School News
Autism Awareness Day
On Thursday the 6th May 2021, Burrendah Primary School is having an Autism awareness day. The aim is to promote a greater understanding of Autism and celebrate diversity among our school community. Autism is also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ‘Spectrum’ refers to the wide range of characteristics, skills, and abilities that different people with Autism have. No two people are affected by Autism in exactly the same way. Every person experiences Autism differently and has different support needs.
The greater the knowledge and understanding we have on Autism, the more successful students with Autism can be at school. More information about Autism can be found on the Autism Association of Western Australia Website:
https://www.autism.org.au/events/category/autism-awareness-month-2021/
Absences from School
Parents/guardians may notify the school via Connect, email the school at burrendah.ps@education.wa.edu.au or text the school on 0417 975 162 to inform the school of any absences.
Communication
Parents/guardians are encouraged to establish and maintain positive communication with teachers and the school. Teachers are available via email contact through Connect.
Parents/guardians should discuss issues and concerns as soon as they occur. Interviews with teachers can be arranged, for a mutually convenient time, by making an appointment.
If unable to satisfactorily resolve a problem or issue with the classroom teacher, parents/guardians are asked to make an appointment to see the Principal, Associate Principal or Deputy Principal. The Deputy Principal oversees Kindergarten – Year 3 and the Associate Principal oversees Years 4 – 6. The Administration can be contacted by email at Burrendah.PS.Administration@education.wa.edu.au or by phone on 9266 6200.
Teaching staff, including Administration, are not required to respond to communications outside of their normal working hours. However, every effort will be made to respond, generally during school hours, within a reasonable timeframe; for example, 48 hours from reading a communication on a workday. If further information is required please see the Department’s ‘Talking With my School’ document, and Communication Protocols on our school website.
School Web Page
To enhance communication between the school and parents we publish all relevant information on our school web page. Through our web page and Connect we aim to keep parents well informed of up-and-coming events and also provide parents with useful resources, such as ideas for developing numeracy and literacy at home.
The school web page address is: https://burrendahps.wa.edu.au/
The school calendar not only outlines major up-and-coming events but also has links to excursion notes and permission slips if they are lost in transit or misplaced by students.
Parents/guardians should be aware that when designing this website, we made sure devices, such as smartphones and iPads could display all information in a readable format. We recommend that you use browsers, such as Firefox or Chrome and not Internet Explorer for our website to work effectively.
Another feature of our website is the ability to translate the web page into different languages. This feature is available through a drop-down menu in the top right-hand corner of the web page. However, we are not able to translate linked
documents, e.g., school excursion notes within our web. In this case, an alternative strategy would be to take a picture of the document you need to be translated through the app – Google Translate and it will convert the information into another language.
Background information on the P&C is also available under the Community tab through the main menu. You may also like to use the P&C Facebook page as a way of keeping up - to - date with school events
Newsletters
An online newsletter goes out fortnightly, in Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 of the term to parents/guardians. Extended family members can have online access to this newsletter upon request at Reception. The newsletter can be easily changed into a
number of different languages. The newsletter and other school information is available on our website www.burrendahps.wa.edu.au
Assemblies / Open Classroom
A new format for assemblies has commenced in 2021. The assemblies will be hosted by year levels and contain a digital (rather than live) performance.
Grow Awards are presented by class and Specialist teachers on a daily basis.
There will be a Whole School Assembly each term that hosts a live performance. These will be for events such as Harmony Day, ANZAC, and NAIDOC. Parent participation in these events may be limited due to COVID - Phase 4. There will be a Junior School Assembly (PP - Year 3) and a Senior School Assembly (Years 4-6) usually held Friday morning, once a fortnight for Semester 1. In Semester 2, Year Level Assemblies will be replaced by Open Classroom. Social distancing for adults in classrooms needs to be in place if in Phase 4. Open Classroom is where parents/guardians are invited into the classroom for approximately 30 - 45 minutes on a Friday where the children share their learning and achievements.
Webex
Each Monday afternoon during Homeroom time, Student Leaders host a whole school Webex. Behaviour Expectations, Faction Points, weekly messages and updates are presented. The Webex is recorded so classes can watch it Tuesday morning if required.
Acknowledgement of Country
Acknowledgement of Country from the Whadjuk Noongar people is said at all formal events such as assemblies and concerts.
“I respectfully acknowledge the past and present custodians of this land on which we are meeting. Today we gather in the lands of the Whadjuk Nyoongars. It is a privilege to be standing on this land where the Whadjuk were the traditional custodians.”
Award Assemblies
In the last weeks of Term 4, we hold two special assemblies called the Junior Award Assembly (PP to Year 3) and Senior Award Assembly (Years 4 - 6). These assemblies recognise students from each Pre-primary – Year 6 class who demonstrate each Expectation of Responsibility, Respect, Resilience or Reach. The four students are presented with a certificate by their classroom teacher. Specialist teachers also present four students across their teaching area with an award certificate.
Year 6 students are farewelled through a Graduation Assembly at the end of Term 4. Selected Year 6 students are presented with a book award voucher. A student from Year 6 is presented with the ‘Grow the Burrendah Way’ Certificate and book voucher.
Assembly Award recipient families are contacted prior to assemblies regarding their child being selected for an award. During COVID Phase 4 participation in this assembly will be by invitation only.
Reporting to Parents
Two formal reports are provided to parents/guardians at the end of Term 2 and Term 4
through Connect. Parents/guardians are encouraged to keep regular contact with teachers to monitor student progress. Parents/guardians may be offered a formal parent-teacher interview to discuss the first-semester report and teachers will contact you at other times should they wish to discuss your child’s progress. Parents/guardians are able to make an appointment to discuss their child's progress at any time of the year.
Our 2021 half-day closure for parent interviews will be Term 2, Wednesday 30th June from 12:00 noon.
Connect
Connect is a learning, support, and communications platform developed by the Department of Education WA for staff, students, and parents in public schools. Each parent will be given their own secure login to Connect. Connect has been developed by the Department of Education and is a very safe online environment. As well as being able to log in to Connect on any internet-connected device (www.connect.det.wa.au), you may also receive notices from Connect that will be sent to you as either an email or a notification on your phone. A free app called Connect Now can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App Store and will let you receive Connect notices as push notifications.
If you have multiple children, you only need one login – even if your children attend different public schools.
When you log in to Connect you will be able to see information specific to your own child/ren. For instance, whole school or class notifications, class events, classroom learning activities, notifications from individual teachers, attendance records, work your children have to complete, assessments, and marks. This will vary depending on your child’s year level and whether they are in primary or secondary school.
If you are a new parent, you will receive an email that invites you to register for Connect with your login details.