Issue No. 2

45 Gawthorne Drive,

Millars Well, Karratha 6714

Upcoming Events

21st March – Harmony Day

22nd

March – National Ride2School Day

26th March – TA14

Assembly

26th March – P&C Meeting

29th March – Crazy Hair

Day

11th April – Easter Parade

11th April Easter raffle

Drawn

12th April – ANZAC Day

Service at MWPS

12th April – Last day Term 1

Principal’s Message

millarswellps.wa.edu.au

The term has been busy and even though I have been required to take some personal leave earlier I’ve noticed many things – firstly what a wonderful school we have. Our students are really amazing; they receive lots of encouragement from their parents and our staff. I really enjoyed the assembly by Ms Alexander’s class last week and their messages about having a positive or growth mindset. The way we think affects the way we act. When we have a growth mindset we can achieve more.

Christchurch Our heartfelt sympathies go out to families that may be affected by the Christchurch tragedy – our thoughts are with you. Many of us, either directly or indirectly, given our close relationship with New Zealand, may be affected by this tragedy in some way. Families with strong connections to New Zealand and/or of Islamic faith are most likely to be impacted however we recognise that other members of our school communities may also be affected. The extensive media coverage of the tragedy and the broader community response in Australia is likely to produce impacts for some individual students, and members of the wider school community. If you notice any changes in your child’s behaviour please consult with our school or take your child to your General Practitioner for further support if necessary.

The Australian Psychological Society and Red Cross resources may be helpful at this time. Please refer to our website for copies of these.

Hockey Sessions On Monday we had a Hockey development player run workshops with classes in Years 4-6. Hockey is a developing sport in Karratha and the Karratha Hockey Association are keen to provide an opportunity for juniors to play.

Car Park reminders A reminder for all parents/caregivers regarding pick up and drop off.

Please don’t park illegally on

verges or private driveways- there

is plenty of legal parking for

everyone.

Please remain courteous, show

patience.

Two minutes only in the drop off

zone

Additional school parking, if

required, can be found off Petries

Court (near the RSL) and at the

Millars Well Day Care off Teesdale

Place.

Where possible, encourage

children to walk or ride to school.

Weston Jackson Principal

this issue Open Source Revolution P.1

IT Management Tips P.2

Non-Profit Solutions P.3

Trends & New Software P.4

IN THIS ISSUE

Principal’s Message P.1

Harmony Day & Ride2School P.2

P&C News P.2

Crazy Hair Day P.2

Clean up Australia Day P.3

West Australian Ballet P.4

Japanese News P.5

TA11 – It’s OK to be different! P.6

this issue Open Source Revolution P.1

IT Management Tips P.2

Non-Profit Solutions P.3

Trends & New Software P.4

Community Newsletter

Millars Well Primary School is a collaborative, safe, vibrant school, focusing on values, literacy and numeracy. All students are empowered to realise their full potential as happy, independent, responsible members of our rapidly changing society. In achieving this vision, parents are partners in the education of their children.

millarswellps.wa.edu.au

Harmony Day, Thursday, 21st March On the 21st of March, Millars Well Primary School will be celebrating Harmony Day. Harmony Day is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background. To celebrate and acknowledge this important day, please encourage your child to dress in orange or in traditional dress. Orange has been the Harmony Week colour since the first event was held in 1999. The canteen will be making some special Harmony Day specials.

National Ride2School Day, 22nd March This Friday, 22nd of March, is National Ride to School Day – this is a great way to get physically active. Please encourage your child to join over 350,000 students across the nation to ride, walk or scoot to school. Students who do ride, walk or scoot will receive a sticker and fruit in the undercover area to celebrate. If students would like to decorate their helmet or riding equipment they are welcomed to do so. For students who live too far to ride, walk or scoot the whole way and would like to participate, riding part of the way is encouraged.

P&C News The P&C recently held their AGM. Thank you to all the parents that made the time to come along. All office bearer positions have been filled and our new committee leaders are: President: Nolene Holmes Vice President: Natasha Payne Treasurer: Alison Sorrell Secretary: Josie Kittle The P&C plays a significant role in the school. Their support and fundraising goes a long way to provide valuable resources and infrastructure to further enhance MWPS and improve opportunities for our students. The main focus for the P&C's 2019 fundraising is the new operable room dividers between our classrooms which will replace the current concertina doors. Upcoming fundraising events are: Crazy Hair Day - 29

th March

Easter Raffle - 11th April

Mother’s Day Stall - 10th

May The next P&C meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 26

th

March. The P&C welcome and encourage all parents to attend. No commitment is necessary; just come along and meet other parents and find out how the P&C can help our school in 2019.

Crazy Hair Day The Millars Well Primary School P & C are holding a Crazy Hair Day fundraiser on Friday 29

th March 2019.

For a gold coin donation, we invite all students to wear their ‘crazy hair’ to school to raise funds for the new operable room dividers between the class rooms. These new dividers will be installed gradually as we raise the necessary funds.

We look forward to seeing everyone’s ‘crazy hair’ and thank you in advance for your support

Clean up Australia Day Sunday the 3rd of March 2019 was Clean Up Australia Day. To play our part in cleaning our environment, all students at Millars Well Primary School dedicated 15 minutes to clean up around our school. We picked up quite a lot of rubbish and as a result, our school looked AMAZING. Did you know that Clean Up Australia Day began 20 years ago when an ‘average Australian bloke’ decided to make a difference in his own back yard, Sydney Harbour? We too can make a difference. Keep Australia clean to conserve our environment and wild life on land and in the ocean. Remember, EVERY DAY IS CLEAN UP DAY!

Karratha Dental Therapy Centre Closed The Karratha School Dental Therapy Centre will be closed for 6 weeks due to staff being deployed to Wickham Mobile Dental Therapy Clinic. The Dental Clinic will be closed from Monday 25

th

February and will reopen Monday 8th April. Any emergencies in this time, please contact Baynton West School Dental Therapy Centre: 9183 8172. Carol & Kaitlyn, Dental Therapists

Immunisation Records From the 1

st January 2019 new regulations under

the Public Health Act 2016 (WA) have been established to strengthen requirements around the collection and reporting of immunisation information. All students must provide an Australian Immunisation History Statement (AIR) on enrolment which is dated within the 2 months prior to enrolment. No other immunisation record will be accepted (i.e. Immunisation cards/overseas records). If you did not provide your child’s AIR on enrolment or have had scheduled immunisations since enrolment, please provide an updated immunisation record to the front office. A current AIR Immunisation History Statement can be accessed at any time by the parent/guardian through:

MyGov by logging in to their Medicare online account

Medicare Express Plus App, by logging in to their Medicare account

Visiting a Medicare or Centrelink office

Calling the AIR General Enquiries line 1800 653 809 (statement will be posted)

West Australian Ballet

The West Australian Ballet came to our school and gave a whole school demonstration on some ballet techniques which all the students took part in and enjoyed.

West Australian Ballet and Red Earth Arts Precinct invite you to watch Open Class. Witness the athleticism and supreme conditioning of the professional dancers during their daily warm-up class as they prepare for their performance of “A Gala Evening with West Australian Ballet”. This is a unique experience to observe the dancers of WAB at work, in a behind-the-scenes sneak peek into the world of ballet. An inspiring, free event open to all members of the public, young and old alike (children under 15 years must be supervised by an adult). WHEN: Friday 22 March

12:15 – 1:30pm Please arrive at least 10mins prior to the event commencing

WHERE: Red Earth Arts Precinct 27 Welcome Road, Karratha

COST: Free Want to see more? Buy a ticket for the Gala Performance too! http://www.redearthartsprecinct.com.au/event/a-gala-evening-with-west-australian-ballet

Last week in Nihongo class, we learnt about

Japanese Girls' Day—also known as the Doll's Festival—is celebrated on March 3(三月三日) to

pray for the health and happiness of young girls in日本. Hinamatsuri, the name of the

celebration in 日本, is marked by families displaying a set of hina dolls in the house and serving

special food delicacies that are ceremonially beautiful and delicious.

Hina Dolls

Traditionally, parents or grandparents of a newborn girl buy a set of hina dolls for the baby,

unless they have special dolls that are inherited from generation to generation.

From the end of February to March 3(三月三日), hina dolls dressed in Japanese ancient

costumes are displayed on tiered platforms that are covered with a red carpet. The costumed

dolls represent the imperial court of the Heian period (A.D. 794 to 1185) and feature the

emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians dressed in traditional garb.

The dolls are displayed hierarchically with the emperor and empress at the top, which are set in

front of a gilded screen representing the thrown. The number of dolls and their size vary from

home to home, but five to seven platforms are common.

It is customary to put the dolls away as soon as the festival

is over—there is a superstition that if the dolls are left out,

a family will have trouble marrying off their

daughters. After the festival, some people release paper

dolls into the rivers praying that this

will send away sickness and bad fortune.

TA11 Flynn san went the extra mile

making his very own hina doll display.

Please check it out in the 日本 go room.

Sannechan from六 kumi

found these manekineko in a

日本 store

in Perth called

Miyu.

TA11 – It’s OK to be different! Below are some of the responses from the student’s reflections.

3 things I learned

2 things I like about my work

1 thing I would change or do differently

- Clean brush properly before changing to a new colour- Eevie

- Don’t paint in the same spot too much or the paper goes soggy- Jenson

- Change the water pot regularly- Billy - If you pick it up when it is wet the paint

will run- Sam

- That it is challenging- Flynn - If I mix blue and orange it makes

brown- Aaron

- If you stab on the picture it looks like a dot universe- Aaron

- You can mix the water paint to be light or dark- Amelia

- Use clean water- Isabel

- It is bright- Matthew - It inspires me to keep going-Flynn - Making it-Alfie - The splats on my page and the

colours- Isabel

- It is very colourful, splatty and fun- Jenson

- I like the colour because it is my favourite colour- Elliot

- I like the little dots on my work that are colourful-Grace

- Plan what you want to paint before you start- Caleb

- Express yourself- Flynn - Find more colours to mix-

Aaron

- I would try a splatter painting- Isabel

- I would want to change my unicorn’s tail- Elliot

TA11 have been learning how each individual’s differences is what makes them unique and that it is ok to be different. We created a beautiful garden mural using the paint and collage techniques inspired by the author and artist Eric Carle. To create the coloured paper for our collage, we painted the paper then used different tools and materials to create textured affects and patterns in the paint. We then used these colourful, patterned pieces of paper to cut out the shapes we needed to make our flowers and other garden elements.

While learning about developing a growth mindset, TA11 read the book, The Dot, by Peter H Reynolds. The Dot is about a girl called Vashti who is too scared to try and draw with her water paints because she thinks she is no good at art and never will be. Her teacher encourages her to make a mark and see where it takes her. She then discovers that with practise she CAN draw and encourages others to try their best too. TA11 then experimented with using water paints over a number of days and completed a ‘3,2,1 Art Reflection’ before creating our final artworks.

Community News

Children’s Crossing ROAD SAFETY INFORMATION

On Gawthorne Drive, near Teesdale Place, there is a designated children’s’ crossing. This is NOT the same as a pedestrian crossing (zebra crossing) which has the alternating black and white stripes on the road– and where vehicles are required to give way to pedestrians. Children’s crossings are attended by a Traffic Warden (crossing guard) who assist children cross the road safely for approximately 1 hour immediately before and 1 hour immediately after school, during the school term.

When there is no Traffic Warden, children’s crossings become a normal part of the road and vehicles travelling on the road have right of way. Pedestrians crossing at a children’s crossing (when there is no Traffic Warden) MUST give way to vehicles. Motorists are requested NOT to stop at an unmanned children’s crossing. By stopping, they are potentially placing the pedestrian at risk as vehicles travelling in the opposite direction may not stop. Children are advised to refuse to cross the road if a vehicle stops to let them cross (if there is no Warden) as they are crossing when it is unsafe and may step into the path of a vehicle travelling in the opposite lane. Children as Pedestrians and Cyclists Children under the age of 10 do not have the physical and cognitive skills to make their own safe judgements and choices about traffic, vehicle speeds and distances, which increases their vulnerability. Children up to 10 years should be supervised by an adult when around traffic. It is lawful in Western Australia for people of all ages to ride on the footpath, but it is important to be aware that driveways are dangerous for cyclists. Most cycling injuries occur on public roads and when children fall off their bikes. Everyone must wear approved cycling helmets that meet Australian standards and fit correctly at all times while riding.