There’s lots of good news this week.
First of all, I’ve been able to get some funding from the Department of Education and we have combined it with some school funds to begin work on a new nature play space outside room 0. It’s been exciting for the children to see lots of logs, diggers and men in fluro jackets arrive in the quad this week to start work! It will take about a week to construct.
Given the unavoidable restrictions the P&C have faced this year with fundraising, we have chosen to use other funds to get this project started. Next year as more funds become available, there will be the opportunity to add more elements such as a water feature, to further enhance the area. Many thanks to our pre-primary teacher Michelle Gorringe for all her research into early childhood play, which has informed the planning.
On a related topic, we have also been waiting for plants to become available so that we can plant around the 1-3 playground. It has been very difficult to source mature plants recently. However, we have made some progress and planting will start soon. This project is funded by a Telstra grant kindly sourced for us by a Richmond parent.
The second news is that yesterday Youthcare organised for me to interview an applicant for our chaplaincy position, that has been vacant since March when Chelsey left to study full time.
I am happy to say that Paul will be our new chaplain, starting term 4. As we have saved money due to having a vacant position for a few months, we can afford to employ Paul for three days a week in term 4 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). Paul is sporty, artistic and a qualified primary school teacher, with a passion for his work as a school chaplain and we are looking forward to him being a very valuable member of our pastoral care team.
Please know that although chaplains do belong to a church, there is no religious element to their role in schools. School principals, with the support of the School Board and P&C, apply to be in the chaplaincy program, which is funded by the government. As a school that does not automatically receive much additional pastoral funding due to our socio-economic status, opportunities like this are very welcome.
Finally, children have been training hard for our pre-primary to year 6 athletics carnival which is all set to go ahead at Gil Fraser reserve in North Fremantle on Wednesday 16 September, from 9.00am – 2.45pm. Spectators are very welcome. We have organised buses to transport children to and from the reserve. Parents also have the option of driving their own child both ways. Details are on our web calendar to the right, and permission slips to attend and reserve a seat on the bus or opt to self-drive will come home with students today. We’d really appreciate you returning these forms as soon as possible so we can confirm buses.
We enjoyed a fun virtual assembly today, and are planning a real assembly featuring year 3 students in a couple of weeks. We can fit 60 people into the audience under phase 4 restrictions so seats will be ticketed and teachers will allocate one ticket per year 3 student for one adult to attend. Year 3 teachers will provide more details in their connect notices.
It has been lovely in the sunshine at school this week. The stunning juxtaposition of the grey-green gum trees, blue sky and red buildings never fails to uplift all of us. We are fortunate to have such a beautiful old school.
Hope you have a happy weekend,
Lisa Dentith