Newsletter

We are excited to announce that Mrs Kristyn Oldfied  our amazing teacher from Yr 3C was nominated and has now been selected as a finalist for 

WA Premier's Primary Teacher of the Year

Kristyn is one of 4 teachers selected as finalists and we are so proud of her achievement.  The winner will be announced in Term 4.

The award acknowledges individuals and schools that demonstrate leadership, innovation and community spirit - helping students to grow and achieve their best.

This award recognises Primary School teachers who are knowledgeable, caring and creative as well as passionate about inspiring younger students to want to learn.  They encourage respect in the classroom, know their students and how they learn and engage in professional learning. 

We would also like to acknowledge and congratulate Miss Kaili-Skye Beeson who is a member of the Aspiri staff but is currently on secondment to Kalgoorlie for a year.  Kaili  was nominated and selected as a finalist for

WA Beginning Teacher of the Year

This award recognises the fresh, enthusiastic and passionate approach that beginning teachers bring to their classrooms and to the profession.  They embrace technology and innovate in their approach to teaching and learning.  They contribute to their school communities in many different ways.

The awards are proudly sponsored by BHP

Welcome to the latest edition of our Newsletter.

You will have seen from our front page that two of our teachers, Mrs Oldfield and Miss Beeson (who is on temporary loan to Kalgoorlie Primary School J) are finalists in the WA Education Awards for 2021. Mrs Oldfield in the category of WA Teacher of the year and Miss Beeson in the category of Beginning Teacher of the year. We are very proud of both Mrs Oldfield and Miss Beeson, and we wish them both all the best of luck in the upcoming Awards Ceremony in term 4.  I believe that their success mirrors the standard of teaching that we aspire to and support here at Aspiri Primary School and that it is clear that your children are in very good hands.

I would like to say a belated farewell to Miss Graham and Miss Nabben who have begun their journey to parenthood, a wonderful new phase of their lives. Good luck to both Steph and Claire and we wish them all the joy in the world as they become Mums for the first time. I would also like to wish Ms Honeman all the very best as she takes some leave in order to get married in two weeks. Good luck Sam, we wish you all the best as well.

Our students have been representing the school with pride at various events recently and I am very pleased with their efforts both in the sporting field but also Sciences and the Arts. Many of our students will be representing our school in the upcoming Schools Massed Choir Festival in week 10. I know they are enjoying the rehearsal stage of this project and that they will be amazing on the night. I would especially like to congratulate one of the choir members, Abbegayle Albert, who has been selected from many students to undertake a solo performance on the night. This is indeed an honour. Good luck choir members and Abbegayle.

We have achieved another milestone in our efforts to manage the traffic in and around our school. Tomorrow, contractors will be installing rubber car stoppers in our car parking bays on the Rossiter Oval side of the school. This is designed to limit the penetration of vehicles into each bay in order to prevent them from overlapping the footpaths, therefore giving all pedestrians a clearer and safer path to walk on. Can I also remind drivers to be courteous, patient and careful when driving in and around our school.

Some reminders:

This Friday (tomorrow) is a scheduled School Development Day so students are not required to attend school.

Next Wednesday, 8 September, 2021 is our scheduled term three School Board meeting. This is our annual open meeting which means that members of our school community are welcome to attend and observe the meeting. You are reminded however, that visitors are not able to contribute to the meeting. The meeting will be held from 3 pm in the school library.

Next week will see our Athletics carnivals run. They have been spread across three days in order to accommodate our large student numbers. You can find the dates on the term planner (a copy is on our web site).  Good luck to all students. Parents you are welcome to come, set up a chair or two and support your children. We are mindful of the weather and should the weather be predicted to be inclement, announcements will be made as early as possible via SMS and email.

See you at the gate. Mr Morgan Principal.

Students do not attend school on Friday 3 September, 2021 as the staff will be attending a Professional Development Day.

Discover how plants move water inside themselves

Plants get the water they need by pulling the water up through their roots and into their leaves. They use a process called ‘capillary action’ to make the water move upwards against gravity.  This experiment will show how the plant is moving the water.

You will need:

- Fresh celery stalks with the leaves still on

 -  Or white flowers instead of celery

- Food colouring

- Plastic cups

- Newspaper

Steps

1)  Put down newspaper to catch any mess or do the experiment outside

 2)  Fill a cup up halfway with tap water

3)  Add several drops of food colouring to the water (blue food colour will show up best)

 4)  Put one celery stalk in each cup with the leaves at the top

5)  Wait about 2-4 hours until there is some colour change in the celery

 6)  Leave the celery in the water overnight and check if it has gained more colour

 7)  You can snap the celery in 2 pieces to see where the water and colour was sucked up inside

Extra

 * Get parents help to do the next step

Split the stem of a new celery stalk or flower in two

Put each of the halves of the stem in a different coloured water cup

See how the plant pulls the water up to different parts of the leaves or flowers from different areas of the stem

The Science Behind the Celery Experiment

A stalk of celery is made up of lots of small tubes (like straws). These tubes are called xylem tubes, which you might have seen coloured brightly inside the snapped celery. The tubes have the job of moving water from the roots to the leaves.

When the water moves up the tubes it is called capillary action.

Have you ever placed a sponge over some water drops?  Capillary action is what makes the water get drawn up into all of the tiny holes in the sponge.

We can see capillary action at work in art also.  When we dip the tip of a paintbrush in water, it will suck up the water until the brush is fully wet.

In Week 5, the Pre-primary students went on an adventure to Kings Park Naturescape. We travelled to the park on four big buses which was very exciting for many students. Once at Kings Park, we split into groups to complete a variety of tasks. Students had the opportunity to explore the terrain by climbing up and through the enormous python structure, over rocks and through the spider web tangle. Students completed a scavenger hunt with their groups, where they had to search and discover different sections of the playground. They even got to use their imaginations and work together as a team to build a cubby house for the Three Little Pigs. All the classes participated in one of the Education Programs run by the staff at Kings Park. Some groups listened to and re-enacted the famous story “Snuggle Pot and Cuddle Pie” with costumes and went on a hunt to find things from the story. Some other groups participated in “Moorditch Boya,” where they listened to a story, did face painting, scratched symbols into boomerangs, made patterns in sand and went for a hunt for different animals in the bush. Thanks to Miss Blechynden and Mrs Petite for organising a wonderful day. A big thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped on the day. We could not have done it without you!  

What an amazing Book Week we had again this year!

The costumes were outstanding and a big thank you to all the parents who designed, made, bought and/or borrowed costumes so that their children could take part. Unfortunately due to the weather we were unable to hold our Parade, however each class still managed to parade within their own year group areas.

A big thank you to Mrs Bice our Librarian for her organisation of Book Week and for surprising us with her amazing costumes each day of the week. 

Book Fair closes today at 3.15pm. Thank you to everyone who purchased books and other items. 

Seesaw is one of the main ways we communicate with parents and carers.  We are seeking to collect information on parents’ use of Seesaw, it’s perceived value in showcasing student learning and how confident parents are at using the platform.  We encourage all parents/carers to complete the survey by Friday 24th September using the following hyperlink Parent Survey or QR code.

If your child is interested in learning a musical instrument or singing then please collect an application form from the Administration Office or email the Perth Music Agency. Don't delay as places fill quickly and enrolments are now only accepted at the beginning of each term.

All queries are to be directed to the Perth Music Agency.