Post on 17-Mar-2022
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
Email : Denmark.ps@education.wa.edu.au
Telephone : 9848 4700
Website: www.dps.wa.edu.au www.facebook.com/denmarkps
Principal : Damian Luscombe
Deputy Principals : Peter Campbell
Helen Spencer
● Be your best Be resilient ●
● Be safe and caring Be respectful ●
2 8 Feb 9
10
11
12
3 15 Feb
16
School Photo
P&C Meeting 3.15pm
Staff Room
17
School Photo
18 19 Assembly
Yr 6 Rm 22
Mr Fawell
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families, With COVID lockdown, bushfires and floods affecting schools across our state, we feel very fortunate that we have been able to enjoy an excellent first week back with our students. I would encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on how grateful we are that we live in the Great Southern Region. It has been a great pleas-ure to go around our school this week and see contented students happily engaged in learning. We extend a warm welcome to the new families who have joined our school community this year. Our thoughts are with family and friends who are facing challenging times. We have had a smooth start with students settling into their classrooms with their new teacher and a mix of old and new classmates. We acknowledge that this can occasionally be a testing time for some students and their parents/carers. We are working with students to try to focus on the opportunities and positives their new classes bring and we are very proud of the way they have responded to the challenge. “Resilience” is one of our “4 School Expectations” that drive our Positive Behaviour Support Program and a key competency required to en-joy what is an ever changing world. It is wonderful to see many students striking up friendships with new class-mates whilst maintaining existing friendships. This ties in nicely with our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Fo-cus for the first 2 weeks of school being - “Be Resilient by Actively Engaging in Opportunities and Experiences”. Our goal is to build a strong partnership with you so that we can work together to enable your child to thrive. Please do feel free to make an appointment with the classroom teacher if you wish to discuss any aspect of your child’s education. All classrooms will be holding a Parent Information Session before the end of Week 4.
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
Using Connect to communicate
The Department of Education has introduced new regulations designed to protect your children’s privacy online. As a result, at the present time we are unable to use ClassDojo. We seek your patience and understanding as we transition to using Connect as our main platform for communication.
Connect is totally free and, because it is provided by the Department of Education, very safe. As well as being able to log into Connect on any internet-connected device, you may also receive notices from Connect that will be sent to you as either an email or a notification on your phone. A free app called Connect Now can be download-ed from Google Play or the Apple App Store and will let you receive Connect notices as push notifications.
When you log in you will see:
School Parent Space – This is where we will post whole school information. Your child’s class or a shared class for their year group.
Each parent contact is allocated a P number and you set your own password the first time you login. If you still have your Connect login from last year, it will still work. If you have forgotten your login please contact the front office. They will send you an email from idmadmin@education.wa.edu.au which you may need to check your junk folder for it. The email gives your P number and allows you set up a password. We want to communicate with you effectively. So let’s all get on board with Connect.
Seeking your permission
Another part of the Department’s enhanced approach to keeping students safe online is seeking your permission for your child to use online (Third Party) services in a more specific way. Today we will be sending you an email with a link to complete the Students Online Policy Permission Forms for your child or you can access the form here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-RaA4P3Ru0yDsLdutDYWJ0o_thag8xpHoNMl7yn6lKVUQ0IyOVhJN0RSODQ2VFhJQjY2MFNNQ0NMQi4u
It is essential that you complete the form for every child in your family as soon as possible. The school photographer, Kapture is governed by these new Department regulations which means that we need your con-sent to share your child’s information i.e. name, class etc with photographer as part of the ‘bundled consent’ for low risk services. The process for the photographer is the same as previous years but we now need your con-sent so that we can follow the Department’s new policy. As our school photo day is 16 and 17 February (Week 3) we need parents and carers to complete the Students Online Policy Permission Forms promptly. The form takes approximately 1-5 minutes to complete. You can also access the forms via a QR Code in this newsletter.
2021 School Development Days The remaining school development days approved by the Board for this year are:
Term 1 – Tuesday 2 March
Term 2 – Monday 19 April
Term 3 – Monday 19 July
Term 4 – Friday 18 December
The School Development Day on Tuesday 2 March allows the staff to access high quality professional learning. These days provide us with an opportunity to access the best possible Professional Learning to support contin-ued improvement by our teaching and non-teaching staff. For this reason, our School Development Days may not always match Denmark Senior High School.
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
Bushfire Preparedness
You can rest assured that we are well prepared in the event of a bushfire. This morning it took 5:56 minutes to
evacuate Y1-6 students and staff.
We would like to inform parents of your role in the event that the school needs to evacuate to a safe location.
Evacuation procedure:
* If directed by DFES the school will evacuate to the Pam Wells Assembly Hall.
* students stay with staff
* parents are advised not to pick students up and monitor official communication channels for spe-
cific access information
* DFES and Police may be assisting with the evacuation so emergency services vehicles may be on site
and roads may be closed
* access information will be provided by DFES, local radio and the South West Education Office.
School Board Update I would like to thank our retiring School Board Chair Simon Shepherd for his leadership of our Board. We are grateful for all Simon’s hard work as Chair and will miss his enthusiasm for continual school improvement. This means we have one parent member vacancy to begin 2021.
What does the School Board do? The Board is formed with the fundamental purpose of enabling parents and members of the community to en-gage in activities that are in the best interests of students and will enhance the education provided by the school. This year some of the things the Board was involved in were: Promoting the school in the community Developing a parent friendly version of business plan Monitoring and evaluating the school’s progress towards Business Plan Targets relating to Academic Perfor-
mance, Attendance Rates and Community, Staff and Student Satisfaction Assisting monitoring the schools financial position throughout the year
A full induction and ongoing training and support will be offered to elected parents. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to me for more details and a chat. The official nomination forms are attached to this Newsletter. 2021 Staffing and Class Structure This year we have three kindergarten classes, three pre-primary classes and thirteen Year 1 to 6 classes. We have had some staffing changes over the summer break. Welcome to: Jenny Patterson - Class teacher Kindy Unit 1 Carmen Ballantyne - Class teacher PP Unit 3 Nevanne Castellaro - Wednesdays in PP Unit 4 Robyn McMeikan - Wednesdays in PP Unit 3 and Art Tuesdays and Thursdays Annika Engstrom – Wednesdays in Unit 5/Room 12 Toby Le Fort - PE Dani Woods – Music Sam Stadon - PP Education Assistant Jess Holmes – Education Assistant
Our Front Office Team is Sonia Edwards, Maz Hearn, Melissa Williams and Katherine Williams. Heading up this
team is Rosalie Plozza, our Manager Corporate Services. In case you missed my letter on Sunday evening, Mr
Luscombe is currently on leave and it is my great pleasure to act as principal.
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
Phase 4 COVID Restrictions
We need to continue to work together to keep everyone safe. So when you come to our school we ask that you:
Join your child washing their hands before you come to the classroom or use sanitiser Keep a 1.5m distance from other adults Wait outside if the one per 2 metre square rule is likely to be exceeded
Don’t come on site if you are unwell or if you have visited know COVID ‘hotspots’ https://www.wa.gov.au/
I look forward to seeing you at our school.
Kind regards
Helen Spencer
2021 Denmark Primary School Students'
Online Policy Permission Forms
Department of Education Policy
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
These vital payments enable the school to fund additional items for the learning program for students for example; sports equipment, maths games and brain break materials.
INTERESTING FACT
The voluntary contribution the school seeks of $60 for the year for one child is equal to
$1.50/week or
0.30c/day if attending every day for the year – an extremely small price for such an exciting array of learning and having fun with friends!
We are happy to take part payments of these contributions during the year so they are not a big impact to your family budget – just come and see one of our val-ued Front Office Staff.
This year we are aiming for 100% of contributions paid.
Look out for updates in the newsletters this year to see how quickly we can meet our goal!
Happy 2021!
BSB 086595 Acct # 47 805 5238
Reference - (Surname) (Initial) Vols or by
EFTPOS at the Front Office.
Sending a HUGE thank you to all of our wonderful families who help your children by paying their child/children’s volun-tary contributions each year – both students and staff are very thankful and appreciative of your support!
All this for $1.50 a week!
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
6th Feb Henry Ballantyne
7th Kaiden Ritchie
8th Tristan Kirkwood
Shane Woods
9th Michael Bird
Oscar Sims
10th Airlie Jenkin
Isaac Dellar
11th Braidy Bourbon
Neve Foley
12th Floyd Neale
14th Lucia Neale
16th Lainey Anderson
Holly Redman
17th Donald Reynolds
18th April Tonkin
Hope Martin
to Pia Gamblin
2020 Bob Mills Art Award
Term 1 Sporting Events
With Mr Le Fort
WHAT WHEN WHERE WHO
Swimming Trials Monday, WK 5
22/02/21
ALAC Year 4 - 6
Faction Swimming
Carnival
Tuesday, WK 6
9/3/21
ALAC Year 4 - 6
Interschool Swimming
Carnival
Tuesday, WK 8
23/3/21
ALAC Year 4 - 6
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
Swimming Trials Monday, 22nd of February (Week 4)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION Yr 4-6
What are swimming trials and why are they run? On Tuesday of Week 6 (9th March), the DPS Faction Swimming Carnival will be held in Albany. Only students who HAVE NOT participated in this event before and would like to compete, must attend the Swimming Trials in Week 4.
This allows students to choose the events they would like to participate in, and ensures they have completed the event before the carnival. We heavily encourage participation in all events but understand that some events may be beyond the physical capability of some students. It also provides staff with individual times to put students into appropriate divi-sions on carnival day. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, it provides the oppor-tunity for staff to assess the students’ capabilities to prevent any inju-ries on carnival day.
Swimming carnivals are not compulsory but we encourage students to
attend and have a go! However please note if students have not reached Stage 4 swimming
they will not be able to attend. The cost of trials may vary from last year depending on the number of
participants that attend and buses required. This will be finalised on permission notes once students have decided to attend.
Who needs to trial? If a student wants to compete and is:
Year 5-6 and HAS NOT participated in a swim trial/carnival before Year 4 student
Eligible students will be asked to nominate themselves at the Yr4-6 block meeting on Monday the 8th Feb.
PLEASE REMEMBER
NO TRIAL = NO CARNIVAL
Questions? Contact Toby Le Fort, PE teacher toby.kruger-lefort@education.wa.edu.au
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
For ALL your Denmark Primary School official uniforms.
Contact your locally owned
Denmark Co-Op
Cnr Strictland St and South Coast Hwy
NEWSLETTERS
Term 1
Newsletters will be published fortnightly.
Newsletter items are to be emailed to
Marilyn.Hearn@education.wa.edu.au
or
dropped off to the front office by 12 noon Thursday of newsletter week.
Newsletters this term will be sent or emailed home on Friday of week 1,3,5,7,9
Newsletters will be emailed to the address you have provided to the front office.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR EMAIL UP TO DATE
Proudly an Independent Public School 2021
DENMARK PRIMARY SCHOOL
Proudly an Independent Public School
Mitchell Street, Denmark, Western Australia 6333
Telephone: (08) 9848 4700
I wish to nominate myself as a candidate for election to the School Board.
Declaration of candidate I nominate myself as a candidate and if elected will accept the responsibility of being a parent representative.
Please return to the front office school in person or email to
Helen.Spencer@education.wa.edu.au
No later than 22th February 2021.
Full name:
Candidate Profile
NB:The information entered here will be posted in the newsletter in the event of an election
Signature of Date: / /
Nomination of a candidate for Parent Representative on the School Board 2020 to 2022