School Newsletter

It’s a bittersweet moment when you have to say ‘farewell’ to a work college (and friend) when they decide to retire.

Our amazing, kind and sparkly Manager of Corporate Services Kerry Gillard is leaving us at the end of term for greener pastures!!  That’s right, Mrs Gillard has had a better offer; that being, sweeping ocean views, quiet country town charm, sleep ins, peace and serenity and her husband by her side every day.

Thursday 9th April will be Mrs Gillard last day with us at Northcliffe DHS.  Kerry came to us in 2011 from Pemberton DHS, where she started out as the School Officer, progressing to the Registrar in 2009/10, then she ventured down the hill and we were lucky enough to keep her!

Mrs Gillard has been an invaluable asset to our little school and we thank her for her dedication, professionalism and passion to Northcliffe.  Nothing was ever too hard for Mrs Gillard, she would help anyone who asked and offer assistance and guidance whenever it was needed. 

Her expertise was in the finances and administration of the school, but she is so much more than that….. she could whack on a band aid to a grazed knee and offer the healing words of a ‘grandmother’ to make the tears stop, tutor a student who needed a ‘little bit extra’ to help them understand that story/maths problem, provide guidance to anyone (student, parent or staff member) who was feeling overwhelmed, she was our Faction Carnival chief ‘sparkly gold’ scorer, she even taught Minilit to some students.  Dress up day? No problem for Mrs Gillard, she could get as crazy as the next person and if you ever had a craving for something sweet, look no further than her bottom drawer, there was always a ‘healthy’ stash of choccies!  Was there anything that Mrs Gillard couldn’t do??  Well yes there was, she couldn’t be in the same room (or vicinity) as anything with wings….  Believe it or not Mrs Gillard couldn’t walk through the front door if there was a moth on it.  Did I giggle when she asked me to remove the ‘scary winged thing’ so she could come inside. Yes I did!!

Parents and community members are welcome to come in and give your well wishes to our departing Mrs Gillard before the 9th April.

On behalf of the staff at Northcliffe DHS, I would like to wish Mrs Gillard a fun filled, relaxing yet exciting, retirement.  You will be truly missed around here but we wish you nothing but the best.

 Enjoy your well-deserved retirement Mrs G!

This week we have seen changes to our practise on a daily basis yet one constant is that as we change we continue to be reminded that Northcliffe is a pragmatic, supportive community where togetherness and sensibility matters. Today we received the announcement that NAPLAN will not proceed this year and while we were prepared well in advance it certainly is an appropriate decision. All of our planned fundraisers are being reviewed and in the short term we are appreciative of the understanding that most of our school community events planned for this semester will likely proceed later in the year.  We are still developing a plan for secondary camp and while we can no longer state when it will happen an appropriate activity will occur when the time is right.

 In the meantime the school has been doing what it does best: Rather than allowing challenges to hinder us we focus on our core business and the opportunities that arise in their place.  All staff have been spending significant time working on our planning to support the implementation of our strategic plan. We are building a much stronger picture of precisely what every child can do in our school and with that goes the planning to ensure we are doing everything we can to ensure every student walks out the school every day feeling that they have been successful in their learning. Standards of student work are visibly higher as all staff use the opportunity of smaller classes to complete even more engaging and challenging exercises.

 As always I appreciate parents and carers letting me know the moment they have a query or concern and for me the investment of a listening ear always provides a return greater than the time spent in conversation. Hopefully our recent movement to a digital publication is useful with one of the advantages being we can embed links to information so you can just click to find out more.  Right now the Healthy WA website is one that all of us benefit from checking each day and the daily snapshot being particularly useful to gain relevant information. https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/coronavirus. 

All staff at Northcliffe are keeping up with best practise in relation to this matter and the Australian Government Department of Health resources are both used by us and recommended for everyone. Like everything, we are all in this together and if we work together with consistency we will always be better off. Publications found here are particularly relevant and useful for everyone: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications?f%5B0%5D=field_audience%3A451

Des Prizmic

The State Government announced a new Student Mobile Phones in Public Schools policy to take effect from the start of Term 1, 2020.

 The policy requires all public schools to implement a ban on the use of mobile phones for all students from the time they arrive at school to the end of the school day.  This extends to the use of smart watches which need to be on aeroplane mode during this period.  The policy aims to reduce distractions in class and improve student engagement.

 In the policy, primary students cannot have a mobile phone in their possession. If your child is in Kindergarten to Year 6 and they bring a mobile phone to school, it will be stored until the end of school.  If your child is in Years 7 to 12, they are allowed to have their phone in their possession, but must turn it off and keep it out of sight until the end of school.

 Exceptions are allowed for students who have approval from me to use a phone to monitor health conditions, or where teachers give students permission to use mobile phones for a specific purpose.

 If your child needs to contact you, they can do so through the school’s administration. Likewise, if you need to get a message to your child, you can call the school.

If you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact by telephone, email or at school.