held value to the Mallee teachers.

During the meeting, we took the opportunity to reflect on the team-building activities during the week four meet-up. These activities successfully fostered a sense of unity and collaboration among the staff.

The meeting continued with discussions on Numero, HASS Moderation, Mathematics Moderation, and Student Collaboration.
Mr Harvey

STUDENT LEADER DAY

The Student Forum attended the Shire of Esperance for their Student Leaders morning. The Student Forum conducted a student survey about recreational activities and spaces that they utilise in Esperance and fedback what they would like to have in the future before attending the day and took the results to the Shire Council.

At the Shire of Esperance, Hunter and I were involved in a council meeting. Our job was to pick Santa’s Christmas vehicle. (We cant say what the outcome was!)
Jim

After that, we went to Wylie Bay Recycling Station to learn about soft plastics. We were told to avoid soft plastics unless you can’t avoid it. We also learnt about landfill and sorting the recycling.
Hunter

SCIENCE WEEK

Students celebrated the National Science Week school theme: Innovation: Powering Future Industries, learning all about AI innovation in industry and science with Mrs Wooldridge. 

Students learnt that:

• Coding is useful and powerful
• Innovation drives technology 
• Technology advances our lives 
• How AI impacts our future 

Students watched a show from AI Academy that consisted of comedic and interactive science sketches, introducing crazy characters and relatable situations, delivered by professional actor educators. Students become part of the action and were encouraged to offer suggestions that the actor incorporated. The students got to have input into the show, while watching and learning.

PEAC

On Wednesday 16 August I went to Castletown Primary for the Einstein First Project. It was a fun morning of science activities for Science Week.
Hunter

For always having impeccable manners, listening to instructions and getting stuck in to get the job done in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program. He has been a delightful addition to the school. Well done, Kaiden!

It has been a busy few weeks for the students. We have had science week, our Mallee STEM challenge and book week, 2024 Kindy visitors and the French teachers have visited the school. We have had a great time learning and created some memories along the way.

JUNIOR ASSEMBLY

The Junior Assembly will be held on Thursday 7^th September @ 2pm in the Undercover Area. All families are invited to attend. A tray peek will follow and Mrs Evans has a special Worm Farm project to be constructed in the Stephanie Alexander Garden Kitchen.

PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

On Thursday @ 1pm Wayward Nation will be holding a photography session at Scaddan Primary using iPad and iPhones. The session aims to build photography skills when taking student photos for our newsletter and school documents. Families are also invited to join in with our staff. 

NUMERO REGIONAL INTERSCHOOL COMPETITION 

We wish Hunter, Kiana and Jim all the best in their Interschool Numero Competition on Friday. Mr Weckert has been challenging the students to complete weekly tasks in preparation for the event.

MALLEE SWIM WEEK

Thank you to all our families for returning your forms promptly. Mrs Gow has been very busy organising our Mallee Swim Week. We are very grateful to our very generous community. A huge thank you to Ports Football Club President Calvin for providing our accommodation free of charge for the week. Thank you also to Southern Ports Authority for their $3000 sponsorship to assist with cost of activities over the week.

ATTENDANCE

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved 100% attendance so far this term:

Billie, Hunter and Pippa.

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved at or above our school target of 93% attendance so far this term:

Ryder, Sailor and Layla.

At Scaddan Primary School, our goal is to ensure every student has the opportunity to achieve their potential.

Scaddan Primary School will maintain consistently high levels of student attendance with a target of 93% or above. The Department of Education classifies any student below 90% as an attendance risk.

We know that everyday at school contributes to learning, which leads to better engagement and higher academic achievement. This sets students up for life and creates better social and economic outcomes for Western Australian families and communities.

The School Education Act 1999 requires children of compulsory school age to attend school. When a child is unable to attend, legislation requires that Parents and Carers provide written notification providing a reasonable cause for the absence of the child.

We encourage you to notify the school of any absence via email or by replying to the school messaging system.

The Noongar Season ‘Djilba' is represented by the colour pink as it symbolises growth of wildflowers and plants.

We are now heading into Djilba (jill-ba) for the months of August and September, known as first spring.

This is the start of the massive flowering explosion that happens, beginning with the yellow flowering plants such as the acacias.

Djilba is a transitional time of the year, with some very cold and clear days combining with warmer, rainy and windy days mixing with the occasional sunny day or two.

Traditionally, the main food sources included many of the land-based grazing animals including the yongar (kangaroo), the waitj (emu) and the koomal (possum).

As the days start to warm up, we start to see and hear the first of the newborns with their proud parents out and about providing them with food, guiding them through foraging tasks and protecting their family units from much bigger animals, including people!

The woodland birds are still nest bound, hence the swooping protective behaviour of the koolbardi (magpie), djidi djidi (willy wag tails) and chuck-a-luck (wattle birds).

It’s also a great time to spot Mamang (whales) with their calves in the Wadarn (ocean) along our coastline.

As the season progresses and the temperatures continue to rise, the flower stalks of the balgas (Grass Trees) emerge in preparation for the coming Kambarang season.

VacSwim swimming lessons

Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the October and summer school holidays.

VacSwim offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations across WA. It’s a great school holiday activity that teaches valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water.

Your children can start as young as five years old.

Places are limited, so get in early. Enrol your children in VacSwim now at education.wa.edu.au/vacswim

To ensure that communication is clear, timely and responsive to the needs of everyone we have the following in place:  

All official communication is via the school email scaddan.ps@education.wa.edu.au. This email address is monitored daily and is received by the Manager Corporate Services, Mrs Tracey Berry. 

In the event that the school needs to contact all families at the same time, a text message will be sent from the school MGMOutReach+ system or school mobile number 0427 756 055. 

This system will also be used for emergencies and monitoring attendance. It is a legal requirement that the school is notified of any student absence.  

The school newsletter will be sent out in Week 4 and Week 8 of each Term and will contain key information and outline term events. It will be emailed out and uploaded to the school website https://www.scaddanps.wa.edu.au. 

SeeSaw will be used by class teachers to share learning and important information and reminders for their class. Teachers may at times post messages and reminders of requirements for their classes during the day, however this is not to be used for ongoing communication throughout the day as teachers are unable to monitor this in a consistent manner. 

Student diaries have been provided for your child. Please keep them in your child's bag. The diaries and student folders are checked every day by the classroom teacher. Parents/carers to write in any changes in travel arrangements for the day. This information is then written on the bus whiteboard on the verandah indicating who will pick up the child and at what time.

I can be contacted via email lynley.neill@education.wa.edu.au or school mobile 0427 756 055 or by phoning the school office on 90755100.