15 May 2024

Important Dates

From the Principal's Desk

Kaya

Term 2 is eleven weeks long, and we are nearly halfway through. Starting next week, the teachers' industrial action will be deferred, allowing us to have some staff meetings and work on our school improvement strategies. I want to acknowledge the families who kept their children home during the teachers’ strike – it did help us provide a duty of care. Let's hope the issue is resolved soon.

Happy Mother's Day last Sunday. We held a pot plant sale on Thursday at the middle school, which was very successful—well done to Aiden Norris, who did a fantastic job helping Mrs Woo. I wish all mothers had a fantastic day.

We have held several parent information sessions for incoming year 6 students and prospective students from other schools. We have a number of students on waiting lists who want to enrol this year, but unfortunately, most of our classes are full. We are very busy ensuring our off-campus programs, including workplace learning and TAFE courses, continue to operate.

The finance committee has finalised the school budget for endorsement by our school board. Our cash budget will be very tight, and we would appreciate any outstanding fees being paid as soon as possible. Senior students who have not paid their fees will no longer receive subsidised activities. Payment plans are available from our MCS, and parents/carers are reminded of the Government's WA student Assistance payment.

I would like to acknowledge a few of our students for their achievements. To Charli Pugh, Reon Gill and Cameil Walton for representing our school at the Canning ANZAC Day morning service. The students looked great in their cadet uniforms and met the Mayor. To Ken Tran and Lars Roche, who won the Canning RSL mural competition. Our year. 10 classes will paint the winning murals at the RSL Hall very soon. Lastly, Ryan Grant has been representing a number of clubs in national competitions. Firstly, Ryan went to Sydney with his Rugby Union team. Then, a few weeks later, he represented his surf lifesaving club in the national championships with over 10,000 other competitors in Queensland, taking home six gold medals. Ryan met his Federal Member of Parliament, congratulating him on his efforts. Ryan has several Special Olympic medals; his basketball team won the grand final. Ryan excels in the sporting field, where his athleticism and good sportsmanship are on display, and we are very proud of him.

Reconciliation week is coming, and I have submitted a grant application to the Department of Communities for some signage in school written in Noongar. I hope we are successful. Our school is developing its Reconciliation Action Plan, and we hope to finish it later this year. The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024, Now More Than Ever, reminds us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will and must continue.

P&C day is May 24^th, and I would like to acknowledge the work of the joint P&C here at our middle school. The president and vice president of the P&C, Mrs Turner and Mrs Baker, are both ESC linked. The AGM is May 13^th at 3.15 pm in the school library, and if you are keen to get involved, please come along. Please note that our senior campus does not have a P&C.

Our annual report is back from the printers after numerous edits and looks wonderful, showcasing our fantastic students and staff and all the work we did together last year. A copy is available in the Connect School Space library, but if you would like a hard copy version, please contact the school office.

We are running a tender to dispose of over ninety iPads, mainly mini iPads. We only keep ICT items for a while before updating them. We have a number of reserve accounts where funds are saved to purchase items in the future. These iPads are now surplus to our requirements, so we are offering them to school community members. They all work; see the attachment for Tender details. All items have a very affordable reserve price.

Andrew Wilson

Class Updates

7AF

It is a long term - 11 weeks, but everyone in 7AF has started with a positive attitude and an eagerness to do well.

On Wednesday, 24 April, our school hosted the annual ANZAC assembly, where officials and students from Cannington Community College attended. 7AF made poppies to remember the soldiers who fought in WWI, WWII, and other wars.

Students have been working hard in literacy and numeracy to achieve their IEP goals and to develop their understanding of vocabulary, numbers and 2D and 3D shapes. They proved to have excellent cutting, sticking, and making skills when creating 3D nets of shapes.

During art, the students have made some sensational sunset and shadow paintings. Next week, they are creating butterfly symmetry paintings.

Students have also participated in two basketball clinics, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Along with our friends from the other year 7 class, they learned the skills of dribbling, passing, and shooting during these sessions.

Dayon and Isaiah at the basketball clinic

This Thursday, there will be a plant stall at recess where students can buy a plant for their mum, auntie, nan or another carer, and on Friday, there is a Mother's Day stall where they can buy gifts.

Also, on Friday 7 June, Market Day will be held. Students will get the opportunity to run a stall to sell their enterprise products. As part of our class enterprise, we have made some beautiful items for gifts. We have made roses that can be added to a gift box instead of a bow, we have made gift cards, and we will make wrapping paper. We are working hard during enterprise lessons to prepare the products for sale.

We look forward to all parents, carers and other family members visiting us on this day, buying our products and supporting us. A flyer with all the details will be posted on Class Connect soon.

The end of term assembly will be hosted by the years 7 and 8 students on Monday, 24 June at 11:30 am. If you are available, please attend to encourage the students and watch their hard work in action.

Annie Foyster and 7AF

7SS

Term 2 is a long one consisting of eleven weeks, but we have started well with all the students returning after the break looking rested and filled with energy and enthusiasm to get through this long term.

In week 2, we had the ANZAC Day assembly on Wednesday, 24 April, hosted by our school. The whole school assembly included primary and secondary college students. Our students did a great job in taking the lead role. Aiden from our class is to be commended for reading out his speech confidently and carrying out his responsibilities as the year 7 student councillor by helping set up and pack away after the assembly.

We work hard in literacy and numeracy lessons in small groups to achieve our IEP goals.

In art lessons, we follow the artwork of the famous Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky. We completed our first artwork and proudly displayed it in our classroom.

Last term, we had the opportunity to participate in cricket clinics; this term, it’s basketball. Along with our friends from the other year 7 classroom, we are learning some dribbling, passing, and shooting skills during these sessions.

Market Day will be held in week 9. Students can display and sell their enterprise products. As our class enterprise, we are making beautiful fridge magnets and key chains with Perler beads. We are working hard to prepare the products for sale.

We look forward to all parents and carers visiting us on the day to buy and support our products. A flyer with all the details will be posted on Class Connect soon.

The end of term assembly will be hosted by the years 7 and 8 students. It will be held in the last week of the term on Monday at 11:30 am. We have started preparations for the assembly. Please note the date and make yourselves free to attend and encourage the students.

Susan Solomon

8CL

Woodwork: Students have finished assembling their wooden trains. They look fantastic!

Cooking: So far, we’ve made Quesadillas from Mexico, ANZAC biscuits from Australia, and hamburgers from Germany.

Science: We’ve been learning about how our bodies work. We’ve been busy doing a project on the human body, learning about our internal organs and their different jobs.

Basketball: All have enjoyed participating in the basketball clinic and having the opportunity to further consolidate their dribbling and shooting skills.

Compliment Person of the Week: Monty, Joesph, Fuad and Adam have had turns at being our Compliment Person of the Week. The students have enjoyed having their special day and reading compliments from their classmates.

Flashback Friday: Every Friday, the students and staff of 8CL listen to songs from the past and have a dance as part of our daily wellness program. Staff choice this week was Tainted Love by Soft Cell from Mrs Reale, and the student choice was Gangster’s Paradise from Fuad. All thoroughly enjoyed both selections. Watching Monty showing off his air guitar skills will no doubt be a class highlight for 2024.

Student highlights so far for term 2

Carissa Lee

8MS

We have come back from the holidays refreshed and raring to go. In science, we finished reading Paper Planes and then watched the movie. We enjoyed it and especially liked making and flying paper planes. Some designs were more successful than others and would even give Clive, the eagle, a run for their money. Last week, we did a ‘Sink or Float’ experiment, which was fun.

Mark and Sam - Sink or Float

We are continuing with our fitness program. The gym rotations are becoming more familiar, and we are seeing some good results.

Elena rowing and Jet boxing

Basketball Clinic: In weeks 2 and 3, students had an opportunity to develop their basketball skills with a champion/expert supporting them with their skills in preparation for future carnivals. It was also an opportunity to get students interested in a new sport if they haven’t had much exposure to it. We have a few budding Michael Jordans in our midst.

Enjoying the clinics

Cash for Containers: Students are progressing with our recycling initiative and supporting the school’s fundraising. We collect approximately 30 cans a week, and students use a tallying system to record their collections during numeracy sessions. Check out our Connect Class to see how much money the students have raised.

HASS: Students have been immersed in cultural appreciation in HASS with Ms Spadanuda and their cooking classes with Mrs Armstrong by learning about different foods worldwide. Students merged all their experiences/knowledge about international foods as an electronic collage and saved a copy to the HASS Connect Discussion pages. Check it out! Soon, students will experience an international food shopping trip at our Woolies Can Do.

Kneading the dough

Charline Martlew and Pat Spadanuda

9MH

While studying Aboriginal history, students listed the needs and wants of indigenous Australians. They learned that food, shelter, water, and air are essential. They also participated in KWS during the country's acknowledgment and sang the wanjoo song.

In numeracy, students estimated and measured various items around the room completed the daily student attendance and identified time differences around Australia and a few other international cities.

In literacy, students completed a recipe comprehension task, sorted items to complete a meal, selected a city and listed some key facts about it, sequenced a short sentence, completed a reading box comprehension task, and completed form-filling online.

During career education, students investigated how to become police officers, what roles and responsibilities they would have to fulfil, and listed the industry under which they would fall.

Students took part in some coaching clinics through the Perth Basketball Association. Coach Denzel taught our students about the fundamentals of basketball. Seeing our students getting involved and learning new moves is great.

Enjoying the clinics

Mustafa Hussein

9SN

The attendance of the students has been excellent in Term 2. It is so good to see everyone attending school every day.

We are developing good email writing skills in our literacy lessons. Students have improved so much in replying to emails. Creating tables on a Word document, cutting and pasting skills, and saving documents with the correct names are some of the skills we are working on during our literacy and ICT lessons.

Emily and Kyle using Word

This term, students participated in two basketball clinics. The sessions were engaging and meaningful, and the students thoroughly enjoyed them.

Our skills are improving!

We learn about fractions, budgets, and calendars in our numeracy lessons. The extension group has started working on a pizza shop project this term.

The students have been busy making bracelets for Mother’s Day. We created our bracelets, made cards, and packed them ready to go. 

Making bracelets

We are continuing with the girls and boys group this term. They have been very interactive and productive. Thanks to Nurse Amy for organising them.

Aboriginal stories in our art classes have started coming to life. We have completed the stories and are now painting and drawing for a final project.

In woodwork, students have just completed their wooden trucks. They look amazing.

Beau has been using PowerPoint to create these fantastic graphic creations. He is now helping Kyle and Gianni to create stories as well. Great work

Saadia Niazi

10VL

Term 2 has started as a hectic term for 10VL. There have been basketball clinics, bowling, an excursion to help Sea Shepherd clean up Coogee Beach, the ANZAC Day assembly, a special Friendship Group Project and a TAFE tester visit day. Everyone has been doing various activities and creating work of a high standard. Read on to see what our class has enjoyed so far this term.

Vanessa Laudehr

10WP

Our class has been very busy this term. We have had the opportunity to participate in 10-pin bowling during recreational pursuits. Seeing the class and 10VL thoroughly enjoy themselves and improve their bowling skills has been great. We have printed their scores out and will use them as part of mathematics. The class will learn how to create different types of graphs, including bar, line and dot graphs, using grid paper. The class will learn to construct a graph using Excel on their iPads.

Community service has been a big focus this term, with the students participating in the ANZAC Day service and making pet toys and dog biscuits. Both year 10 classes are responsible for organising and running ‘The Biggest Morning Tea and ‘Market Day’ this term. We have been busy assigning tasks to students and ensuring that everything will be well for these events and that everything will be in place.

We visited Coogee Beach and, along with the group Sea Shepherd, undertook community service by cleaning the beach. The students were amazed at the amount of rubbish they found in the small area they searched.

A perfect beach cleanup day

Other community activities this term include making first aid kits, volunteering at the Foodbank, and painting an ANZAC mural at the Cannington RSL.

Warren Preece

11JL

11JL has had a very busy term 2 already. Some highlights have included participating in the RAC Car Maintenance Workshop incursion, planning and preparing for the class market day stall, taking part in the practical HPE (Health and Physical Education) sessions on Mondays, developing our independent living skills, earning AIR token rewards to spend at the café or the CANDO store, workplace learning each Thursday and learning about ANZAC Day and why we commemorate this national day.

RAC Car Maintenance Workshop

Highlights of this term are:

Hannah and Jack spending their PBS rewards

Jenny Lockyer

11MM

The 11MM class should all be congratulated for their mature attitude and positive start to the term. Some highlights include workplace learning placements, physical education excursions to Cannington Leisureplex and making new friendships.

Charli, Reon and Cameil attended a recent ANZAC Day service at the City of Canning as part of our school DFES cadet program. They represented our school with pride and reverence, presenting a wreath on behalf of our school community.

Representing our school

Well done to all our students, and may I acknowledge and thank our dedicated class staff team.

Michael McGoldrick

12CG

It has been a busy return to school for 12CG. The students were back in the swing of things, including workplace learning, SBTs, HPE, and even a public holiday. Well done to those students who attended their workplaces over the holidays while the rest of us were sleeping! Everyone is working extremely hard to achieve their ITP goals set last term in preparation for our new (and last!) goals next semester.

We are all getting excited about the ball early next term, with some students visiting the Sevenoaks Op Shop and trying on ball gowns and suits. Further information about the ball will be sent home soon.

During our numeracy sessions, the students visited the Woolies CANDO store to practice their estimation and weighing skills and create their travel plans.

English has seen us practising filling in job application forms, looking at interview techniques and researching various jobs. In the coming weeks, we will conduct mock interviews with our peers.

HPE is in full swing, and everyone is enjoying their choice of activities on Monday afternoons. We have students involved in swimming, basketball, social games, and indoor soccer. Everyone will have a chance to swap to a different activity next semester.

Monday afternoon activities

Cindi Griffin

12WW

Surprisingly, we've already reached the end of week 4 in this longer term. Students have been busy working on various activities to meet their ITP goals. Some have been researching holiday destinations like Melbourne and New York, while others have been learning about needs versus wants, creating budgets for the Year 12 Ball, and applying for the Disability Pension.

In our English sessions, we've been focusing on understanding the job application process, crafting resumes, understanding the purpose of interviews, and strategies for making a great first impression when applying for jobs.

Our numeracy sessions have centred on practical skills such as handling money, reading timetables and clocks, and choosing the right tools for measuring and weighing in cooking and daily life.

On Tuesdays, we've been busy making and selling pies to staff on the senior campus as part of our ongoing enterprise project. We develop a new pie filling weekly, prepare and deliver orders, and manage our finances using a spreadsheet. This week, we analysed our sales data and discussed what averages mean and why they are important. We've also been gathering feedback from staff to improve our pie offerings for market day.

Rhoda Whelan and Lynna Woon

Year 12 Visual Arts

The year 12 Visual Arts group are creating a Mother’s Day canvas bag for our special mums. It has taken several weeks to complete, starting with the planning and design process and selecting the materials we’d like to use. We’re working hard to have them completed before 12^th May.

Beautiful artwork

Lynna Woon

Design and Technology

Year 7: Students have been coming to the workshop for hands-on math lessons. They have been measuring liquids with devices ranging from science flasks to eyedroppers and recording their results. Classes have also been measuring the capacity of commercial drink containers and comparing them with the marked capacity of the container, with some exciting results! It is safe to say students have discovered discrepancies!

7AF Measuring liquids

Woodwork students have completed their finger cars and are working on their wooden robot project, which will come home soon.

Showing off our finished finger cars

Year 8: Woodwork students have finished their locomotives and made a pot holder for Mother’s Day. The pot holder can be used as a base for an indoor plant or a duvet for hot kitchen items. This project requires students to complete repeated measuring and cutting with a high level of accuracy, along with lots of nailing practice. Many students learned to put nails in using small pliers and hammers, a great skill to master.

Year 9: Students have completed their monster trucks. This project allows our students to use pyrography to decorate their models (wood burning). It is a fundamental skill and a challenge for our students to operate a wood burner, a red hot poker that gives off wood smoke, and to make contact with the timber at just the correct pressure.

Containers for Change: Our students continue collecting, sorting, and recycling drink containers. This year, we have four classes collecting containers from around the school and two businesses donating their containers to us. We have just completed a drop-off and redemption run. When all the containers were counted, our students earned $136.00, which will go to a charity of the participating students' choice later in the year. We can process more containers, so please send any eligible containers to the school with your student. Containers can be placed in the green collection bag in the garden area. We accept glass containers and containers that contained alcohol. The program is a great hands-on way to learn about recycling and process systems (sorting into classifications) and practice their tallying skills.

IBO (Interest Based Options) on Wednesday afternoons: Our school-based workshop offers mosaics this term as an IBO choice. The option has been popular with students. We have modified our program to give our students design choices, leading to the beginning of some very creative designs.

Year 10: Students have completed their wooden stools. This project introduced skills such as cushion-making and using a staple gun. The wooden base required the application of wood putty and fine sanding with our new cordless finishing sanders. Students will soon begin their bi-plane model, which involves using a wood lathe and introducing templating skills.

Tradestart: Students have completed their sheet metal toolboxes. They enjoyed this project as it used many metalworking machines and hand tools, which was a new experience. The class is now busy working on their folding camping shovel. This project introduces gas and arc welding.

Students have also completed small workplace first aid and fire awareness modules. The class got hands-on experience with fire blankets, fire extinguishers, and lots of tomato sauce as they practised applying pressure to imaginary deep cuts!

Mark Arrantash

Physical Education

It’s already been an action-packed term. Soccer is our current focus sport, with years 7, 8 and 9 enthusiastically working on their skills. We have a KALABILITY soccer carnival in week 6 (22^nd May), with many students competing for a limited number of places. Middle school students have benefited from basketball coaching incursions and will soon participate in visits from soccer coaches too. This is possible due to grants from Sporting Schools (thanks, Mr Hussein, for your help organising everything)! Also, classes have completed physical skill tests for their semester 1 reports. Our year 10 students have continued their ten-pin bowling during recreational pursuits. All students behaved well, applying themselves and having fun as they improved their bowling skills. We plan to begin golf as our next recreational pursuits activity. The senior students have worked well during HPE theory lessons and participated in sports such as swimming, water polo, basketball, dodgeball, indoor soccer, and social games.

Colin Pestell

Workplace Learning

Our workplace learning coordinator, Mrs Pears, has been unwell, and we haven’t seen her for a fortnight, but thankfully, she returned to school on Monday!

Term 2 started positively. All our senior students are engaged in workplace learning, school based traineeships or attending TAFE courses and achieving fantastic results. Some students are extra busy involved in more than one program and working off campus for more than one day a week!

We also have four students attending Project Employment, a seven-week program run by Edge Employment Solutions designed to make the transition from school to work as easy as possible. We are two weeks into the program, and the students are engaged and enthusiastic.

The workplace learning team will begin visiting our year 10 students in their classrooms next week for their ASDAN Work-Right learning, which will also introduce topics such as travelling on public transport, the different types of workplaces available, and getting ready to go to work. Classroom visits will continue for ten weeks, after which students can attend different workplaces during term 3.

Our Post School Options Expo will be held on 12^th June. We look forward to sharing more information about the event shortly!

Lastly, three students have completed travel training and become independent travellers! Congratulations and well done to Reon Gill, Dylan Johnson and Charli Pugh.

Our diverse workplaces

The Workplace Learning Team

Student Services Update

The students helped organise and run the middle school ANZAC Day assembly on 24 April. The morning of the event was hectic as over 1,000 people were attending, and a seating plan had to be followed. Students had speeches to practice and overcome their nerves to ensure they followed the program correctly.

Luckily, student councillors from both campuses spoke at the assembly, including Monique Park, Jin Wen Yeo, Elina Skigic, Aiden Norris and Ali Saad Hamad. They all did a great job representing the school and handled the occasion with great maturity.

The 8CL class representatives had practised beforehand and did a fantastic job performing the Key Word Sign of the Acknowledgement of Country whilst fellow class member Xander Clift read the Acknowledgement.

Lars, Patrick, and Jayden were in their DFES Cadets uniforms and formed the Guard of Honour. They did a great job standing to attention and, along with Mr Arrantash, raised the flag during the Reveille.

Many special guests attended, including Mr Peter Dempsey from the Cannington RSL, who spoke about his experiences. The primary school choir performed “I am Australian” and a fantastic performance from Ava Moore, who sang the Australian National Anthem.

Our team would also like to thank all the staff and students from Cannington Community College and Cannington Community ESC who contributed to the event's success.

The Student Services Team

Office Information

Payments

Thank you to everyone who has paid their contributions. Just a reminder, you can pay your contributions by EFTPOS or direct debit on our website – parent payments or by payment plan. Please do not hesitate to contact the office to arrange a payment plan. 

All charges for years 11 and 12 students are compulsory. The school cannot subsidise your child's excursions/camps if charges are not paid (or an approved payment plan has been made) by the end of term 1 each year or until charges are fully paid. 

Middle School Parking

Please note that parking is not permitted in the driveway at the school's entrance, as indicated by the 'no stopping' markers and yellow line, as this causes a traffic jam on Wharf Street and is dangerous for students. The disabled parking bays are for people displaying an ACROD sticker only. Your cooperation would be appreciated. Parents are welcome to park beside the school near the bus bays. Parents picking up children from the bus bays need to arrive early before the buses.

Visiting the School

All visitors must sign in at Reception/Business Centre and receive a yellow visitor label.

Tanya Buchan

Congratulations Ryan

As a jet-setting sporting superstar, Ryan from year 11 has had an exciting few weeks away from school. Ryan has recently participated in two competitions representing his community sporting clubs. He travelled to Sydney to compete with his All-Abilities Rugby Team (Southern Lions). Also, he participated in an all-abilities Surf Life Saving Championships at the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The Surf Lifesaving Adaptive Competition was introduced this year, allowing athletes of all abilities to participate. Ryan was amazing, winning six gold medals and coming first in all the events he participated in—Congratulations, Ryan, for his sportsmanship and sporting success.

Surf Life Saving Championships

Oviya at Optus Stadium

I went to Optus Stadium on Friday night. I took part in Auskick. I was playing on the oval. The best part was kicking a goal. There were lots of people watching. I was not nervous, and I had a great time.

Oviya Thondaiman 9MH

Congratulations Ken

Congratulations, Ken Tran, for winning the Term 1 ESSN Art Competition.

Friendship

Please click on the link below for Tender information: