Term 4 - Week 5 (15 November 2024)

Perth Primary School Calendar

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the term! Time really has flown, and it’s fantastic to see the strong commitment to learning across our school. Each day, our students continue to grow, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our incredible school staff. Their hard work and commitment to supporting every child’s success ensures we’re all working towards the best possible outcomes for our students. A huge thank you to our teachers, support staff, and everyone who contributes to the vibrant learning environment at our school!

As we move further into Term 4, we also begin to look ahead to the transition of our Grade 6 students as they prepare to move to high school. It’s a special time full of reflection, celebration, and excitement for all they’ve accomplished during their years here. It’s also a time when some students may feel a mix of excitement and anxiety as they think about changes—new teachers, new classmates, and new challenges. For our younger students too, thoughts of next year may bring similar feelings. We encourage families to talk positively with their children, helping them view these changes as opportunities for growth and new experiences. With support and encouragement, we can all help our students feel confident and excited about the adventures ahead.

We’d also like to take a moment to recognise the hard work and dedication of our School Association. We are truly fortunate to have such a passionate, experienced, and enthusiastic group of parents and caregivers supporting our school. Not only do they work tirelessly on the School Association committee, but they also head up sub-groups that organise much-loved events like Milkshake Monday, sports day canteens, sausage sizzles, school discos, and community fundraisers such as the Bunnings BBQ and Election Day stalls. The funds they raise provide invaluable support, allowing us to enhance our learning spaces and school grounds for all our students. Thank you to each and every member for your amazing contribution—you are so appreciated!

As we continue through the term, let’s keep celebrating the growth and achievements of our students and looking forward to a successful conclusion to the year. Thank you again for your continued support and positivity!

2025 planning
We are at the stage of the year where we are starting to look at preliminary class groupings for 2025. All our students have selected their five ‘learning buddies’, we have encouraged students to think carefully about their choices as their best friend may not always bring out the best in them as a learner!

Our teachers spend considerable time working on class placements to ensure classes are balanced, taking into account the myriads of information that helps support us to make decision in the best interests of not only individual students but our entire cohort of students.

We are also excited that we finally have our new buildings onsite (we are still awaiting occupancy from the Council, but we are hoping that happens in the next couple of weeks!). In saying that, we will have one additional class in our Prep – Grade 6 area in 2025 which is exciting.

In 2025 we will have the following class structure.

Kinder A, Prep A, Prep B, 1-2A, 1-2B, 1-2C, 2-3A, 3-4A, 3-4B, 4-5A, 5-6A, 5-6B

Staffing
This week we farewelled Leonie Brown, one of our Teacher Assistants. Many of our students will have fond memories of Mrs Brown (Katsabiris) as their Kinder TA for a number of years. Leonie leaves us to take up a career change! We wish her all the best!

Our teaching staff for 2025 is almost finalised and we are excited to be able to share the news of some new staff who will be joining our school. Mrs Lynda Colgrave will be joining us from Youngtown Primary, Lynda has been a member of the leadership team at Youngtown for a number of years but is very excited to join the Perth to get back into the classroom as a teacher. We are also hoping that she might be able to share her expertise of netball with our school, she is a very valued member of the Cavaliers Netball team coaching staff!

We are welcoming Mrs Melissa Cooper, also from Youngtown Primary to our school. Melissa is also an experienced teacher who has shared her excitement of joining Perth in 2025!

This year, we were lucky to be able to employ Mrs Kristy Waters as a member of our literacy support team. Kristy was very keen to come to Perth on a more permanent basis and we are very pleased to welcome her as a permanent teacher to our school next year.

We are also welcoming Mrs Amelia Woods back from maternity leave in 2025, she has been a familiar face at school as a parent this year, but it will be lovely to welcome her back as staff.

I would like to share with our school community that Mrs Narelle Colson will be taking extended leave in 2025. I know she will be greatly missed by our entire school community.

Mrs Larissa Clayton will be leaving us in 2025 to take up a LiL position at Norwood Primary. Mrs Clayton has been our LiL teacher over the last few years but in recent times has also taken on the roles of both art and music teachers, what a talented lady! We wish her all the best and know she will be missed at Perth.

Student Events
Basketball Tournaments
This year over the course of the primary school tournaments we entered five school teams which meant over 50 students participated! It was wonderful to see many students trying basketball for the first time, their enthusiasm and improvement over the weekends was brilliant. It was great to see how well our students supported each other, not to mention our very supportive family cheer squads that came along to every game. Also, thanks to our volunteer coaches and managers Darren Shephard, Kirsty Weily, Ignatia van der Pols, Matt Hay, Virginia Tempest, Megan Poke and Courtney Guard.

State Table Tennis Tournament
On the weekend of the 19 and 20 October, Georgia, Chloe, Carson and Angus represented our school for the first time at the State School’s Table Tennis Championships held at Port Sorell. These students were selected as they were declared our school champions. In Term 2, we had members of the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club run sessions on game play and then a school tournament to select our champions.

It was a great opportunity for our talented students to try something new and we are very proud of their efforts in representing Perth.

Grade 3 to 6 Swimming Carnival
Our Grade 3 to 6 students travelled to Hagley Farm school to compete in our School Carnival. The aim of our carnival is participation so there were plenty of events suitable for all swimming abilities. We were impressed by the participation and sportsmanship of our students at the carnival. They were supportive of their peers and respectful throughout the duration of the carnival.

All 25m and 50m races were timed and from these, a team to represent Perth at the upcoming NMPSSA carnival will be selected. Ribbons will be presented on Thursday. Congratulations to Lyons who had a strong win followed by Hirst and Bramich.

100 nights of Reading Celebration
At the beginning of the year, as a staff we looked at ways to encourage our students to read at home. Reading or being read to at home is incredibly valuable for children’s development. It builds language skills, enhances vocabulary, and strengthens comprehension, all of which are essential for success in school and beyond. Reading together also fosters a love for stories, stimulating imagination and creativity, and creates a wonderful opportunity for bonding between children and parents. 

In 2024, we revamped our 100 nights of reading program with the incentive of an excursion to Riverbend Park for those students who read 100 or more nights. We are excited that over half of our school (Prep – Grade 6) are attending! This is a great way to celebrate those students who are putting in the extra time and effort to improve their reading. The excursion takes place on Friday 15 November.

End of Year Events
The end of the year is fast approaching, it is an exciting time with a number of very exciting events, especially for our Grade 6 Leavers.

Our Presentation Assembly is the focal event for our Grade 6 students and their families. This is a time to celebrate and remember our Grade 6 students and their time at Perth Primary. As our school grows in size, we are finding it increasingly more difficult to accommodate the number of students and Grade 6 families that are attending. As such from this year onwards, our Grade 2-6 students will attend the assembly. If children in younger grades have a sibling in Grade 6, they may attend with their family. Our Kinder – Grade 1 students will have an opportunity to view the videos and slide shows in our student assembly held on the last day of school. Our focus for this assembly is on our Grade 6 students and their families and as such we need to prioritise space in our hall for this.

Attendance
You may have noticed over the year that I have shared a number of department messages around attendance. In 2024, there are 12 students in our school who on average across the year are missing 1-2 days a week of schooling, over the course of their education in the public school system, this would equate to three years less of schooling than their peers! We have 13 students in our school who are absent on average 1 day or more a fortnight, again if this pattern persists over the course of their education, they will be at a huge disadvantage. Currently our school attendance is sitting at 90%. We would love to see this increase!!

School Information

Value Certificates

Term  Week 

Launching into Learning

Term Dates 2024

Term 4
Schools 14 October – 19 December

Canteen News

Happy Birthday

Phoenix L, Wyatt S, Sophie L, Caiden M, Oliver B, Luca C, Lucy J, Stella S, William L, Ava C, Harrison JB, Nixon W, Harrison M, Darcy E, Isla V, Adeline C, Cooper N, Lachlan P, Matthew H, Hunter C, Liam R, Toby C, Dustin C, Ella W, Georgia M, Ella G, Makayla C, Mrs Rosevear, Mrs Breen-Goninon, Mrs Fleming, Mr Rossiter, Mrs Pavia, Mrs Eldershaw, Mr Walter and Mrs Forrester.

Community News

Perth Primary School Support Staff