Welcome to the final newsletter for the semester. It certainly has been an interesting time for us and we are feeling more back to normal.
Interestingly the School Psychology Service have said that we will need to monitor how we all are in Term 3 as normality resumes.
When we are back to the way things should be, adults and children may feel stressed about ‘catching up’.
This will be carefully managed and there will not be the pressure to do things that we missed, however tempting.
We were shown this very useful image:
I love the sheep that the Kindy students have completed. It is looking great in the Junior room, so well done students and Ms Allan.
The Year 3/4 Science experiment on decomposition is going well and we are certainly seeing that plastic does not decompose at all. We have looked at the negatives and positives of plastic. The students are not impressed with the negative impact it has on wildlife when it is only used once and thrown away.
STEM for the Y5/6 is excellent. I have enjoyed seeing their creative ideas. They are attempting to make a basketball hoop that tracks points. When the ball goes through it sends an electric charge to the computer to keep track of the points. The students are currently refining this to make it work and I am loving the creative and critical thinking.
Special mention this week must go to Daniela, Emily and Bella, for great reading.
It was difficult to stay connected during Covid-19 lockdowns, but now, in Phase 4, we can start to reconnect. The ABC website gives some great ideas.
The Act-Belong-Commit guidelines for positive mental health provide a simple approach you can adopt to become more mentally healthy:
"Do Something" Keep active - physically, socially, mentally and spiritually.
· go for a walk or a run
· read a book
· talk to someone
· meditate or pray
"Do Something with Someone" Keep connected - to friends, family and your community.
· join a book club
· take a cooking class
· go to community events
· join a sports team
"Do Something Meaningful" Do something meaningful, important and valuable to you.
· volunteer
· learn something new
· take on a challenge
· teach others
I had great fun going with Miss Viv on the bus last week. We saw a lovely sun rise and I loved seeing more of the area. The children were very well behaved and apparently a little quieter than normal! Thank you to Miss Viv for driving me and letting me come along for the ride.
Week 9 and 10: Mr. Suttar has been on Long Service Leave. Whilst this is well deserved, we miss having Scott at school. I am sure we all see him around and about Salmon Gums and the school. I have been teaching the students on both Mondays. I had a great day with them all the Monday just gone.
We have welcomed Francine Cook in for both weeks, on the Tuesday, Wednesday and the Thursday.
Janette, community health nurse from Esperance, was here yesterday to give some students the flu jab.
Week 2 - Monday 27 July - School Development Day (no students at school)
As we are still being cautious, there is only a few things booked in for T3. Fingers crossed we can get a sport grant and utilise some local experts to come in and teach the students. So far, we will be having:
Science Day on the 17th of August.
Interschool (Date TBC-end of T3 or beginning of T4)
Y5/6 camp (instead of Canberra) to Perth in Week 8 of Term 3, hopefully!
I wish you all a happy and safe holidays. If you heading North, enjoy some warmth, if you are heading to Perth, enjoy what you do there, and if you are staying at home I hope that you and the students all have some opportunities to rest and recharge. I look forward to seeing you all in Term 3.
Kind Regards,
Sasha
It’s been a bit quiet at school the last couple of weeks because there has been a cold going around school, but we are really thankful that students are staying home when they are unwell.
Book Fair was exciting, there were lots of books, posters, stationery and craft packs for sale. Our school was rewarded with $200 of free books for our library. Everyone together spent over $800 on books.
Have a lovely holiday, stay well and stay safe.
Charlotte on behalf of the Student Leaders
