Principal Team

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a huge two weeks; thank you to all of the parent helpers for Meal Deal, I think the record for hamburgers eaten was 3 by one of our Grade 5 students, the book fair was a huge success; thank you to Mrs Dower and Mrs Johnston for all of their organisation for this event to occur. This week we have had the Wakakirri rehearsal; it is an outstanding performance, thank you to Mrs Emery for all of the organisation, our students are very talented and we look forward to their performance at the Arts Centre next week. The Grade 3-4 students have all learnt about First Aid as part of a Red Cross incursion, Year 3-6 Aths today, hopefully the weather remains kind to us! On Friday the Grade 2’s are heading to the Briars for their day camp, the weather is looking dry and its an exceptional experience for our students.

On Friday it was Principal’s day, I would like to thank all of our wonderful staff and students for their kind gestures, both Shane and I have received a lot of books from our students with their ideas about what we do all day, it was very entertaining! We are grateful to be leading such an outstanding school.

As sent out yesterday, there are a number of Gastro cases going around, please follow Department of Health advice, If your child is displaying any signs of Gastro, please keep them home, this is in line with Department of Health Advice. They cannot come back to school until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 48 hours, and for all other diarrhoea illnesses exclude until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 24 hours.

Monday the 14th of August we have our writing curriculum day for teachers;

 this day will be led by Mrs Dower and Mrs Johnston bringing together Professional Learning all of our teachers have been working on over the last 18 months. Camp Australia will have the curriculum day care available if families need it. On the 25th of August we have our Book character parade starting at 9am on the basketball courts, we hope to see as many people as possible. 

As we reach the middle of Term 3, there are a number of projects happening at Somerville Primary School. 

• Tree Planting - Over the last two weeks our students have all planted trees around the school yard as part of National Tree Day. This project will develop greater biodiversity within the school as well as add to the overall aesthetic of the grounds. 
• New soft fall - We have soft fall being blown in on Monday the 14th around the playgrounds and mulch for all of the garden beds. 
• Shade sails - This week the posts are going in for the shade sails over the main playground; while this was planned for holidays, illness has delayed the works. The Shade sails are funded through the fundraising efforts of FoSP. I would like to thank everyone who has supported our school through FoSP; all of the fundraising efforts are very much appreciated and we look forward to all of the sails providing shade for all of our students. 
• Library update - On Monday the building works to open up and extend the library will begin; we look forward to having a revitalised library space ready to go for the beginning of Term 4. We did find some Somerville Primary history with paintings on the original glass partition from 1988. 

Parent Opinion Survey is open, so far we have had more people complete it this year, than the total for 2022. Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our school. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All families are invited to participate in the survey. The 2022 survey results informed the shift in how we communicate with parents and families.  The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.To complete the survey, simply:

1. Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/parent

1.Select the School and Campus name below.

School Name: Somerville Primary School

2. Enter the School PIN below.

PIN: 717655

When complete, please click on the tick button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivityPlease speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

A huge congratulations to all of the students who have hit the 200 Reading nights milestone! We are always impressed with how much reading our students complete. They are all superstars! 

Well done Somerville Star Award recipients

Have a great Friday

David and Shane