Newsletter

We welcome Mr Nick Mackay who began his practical placement for his Master of Teaching (Primary) at Murdoch University. Mr Mackay will be teaching in the Year 2 class this term and next with Ms Jenny. Please make him feel welcome if you see him around the school. I wish him all the best for his practicum and the beginning of a rewarding career.

Our Year 5 and 6 students are currently preparing for their camp to Point Walter next week. It has been fantastic that the fundraising Mr Hyde organised raised sufficient funds to subsidise a portion of the camp. The Year 5/6 mini fete was a huge success, and I would like to personally thank all sponsors and participants who assisted with the event being so successful. I wish the students attending all the best on camp, I hope they enjoy all the experiences Mr Hyde has organised and most importantly that they also have fun.

This week we had a visit from the Stephen Michael Foundation. This program focuses on inspiring kids to develop self-confidence, embrace positive behaviours and invest in their future. The foundation works with all kids, regardless of gender or cultural background to give them the space, support and skills to reach their full potential. The result is communities that are strong and engaged with ongoing opportunities for all young people to participate and grow.

Once again our thanks needs to go out to our hardworking P&C, and to the parents who assisted with the organisation of the Mother’s Day stall. The children have chosen very thoughtfully from the amazing selection of gifts. It is fantastic that our children have this opportunity to buy a beautiful gift to show their mum’s gratitude for everything they do.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our mums on Sunday, I am wishing you all a lovely day filled with children showing you the appreciation you all deserve.

Warm regards,

Leanne Kelleher

Principal

Congratulations to all of our LeinSTAR award recipients this week:

Success

• Lucas Hilliard, for success in mathematics using repeated addition strategy.
• Gavi Bayani, for consistently working through your maths to find an alternative solution.
• Leila Hunt, for success in reading.
• River Naniseni, for success in reading.
• Emerson Tangaroa, for showing success and confidence during shared reading.
• Brodie Rowan, for showing success and confidence during shared reading.
• Elaina Haldoupis, for success in showing active listening and ignoring distractions.
• Charlie Harris, for success in independent writing.
• Billy Whiting, for success in writing independently to his best ability and ignoring distractions.

Teamwork

• Sheick Swaray, for displaying teamwork by helping his friends pin work up in science.
• Maverick Rae, for displaying teamwork by helping his friends pin work up in science.
• Aayan Lamshal, for packing away carefully and neatly.
• Leilani Grant, for packing away carefully and neatly.
• Micheal Haldoupis, for showing great teamwork by stopping to help a peer during cross country.
• Jayden Taggart, for demonstrating sharing and inclusiveness with peers in the class.

Acceptance

• April McIntosh, for demonstrating acceptance in the classroom.

Letter of Commendation

• Ruby Mazzella and Joshua Ballard both received letters of commendation.

We look forward to seeing you at our next LeinSTAR assembly, which will be held on Tuesday 21st May.

Parents often have worries about their child at school and need to speak to someone.

If this is the case, we encourage parents to contact the school as early as possible to talk to your child's teacher.

When a parent has concerns, they are asked to:

1. Make an appointment to meet with the classroom teacher.
2. Negotiate the best time with the teacher as teachers are busy in the mornings preparing the lessons for the day.
3. If the concern is urgent, please send an email to the class teacher to make a suitable time.

If you are not able to achieve a satisfactory outcome with the classroom teacher, you are then welcome to raise the matter with the principal using the same process. Make a call or email to make an appointment.

At Leinster Community School we value working together with parents and families as critical partners in the development of your child.

If the concern is a health and wellbeing or social and emotional issue, all parents are most welcome to contact our Student Wellbeing Officer (SWO) Danielle Ballard, through the school office.

We are excited to announce that Stage 2 of our nature playground instalment will be underway later this month as we welcome back the team from Urban Discovery. It's been wonderful to see the students continue to play, explore, and use their imagination since we unveiled this area to them and we can't wait to see this grow as the year progresses.

Gabby Moran, Goldfields Community Coordinator from the West Coast Eagles, returned to Leinster Community School last Thursday to roll out their Regional SOAR program to the Pre-primary through to Year 4 students. This hands-on program is aimed at increasing the educational outcomes of students, designed to foster the development of skills, knowledge, and strategies both on and off the field. We thank BHP for providing this great program to the Goldfields region.

Photos taken by Mr Reynolds and Miss Shaddick.

Students have started the term with a bang! They have slotted straight back into working hard and demonstrating the school values of Success, Teamwork, Acceptance and Resilience. They have a very busy few weeks ahead.

• Year 12 students have their EST exams in week 5. They will be required to attend school as normal.
• Year 11’s have ATAR exams in weeks 6 and 7 where year 11 students will not attend the normal school day and the
• Lower school students have assessments coming up for all subjects!

Congratulations to those students who earned Letters of Commendation at the recent STAR assembly.

As part of the Health and Physical Education learning area the high schoolers had a visit from Neil, our local policeman, to speak to them about driving and cybersaftey. Many thanks to Neil for visiting us! Students will be visiting the Police Station next week during lunchtime as part of the Open Day.

Students were also treated to a visit from the ‘Stephen Michael Foundation’ this week, where they engaged in a theory class focussing on teamwork as well as a practical. There is an upcoming carnival in week 7 where some students will be able to participate.

The students are preparing to fund raise for their week 10 SIDE camp to Leederville. I have no doubt the students would appreciate community support.

“Recently, in the high school class, we started prepping and organising some exciting events to help fundraise for our class camp. We will be travelling to Perth, Leederville so we can meet our SIDE teachers and travel around Perth experiencing all the fun things and places.

To achieve this goal, we will be holding some events like a sport raffle, Lolly jar guessing game and a super crayon dress up day! We will work hard with more events to come but for now we would really appreciate it if you could help us reach our goal.” Written by Lexi Paniora. (Year 9)

All the students are looking fantastic in their uniforms and with the colder weather creeping up, school jackets are available in the uniform shop for purchase. See the lovely ladies in the office for a uniform order form if you need one.

Students must bring back their assessment folders, sighted and signed by a parent/caregiver and given to either Miss Brewster, Miss Siney or Mrs Ballard as soon as possible.

As a class, it was decided that once 1,000 Dojo points are earned, a café lunch is the reward. This will be at student cost. They are getting close and currently sit on 942! Keep up the great work!

• If your child needs to use deodorant at school, they can bring roll on deodorants. As spray cans are not permitted at school due to allergies.

• When students are late to school they must sign in at the office before going to class. This is to ensure all students are always accounted for.

• When parents or visitors enter the school during the day they need to sign in at the front office. Parents are welcome and encouraged to be on school grounds before and after school.

• Mobile phones must be ‘off and away’ at school. This is in line with the Department of Education Student Mobile Phones in Public Schools Policy (2023)

The Student Mobile Phones in Public Schools policy bans students from using mobile phones from the time they enter school grounds to the conclusion of the school day.

This includes smart watches and listening accessories, such as headphones and earbuds.\

The policy supports staff and students to:

• reduce the potential for learning distraction
• protect the privacy of staff and students
• improve health and wellbeing
• reduce the chance of students bringing external issues to school through technology.

Kindergarten to Year 6 students:

• are not permitted to have a mobile phone in their possession during the school day
• must store their mobile phone using an appropriate approach or location determined by the school.

Year 7 to 12 students:

• can have a mobile phone in their possession during school hours
• must have their mobile phone turned off and out of sight during the school day.

Exemptions can apply for:

• students to monitor a health condition as part of a school approved documented health care plan
• specific purposes directed by the teacher.

All communication between parents and students during school hours should be through school administration.

On Friday 03rd May, the Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association organised a fundraiser for the school with a Silly Socks theme. All students and staff were encouraged to sport their most colourful and eye-catching socks in exchange for a gold coin donation, and everyone certainly brought their A-game! A big thank you goes out to our student families for their unwavering support of our school's activities.

Photos taken by the classroom teachers.

As parents we need to remember that social media although usually fun and light-hearted, it can quickly turn into a scary place and the harsh reality is that it can at times be a very dangerous place. This week a lot of my conversations with students has been about cyber-bullying and cyber-safety, and how rumours can snowball, and cause hurt and embarrassment with the rise of social media apps like TikTok, SnapChat, and discord just to name a few.

I encourage you to speak with your children often around the issues of cyber-safety and cyber-bullying. I have included a link that might be of some help.

Being safe online | eSafety Commissioner

In other news we have had a great first few weeks back, lunch time clubs have been up and running and have been so much fun! We've had cubbies, painting, fidget toys and lots of laughter! Your children are AMAZING!!! Even a couple of the high schoolers have gotten into the painting scene at lunchtime and believe it or not they had the best time!!

As always, my door is open, and I can be contacted via email DBallard@onpsych.com.au or via the school.

I hope you and your families have a wonderful and restful weekend.

- Mrs Ballard (SWO)

Photos taken by Mrs Ballard.

Our school is committed to providing each student with the opportunity to gain an education and achieve their full potential, and attending school is critical for unlocking this opportunity. However, we do understand that on occasion your child may arrive to school late.

In the instance that a student arrives at school after 8.20am, please remind them to visit the front office upon arrival so our Attendance Officer can mark them as present. The class roll is taken promptly after the commencement of school bell rings which is why they must visit the front office first.

After the student has been marked as present by the Attendance Officer, the student will then proceed immediately to their timetabled class.

The Year 5/6 class would like to thank everyone who came down in support of the mini fete fundraiser. There was an overwhelming response to the event and it was a huge fundraising success for the class camp.

"On the 28th of April, we had our mini fete. We had different stations like soccer, sponge throwing, a chocolate toss, mini golf, St. Johns, bacon and eggs, fairy floss, icey poles and balloon animals. We raised money for our camp and we saved $170 per student. I was really tired after a long day."
- Written by Mason Hunt

Our sincere thank you again to our sponsors, Gold Fields Agnew Social Club, Leinster Contracting Services and Office National Kalgoorlie, without their support events like this wouldn't be possible.

Photos taken by Miss Shaddick.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our event sponsor, the Gold Fields Agnew Social Club, for generously providing the bacon, eggs, and brioche buns for our Mini Fete fundraiser. We also want to express our appreciation to the Sokra'a family for dedicating their time to handle all the cooking. The bacon and egg rolls were a tremendous hit during the event!

Photos taken by Miss Shaddick.

Last Monday we held our whole school Anzac Day Ceremony to commemorate all those who participated in past conflicts and to remember their sacrifice. The service was lead by some of our student leaders and members of staff, as our students laid their wreaths in respect of fallen servicemen and women. The service was conducted in the front carpark and was very well received by those in attendance.

Photos taken by Ms Lewis.

Next week, students in Pre-primary through to Year 4 will be escorted from school to Leinster Police Station on Thursday 16th May to participate in the Open Day. Students will get to walk through the old courthouse, charge room and cells before being led out to the rear carpark where two police cars, an Ambulance and a fireman truck will be on display. The children will receive a sausage sizzle, fairy floss, popcorn, snow cones and Constable Care will also be giving out free showbags which contain a heap of goodies for the students to take home. The tour will then conclude with the Tjiwarl stand where there will be a Wildlife Ranger and Cultural Officer to present to the children.

The Stephen Michael Foundation was once again at Leinster Community School, providing our students with access to experienced sports coaches. They worked with the Year 7- 12 students on communication strategies and the importance they have when working in teams. The students learned the three communication forms: Aggressive, Passive and Assertive. They then tested these skills on a few team-building activities. In the lower school, the SMF team worked on preparing the students' soccer abilities for the upcoming baseball and soccer carnival (being held in Week 7) against the other schools in our region. Overall, the students loved the change in curriculum and are looking forward to participating in the carnival.

Photos taken by Mr Reynolds.

From 9am to 9.30am tomorrow morning, Mick Plowman will be hosting a junior football open day on the Town Oval. He looks forward to seeing everyone there!

Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday. We hope you like the presents that you child/children picked out for you. It was sweet watching them thoughtfully choose something for you. Thank you to Will Whiting, Daniel & Stacey Mazzella and Jodi Frost.

Silly Sock day was held on 3rd May and from all the reports, the kids had fun wearing something different to school.

Upcoming events – keep any eye for the next disco date to be held at the end of term. We are also organising a raffle with some awesome prizes.

If you would like more information about the P&C or any events, please contact us!

email: leinsterpc@gmail.com

facebook: Leinster Community School P&C Association

Email: leinster.cs@education.wa.edu.au
Website: www.leinstercs.wa.edu.au
Location: 1 Gledden Drive, Leinster WA, Australia
Phone: +61 8 9055 9600
Facebook: www.facebook.com/leinstercommunityschool