Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Community Members,

We have had a busy term so far and with only 2 more weeks to go, the students are fully engaged in their learning. As a whole school reward for all this effort, Mrs Rachel Bond has created a beautiful art project with the students. They are half way through completing it. Mr Paterson has given a sneak preview in his Senior Room page.

Staff and students have also been working hard on their end of year concert performance, rehearsing their Christmas song and creating their costumes under the direction of Mrs Bouckaert. The costumes are looking very cute!

I would like to thank the School Council and P&C for their support and contributions this year. We value your input and appreciate your time and effort to make Scaddan Primary School a unique and proud learning environment. I have had many visitors to the school commenting on the welcome they receive and beautiful learning environment.

On Friday 10^th December we say goodbye to a very special person. Mrs Blair is retiring her position as our School Chaplain. We wish Mrs Blair all the best on her retirement. To say goodbye and thank you, we will hold a morning tea on the 10^th December at 10:30am. All are welcome. Please bring a piece of fruit to share.

This term we have been using the program MindUP. It is a comprehensive, evidence-based program that fosters social and emotional awareness, enhancing psychological well-being and promoting academic success. The students are learning about the brain and how it functions. Each lesson the focus CORE practice is deep belly breathing and attentive listening. The benefits of this program include:

• Improving self-control and self-regulation skills
• Strengthen resiliency and decision making
• Bolster enthusiasm for learning
• Increase academic success
• Reduce conflict
• Develop positive social skills, such as empathy, compassion, patience and generosity

Junior and Senior Mallee Teacher Meeting Friday 26^th November 
Miss Hatton and Mr Paterson attended the Junior and Senior Mallee Teacher Network meeting last Friday. This day is an opportunity to collaborate and moderate student achievement, assisting teacher judgements when finalising student reports. Mrs Bouckaert also provided professional learning, supporting teachers with the SCSA exemplars.


Swim Week
Families have received their individaul student invoices. Please pay as soon as possible as Mrs Berry is finalising finances for the end of year. Thank you for your prompt payment.


Student Forum Selection for 2022
The votes have been counted with not many votes separating the top 4 from the 12 students nominated. The Student Forum 2022 will be announced at the End of Year Concert. There will be opportunities for unsuccessful Student Forum nominees to gain leadership capacity in other ways next year. I would like to congratulate all nominees for their continued display of Scaddan Values and role modelling across the school.

Kindergarten Orientation
During Week 6 we welcomed our newest students to the school, our 2022 Kindergarten students. Archie, Pippa and Fletcher spent the whole day with us learning, playing and settling into school life. We look forward to seeing you all next year.

Esperance Bird and Animal Park Excursion
Last Thursday Miss Hatton and Mrs Guerini took the Kindergarten and Pre Primary students to the Esperance Bird and Animal Park. The students had lots of fun and represented the school magnificently. Well done everyone!


SSEN:BE
We have engaged School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement this term.  We have had a visiting specialist teacher from the Goldfields Engagement Centre who is supporting staff to provide a personalised approach for student psychosocial, developmental and learning needs. Through observations of characteristics and strengths of students, Mrs Stratchan provides an informed decision about the ‘best fit’ intervention and support options, creating a personalised plan.

As a reward for the students’ fantastic behaviour this term, we have recently hosted Crazy Hair and Sock Day and started an art project with the wonderful Mrs Bond.

Values Star





George

For demonstrating excellence in his writing about Santa’s Problem. Well done George.

End of Year Concert
On Monday 13^th December there will be an early close at 12pm. All students will need to arrive back at school by 4:30pm.  The concert will start at 5pm at the Scaddan Country Club. Further information for parents will be sent home next week.

Cannery Arts Excursion
As part of Mrs Bouckaert’s Visual Arts program, the Senior Room will be visiting the Cannery Arts Centre on Wednesday 15^th December to view 'Art on the Move: Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist'. Permission forms will be going home next week.

Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist is an immersive and finely crafted installation by Susie Vickery which takes the form of a cabinet of curiosities, charting the journey of the 18th Century French botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière, who came to Western Australia in 1792 on the ship Recherche, captained by Bruni d’Entrecasteaux.

Esperance Regional Network Meeting
This Friday, 3^rd December, Mrs Neill will be offsite to attend the final Network meeting of the year, reviewing the 2021-24 Esperance Regional Strategic Plan.

Student Reports and Last Day of School
Semester 2 Reports will be sent home with the students on Wednesday 15^th December. Thursday 16^th December will be the last day for students.

As a school, we are required to work towards improving the attendance of our students.

There are a so many important reasons why your child needs to attend school regularly.  By regularly, we mean above 90% of the time (no more than five absent days per term). The Esperance Region is working hard to ensure that our students attend school.  If as a school, we can aspire to reach 92 - 93%, then we will be really helping our students to reach their full potential.






Of course there are always exceptions to this when children need to take time off school for perfectly acceptable reasons.


What should I do if my child is away from school?

• Please let the school know at the earliest convenience, either by phone or email.
• If your child is going to be away for more than three days, please let the school know by phone or email.
• Send a note with your child to explain why your child was away.