24 February 2022

From the Principal

Dear Parents and families,

COVID-19 Update

As you are aware there have been increasing numbers of positive cases of COVID-19 cases in Western Australia. Please be assured that should this occur at our school we will follow our COVID Response Plan which will include acting on directions issued by both the Health Department and Education Department.

If the school was to be notified of a positive COVID19 case and if you were deemed to be a close contact then the Health Department will contact you and give you instruction on what you will need to do. (Please note that there may be a time lag between the time the positive case is identified and the time that it is announced to the community. This is because the Health Department needs to follow through with its contact tracing processes and other checks that it makes). The school does not have control over this but will proceed to issuing general communication as soon as it has been cleared through the Health Department.

Your support and understanding has been very much appreciated as we work closely with both the Education and Health Departments.

Uniforms

A number of parents have asked if we will be having an end date on the wearing of the old-style uniform. In order to support parents and following support from the School Board I am happy to extend the phasing out period until the end of next year.

Ashdale Cluster News

As you are all aware the start of the 2022 school year has been one of disruption for all schools. It also sees a number of operational changes as we face new challenges every day and we ask you to recognise these challenges and support our schools. Our main priority is to keep our students and staff as safe as possible, and as practicably as we can. The Ashdale Cluster of Schools also work very closely together to ensure this is the case. With this in mind principals’ from all schools have agreed to postpone interschool sporting events for the foreseeable future. However, we do look forward to returning to these as soon as we can.

Ashdale College/Ex-Landsdale Primary Students Shine.

As principal of Landsdale Primary School I could not have been more proud when I was attending our first Ashdale Principal Cluster meeting and we were looking at the achievement and performance of last years’ Year 12 students at Ashdale College.

The New Ashdale Secondary College Principal, Mrs Jacqui Bogunovich, presented a number of power point slides to highlight the school’s performance and high performing students in 2021. The following is information from slides she presented when discussing this information.

• The Highest Performing Student was from Landsdale Primary School
• The next three highest performing Students were from Landsdale Primary School
• There were also three students with and ATAR of 99+ all from Landsdale Primary School
• There were 14 Certificates of Merit. Landsdale Primary School had the highest number with 5 students receiving this award.

It is important to recognise, as it was by Mrs Bogunovich, that these students’ performance are not just reflective of the work at ASC but also the schooling that occurred before they entered the College and in particular their primary education. This is testament that our school’s programs are working and that we are setting high standards for our students. It is not just about Literacy and Numeracy (which are extremely important) it also includes other areas of the curriculum. Our strong focus on IT and technologies allows our students to stand out when they enter the secondary environment. Our Health and Wellbeing programs support our students to become better citizens, and of course our very successful programs around literacy and numeracy support their academic achievement. It is all of these areas that develop the whole child and make our students productive members of our society.

Kind regards,

Josh Jashari
Principal

Newsletter Articles

School Calendar

1-1 Device Program 2022

Thank you to the parents who partner with us and support our program, by purchasing a device for your child you advantage your child, and assist other children, to have access to 1-1 devices. Our program is designed to address the digital divide in education, not all students have access to technology at home, not all schools can fund a device for each student. With a parent funded 1-1 device program, our school can partner with parents, so all students have access and can learn the skills and awareness required in an increasingly digital world. In 2022, we again have successfully achieved this and the Year Four students have begun learning about the ethical and safe use of their devices. The advantages of having a device allocated to each student instead of accessing a bank of shared machines are many:

• They engage students in new and exciting ways at point of need, which may be different times and purposes for each student.
• Collaborative activities are richer, combining online, face to face and group collaborations. It assists in gathering data and evidence of learning for each individual and provides shyer, quieter students a way to interact with others more comfortably.
• Teachers can provide differentiated instruction for students more easily and students can go at their own pace and direction in learning without worry or delays. They also don’t have to rush to finish an assignment so they can hand the device to another student.
• The demand for digital skills in all areas of society are increasing. Our program teaches essential skills to our students, which are an advantage when moving to secondary schooling and future careers. Our students are well prepared for extension and specialist programs in many different learning areas, all of which have a digital element (even sport!).
• The students’ use at school is monitored more easily and we explicitly teach responsibility for the device as well as an essential awareness of an online environment and how to stay safe and appropriate.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has put hygiene at the front of everyone’s mind. Shared devices increase the risk of transference of germs. All devices need to be cleaned regularly however with each student having a device allocated or belonging to them it reduces the concern.

While we use the devices at point of need, it doesn’t mean that they should, or are, used all the time. Many lessons are device free, and many combine the integration of strategies both non-digital and digital during the learning sequence.

With many competing needs during difficult times recently, it is understandable for parents to consider the costs involved. Our program recommends the Macbook for it’s longevity and robust design and is an investment for a minimum of 3 years with it usually being used through most of the students secondary schooling. The iPad is a less costly and effective choice for parents in our program, as the applications used in school are on both the iPad and the Macbook. We also ensure that all students will have a device either Macbook or iPad if they don’t have their own, through the school owned devices.

This year has been difficult to assist the parents of the Year 4 students who purchased a device with our usual Macbook Parent Workshop due to COVID-19 considerations. Please visit our website to find information about the program and the Apple Support site is very useful for how to use the basic functions of the Macbook.

As parents are our partners in this program, we need to know your thoughts and ideas regarding the program. Please use this link to take a short survey: Parent 1-1 Program Survey

Chaplain’s Chat

I am the school Chaplain, and my role is to provide holistic pastoral care to students, school staff and members of the community, irrespective of faith or cultural backgrounds. The pastoral care provided includes one on one and group sessions addressing physical and mental health issues, social and values education, behaviour management, emotional support and professional referrals, where appropriate. Please know my door is always open and I am always happy to help.

If you would prefer that your child does not access my services, I would ask that you complete the attached ‘opt-out’ form.

My hours and days: 8:30-3:30 Tuesday - Friday

My email is: michelle.bispo@youthcare.org.au

Library News

EALD Family Resources Information

Welcome to Bilingual Families Perth

Bilingual Families Perth is a not-for-profit network of linguistically diverse people in Western Australia.
Our network connects over 500 families and individuals from more than 40 language backgrounds. In the past 10 years we have provided support for families who speak Afrikaans, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Gujarati, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, Swiss-German, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish, Vietnamese besides various dialects of the relevant languages.

Most families have pre-school or school-aged children and we are experiencing similar issues while raising our children in more than one language. We also work together with professionals who share information on bilingualism and multilingualism. We can probably put you in touch with people who speak your language.

P&C News

Wednesday 16th February was this year’s AGM and we had a fabulous turn out of new and existing members, it was fantastic to see everyone! Unfortunately, we were not successful in filling all the roles on the evening meaning no committee was formed.

What does this mean?

At the end of the meeting we had the following vacancies - President, Vice President, Secretary & RoadWise Coordinator.

A number of people attending the AGM volunteered for some smaller roles but without an executive team it can’t hold fundraisers or run a canteen.

We’re now on a time clock and that’s just being honest. The canteen reno’s will halt, there’ll be no Disco or Colour Run, Book Fair or somewhere to make the kids lunches.

Everyone has busy lives but if we want our kids to have that little bit more, the community we’ve built with school and the convenience of a school canteen we need to chat with each other and reach out to the school and ex P&C members and ask questions on how to help.

It would be terrible to have to dissolve such a successful P&C. It only takes as much time as your willing to give.

Since the meeting we have had a wonderful person come forward to fill the Secretary role but we are still needing to fill the other 3.

Please consider being a part of this amazing school and continue the legacy of the LPS P&C or we will unfortunately have to close the canteen within the next fortnight as the P&C would need to cease all activities without the executive to run it.

Roadwise News

Contact our Roadwise Coordinator for any questions on lpspandcroadwise@gmail.com

Now it’s up to all of us! Please help us to spread the word by sharing and talking to each other about the roster. Parent Link will help to remind year groups through the year to communicate this to all our families as well. Let’s get 2022 off to a great start with our year 2 & 6 parents up first for term 1.

Canteen Information

CANTEEN INFORMATION

Canteen Manager: Sue Uyen
Phone: 0410 894 457
Opening hours: 8:30am to 1:45pm

Just a reminder that we are the same indoors as the students’ classrooms. If you do need to discuss anything with the canteen team please knock on the outside door and someone will come to help you. If you can remain outside unless asked in as it’s a catering space we’d be most grateful.

Thanks
Sue & the canteen team

Uniform Shop News

For all uniform requirements, please contact Tudor Uniforms on Tel. 9408 2666 or www.tudorschooluniforms.com.au. Their address is: Unit 1/75 Excellence Dr, Wangara.