For Your Calendar Fri 19 October

B1 & B2 Assembly Thu 25 October

Safe Travel to School Project visit

Fri 26 October

School Development Day STUDENTS DO NOT ATTEND

Tue 30 October

Yr 2 Penguin Island Excursion

Fri 2 November

A5 & A6 Assembly

P & C Colour Fun Run

Wed 7 November

Kindy Parent Meeting

Year 6 Camp

1 Avoca Chase Baldivis WA 6171 T 9523 7500 E rivergums.ps@education.wa.edu.au

Rivergums Newsletter Term 4 Week 1 2018

Welcome back to Term 4 and I hope you all

enjoyed the holiday break. Another busy term

lies ahead of us with a number of excursions,

Remembrance Day Assembly, our Year 6

Camp, our In Term swimming lessons, End of

Term Assembly preparations, Graduation

preparations and the issuing of student

reports.

We are also planning for 2019 with an

expected enrolment of around 600 students.

The school will also receive two new

transportable classrooms, one to be located

in the senior area (E Block) and one will be in

the junior area (B Block). This will allow for

the school to plan for further growth during

2019.

Staffing

As I mentioned at the end of last term Mr

John will be continuing his role as Acting

Deputy Principal and will now be located at

Beaconsfield PS for this term. Mr Donnelly will

continue until the end of the year in E3.

Mrs Quinlan will continue with her sick leave

until the end of term. Mrs Carter will be back

filling this position for two days per week and

Mrs Lucy Roberts will be taking classes for the

other three days. Mrs Roberts is a very

experienced music teacher and brings a

wealth of knowledge to the position.

Miss Wilkerson is on leave until the end of

Week 5. Mrs Sarah Gerth will be teaching

German and Mrs Stephenie Locker will be

teaching Health. Mrs Gerth teaches German

at Tuart Rise PS and Mrs Locker teaches

Health at Settlers PS.

We also welcome back our school Chaplain,

Mr Shane Stringer, who was on LSL in term 3.

I know there are quite a number of students

who are very pleased by his return, as are we.

Mrs Rachel Taua will be working three days

per week backfilling for Mrs Paton on Fridays

for art and providing DOTT support on

Wednesdays and Thursdays.

NAPLAN Data

This year our schools performance has shown

very good improvement, although more fine

grain analysis will be done over the next few

weeks. We performed extremely well in our

Progress area i.e. tracking those students who

were tested in Year 3 2016 and once again in

Year 5 2018. The progress that these students

achieved was higher than Like Schools, other

Western Australian and Australian Schools.

This indicates that your child will more than

likely have a higher progress rate if they

remain at our school. It also indicates that the

programs the school is offering along with its

teaching and learning strategies, are starting

to work. Well done to all of our staff. The

school will further analyse the data to assist

with its planning of its new Business Plan

which will cover the next three years.

SMS ATTENDANCE

0438 906 496

The uniform shop is situated in the covered

assembly area. Opening hours for 2017 are:

TUESDAY 1.30PM - 3.30PM

THURSDAY 8.15AM - 10.45AM

UNIFORM SHOP

We had a super crazy busy Term 3 in A7. We chose four of our favourite activities to present to the whole school. 1. Bullying and Resilience - We had a guest speaker, Luke Kennedy, talk to us about bullying and

resilience. 2. Father’s Day Afternoon - We wrote poems, made grass heads, played board games and we even did

some cooking. We also came up with lots of jokes for our book. What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground Beef! Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill? To get to the bottom! 3. Faction Athletics Carnival - We came up with a rap battle that showed our competitive side. 4. Superhero Day - September was World Awareness and we loved dressing up as superheros to show an awareness of Muscular Dystrophy. Our song ‘I’m Still Standing’ means staying strong and never giving up.

Miss Rowenna Hendricks Classroom Teacher

A7 Assembly

Rivergums families are advised that a Whole School Emergency Practice is scheduled for next Wednesday 17th of October at 1:50 pm. Staff will inform students prior to the practice so they are prepared.

Emergency Evacuation Practice

Please refer to our last newsletter for details about parent nominations for the School Board 2019-2021. The due by date has been extended to Friday 19th October.

School Board Nominations

D1 Assembly

On the 21st of September, D1 presented

an assembly item teaching about the

Rivergums Aquaponics System. The

students visually demonstrated the way

Aquaponics takes advantage of the

Nitrogen Cycle to grow plants and fish.

They outlined the way that the fish feed

the plants and the plants clean the water

for the fish. Many laughs were had when

the fish released the ‘chocolate swirl

emoji’ into the water and the microbes

turned the waste into food for the plants.

The finale saw the community of

Rivergums serenaded by a beautiful

rendition of Let it Grow from the Lorax

with adapted lyrics. The spectacular

voices from all the singers of D1 made it

a song to be remembered.

Mr Jason Tate

Classroom Teacher

Runners Club is still on for Term 4! Any students or parents wanting to improve their fitness and be a part of the Runners Club community at Rivergums is welcome to join. We run every Tuesday and Thursday morning before school. Just meet on the grassed area near the gate to the oval at 7:50am ready to warm up before we run at 7:55am. If students have not yet handed in a permission slip, they must do so before their first run.

You can choose from 1km, 1.5km, 2km, or 2.5km and we encourage students to run as far as they can. Please come dressed in a running shirt and change in to your uniform after your run. In addition to building your fitness, Runners Club is a great way to meet new friends, improve your resilience and is a great way to start the day. I hope to see many of you there this term. Miss Megan Biss Physical Education Specialist

Runners Club

The long-awaited arrival of warmer weather coaxes

snakes and other reptiles out of hibernation.

During this time you should be vigilant and take

precautions to minimise the chance of

encountering snakes.

Take care in bushland and grassy areas

Walk and/or cycle in cleared areas only,

where you can see the ground.

Keep a watchful eye on the ground ahead of

where you are walking and avoid entering

areas of long grass.

If you find a snake do not approach it or aggravate

it in any way. If you find a snake in a garden,

house, or near school contact the Wildcare

Helpline on 9474 9055

to be referred to a

reptile remover. Advice

can be provided by

phoning Parks and

Wildlife on 9219 9840.

Snake Awareness

At present we have approximately 580 students

enrolled for the new school year. Could you please

ensure that you notify the front administration

office if you are intending to move to another

school.

This information is extremely valuable to us as it

will allow for more accurate planning. Thank you.

2019 Kindy

We currently still have spaces available in Kindy for

2019. If you would like to enrol your child please

see the front administration office for further

information.

2019 Enrolments

Where will you be in

2019?

City of Rockingham RoadWise members will be re-visiting Rivergums Primary School on Thursday the 25th of October as part of the Safe Travel to School project. RoadWise members will be on the look out for students using safe road behaviours on their way to school. Safe Road Behaviours include:

Using designated footpaths Using guarded crossings

Wearing helmets when cycling, scootering or skateboarding Holding an adult’s hand when walking (children under 10 year of age)

Checking the road before crossing

Using the safety door (back left passenger door) when alighting from a car. Students noted using safe road behaviours will be given a form to complete and place in the RoadWise box in the front Admin Office. These will then be collected and collated. At a later date, Rockingham Hero packs will be distributed to those whose forms were returned. Remember those safe road behaviours EVERY DAY! They are worth a lifetime!

Travelling Safely to School

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment, and is held on the second Thursday in October each year. At Rivergums PS, we participated by creating our own pair of glasses to wear for the day. Students have taken some of their glasses home and may wish to share their knowledge of eye care with their families.

World Sight Day

Earlier this week we received a phone call from the Starlight Children’s Foundation to let us know what the funds raised from our Purple Haze Day were used for. Thanks to your donations, our funds were able to provide ten hospital beds and placed for sick children and their families. Congratulations on a fantastic outcome, and as always, thank you for your support.

Purple Haze Day

HAIR ACCESSORIES Don’t forget our school earns 25% when you buy your school

uniform hair accessories, faction colours and sports day

products through School Ponytails. Head to

www.schoolponytails.com.au, click to shop by school, and

select our school logo. With

the end of the year fast

approaching, it’s time to

start thinking about back to

school in 2019 including new

kids starting Kindy. Parents

and grandparents, you may

wish to give as Christmas

presents!

COLOUR FUN RUN Colour Fun Run is happening this term, Week 4 on Friday

2nd November. All information will be sent home Monday

the 15th of October. All permission slips will need to be

returned by 29th of October and all fundraising books to be

in by the 9th of November at the latest to ensure we have

enough time for prize delivery.

We also have a bike to raffle off. Everyone who raises funds

for the Colour Fun Run will go into the draw to win!

We are looking for volunteers for the Colour Fun Run. If you

would like to help on this day, please email Julieanne Bruce

at rivergumspandc@yahoo.com

CANTEEN NEWS Term 4 Canteen Menu

Available every Monday, Wednesday & Friday:

Pizza slice on a focaccia base -

Pineapple delight (ham and pineapple) $3.00

Meatlovers with BBQ sauce $3.50

Available every Monday Wednesday & Friday lunch

times:

Billabong Paddle Pop ice cream $2.00

Rainbow or Chocolate

Available Wednesday -

Crispy Chicken Burger $4.00

Gluten Free Bread is available for sandwiches and also

gluten free ham for 50c.

These new items will be available from Week 2.

P & C News

Aim: To provide families with strategies they can

use to help their children if they are being bullied.

What can I do if I think my children are being bullied at school?

Try to talk with your children about what is going on.

Listen to their concerns and believe them.

Be aware of your own response and react in a calm and helpful manner.

Talk with your children’s teachers and calmly discuss the situation and some

possible strategies.

Encourage your children to ask for help at school if they are being bullied e.g.

talk about who they could talk to at school, and how to ask for help.

What can I do to help my children if they are being cyber

bullied?

To prevent and respond to cyber-bullying, a useful acronym to remember is I-CURRB.

Investigate what your child is doing online.

Communicate regularly with your children to understand what they enjoy doing

online.

Use family safety software to keep track of what your children are able to access

online.

Research your school and Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) policies on

cyberbullying. Online applications, such as Instant Messenger (IM), will also have

their own policies.

Report cyberbullying to your child’s school and/or ISP. If you have serious

concerns for your child’s safety, contact your local police.

Block communications from students who cyberbully others. Most IM

applications, chat rooms and email account providers allow you to block

messages from identified people. From: http://www.thinuknow.org.au/site/cyberbullying.asp

Yr 2 Penguin Island

Excursion