21 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Byford Primary News

Please assist us in reducing vandalism at the school by contacting one of the telephone numbers listed below if you notice any suspicious behaviour on the school grounds.

Principal’s Report

Dear Families and Friends

Welcome to the 2019 school year. I trust that you had a restful and enjoyable break and that your children (and you) are excited to return to school. This year our newsletter will go home three times a term – the third, sixth and ninth weeks of the term. We are also moving to a digital age and thus student reports will be emailed home at the end of term 2. It is very important that you provide us with an email address. If you don’t have email, we will still provide you with a paper copy of your child’s report.

New Phone Number

At the end of last year the school underwent a phone upgrade. This meant a change of phone number. Our new phone number is 9526 6300. Our old number will be diverted for a period of time.

Staffing 2019

This year our staff has remained stable. We have one group of Kindy children at Byford Primary School and one group at the Byford Community Kindy.

The following is a list of staff for the start of 2019 and this is correct as the time of printing.

School Hours

Students are not encouraged to arrive at school before 8:30am. Students arriving before 8:30am are required to be seated in the Undercover area until rooms are opened at 8:35am. Games are not permitted at this time.

Late Arrivals at School

All students arriving at school after 8.45am must report to the School Office to collect a late pass before going to their class. The time they arrive at school will be recorded on the School Roll by the office staff. Students who do not collect a late pass will be sent up to the office by the class teacher to obtain one.

Leave Passes

To ensure the safety of all students, parents are requested, when removing students from school during the hours of instruction, to arrange for a Leave Pass from the school office before collecting the students from the classroom. Teachers will not release students from the classroom without a leave pass being presented and parents will be redirected to the office.

Attendance

Under the Education Act 1999 all absences from school must be explained. In order to access the full curriculum, and give your child the best chance of success, the Department recommends the rate of 95% attendance. The chart below gives a breakdown of the amount of time missed in a year, and if maintained, how it impacts on the future education of your child.

Legitimate reasons for absence are genuine illness, or medical appointments that could not reasonably be expected to be made outside school hours. We request you to advise us via our website, on the Absence Reporting tab on our newsletter, by phone or in writing, if your student is likely to be absent for an extended period of time.

If you remove your child from school for a family holiday during the term, permission must be sought from the Principal.

Student Update Forms

Student Update forms have been sent home with students. Please check your details carefully and return your form to the front office as soon as possible, even if there are no corrections required. It is important that student records are kept up to date throughout the year. Should there be any change to address, contact, medical or access restriction details, please advise the school immediately.

Canteen

Our canteen will continue to operate Monday and Friday during Term 1. Ms Stacey Adey will manage the canteen during this time. Our canteen can only operate if we have parent help on both days. If you are able to support the canteen by volunteering your time, please contact Stacey. Any time that you have would be appreciated – whether it is once a week, once or twice a term.

Parking when picking up students

The beginning of the year has seen some issues with parking around the school, especially when picking up in the afternoon. Please be very careful as you are reversing out of parking bays. Some of our children are small and cannot be seen easily when they are behind cars. The disabled bay in the staff car park is for ACROD parking only. If you are not eligible to park in the disabled bay, you may receive a fine. Our Rangers have been out and about and at this stage they are giving warnings. Please abide by the signs so that you don’t receive a fine.

Rotating Councillors

Our rotating councillors for Term 1 are Agnes P and Paitan B – congratulations girls!

Sue Heath
Principal

Ph 9526 6300 / Mb 040 937 0903
Email: Suzanne.Heath@education.wa.edu.au

Room 1 & 14

Library

Students who wish to borrow books from the Library must have a library bag. It’s important that we take care of our precious books. Here are our other book care rules:

Merit Certificates

Congratulations to all students who received Merit Awards. Well done and keep up the good work!

Nurse News

Welcome to the new school year from the Child and Adolescent Community Health Nurses.

I will be visiting the school regularly throughout the year.

My name is Jane Skoll and I am available to discuss any health concerns you may have about your child. I can be contacted on 9391 2289, 0429 566 905 or through the school. I am also available on email: jane.skoll@health.wa.gov.au

IMMUNISATIONS

Is your Child attending Kindergarten?

The National Health & Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) recommends that children attending Kindy have the following booster immunisations:

Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (whooping cough) and Poliomyelitis (one vaccine).

All medically at risk children – Pneumovax 23

And any other WA catch-up vaccinations.

Your child can have these immunisations from 4 years of age.

To book an appointment please phone 6151 1308, or Central Immunisation Clinic: 16 Rheola Street West Perth 6005, by appointment or walk-in. Phone 9321 1312

Please provide the school with an updated copy of your child’s immunisation record, once 4 year old vaccinations are completed. This can be obtained from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register. Phone 1800 653 809 or website below If a measles case occurs in a school, the Principal has the right to exclude non-immunised children from school for 14 days, or longer.

HEAD LICE

Head lice outbreaks occur frequently in primary schools during the school year.

The Department of Health recommends the following method of treatment:

10 day Hair Conditioner treatment

If you do use “over the counter” Head Lice treatments, they must be applied and then repeated as per the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Parents’ can assist in the prevention and control of head lice by checking their children’s hair frequently using the hair conditioner method and treating appropriately when necessary.

Friday is a good day to check hair as treatment can be commenced over the weekend, if needed, and no school time is then lost.

For more information please see the link below and search head lice.

[Fact sheet available on website]

Please contact your School Health Nurse if you require further advice on head lice management.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Please advise the school if your child has a medical condition that may require treatment during school hours.

A health care plan will need to be completed / updated by your GP and provided to school.

Thank you.

Jane Skoll
Clinical Nurse Community Health

Chaplain Chatter

Hi everyone, I hope that you managed to get some down time and relaxation during the big break, and that all in all it was a great holiday. As we move into Term 1 here is some food for thought: If you want friends, be a friend. Smile, say hello and maybe say something nice like "You're looking well today".

Have a wonderful week everyone and may something special come your way. Take care and be safe.

Chaplain's Challenge

Hey everyone, our first Chaplain’s Challenge for this year will be a paper plane throwing competition.

It's time to upskill and practise making and throwing a paper plane.

Outline for the competition is:

• You will not be allowed to bring one already made to school.
• On the day you will be given a piece of paper and you will get 2 minutes to make your paper airplane.
• Paper not cardboard, A4 paper size(photocopy type paper)
• In a group you will line up and throw your plane and the longest distance thrown, wins.

Everyone who wants to participate needs to sign up on the entry form at the front office. This will help us to organise the groups and prizes for the day. Every entry will receive faction points and a participation certificate.

You will need to practise folding paper airplanes and throwing them at home, so that on the day you can get a good result. There are different designs that fly very well and for long distances. The important part is getting the folding done in 2 minutes using a design that goes a long way.

If you have any questions about this or suggestion for future challenges please talk with me. Thanks everyone.

Joe Grida
Chaplain

Fathering Project

As part of The Fathering Project involvement with your school I will be including helpful tips and ideas for all fathers and father-figures. I hope these tips will help, inspire and encourage all fathers and father-figures to be the best that they can be, as all fathers and father-figures are critically important in every child’s life. Click here for Tip 14 – Helping your kid’s education.

Payment Options for Excursions, Incursions and Voluntary Contributions

Direct Bank Deposit

Pay directly into the Byford Primary School’s bank account. Simply access your internet banking service provider and pay to the following account:

Byford Primary School BSB: 066-040 Account No: 19902028

Please enter the name of your child and the purpose of the payment in the description field i.e A Smith Zoo Exc.

Please DO NOT use this account for P&C payments.

EFTPOS

Byford Primary School have an EFTPOS machine as an option for you to pay for school fees, excursions and incursions. The EFTPOS machine can ONLY be used to pay for Byford Primary School expenses.

• There is NO “cash out” option on the machine, and
• We are unable to take any payments for the P&C

Cash or Cheque

Payments by cash or cheque can be made at the Front Office for Voluntary Contributions. If you are paying for an Excursion or Incursion, please take your payment to your child’s teacher so it can be processed through their money book.

Don’t Forget Your Hat

Please remember to bring your hat to school each day. It is important to protect ourselves from the sun. Your hat must be wide brim or bucket style.

Students who do not have a hat will not be able to participate in sport / fitness or any outside activity and will be restricted to the undercover area. So please remember - No Hat, No Play!

P&C Association & Year 6 Fundraising News

P&C AGM

The P & C are holding their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 21st February at 6:00pm in the Library. All positions are now vacant and need to be filled for 2019. Nominations can be sent via email to ByfordPrimaryPandC@hotmail.com before the AGM. Should you have any questions contact Hayley Edwards via facebook or email.

Canteen

The Byford Primary School Canteen is open for recess and lunch on Monday and Friday. Orders can be made direct to the canteen, or through QuickCliq

If you have any spare time on a Monday or Friday, volunteers are required to help in the canteen.

New Canteen Menu available here:

School Banking

New to School Banking? There are three simple ways to get your child started.

Banking is held every Friday morning in the Library – we look forward to seeing you there!

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is open every Wednesday afternoon from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Payment can be made by cash or cheque only. If you are unable to visit the Uniform Shop on a Wednesday, order forms (with payment) can be left at the Front Office. Please ensure there is a name and contact number provided.

Community News

Netball

Positive Parenting Program