Dear Community
As we near the halfway mark of term one it is nice to reflect on the amazing things that have been undertaken so far this year.
Looking back over the first month of school, 40 Kindergarten students have begun their educational journey with us here at Scarborough Primary School with their laughter and smiles far outweighing the minimal trepidation and tears. At the other end of the school, our Year 6 students have all started to settle into their leadership positions, either stepping up to be a Sports Captain or a Bookworm, or as a member of our newly created Student Council. Each group will be providing a write up about their roles in newsletters early next term, so keep an eye out for that!
Community wise, we have had a very successful AGM with the P&C and are in the process of finalising the filling of vacant positions on the School Board. Please read below for information on how to nominate for one of our 3 current vacancies. The first Board Meeting for the year is scheduled for Wednesday 29 March. We have also had a number of students engaging in Monday morning surf lessons, getting up extra early to participate in this opportunity through Surfing WA!
Please read below for some more important information about events and opportunities in our school community.
Good News Story!
I am proud to be able to share a pretty special thing that some of our students did last weekend which ended up on the radio!
Mia, Indy, Leah and Clem started to do fundraising for kids affected by the earthquake in Syria. Over the last two weekends they held a stall on the footpath and offered lemonade and self-made goods. They were quite successful and managed to raise around $400 so far that they were able to donate to Unicef and Doctors without Borders to utilise in assistance for the Syrian crisis.
Last weekend a journalist from ABC news radio stopped and did a small interview with them on Brighton Road. The girls are so proud that it went on air on the Tuesday afternoons show.
Inspired by their success, the girls have organised a stall at the Scarborough Sunset Markets next Thursday night where they will be selling more donated baked goods, clothes and toys to raise more funds. Please look out for a Skoolbag post on Monday with details of how you can donate goods for the stall.
We must all be doing something right to be part of developing such special little humans!
COVID
We are currently enjoying a phase of minimal restrictions around cases of COVID in Western Australia. However, it is important to remember that there are still cases of this virus within our school community.
Thank you to everyone this week who has let the school know of cases in your families. Below are the best processes to follow to keep us all safe.
If your child tests positive
- Please inform the school when you notify the school of their reason for absence
- Your child should stay home whilst symptomatic.
If your child is a close contact
- We would appreciate if you notify the school by emailing either myself or the front office
- Your child can still attend school providing they have no symptoms (regardless of any test result)
- It would be appreciated if you could test close contacts as required.
- There is no requirement for close contact students to wear masks, although they can if they choose to.
On a final note regarding COVID, the school has a large stock of free RATS that are available for collection from the school office. They must be collected by an adult, and cannot be sent home with students.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing for Year 3 and 5 students is now less than a month away. If you are thinking of withdrawing your child from the testing or would like some more information on the process, please email me in the next week to discuss further. The school needs to submit official paperwork for withdrawals by 8 March.
Traffic Warden Scarborough Beach Road
Our wonderful traffic warden on Scarborough Beach Road has noticed that quite a few children are choosing to cross on their own at Hinderwell Street. This is especially dangerous as it is the point of the road where cars sometimes drive at speed over the brow of the hill. Could we please encourage our children to cross with the warden’s help at the designated crossing.
School Board
We have 3 Parent Representative vacancies on the School Board that have become available, two of a 3-year tenure and 1 of a two-year tenure. You will need to be a parent at Scarborough Primary School until the end of your tenure to be eligible.
The Board’s role is required to help the school deliver a quality education experience to our children by:
· establishing and reviewing the goals, priorities and policies of the school at a strategic level;
· supporting the development of our School Business Plan;
· planning for and noting school budgets;
· evaluating the performance of our school in achieving the goals set; and
· promoting our school within the community.
We would like to thank Bailey Love, Paul Monaghan and Alana White for their contributions over the past few years. Their diverse experiences and skill sets have been an integral part of the decisions around the strategic direction of the school, particularly during the COVID roller-coaster of the past few years.
So, if the description above peaks your interest we would love you to consider nominating. If you are interested in nominating for a Parent Representative position, please email to Sarah.Dawson@education.wa.edu.au or express your interest in person to the front office. Nominations close at 3:00 pm, Wednesday 8 March 2023.
Should there be more than three nomination, all parents will be offered the opportunity to vote. Candidates will then be asked to provide a 250 word brief and a portrait style photograph to include on the voting slip. New members of the Board will undertake an induction at the first meeting.
Kind regards
Sarah Dawson
Principal
