For Your Calendar

Thursday 9 November

Penguin Island Excursion Friday 10 November

Remembrance Day Assembly Tuesday 14 November

World Diabetes Awareness Day

Wednesday 15 November

Pre-Primary Parent Meeting

Kindy Orientation 1

Friday 17 November

Assembly A6 & B1

Year 5 & 6 BASSA Spring Carnival

Tuesday 21 November

Kindy Child & Parent Workshop

Wednesday 22 November

Kindy Orientation 2

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

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

Rivergums Newsletter Term 4 Week 5 2017

A big congratulations and well done to

our Interschool Athletics Team who came

second at the BASSA Athletics Carnival

last week. I was able to spend a short

time watching our students compete and

I must say, they gave it all they could. This

was really impressive as it reflects our

school values in always striving to do your

best. I was also very pleased to receive a

number of compliments from staff of

other schools on the behaviour and

positive attitude of our students. Well

done Team Rivergums!

School Crossing Update

Work has finally commenced on

upgrading the roundabout intersection at

Avoca Chase and Stillwater Drive to a

‘manned’ crossing. Once the work is

complete I will notify the School Crossing

Section of the Police Department who will

assign two crossing guards.

Congratulations

In our last newsletter we congratulated

Miss Megan Thompson for her

achievement of Level 3 Teacher status.

We would now like to congratulate her in

winning the position of Acting Associate

Principal for Semester One next year.

Miss Thompson will backfill Mrs

Redfearn’s position whilst she is on

maternity leave.

Bicycle Donation

Thank you to Mr Reece Whitby for his

donation of a new bicycle to the P & C.

This will be used as a prize incentive for

fundraising early next year.

Kindergarten Parent Orientation

On Wednesday we had approximately 60

parents attend our Kindergarten Parent

Orientation morning. This was a great

opportunity for our new parents to gain

an insight into the operations of the

school and in particular, our early years.

Parents were able to take away some

fantastic strategies to support their

children at home in oral language,

reading and writing. Our Pre-Primary

parents will have a similar day next

Wednesday 15 November.

This term our Pre-Primary class has gone under the sea! We loved diving straight into this term with swimming lessons and we wrote some amazing swimming journals! We have read about a variety of different sea creatures, big and small. We visualised being scuba divers and wrote about what we would see in the ocean.

In Science we have been learning about materials and this week we went on an excursion to the Millar Road Landfill and Recycling Facility. We got to see where rubbish goes and we learnt how to recycle so our rubbish doesn’t end up in the ocean! We learnt how recycling can help protect sea creatures and other ways to protect our ocean.

This was our first time getting up on stage so we are very proud of our efforts!

Mrs Bianca Crisp

Classroom Teacher

Under The Sea with A5

Rivergums Aquaponics

On Tuesday 31 October students from D1, D3 and D4 planted lettuce in the Aquaponics. The system is midway through the nitrogen cycling process. The system is midway through the cycling process. The system has now grown some positive microbes converting waste into fertiliser for the lettuce. When these microbes become very efficient at converting the waste and some of the levels drop, then we will introduce the fish, Silver Perch.

Students from D1 have enjoyed seeing the different colours of the water testing that takes place every day and learning about the nitrogen cycle. They have also completed line graph showing the different levels of nitrogen compounds. We are all eagerly awaiting they day we get to introduce the fish.

Mr Jason Tate Classroom Teacher

Aquaponics Symbiotic Environment

Digging in the grow media

Planting the lettuce

Washing the roots to remove soil Water Testing

Our Seedlings Water Level Line Graph

It’s Term 4 and I’m busy testing students involved in Literacy Intervention to see how far they have progressed this year. I’m so please with the results so far, with all students showing improvements in their ability to identify the sounds in words, blend sounds together and manipulate sounds in and out of words. These are all crucial skills involved in becoming a competent reader and speller. I’m so proud of our Sounds-Write Super Stars!

Our team of dedicated Education Assistants spent our School Development Day learning new strategies to support students who are experiencing difficulties learning to read and spell. Here they are completing the online course ‘Help your child to read and write’. If you have a child in Kindy - Year 2, I encourage you to enrol online in this informative course. Download the Udemy app or follow the link below. An hour of your time is all it will take to develop a better understanding of early literacy skills.

Mrs Donna Moore

Literacy Intervention Teacher

Help your child to read and write | Udemy

What Will You Learn?

Help your child take the first steps in reading and spelling

Understand how to help your child build, write and read words

Understand how to correct your child when they make a mistake in their reading or writing

Have a basic understanding of how phonics works

Sound Write

Art Room News

This term students have been focusing on some of the great artists of history.

They have looked at art work by some of the masters: Monet, Van Gogh, Ma-

tisse and Klee and tried their hand at their own version of some famous art

works! In the coming weeks all students will be delving into the wonderful

world of ceramics and will be creating a beautiful gift to bring home in time for

Christmas.

On Friday we are holding our Remembrance Day service and there will be a

field of poppies surrounding our flag poles. All students have made a paper

poppy and will be ‘planting’ their poppies on the day.

Some of our senior students in E3 and E4 will be entering their art work in the

Rockingham Lions Community Fair Peace Poster Competition. You can view

their creative designs at the Rockingham Lions Community Fair on Sunday 19

November. Please see the flyer at the end of the newsletter for more details.

Thank you

Miss Melanie Paton

Visual and Media Arts Specialist Teacher

Henri Matisse

“Klee Cat” Art work by Pranshu and Abigail, A6.

In Term 1 a group of parents and staff members gathered to discuss waste initiatives to ensure we maintain our beautiful school environment. In Term 2 we conducted a Waste Audit to determine how much and what type of waste we have here at Rivergums Primary. We then wrote a Waste Policy and Plan to apply to be a Waste Wise School. In Term 3 we began ‘No Waste Wednesday’ and presented the most waste wise class with the Wheelie Bin Trophy. The students have made positive changes when packing their lunchboxes, such as using reusable containers and bringing fresh fruit to school. In Term 4 we were officially accredited as a Waste Wise School and given a grant of $2,200.00. Everyone in the community can be proud of their part in this wonderful achievement. The money will be used to purchase bins for each class to put their Crunch ‘n’ Sip waste into, recycling bins for each block for lunch waste, and composters for each block to put their food scraps into. The compost will then be used to fertilise our school garden beds. The students will be responsible for maintaining and managing the waste disposal and composters. On behalf of the Waste Wise Team I would like to thank the community for embracing and supporting our waste initiative. Mrs Rebecca Tibbels

Waste Wise Accreditation

CHAT is SDERA’s (School Drug Education and Road Aware) whole school approach initiative. CHAT stands for Changing Health Acting Together. The recent 2017 CHAT Achievement Awards, held on 21 September, celebrated the hard work and successes of over 30 metropolitan and regional schools who have been working to develop a comprehensive whole-school approach to resilience, road safety and alcohol and other drugs education. Mr Hunt and Mrs Redfearn represented Rivergums Primary School and were proud to show our very popular Bounce Back Bear program and the tools we use at Rivergums to build resiliency in our students.

SDERA 2017 CHAT Awards

Merit Certificates

Alyssa A3 Ava A3

Hansini A4 Nayef A4

Cooper A5 Jade A5

Shaleah A6 William A6

Noah B1 Kane B1

Manawanui B2 Tyler B2

Emma B3 Chad B3

Darcie B4 Hayley B4

Aiden C1

Lucinda C2 Ricky C2

Jasmeen C3 Sharon C3

Adrian C4 Katelin C4

Ruby D1 Logan D1

Dylan D3 Hollie D3

Boston D4 Billy D4

Brooke E1 Chelcy E1

Munis E2 Elisha E2

Bella E3 Cruz E3

Lionel E4 Marcus E4

Music B2 Phys Ed C2

Art E3 Health E3

Congratulations

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

We would like to thank Food Bank Mandurah and Woolworths Baldivis for their ongoing support of our Breakfast Club and our Emergency Lunches. We are so grateful for your donations and contributions.

Thank you

Hello Rivergums Community,

P & C GENERAL MEETING Our next General P & C Meeting is to held on Friday 1

December (Week 8) at 1:45 pm. Please note that it is

crucial that we have at least 10 people attending in

order to pass a vote to get our canteen up and

running. This meeting is open to all parents and

caregivers. Don’t forget to bring $1 if you are not

already a financial member. Your attendance is really

important to our school.

CANTEEN DONATIONS Our Canteen Committee is seeking donations/

contributions for our canteen. Below is a list of items

that are needed. Any assistance would be greatly

appreciated. Items can be dropped into our admin

office (new items only).

Plastic containers for food storage.

Knives

Plastic chopping boards - yellow, brown, white

or green

Appliances - sandwich press, grill plate, popcorn

machine, microwave

Colanders

Utensils - tongs, spatula, egg flip, whisk

Oven trays

Salad spinner

Measuring jugs, cups and spoons

Kitchen Scales

Cling wrap, foil and baking paper

SCHOOL UNIFORM HAIR ACCESSORIES ‘Ponytails and Fairytales’ hair accessories are now

available to purchase. A display stand and order forms

are in the Administration Office. Orders received by

Friday afternoon each week will be available for

collection the following Tuesday from 2:30-3:oo pm in

the office. Orders are prepaid cash only at this stage.

This may change depending on popularity.

TREASURER’S NOTE Are there any qualified accountants in our community

that are willing to donate an hour to complete our

yearly audit on our Treasurer’s Log, Bank Statements,

etc.? We must complete our audit this term, so any

assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please

contact our Treasurer Meg Behrmann via email

noelbehrmann@hotmail.com or in person at school.

COLOUR FUN RUN Any cash money raised for the Colour Fun Run, instead

of online sponsorship, can be deposited into the P & C

mailbox at the front office.

An important note to remember:

Your prize selections must be clearly marked. ALL Sponsorship Booklets must be received by us no later than Friday 17 November to ensure delivery of your sponsorship prizes before the end of term.

P & C News

World Diabetes Day is an international

event to raise awareness about diabetes

and is celebrated every year on 14

November.

On Tuesday, students and staff asked to

wear a blue shirt (no denim allowed).

280 Australians develop diabetes

every day. That’s one person every

five minutes.

Around 1.7 million Australians have

diabetes. This includes all types of

diagnosed diabetes as well as silent,

undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

More information can be found at :

https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/

World Diabetes Day