SPECIAL EVENTS TO NOTE

YEAR 6 ST LUKES COLLEGE

ORIENTATION - WEDNESDAY, 2 NOV IN TERM SWIMMING - FINISHES

FRIDAY, 6 NOVEMBER TA16 ASSEMBLY - THURSDAY, 12 NOV YEAR 6 NEXT STEP CONFERENCE -

THURSDAY, 19 NOVEMBER

NEWSLETTER - FRIDAY, 20 NOVEMBER

YEAR 6 CAMP - MONDAY 23 TO FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER

Dear Parents and Caregivers It is with great pleasure that I write this newsletter. I want to thank the whole school community for being so welcoming towards me since my arrival at Millars Well at the start of term 4. I already feel a part of things here and that is due to the way in which the people at this wonderful school have made me feel over the last three weeks. Thank you so much!

New Uniform Update – The final touches are being put to the new uniform and it will be ready for purchase for the start of 2016. There will be a ‘phasing in’ period where students will be allowed to wear either uniform, however next year only the new uniform will be sold by our fabulous P & C. Further details will follow this term.

Attendance – The importance of regular school attendance is well known and the link to achievement at school is clear. The attendance rates for each class are shown below. To celebrate great attendance at our school Mrs Morgan and I will be hosting an attendance celebration on 10 November. All students with attendance at 95% or above will be invited to the celebration. More details to follow soon!

Congratulations to Year 5, your attendance is outstanding! Year 2 and Year 3 also need mentioning for being above 90%. As you can see, our overall attendance for the semester is above 90%. P & C Disco – I want to say a big thank you to our wonderful P & C who arranged the amazing disco last Friday evening. The event ran like clockwork and was so well organised. The kids had a great time with dancing, games and great music and their behaviour was excellent! It was a community event to be proud of and also raised precious money for our school. Our Year 6 camp fundraisers also got in on the act selling glow sticks and light up toys. Big congratulations to the P & C for such a fantastic event, your hard work is appreciated. The staff who attended also helped to make the disco a success. Big thanks to the organisations who sponsored the disco: Karratha City Shopping Centre, Apex, Bakers Delight and our DJs Wouter and Lyn Botes for the great music and entertainment they provided. Walk Over October – Last Wednesday morning, the students, parents and staff met on the Millars Well Oval for our annual ‘Walk Over October.’ It was lovely to walk around the perimeter of the school with everyone, a lovely start to the day! On arrival at school, there were fruit platters waiting for the students and they eagerly tucked into a healthy snack before heading to class. Many thanks to Mrs Morgan who organised the event and to Mr Maxwell, Ms Withnell and Mrs Burnside who helped with the fruit. Year 6 Camp – Our Year 6 Camp to Coral Bay is only 4 weeks away! I know our leavers are very excited about this adventure. A reminder for parents that payment for camp is now due and must be paid before the 13 November. Year 6 Transition – Our Year 6 students will be taking part in a Transition program at Karratha Senior High School in weeks 4, 5 and 6. They will attend the High School on Fridays with students from Dampier Primary School and Ms Johansson. They will take part in a range of activities to familiarise them with High School to help them prepare for Year 7. Kind regards, Will Davis Principal

Year Group Attendance Rate

Kindergarten 84.0%

Pre Primary 89.2%

Year 1 88.8%

Year 2 91.9%

Year 3 90.1%

Year 4 88.2%

Year 5 93.4%

Year 6 89.0%

Whole School (not including Kindy) 90.1%

30th October 2015

WORDS FROM THE WELL

ISSUE 9

Our next assembly will be held on Thursday, 12 November and will be hosted by Ms Howe’s TA16 class. The assembly will commence at 8.25am in the undercover area. Parents and friends are most welcome to attend.

Congratulations to the following children in being recognised at our last assembly for their hard work and endeavour over the past two weeks: Dayton Smith, Mack Moody, Jack Smith, Telisha Mills, Jorja Maccan, Deegan McDonald, Jamal Hodzic, Angus Hancock, Kalinda-Rose Palmer, Elijah Coles, Mali Hodzic, Donna Makur, Peter Bell, Joshua Ridley, Chris Luta, Tamelia Mitchell, Matthew Botes, Seth Gilbert, Jack Michael, Paige Brown, Trenton Peck, Oliver Kot, Travis Reti and Imogen Gibbs . ART Award - Jorja Maccan and Zeacra Bung. Physical Education Award - Cohen Hancock and Torie Davis. Science/ICT Award - Nadia Steeghs, Mya Kjellgren, Oliver Kot, Canteen Award - Beau Bailey. Well done!

Millars Mess - Don’t forget you can order lunch online with Our Online Canteen - www.ouronlinecanteen.com.au. Once registered and you have an account you will be able to select Millars Well P.S, add your child/children, credit and this will allow you to order from the canteen.

Sushi is now available to order on a Friday using the regular ordering process either online or at school on an order bag.

If parents have any coffee trays from McDonalds can you please bring them in to the canteen.

Rebecca is always looking for volunteers to help in the canteen. If you are able to help this term, please let Rebecca know via the P&C Facebook page as well as putting your name down on the roster that can be found on the page Millars Well Primary School Parents and Citizens Association. The roster is the post at the top of the page.

Uniforms - The P&C are working closely with our school to have the school’s new uniform ready for 2016. To assist in the changeover, the current uniforms will be available to purchase at a discount. Please see Kylie and Tash in the uniform shop that is open Wednesday mornings to buy the discounted items. Please note there are limited sizes and items available. School dresses and hats will not be available at a discount.

Fundraising - Disco - What a wonderful success last Friday night was! A big thankyou to our fundraising committee for the time and effort you put in for our school. It is very much appreciated and the students, teachers and parents all enjoyed themselves. The disco raised $2431.10, what an amazing effort!

Cookbook - This year the P&C discussed having a Millars Well Families cookbook that will be available to purchase as a fundraiser. We are now in the process of collecting recipes from families. Please feel free to submit one of your all-time favourite family recipes and email it to: Melanie.garbin@vicinity.com.au by 20 November 2015.

Next Meeting - The next P&C meeting is on Tuesday the 1st of December at 7.00pm in the staff room. This is the last meeting for the year and we would like to discuss what the P&C plans to do in 2016. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please come along.

Early 2016 the P&C will hold the annual AGM. This is an important meeting where office bearers are nominated and voted in. Committees are also organized. All positions will be open for nomination. Please consider taking on an office bearers position or being part of a committee. It does not take up too much time or effort, it is a rewarding experience and it enables the P&C to support the school and our children’s education. If you have any questions regarding these positions please contact us on millarswellpc@gmail.com or speak to Karen Hancock (President), Melanie Garbin (Vice-President), Adey Richards (Treasurer) or Fiona Byrne (Secretary).

MWPS P&C

We are considering class structures for 2016. Our role is to ensure that children are placed in classes that best suit their needs and allow them to develop to their full potential. One of the things that have been a great tradition in the school has been the input that parents have had to this process. If you have a perspective on your child’s placement for next year, you are invited to submit this in writing by Friday, 20 November 2015, to:

The Principal Private and Confidential Class Placement 2016

Please understand that teachers spend many hours creating classes to ensure there is a balance in regard to class dynamics and abilities. We therefore ask that if you make a request it is based on the specific needs or issues pertaining to your child. Additionally we request that you do not specifically ask for particular teachers. There is always the possibility of staff turnover. We will try wherever we can to take parent information and student needs into consideration.

P&C UPDATE

ASSEMBLY

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT

CLASS PLACEMENT REQUESTS 2016

If you know that you will be leaving town before the commencement of the new school year (February 1, 2016), or that your child(ren) won’t be attending Millars Well PS next year, please advise us at the office as soon as possible. This helps us with the planning of classes and determining staffing levels.

Dates gazetted for primary students in public schools in Western Australia are below. These dates do not include school development (‘pupil free’) days. Schools will schedule 3 days where students do not attend. All students will start their first day of the 2016 school year on Monday 1 February 2016.

Semester 1

Term 1 Monday 1 February - Friday 8 April

Break Saturday 9 April - Monday 25 April

Term 2 Tuesday 26 April - Friday 1 July

Break Saturday 2 July - Sunday 17 July

Semester 2

Term 3 Monday 18 July - Friday 23 September

Break Saturday 24 September - Sunday 9 October

Term 4 Monday 10 October - Thursday 15 December

Students at Millars Well are about to embark on a project to beautify our school grounds and create some colourful friendship benches with the help of Mrs Watson. We are asking for parent helpers who can assist with painting the primer on the benches before we begin. This will take place on Wednesday morning, November 4th. If you are able to assist please let us know at the front office.

This term Donna Stott and myself are taking part in a pilot music mentoring program. We are working closely with Kym Shepherdson, an experienced music teacher from Baynton West P.S, to develop skills and music knowledge to implement more music into classrooms. Once a week Kym Shepherdson will teach alongside Donna and myself with TA10 and TA11.

Last Friday the 23rd of October, TA9, TA10 and TA11 participated in music classes. This was an opportunity to see how a music lesson is structured and to carry out a number of different music activities. Each class was involved in activities ranging from relaxation and visualising while listening to music to singing and using simple musical instruments along with body movement. Each student enjoyed these activities and we look forward to learning more about music in the classroom.

Fiona Byrne TA11 Teacher

Our fantastic total Library refurbishment is completed and I am very happy to be able to reopen to staff and students this week. Huge thanks goes to Erin, Donna, Tammy, Steve and Harry, who have all given their time, above and beyond, to pull it all together.

Students have had their Library books for many weeks now, so please send them back to school so they can be returned and the children can begin borrowing again.

I will be running our annual pre Christmas November Book Fair over Week 5 or Week 6, in mid November. Book Fair flyers will be sent home with all the students with dates and I will post on the MWPS Facebook page. I really look forward to everyone coming in to see our wonderful new Library!

Robyn Rayson Library Officer

Enrolments for December/January programs are now open. Enrolments for January Program 1 and Short Program open Monday 12 October 2015 and close Sunday 8 November 2015 Program 1 - Tuesday 29 December 2015 - Friday 8 January 2016,8 day program (no lessons 1 January 2016) Enrolments for January Program 2 open Monday 12 October 2015 and close Sunday 15 November 2015 Program 2 - Monday 11 - Friday 22 January 2016,10 day program made up of 35 minute lessons each day Stages 1 to 16 at most pool and calm water venues

LIBRARY NEWS

ARE YOU MOVING?

TERM DATES 2016

CALLING ALL ARTISTS

MUSIC MENTORING

VACSWIM 2015-2016

Interschool Cricket

Monday the 26th of October saw Millars Well PS participate in their final Interschool Sports competition for the year, T20 Cricket. Our school entered one boys team and two girls teams. Despite the heat, the children represented our school with great sportsmanship, skill and an infectious comaraderie that kept spirits high each game they played. All of our teams did exceptionally well, with a special mention to our Millars Well One team who remained undefeated and Champion girls team of the tournament. Well done to all of the students and thank you to the wonderful parents who supported us on the day, it is always greatly appreciated! Letitia Fazzolari Physical Education Teacher

The School Prefects recently presented their Science assembly. Each student was involved in demonstrating an experiment and giving an explanation about the Science behind the experiment. Some of the experiments included the Water Vacuum, Egg in a Bottle and the Elephants Toothpaste chemical reaction.

FROM THE SPORTS DESK

SCIENCE ASTOUNDS AT ASSEMBLY