Filter Content
Hello Everyone,
It has been a busy start to the term with lots of positive things happening.
Thank you to those parents who attended the interviews for the Public School Review. I am unable to share the outcome of the review until given permission by the Reviewers to do so, but I can say that the insight parents gave was very useful, thought provoking and in many cases very positive. I felt the Reviewers understood our school context well and I look forward to being able to make the review available to you as soon as possible.
A big thank you to Wally Hamilton, one of our hard-working P & C members who has organised the containers for change bins for our House Point Challenge. The bins are located in the staff carpark off Blechynden Street. By bringing in your containers and placing them in the House bin of your choice (Fire, Ice, Sun) you can help this team win this challenge. Grandparents and other family members are also welcome to contribute. The winning house will be announced at our Athletics Carnival in October. Thanks again for your efforts with making this happen Wally.
I would also like to recognise and acknowledge the many local businesses who have accepted a Year 10 student for Work Place Learning next week. Without these businesses being willing and able to accept a student, we would find it very difficult to organise this valuable experience. Thank you also to Ms Phillips who has spent a lot of time completing the necessary phone calls to parents and businesses and also the administration so that these placements can go ahead.
I was recently made aware by another Principal, of a psychologist called Jonathon Haidt. He is a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His mission is to use research on moral psychology to help people understand each other and to help important social institutions work better. He has authored many books with his latest being the Anxious Generation. This book explains why adolescent mental health collapsed at the same time and in the same way across so many countries in the early 2010s, and what we can do to reverse these alarming trends. He refers to the demise of play-based childhood (1980’s-2010) and the introduction of phone-based childhood (2010-current). The stats he uses to demonstrate what is happening in society is alarming. Using PISA data, hospital admissions, anxiety/depression diagnosis and others, it is astonishing. Jonathon’s research states that we have overprotected our kids in the real world but under protected them in the online world. The 60min YouTube video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxfLjebJV8. It is very powerful and reminds me of the revolution against smoking. Very thought provoking and relevant to many of our young people.
During the recent wet weather, I appreciate that is not always easy to get school uniforms laundered and dried. However, please ensure that if this is an issue and you are unable to send your student to school in the correct uniform, please contact the school to let us know.
Country Week arrangements are well underway and the first fund raising event is a sausage sizzle, wood raffle and produce stall next Saturday, 10th August in the Community Kiosk on Hampton Street. Please consider donating something to the stall or purchasing something from it to support our Country Week squad.
We look forward to welcoming Year 6 students from Balingup, Greenbushes, St Brigid’s and Bridgetown Primary Schools as well as new students to our “Transition to High School” days on Wednesday and Thursday next week. Staff have planned some great activities for these students to give them a positive and enjoyable time. Further transition days for these prospective new students are planned in Term 4.
Until next time,
Mrs C. A Thorsby
Principal
Drop your 10c containers into the IBC collection bins, currently located in the staff carpark off Blechynden Street. There is one for each House. ICE has not collected any containers to date! Additional IBC collection bins will soon be placed near the drop off zone on Blechynden Street for easier access. If you would like your own Containers for Change collection bag, the P&C has organised these for collection from the Administration Office. Pop in for yours now! ?
