Welcome to 2023 at Scarborough Primary School everybody! We have had a wonderful first fortnight back with students and teachers enjoying getting to know their new classrooms and each other. Our school community has continued to grow and we have started the year with around 260 students, about 20 more than at this time last year. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new families and students, especially those joining us in our Kindy groups to start their educational journey. Equally, I would like to extend our best wishes to those who have moved on this year and thank them for their contributions to our community over their time with us.
Please read on below for specific updates, and make sure you have a look at our Term Planner for important events that will be happening throughout the term.
As always, if you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone, email sarah.dawson@education.wa.edu.au or in person.
Staffing
I would like to welcome Angela Jeitz and Louise Gibson who will be joining us this year. Angela will be in the Year 4/5 class in Room 1. She has spent the last few years teaching in the Esperance area and is experienced in a range of roles, making her quite an asset to our school. Louise is also an experienced teacher, having taught most recently at East Victoria Park and Yokine Primary Schools. She will be teaching the year 2/3 class in Room 5 and her expertise is a very welcome addition to our Junior Primary phase of learning. Welcome ladies!
Capital Works
The school holiday period was quite a busy time for the building works program at the school.
- The two-storey early childhood block is starting to take shape
- Work was done in the roofing of the undercover area and Room 8 to start the improvement plans for those areas.
- The space at the edges of the basketball court has also been prepped for new landscaping, paths and walkways.
The best news is that stage 1 of the building program is still running in accordance with the expected timeframe.
Term Planner
A current Term Planner will be available to download at the top of the end of the Newsletter each week. Please be sure to check it each fortnight for any changes as it will be updated regularly.
Some important upcoming events include:
Parent Information Session
Each classroom will be providing a half hour parent information session to provide general information about your child's 2023 classroom. More information will be provided by classroom teachers. The 30-minute sessions have been scheduled as follows. We hope to see you there:
Wednesday 15 February:
- 4:30 pm: Kindy (both groups), Rm 1 and Rm 2
- 5:00 pm: Rm 4, Rm 5 and Rm 9
Thursday 16 February:
- 4:30 pm: PP, Rm 6
- 5:00 pm: Rm 11 and Rm 14
On Entry Testing
The state-wide On- entry Assessment Program is running for Pre-primary and Year 1 students across weeks 3-6. During this time, your child's teacher will spend one-on-one time with them, completing a range of tasks, to gather information about their literacy and numeracy skills and understandings. Parents of students in these year levels will have received an email with further information from your classroom teachers.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing for students in years 3 and 5 will be conducted between the 15 and 27 of March this year. An information leaflet has been sent home with all students this week. If you have any queries about the testing and your child's participation, please don't hesitate to contact me to discuss.
Book Club
Our first Book Club catalogue of the year is going home with students today. To place an order, sign up for LOOP and finalise your order by 15 Feburary. All orders will be delivered to the students at their classroom in the coming weeks.
Attendance
Now that the biggest impact of COVID is hopefully behind us, attendance levels will once again become a focus at Scarborough Primary School this year. In 2022, as we responded to the worst of the pandemic here in Western Australia, our school attendance rate dropped to 87.7%. Our aim this year is to get back to our pre-pandemic levels of around 93%.
At Scarborough PS, we want your child to achieve their very best. To get the best education, they need to attend school every day. Developing a habit of going to school every day is vitally important so your child does not miss out on important ideas and skills they need for future learning.
We will monitor attendance by reviewing attendance levels of individuals over 3 week periods. Where a child has fallen below 90% attendance in consecutive attendance periods without a reasonable cause (see below) the school is required to notify parents. In some instances, this is just information to alert parents to the fact their child’s attendance has dropped. In others, where persistent low attendance is evident, the school may ask for a meeting with parents to find a solution and lift attendance levels.
It is important that children stay home when they are unwell. Our monitoring system takes this into consideration, as it only targets students whose attendance is low over consecutive 3 week blocks. Hence, if your child misses a week’s school with an illness in one monitoring period but their attendance is at acceptable levels in others, then it would not be cause for alarm.
The Department of Education provides the following guidance and information on attendance:
Why is going to school so important for my child?
- At school, many concepts including literacy and numeracy are taught in a sequence. Missing school means missing out on learning – which can often make it difficult to catch up later. This is particularly important when essential foundation skills are being taught.
- Going to school every day helps children learn the important life skill of ‘showing up’ – at school, at work, to sport and other commitments.
- Research from the Western Australian Telethon Kids Institute shows that every day at school counts towards a student’s learning. Students who attend more, generally do better at school and in life.
When is it OK to not go to school?
An OK reason is one that prevents your child from getting to school. This could include:
- when your child is sick or unwell
- attending cultural or religious observances such as sorry time and funerals
- an unavoidable natural event such as flood waters or a cyclone
- an unavoidable medical appointment
It’s NOT OK to miss school if your child:
- is celebrating a birthday
- is going on a family holiday
- is visiting family and friends
- has slept in or had a big weekend
- is looking after other children
- has sport or other recreational activities that have not been approved by the school
- has appointments such as haircuts and minor check ups
