Principal’s Update – Week 2 Term 2 2023

Welcome Back!

Term 2 has got off to a fantastic start with all our students working hard and supporting each other.

This week we commenced our Early Learning Morning (ELM) Club. This is a literacy intervention session for our Year 1 and 2 students who are just needing a bit of a catch up to ensure they are achieving literacy benchmarks. Ms Burke has trained the Year 5 and 6 coaches who have volunteered to work with students each morning from 8.15- 8.40am. A lot of effort and time has gone into the creation of this early intervention initiative.

Next week, we will be commencing the MiniLit Intervention Program. Mrs Cole is overseeing this program, working with Mrs McConkey (EA) who will be delivering the program. MiniLit is an evidence-based, explicit and effective early literacy intervention program for teaching reading skills to children who are in the bottom 25% of the expected range for their age group in Year 1 or 2. There is scope to extend intervention programs into Year 3-6 later in the year once we have assessed the success of current programs.

Assembly Superstars

This morning, the Year 3/4 students from Miss Collett’s class led our assembly and encouraged us all to be kind to each other. Kindness was the number one ranked Value in our recent Values Audit, with parents, students and teachers recognising its importance and wanting to make sure it was prominent in our school culture. The students did a fabulous job at explaining what kindness looks like and feels like. Well done Room 5!

Congratulations to our Merit Certificate recipients for this week!

Year Room Teacher Recipient
PP 14 Miss Phillips Harper and Hudson
PP 16 Mrs Cowton/Mrs Edwards Samuel and Maurice
1 17 Mrs Calton Amira and Tom
1 18 Mrs Spiers Lilly and Vedi
1 13 Mrs Firman Jackson and Phoebe
2 12 Mrs Edwards / Mrs Wass Dylan and Rachel
2 11 Mrs Cole Blair and Freya
2 10 Mrs Adams Edison and Shona
3 8 Miss Moorman Alisi and Isla
3 7 Mr Miller Jake and Eliska
4 6 Mrs Watkinson/Miss Coombes Lebron and Zak
3/4 5 Miss Collett Phoebe and Toby
4/5 4 Miss Finnie Sonny and Bailey
5 3 Miss Oldroyd / Mrs Wensinger Marta and Larry
6 1 Mrs Mosconi Tayla, Raf and James
5/6 2 Mrs Jones Charlie and Raphael
French Madame Wilderspin Joshua

School Logo Survey

Thank you to those parents who have responded to the School Logo Survey, sent out last term. A creative brief has now been written, and Craig from Gumption is now on to the job. Interestingly, here were some of the key ideas and thoughts that came out about Duncraig Primary School:

“Some families have moved to the area for the school”

“Support goes beyond school days”

“Many students and teachers stay on in the area after their time with the school is over”

“There is just a… Vibe”

“There is freedom to become yourself”

“Duncraig Primary School embraces a culture of inclusivity where kindness and approachability helps support a student on a learning journey that aspires to excellence, self-respect and respect of others. It is a school community with a long, reassuring, and positive history that supports the individuality and achievements of each and every student.”

I am looking forward to sharing Craig’s ideas with you all!

Current Payments Available through Qkr!

  • Year 6 Camp – payment of $300 needs to be made before 16 June.
  • Winter Interschool Sport Year 5 & 6 (selected students), payment of $32 needs to be made before 8 May
  • World of Maths Incursion – PP to Year 6, payment of $7.50 before 19 May.

We are very keen to eliminate late payments as this causes quite the headache in the office, trying to track down payments on the day of an excursion/incursion. Parents will receive a reminder text if payment has not been made a day or two prior to the due date. After that, late payments will not be accepted.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program established in 2022 to:

  • encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading
  • improve literacy levels.

The challenge will:

  • raise the profile of reading and literacy in schools
  • give students a focus for their reading
  • encourage students to enjoy reading and read more books
  • encourage students to participate by being challenged
  • offer incentives and prizes for readers
  • build self-esteem, pride, school unity and a sense of achievement among students
  • increase the involvement of parents in their child’s reading
  • increase the number of library books borrowed
  • contribute to increased literacy levels.

You can register your child for the challenge here:

The challenge – Premier’s Reading Challenge (premiersreadingchallenge.wa.edu.au)

From the French Room

Madame Wilderspin handed me an interesting article the other day, on the benefits of learning another language. These benefits include cognitive and learning benefits, and literacy advantages which are evidenced in the classroom and in education testing regimens. You can find the article, Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes of Students with Backgrounds Other than English in Australian NAPLAN Tests, in the latest Babel Magazine: AFMLTA | Babel.

Alternately, you can ask Madame about the article.

RATs, COVID and Sickness

We have plenty of RATs available at school if you would like to collect some more. Please call into the office to collect one or two boxes. As children naturally pick up colds during the coming season, please keep them home to prevent the spread of colds, flus or even COVID! Influenza vaccines are currently free from pharmacies, and the COVID booster is also being promoted in the community. You may like to take advantage of the easy (and free) vaccine protocols currently in place.

School Board Update

Our School Board meets twice a term. Our latest meeting was Monday 1 May. Here are some updates from that meeting:

  • We heard from Administration in relation to the 2023 Funding Agreement and notably the appointment of a new gardener and the funding for the chaplain for an additional day per week. The Funding Agreement was noted by the Board.
  • An update on the voluntary contributions was provided showing that 93% of families have now paid their 2023 contributions, up from approximately 70% last year, which is a fantastic result.
  • We heard from the Principal, Ms Nicole Borbas, in relation to the staff professional learning experience which took place at the beginning of Term 2 on the topic of Culturally Responsive Professional Learning. An update was also provided on the roll out of ELM club which has recently commenced and the MiniLit program which will begin next week.  The program is currently being trailed with the school’s younger co-hort and then will continue to put in place older year level intervention.  We also received an update about the successful ANZAC Day ceremony which took place on the final day of Term 1.
  • We heard from Administration in relation to the upgrading works of the female toilet blocks which have been agreed to by the Department of Education. These works represent the first round of upgrades and include re-painting, new lighting, new extractor fans and new wash basins. Smaller sanitary bins have also been replaced within the cubicles.  Further upgrades a plan to occur within the next 12 months. We would like to thank the Board members and Administration for the efforts in and engaging with the Local Member and the Department of Education in relation to this issue.
  • The planning for the oval grounds upgrade was also discussed and it was positive to note the involvement of the new gardener with follow up care on lawn and reticulation issues thought the school grounds.
  • The Board noted the Duncraig Primary School 2022 Annual Report and planned for regular updates on Board activities as a key outcome of the School Culture Self-Assessment Survey conducted in 2022.
  • The Board commenced its review of the school policy framework, with the draft Duncraig Primary School Homework Policy being reviewed during the meeting. Following further feedback being provided by Board members and updates undertaken by Administration, a revised iteration of this policy will be further reviewed in an upcoming Board meeting.
  • The Board discussed the Administration update in relation to the rebranding and school logo, with further review of design outcomes to be reviewed in the upcoming Board meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday 12 June 2023.   

Duncraig Primary School Annual Report 2022

This report has been completed and can be found here: School Reports Duncraig Primary School (det.wa.edu.au), and also on our web site.

Upcoming Events

Year 5 & 6 Interschool Sport – each Friday afternoon

P&C Meeting – Thursday 11 May

Room 7 Assembly – Thursday 18 May

School Photos – 31 May & 1 June

World of Maths Incursion – Thursday 25 May

Kind regards,
Nicole Borbas,
Principal
Nicole.Borbas@education.wa.edu.au