Newsletter

Aspire to achieve together

Issue 15

Term 4 

Friday 13 December, 2019

Principal's Message

Welcome to the final Aspiri Primary School Newsletter for 2019.

It has been a very busy year- but we have achieved much. We began the year with 540 students and this has grown to over 600 this term. Current enrolments for 2020 stand at 690 students and we expect that, by our Census date of the 14 February we will have up to 730 students enrolled. From this we expect to continue to grow throughout 2020, moving toward 750 students.

This growth will see us use almost every available teaching room in the school and we are beginning to implement planning for the acquisition of transportable classrooms to cater for the extended growth. In addition to this, at various times throughout 2020, class restructuring may need to occur in order to accommodate ever expanding classes in an effort to keep them within agreed industrial limits identified by the Department of Education.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in our school community for the hard work, dedication and support you have shown. In particular, without naming individuals, I would like to thank our staff team. From my Associate Principals, Manager Corporate Services and Front Office team to our Teachers, Education Assistants, Cleaners and Volunteers. Thankyou.

A special thanks also to our School Board members who have been well led by Michael Wiltshire and our P&C equally well led by Mrs Chantal Richards. Thank you. To our parents and school community, you have been amazing. Your warmth, support and enthusiasm has been an absolute highlight of this, our first year as a full school.

Finally, to our students. You are such a wonderful group of children. You are all so kind, enthusiastic and hardworking that is has made everyone's job so enjoyable. Thank you.  I would like to make special mention of our Student Councillors, House Captains and our Specialist teams members led by our School Captains, Isabella and Karanvir. Well done team you have been a delight to have on board.

Following the expiration of one year tenures of two of its members, the School Board will have two parent vacancies arise in 2020. Nominations will be called for these positions in week one of the new school year and elections held soon after if required; so watch out for the alert notices for this process. We encourage all parents across our wonderfully multi-cultural community to consider nominating as we value the diversity our community represents.

As with all schools we will have some staff movements next year. 

Staff Movements for 2020

I would like to offer our congratulations to Ms Sheri Evans who has been appointed Acting Principal of Kelmscott Primary School. Ms Evans has been asked to fill this position from the beginning of 2020, initially for 6 months with the possibility of an extension. We will miss Ms Evans at Aspiri PS whilst she is in this role as her deep knowledge of curriculum, pedagogy and her significant contribution to setting up our wonderful school has been incredibly valuable. Good luck Ms Evans, we know you will be an amazing asset for the community of Kelmscott Primary School.

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that our Associate Principal, Miss Kim Snowden has been appointed to the position of Associate Principal at Aspiri Primary School permanently following the completion of a recent selection process. Fantastic news Miss Snowden.

In addition, the growth in our student numbers has necessitated the creation of a third, permanent Associate Principal position and I am pleased to announce that Miss Alison Cole has been appointed to this role beginning in Term 1 2020. Congratulations Miss Cole. 

We say farewell to Mrs Cheraine Watson who has accepted a team leadership role at another primary school. Mrs Watson has been a wonderful member of our staff across 2019 and we wish her the very best at her new school.

It is with sadness that we farewell our amazing Education Assistant of the Year, Mrs Tamie Douglas who has accepted a role at another school in our local area. This school is very keen to draw upon her knowledge and skills in Education Assistant leadership and development. I am certain Mrs Douglas will assist in moving their team forward with the aim of creating a staff that matches the very high calibre of ours at Aspiri Primary School. Tamie is also in high demand as a contributor at Education Department – Corporate and Regional network levels in assisting in redefining the role and contribution of Education Assistants across the State. Congratulations Mrs Douglas and good luck for the future.

In 2020, due to our growth in student numbers we will be welcoming the following new teaching team members:

Returning will be Ms Zayaan Albertyn- congratulations Zayaan; and new faces will include Ms Eleanor Kewley, Ms Jessica Winter, Ms Racheal Benion,  Miss Elizabeth McGuire, and Ms Samantha Hoeman.

All of these new team members have been selected as the result of a rigorous selection process and they come to us with a considerable range of skills, quality professional experience and a real “can do attitude”. The future looks to continue to be very bright for our students.

Finally, I would like to wish all of our school community a safe, enjoyable, family orientated vacation and urge you to relax and remain safe. Come back to us with your signature smiles, well rested and eager to embrace everything 2020 offers us.

See you at the gate,

Noel Morgan, Principal.  

Associate Principal's Message

Hi, my name is Alison Cole and I’m excited to be joining Aspiri Primary School as Associate Principal in 2020.  I have spent the last three years working at the Leadership Institute supporting educators around the state to develop both their teaching and leadership practice.  Although I have thoroughly enjoyed this role, I have missed being apart of a school.  Previous to this, I was a foundation staff member at Campbell PS so I know firsthand the wonderful opportunities an emerging school presents in creating a dynamic learning environment and setting new directions.  I am passionate about building partnerships with families and believe that students should be at the heart of all decisions. I look forward to working with all members of the Aspiri community to ensure every student is successful and loves coming to school each and every day.

H.E.A.R.T.

Honesty  /  Effort  /  Attitude  /  Respect  /  Teamwork 

 Congratulations to all the students who were awarded certificates at the recent assemblies for displaying the H.E.A.R.T attributes.

20 November, 2019
5 December, 2019
20 November, 2019
5 December, 2019
20 November, 2019
5 December, 2019

Presentation and Graduation Day

Presentation and Graduation Day Invite

News From The Classrooms

Pre Primary Excursion to Kings Park

On Tuesday 3 December, 2019, the Pre-Primary students went on an excursion to Kings Park Rio Tinto Nature Scape. We travelled by bus to Kings Park and for some students this was their first time on a bus and a very exciting experience. When we got to Kings Park the students were able to explore and collect bush treasures and then used these to create bush art. It was fantastic to see how the students arranged the pieces of bush treasure to create bush art. We then went to the Rio Tinto outdoor classrooms for an educational session. Some students participated in Tawny Owl and the Bushfire and other students participated in a Homes and Hideaway session. All students were able to take away valuable information about the Australian bush and how they can look after it for future generations. We then went on a scavenger hunt for things you would find in the bush, such as a bird calling, three different colour leaves, a honky nut that has been eaten by a parrot and an insect crawling or flying.

A great time was had by all and a very special thank you to all of our parent helper volunteers. Without you this excursion would not have been possible and your help was very much appreciated. 

Digital Technologies

Western Power - Circuit Breakers program

This semester our Year 4 - 6 classes have been taking part in the Western Power - Circuit Breakers program. Our school was chosen to be 1 of 30 schools that were provided with resources and a mentor from Western Power, to help the students learn more about electricity and how it arrives at their homes and school. Dona Wijayasinghe (who is a Senior Project Development Engineer) was our mentor and gave up a lot of her personal time to come and work with our Year 5/6 class to share her knowledge with us and answer all of our questions. The students were so lucky and so thankful to have had this experience with Dona.

 As part of the program, the students had to use Digital and Design Technologies to help them create a working diorama of a small community. After learning how to code and use Micro:bits to simulate the electrical components of their community, the students designed and built the 3D buildings, billboards, traffic lights and many other models that would make up the final presentation. All of our students worked very hard on their designs and buildings and we were then able to choose some of these to be a part of our school’s final presentation.

Twelve students and their parents were then given the opportunity to represent our school at Scitech to present our model and presentation to the other schools that were a part of the Circuit Breakers program. The students did a fantastic job on the night and presented our work on the massive screen in the Planetarium! (I may be biased - but our presentation was definitely the best!). The students were presented with a plaque to put up at school and were then able to explore and enjoy all of the exhibitions at Scitech for the rest of the evening, as well as look at the other projects that had been completed by the other schools.

All of the students are to be commended on the fantastic way they have approached and completed this project, and they should all feel proud of their accomplishments. We are very grateful to Western Power and to Dona for their help and support of our students within the Technologies learning area.

Mr Kubicek

Hour of Code Week

This week our students have celebrated the Hour of Code week. The Hour of Code is a global computer science initiative that creates a fun and creative environment for students to be introduced to the concepts of computer programming. The first Hour of Code initiative was launched in December 2013 as part of Computer Science Education Week. Since then, more than 140 million students in 180+ countries have been empowered to learn by this program.

Our students took part in a range of digital and unplugged (non-digital) activities that focused on getting them coding in many different ways. Some of the activities our students completed were; 

  • Coding robots and characters to move through a maze
  • Giving instructions to their teachers and friends to move them through a classroom
  • Completing coding puzzles on the iPads
  • Creating animations in Scratch Junior
  • Making and using ciphers (spy codes) to send coded messages
  • Learning about Artificial Intelligence and training computers to identify rubbish in the ocean or materials that might cause bushfires

All of our students had a great time and worked very hard on these enjoyable tasks!

Mr Aaron Kubicek

Digital Technologies Specialist

Science

In Science, students have been engaging in some Christmas themed activities. They have been growing salt crystal trees, building traps to catch elves, designing snowflakes on geoboards and stacking green cups to create Christmas trees. Students also enjoyed using their senses to explore some pretend snow and observed what happens when bicarbonate soda and vinegar are mixed together to create bauble eruptions. 

Aspiri Art Exhibition 2019

The first official Aspiri Art Exhibition opened Wednesday afternoon and it was packed with students, parents and family members. There was a variety of artworks from Kindergarten to Year 6 and all students had the chance to exhibit a piece of their artwork. Students have explored and practised throughout the year different forms of art and mediums such as drawing, painting, collage, printing, textiles and construction. This exhibition was a showcase of the students amazing visual art journey of 2019. Thank you to the many parents and family members who came along and for all the positive feedback. It was just amazing! And the Journey has just begun… 

 

The Art Room

Year 4 Visual Arts

Project Title: The Art of Weaving

The Year 4 students were introduced to the importance of weaving in Textiles and the way that we can do that with paper instead of fabric. We discussed the difference between geometrical shapes and the organic/freeform shapes. The students chose different sheets of colours, they cut long strips and created different geometrical and or organic/freeform shapes with them. Some students also created different patterns and glued them on their strips of paper. Once their strips were ready to be weaved into the paper, the students created cuts on their chosen background sheet and weaved the strips into it. It may be a different form of art with new skills learned and new challenges faced but once again the Year 4 students succeeded with it!

Volunteer Thank You Morning Tea

On Wednesday 11 December, 2019 we gathered in the staff room to thank all the wonderful volunteers who give up their time to support our school in its activities.  All staff members contributed a special plate of food and it was lovely to see everyone enjoying a cup of tea and a sweet treat.


Waste Wise School

Aspiri Primary School is excited to announce that we are officially an accredited Waste Wise School and the successful recipient of two environmental school grants. These will assist us in establishing sustainable initiatives within the school in 2020. One grant is from the Waste Wise Schools Program for the sum of $2200 and another is a Woolworths Junior Landcare grant for $1000. This money will fund the school paper recycling program and help start a sensory herb garden in the Early Childhood area. Look out for these initiatives when you are at school next. 

Environment News

Following our Waste Audit in Term 3, we discovered that as a school we send nearly 4000kg of waste to landfill every year. Approximately 50% of this is fruit and vegetable scraps, whole fruit and other food scraps such as processed foods. This will only increase as the school grows in numbers. Next year we will look at ways to manage the waste on site through composting and developing a worm farm but in the meantime to support our school community to minimise both organic and non-organic waste we encourage you to consider the following options:

  • Pack a zero waste lunch (contains no throwaway packaging)
  • Bring a reusuable water bottle to school that can be refilled (fruit juice boxes cannot be recycled)
  • Use resealable containers so that leftover food can be saved for later and not thrown in the bin.

News from The P & C

A big hello to the lovely families of Aspiri Primary School from your P&C.

We would like to firstly introduce ourselves, we are Chantelle Richards (President) and Mel Dahlstrom (Secretary) of Aspiri Primary School P&C.

We are very excited to announce that we have raised a staggering $10,000 in our inaugural year. In addition we have also purchased tear drop banners for each faction through money raised.  

We have two meetings per term where we discuss fundraising opportunities and events that the P&C will be hosting. We welcome new members with open arms as we embrace new ideas and perspectives from the local Aspiri community. Please feel free to come along to as many meetings as you wish. As of next year we will be hosting our meetings at alternate times, one during the day and the other being after work to accommodate everyone. We would love to have you there to embrace your input over a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

We can be contacted on our P&C e-mail address which is:

aspiripandc@gmail.com

or our P&C Facebook Page:

Aspiri P&C

We are excited to announce that at a recent meeting a motion was passed that all P&C fundraising will go towards an additional play area for Years 1-6. We are in the process of getting quotes and are keen to involve the students in the final decision making process. We will then have a display in the front office so that all families can see our progress.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our current P&C committee members and volunteers for their hard work over the past 9 months and we look forward to building a bigger and even better 2020.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Kindest Regards

Chantelle and Mel

School Photos - Sports and Specialist Photos

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Uniform Concepts Term 4 information

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