24 February 2023
Affirmation ~ “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” – G.K. Chesterton
Dear Parents/ Care Givers,
Thank You
Your belief in our school, staff commitment, student care and challenge and explicit planning has created a dynamic learning environment envied by many around this country, as evidenced this week in the West Australian Newspaper, Channel 7 News and Sunrise TV. We have known for some time that we do extraordinarily well in student achievement and we work hard in developing our students’ emotional and psychological growth on a daily basis. We have wonderful children in our care and we are so proud of them for challenging themselves to “be the best they can be”. It is clear now that it is not the school expounding its virtues but expressed by objective parties that we are indeed a quality school that does exceptional work with its students, year in and year out.
Thank you staff, children and parents for the support you give our school to make it the best we can make it.
Year One Teddy Bear’s Picnic
It was terrific to see the large number of parents attend this Picnic on the lawns today. Thank you for the connections you make with the school and for the wonderful comments made about our school today. The Picnic was a great success with students and parents enjoying their lunches together.
Well done, Year One staff – a terrific success.
Public School Review
Next term, our school will be assessed and reviewed by the Dept of Education in all aspects of our operation. The Panel will be interviewing parents, Board Members, staff and students in the five Domains of Review. This is a thorough assessment of how we are going and what we need to improve.
We look forward to the process.
Traffic Flow and Parking
This is a reminder that we continue to experience issues with traffic flow and parking around the school. For all new families, the expectation by other parents and the staff and children of the school is
- Travel anticlockwise around the school in your car, exiting at several roads on the way round the site – this simple process ensures that children are always let out on the school side and do not cross over the roads into school
- Do not park in Kiss n Drive bays -parents behind you are waiting to drop off their children and leave – these bays are monitored by Rangers and they will issue fines. You should spend no longer than 1minute at any time in these bays
- Do not park in driveways of neighbours’ homes or on lawns or cross overs (footpaths and walking areas have children on them and presents an extreme danger to them walking to school, as you can’t see them below the horizon of your rear vision mirror.
- Please drive with patience and care and do not overtake to get out of the area quickly
- Use lawful rules of the road to access the school area
- We may issue fines on school grounds if families continue to ignore the safety and good sense of other people doing the right thing in our on-site parking – again, please use the areas during pick up and drop off with a sense of fair-sharing with all other parents – they too want to drop off and go – please use common sense and manners when parking.
Please do the right thing by others, be patient and be sensible. A few extra minutes wait can’t hurt.
Arriving Early
Some families are dropping students off at school very early (some as early as 7.00am). You must know that the school has no responsibility to these children’s duty of care and if they go missing, we have no idea that they are missing until the attendance is taken at 8.35am by class teachers. We love our children and never want any harm to come to them – that is why we have rules and guidelines for our students and families.
Parent Development Team
A meeting of this Team will be held on 2 March to confirm and set parent sessions and events for the year – one that they have organized already is the Paul Litherland Cyber Safety Night for parents on 30 March. Thank you and well done, Team.
COVID NEWS
A new wave of COVID is expected in the next month or so. Whenever you can,
- Wear a mask inside buildings where there are many people
- Do not come to school if you are unwell with sniffles, coughs or flu-like symptoms as we normally do during times of flu outbreaks
- Wash hands and sanitize at all times
Our School
· Our recognition of excellence has been appreciated greatly by the staff at Caladenia.
· It is with great pride that I can inform you that we are being considered as one of only a few Centre for Excellence Schools in the State to support the development of Quality Teaching and Teaching for Impact initiative.
· NAPLAN this year has been changed to Term One Week 7 and 8. This change has been set by the Dept of Education and National Government
· Please check your Term Planner 2023 on the Caladenia website for all activities and important events.
· Assemblies have started this year. We have only this week finalized the structure of the Assemblies from discussions with staff. Full Assemblies will operate from 10 March. The Student Executive operate all Assemblies and have been training and doing very well in the preparation and delivery of our practice ones this term. Thank you, Student Executive.
· Year Level Captains have been selected for the whole school Student Council (run by the Senior Student Executive) – these Captains represent and meet with Class Reps from their year level to take suggestions and ideas to the full Council for decision-making. They are doing a wonderful job with many ideas flowing already.
We are hoping that the year will be filled with some joyous activities and community spirit building with our wonderful Caladenia P&C and School Board and staff.
Keep well, everyone. Have a great weekend.
THOUGHT: “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John R. Wooden
Ted Nastasi
Principal
School News
Year Level Captain Elections
The Year Level Captains were chosen and elected on Tuesday 14 February. The Student Executive all met up at recess and interviewed each and every class representative to get to know them better.
We started off by splitting the students into their year level group, with each group accompanied by the Student Executive, and made sure that they were settled and comfortable. We asked the students questions about what they like in Caladenia and what they would change within the school.
After we finished interviewing them, we began to make the big decision. We are all very sure about our decisions and trust that these students will lead their year with responsibility. We are looking forward to this new addition to the Whole School Student Council!
Tara, Head Girl
Student Achievement
At Caladenia, we love showcasing our students’ sporting achievements and events, as well as any other interests that they would like to share with our Caladenia Community.
If you have something your child would like to share, please email along with photos to the email address below:
Justine.arnold@education.wa.edu.au
Class News
Year 2 Room 2 – Miss Zakarias
In Year Two this term we have been busy learning all about similes and metaphors. It has been so much fun, but best of all, it has made our writing super creative and descriptive. Here are some of our ‘Simile Ice-creams’ and ‘Rainbow Metaphors’ we worked so hard completing.
Year 6 Room 42 – Miss Lincoln and Mr Johnson
The students in Room 42 have started the year (our final year in primary school!), reflecting and expressing gratitude for the influential role models we have had over the years. We decided to take the time to write a former teacher a letter of thanks, for how they helped build our character and for the help they have given us over the years. Gratitude is a theme that we will be examining throughout the year as we take the time to reflect on our years spent here at Caladenia. We all have ups and downs, but one thing is certain, we all have things we are grateful for.
School Board, P&C News and Community News
Next P&C General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, 2 May 2023 at 7.00pm in the school staff room.
Caladenia 2023 P&C Office Bearers:
President: Michelle Morley
Vice President: Chelsea Walker
Treasurer: Stacey Walker
Secretary: Mel Watts
caladeniapandc@outlook.com
What is a P&C?
P&CS, short for Parents and Citizens, exist to promote the schools interests, facilitate the schools development and raise funds to provide extra resources for the benefit of our Caladenia Students.
TERM 1 P&C FUNDS:
v New outdoor shade sail Marquees for carnivals and other outdoor activities.
v Book donations to school Library in honour of beloved book club coordinator Kelly Baynes.
TERM 1 P&C EVENTS:
Icy Pole Sales:
10, 17 &24th March
13th March – Kindy Only
Easter Breakfast
31st March
VIP Parking Raffle
Winner announced 6th April
A staff member of the school is donating their car bay for a period of time to the winner of the raffle
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
School Phone Number
6258 9350
Text Absences
0417 984 196
Excelsior Dental Therapy
9256 4170
Caladenia App
School Stream
Uniform Concepts
9270 4669
30 Kembla Way, Willetton 6155
School Hours
School starts at 8.30am
Recess 10.35am
Lunch 12.55pm
School finishes 2.30pm
Office Hours
Monday to Friday
8.00am – 4.00pm
For payments please see the front office. We accept cash, EFT and Direct Deposit
