Welcome

Hi, my name is Stephen Bevan and I am Principal at Tuart Hill Primary School in Perth, Western Australia. Research shows that open and clear communication between home and school is important which is why I have created this blog. As Principal of Tuart Hill Primary School I value your opinions and encourage your comments. Feel free to comment on any of the posts.

I will endeavour to provide you with regular and informative posts about our school and its activities. I ask that your comments be constructive and positive with any concerns or complaints directed to me personally at school.

Tuart Hill Primary School prides itself on the positive, open and friendly culture that has been established. Our vision is to raise the literacy level of all students through the provision of quality teaching and learning opportunities.

Thursday, 25 August 2011

The Australian Curriculum

The Australian Curriculum sets out what all young Australian's are to be taught, and the expected quality of learning as they progress through schooling. Currently, each state has its own curriculum although this will change over the next few years with the progressive implementation of the Australian Curriculum.

The Australian Curriculum is an online curriculum that provides flexibility in how the curriculum can be accessed and organised.

The Australian Curriculum is being developed progressively by the Australian, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). To view the Australian Curriculum go to: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Friday, 12 August 2011

Family Life



I am very aware of many of the issues that you face as a parent as I have four of my own children. The oldest has just started high school and the youngest starts kindergarten in 2012. My wife is also a teacher and must balance her time between work and home.

Like you, we face all the daily challenges of parenting. This includes things like: helping reluctant children do homework (often forgotten or neglected), looking for lost uniforms, throwing away uneaten school lunches, signing excursion notes, parent interviews, School Council meetings etc etc. Families with primary school aged children are certainly very busy places.

All of our kids are involved in junior sport. This means Saturday morning is always very busy preparing for games. During the week there are also a number of training sessions to attend. I also help umpire and coach from time to time. This activity helps our kids to stay healthy as well as provides them with social interaction.

As a family we make it a habit to sit around the table and eat dinner together. This gives us a chance to talk about the day (which is hard sometimes when you are also trying to get reluctant children to eat their vegetables without complaining about it). We find that it is important to provide our children with regular routines and patterns of life as this assists to bring stability and a level of predictability that helps get things done. We have daily designated jobs (chores) that each child is responsible for and we pay them pocket money as a reward for the jobs they do. We have rules that we regularly need to remind our children about and consequences for breaking them are given.

Holidays are always fun but also a challenge. We find that if we don't keep our kids busy on the holidays then they get bored and often argue more. We try to do a planned activity at least once every couple of days or we sometimes pay for one or two of them to attend activities like sports clinics or camps. Local community centres or sports clubs often offer very cheap sessions on the holidays. Visiting the city on the train is always a reasonably cheap but entertaining activity.

Parenting is challenge! It also has great rewards. There is nothing more important that we can do as parents then invest ourselves in helping our kids grow to be the best that they can be.


Thursday, 11 August 2011

Wastewise Garden Grant


This week we were informed that our application for a $16500 Wastewise grant was successful. This grant will enable us to establish an environmentally friendly garden which is also part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. As you can imagine, we are very excited by the opportunities this will provide our students. Many thanks go to Mrs Snart who put together the final application on behalf of our school. Below is an extract from the application which gives you an idea about what the program will involve:

Our project is to create an outdoor classroom through the building, establishment and maintenance of a small sustainable, organic fruit and vegetable farm that utilises organic waste generated by the school for worm farming, composting and mulching. The farm will be used to teach students how to reduce, reuse and recycle waste while also providing opportunities for them to develop greater understanding of environmentally friendly gardening practices. Seasonal fruit and vegetables will be used in cooking lessons with excess being sold within the community. Castings and whiz from the two existing worm farms will be used to enhance plant growth and worm whiz will also be bottled and sold to the local community.

The site for the garden will need to be prepared well with kikuyu grass being removed and suitable soil and compost being added. Garden beds will be delineated with edging made from environmentally friendly products. Paths will be constructed using mulch created by green waste produced by the school and local community. Compost bins will be used to turn organic waste into soil improver. A worm/compost shed will be used to process waste so that it is ready for composting and/or feeding to our worms. The shed will have a work area containing benches and water troughs.

Reticulation of the garden beds will need to be developed in order to ensure optimal growth. Various water saving and retention strategies will be explored as part of the teaching and learning programs (experimental science and Technology & Enterprise).

The site for the outdoor classroom has been assessed by a specialist in garden designer. Through his recommendations the garden will require a wind break to the east which will be created by a row of Australian native trees and a second row of native shrubs. Passionfruit vines will also form part of the wind break. To the west of the outdoor classroom a ‘bush tucker’ garden will be established.

A chicken coup will be built within the farm area. Chickens provide opportunities for students to learn about weed and pest control. It also provides additional fertiliser to boost garden production. Egg carton recycling will be conducted in order to pack eggs which will be sold within the community.

Running in conjunction with this project will be other strategies which also promote and develop better waste management including:
• Battery recycling
• Phone recycling
• Printer cartridge recycling
• Paper recycling reduction targets
• Zero waste lunches
• Power reduction – hour without power
• Water waste minimization strategies

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Student Teachers/Education Assistants

It is important that we provide ongoing training and work experience opportunities for students wanting to become teachers or education assistants. For this reason you will regularly see students from TAFE and Edith Cowan University in our school. Occasionally we also accept students from other universities as well as local high school students who are doing work place learning.

Visits sometimes involve short stays (distributed days) while others are for longer sessions of between 2 and 10 weeks.

These training/work experience opportunities provide students with a chance to develop their skills and put the things they have been learning into practise. Occasionally, as part of their study, work samples are collected and used although no personal details of our children are recorded.

If you are interested in finding out who is in your child's class please talk to their regular classroom teacher or contact the school office.

Monday, 8 August 2011

Our Playground Rules



We have two simple rules which govern student behaviour in the playground. Students are regularly reminded of these rules. Another rule which I communicate as 'Mr Bevan's favourite rule' is this: ALWAYS TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED.
These rules have hand actions which help students to memorise them. Most of our students know these rules well and playground behaviour is generally very good.

Trading Card Club

Interested students have been invited to participate in a Trading Cards Club which will be held every Friday at lunchtime in the Library. The club will involve students bringing along their card collections (e.g. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Yo, AFL etc) and playing games, showing and/or trading cards. Other items such as magazines may also be brought to the club.

To be involved in the club students must be attending school regularly and their behaviour both in the classroom and playground must be consistently appropriate.

Trading cards will not be permitted in the school on any other day or time to this.

The trading of cards will be the responsibility of students although they must have permission from parents/carers to be involved. All trades become permanent and will not be reversed by school staff.

It is recommended that parents provide their children with an appropriate container or file for cards to be safely stored as it is each student’s responsibility to look after their own collection. All magazines or game items should be clearly labelled with each child’s name.

In order for children to participate in the club a permission form must be signed and returned to Mrs vanderWal. For more details please feel free to contact Mrs vanderWal or myself.

Newspaper Article



Congratulations go to the Surace family for their contribution to last weekend's Sunday Times.

Monday, 1 August 2011

Independent Public School Success

It was announced today that Tuart Hill Primary was successful in its application to become an Independent Public School commencing in 2012. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to shape and mould our school to ensure it successfully meets the needs of our Tuart Hill community. Below is an outline of the benefits that IPS will bring to our students, staff and the wider community.

The ‘Classroom First Strategy’ outlines that every public school should be a distinctive school, with a level of flexibility and autonomy that allows it to best represent the needs and aspirations of its students and local community. The IPS initiative will provide Tuart Hill Primary School with the opportunity for a much greater level of autonomy, providing the flexibility to perform at our best and become as unique as the community we serve. The Tuart Hill Primary School community have high expectations for the achievement of all students. They expect that staff will be of the highest possible quality and fully dedicated to meeting the needs of their children. They also expect to be actively involved in the educational process. Independent public school status will enable us to more effectively respond to the expectations of our community through the provision of a distinctive curriculum, differentiated and flexible in its design and presentation yet specific and targeted towards the needs of our Tuart Hill students. The flexibilities and freedom provided through IPS status will ensure we provide the highest quality staff who have the knowledge, skills and values required to effectively deliver this curriculum. IPS status will also strengthen the active relationship we already enjoy within the local community through the establishment of stronger links with community leaders/members who have specific skills, qualities and resources which, when engaged in the planning and implementation of school based programs and strategies will greatly enhance outcomes for students. Ultimately, IPS status will ensure that Tuart Hill Primary School is a distinctive school with effective teachers and successful students.

Benefits for students: Being an independent public school will enhance the school’s capacity to ‘value add’ for students through the provision of a differentiated curriculum that is designed, resourced and delivered specifically to the needs of our students within the parameters of the Curriculum Framework and Australian National Curriculum. Specific flexibilities will enable us to re-profile our school staffing in order to create a more distributive leadership model and support structures that will engage the specific knowledge and skills of both new and existing staff in developing and delivering this distinctive curriculum. The flexibility to make regular, immediate and targeted decisions greatly enhances our ability to respond to specific student needs and plan ongoing teaching and learning experiences and programs that meet these needs. Having the capacity on an ongoing basis to employ staff with specialist knowledge and skills will enhance the depth and breadth of the curriculum that we can offer the students of Tuart Hill.

Benefits for staff: Having the capacity to select, develop and manage staff free from the bureaucratic restrictions of Central Office will further enhance staff morale, provide greater opportunity for leadership roles to be established and ensure that all staff have the opportunity to utilise and develop their individual knowledge and skills for the enhancement of student outcomes. Having the flexibility to develop our staff profile to match our school’s vision, values and strategic directions will ensure improved and sustained student success over time. This success will enable ongoing celebration and recognition of Tuart Hill Primary School as a distinctive and successful school. Having the capacity to employ specialist staff or support staff as they are required and within a specific (school determined) time frame will ensure that curriculum delivery is more effective, thus enhancing outcomes. Flexibility in staffing our school will enable staff to be provided with opportunities to take on leadership roles which will increase collaboration and continue to build a strong team of professionals dedicated to meeting the needs of our students. Through staff mentoring and collaboration important skills and knowledge (provided by specialists/support staff/teachers taking on leadership roles) will be shared, enhancing professional learning and further improving the educational program being offered to our students. The capacity to make school based decisions related to staff roles, leave, workload etc will ensure that issues and/or concerns are dealt with in a timely and site specific manner which enhances morale and builds positive relationships and confidence in staff.

Benefits for the community: As an independent public school Tuart Hill Primary will become a ‘distinctive’ school within the community and its reputation as a ‘good’ school will be enhanced. This will enable the school to successfully draw and retain students from the local area who may have been attracted to other low fee paying private schools. Continued growth in student numbers will provide additional resources that will be utilised to further enhance student outcomes. As an independent public school the current School Council, which is already an active body will be enhanced through increased representation from local political and business leaders. The creation of a School Board will promote closer ties with the Tuart Hill community and provide additional expertise and resources that would not normally be available to our school. Ultimately, as our school community celebrates with us the success of our students, community confidence and support for our school will grow.

Excellence in schools doesn’t happen by chance, it is forged by strong leaders, experienced and dedicated staff, confident, involved communities and motivated and focussed students. IPS status will provide the platform for these factors to come together and create a powerful synergy of teaching and learning. Schools should mirror the local community and its needs. The IPS initiative will provide the impetus for our school to evolve and develop with the community, to be a dynamic school that truly understands and reflects our local needs and to further grow in its recognition as a distinctive school of choice within the Tuart Hill community.

Thursday, 7 July 2011

K - PP Enrolments 2012

The last day for K/PP enrolments is Friday 29th July. Please come to the school office to complete application forms.

When completing an application at the Front Office, please bring with you the following documents:
• birth certificate – contact the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages on 1300 305 021 if you don’t have a copy
• immunisation records – contact the Australian Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809
• proof of current address

Photos of students on the Internet

I would love to include photos on this blog but am limited by the number of students who do not have permission to have their image posted on the web. I recognise that some parent have legitimate reasons for not wanting their child's image posted but many have simply not bothered to complete the form which is sent home at the beginning of every year. A non-return is deemed to be a 'no' to images being posted. I spent some time looking through images of the disco and found that I could not use any of the hundred of photos because at least one person did not have permission. This will also make posting images to our new school website virtually impossible.

School Disco

The disco was a wonderful success and an excellent way to finish our dance lessons. Dance is an important part of our Physical Education program every year. It also helps students socialise in a positive and energetic manner. Many thanks go to Mr Ioannou for organising the lessons again this year and to our P&C for running the disco.

Semester 1 Reports

Semester One Reports
Today students received their Semester One report. Parents are asked to read the report with their child and discuss how they have gone in the various learning areas. Please remember that a ‘C’ grade is the level which most students are expected to achieve. Your child’s teacher would have indicated on the report if they require a meeting with you. You are also invited to arrange a meeting if you have any concerns or questions about your child’s achievement. Parents are asked to contact the school office or your child’s teacher to schedule a meeting.

Some parents have reported difficulty understanding reports because of the educational terminology that is used. What do you think? The difficulty for teachers is that they are required to report on what your child is capable of in educational terms. The problem is made even more difficult for parents who only speak English as a second language. We are always after suggestions as to how we can make the reading and understanding of reports easier. The best way that we know of is for parents to go and have a face to face meeting with their child's teacher to get a more full explanation of the report and to get questions answered. Interpreters can also be organised if requested.

Newsletter Week 10 Term 2

From this week's newsletter:

At Tuart Hill Primary School we recognise the growing importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in the education of our students. ICT has been a priority for our school since I arrived here. In that time we have progressively installed interactive whiteboards in many classrooms and the Library. We have also started to replace the aging stock of computers in classrooms and have created a mini-lab in the Library which is supported by a bank of 10 laptop computers. A support teacher has been employed 1 day per week to manage the network and help teachers to develop their skills and confidence in using ICT in the classroom. A new website has been built and will hopefully be made available when issues regarding the domain name are sorted out through the Department of Education. Staff now have access to the school’s intranet via the web which aids in their planning. They also receive information in a timely manner and on a regular basis via email. I have now created a blog in which I will be sharing information with parents on a weekly basis (hopefully). This blog will also provide parents with an opportunity to respond to my posts. This will help to provide even greater communication links between home and school. All posts to the blog will be filtered by me prior to their posting on the web. The blog is meant to provide parents with an opportunity to comment on information that is posted and where necessary to provide constructive criticism or ideas. It is not a tool for making complaints. Any complaints should be made directly to me via a face to face meeting. I look forward to utilising this communication tool to engage our school community in positive discussions about our school.

As this is the last newsletter for Term 2 I would like to wish all our students and their families a happy and safe holiday. Monday July 25 is a school development day so school recommences for students on Tuesday July 26. On Monday July 25, staff will be engaged in professional learning and planning at a whole school and cluster level.


Banner Competition


Congratulations go to Bree our Art Teacher and a group of her students for winning the City of Stirling Banner competition. Bree received the following message from the coordinator of the event:

Hi Bree,

On behalf of the City of Stirling, I would like to congratulate Tuart Hill Primary School on their wonderful banner entry into the City of Stirling 2011 Banners in the Terrace competition.

Tuart Hill’s banner has been chosen to represent the City in the 2011 Banners in the Terrace display on St Georges Terrace, Perth taking place between 1 August and 14 August as part of the annual Western Australian Local Government Convention.

The City will also present Tuart Hill Primary School with a cheque for $500 to be used towards arts education for the school.

The banners will go on display from 1 August – 14 August in the City of Perth and in front of the Civic Complex here on Cedric Street, so make sure you drive past and check them out!

Thank you for your entry!

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

P&C News

I received this exciting message from Julie Wilkes, President of our P&C:

I am very excited (and a little nervous) to announce we have been successful in obtaining $9000 funding from the Australian Governments Diversity and Social Cohesion Program! This is absolutely fabulous, and hopefully will be a wonderful project for our school to increase cultural understanding and parent involvement. For those who are not familiar with the project, below is an excerpt from our application on what we plan to do and achieve:

  • The project builds on the Harmony Day theme. THPS has a Harmony Day lunch every year where each child brings in an item from home for everyone to share. With such a diverse and interesting school population, the range of food is incredible and no-one wants to miss out. The children are also encouraged to dress in their national costume, which also brings something special to the event. The Harmony Day lunch results in the greatest parent involvement and highest parent attendance of any school event. Both children and parents clearly love the occasion.
  • To build on this involvement, the THPS P&C would like to collect recipes of the foods parents have prepared for the Harmony Day lunch. Parents will also be asked questions about their families, nationality and the foods they cook at home. The parent interviews and recipes will be printed and distributed to students at the school over the course of the year. A recipe binder will be supplied to each family to allow collection of the printed interviews/recipes for all to make at home. When an interview and recipe is released, the THPS P&C canteen will have the item available the following week for students and staff to try.
  • The aim of the project is to increase parent involvement and participation at THPS, particularly that of parents from diverse cultures or lower socio-economic families. It is a way to involve parents with limited English but who still want to contribute in some way to the school environment. It will also enhance the children's self-esteem - sharing their background and their parents' skills with the wider school community. Through this increased involvement, children's needs will be addressed in a more representative manner. With a sustained increase in parental involvement children's educational outcomes will be positively affected, with improvement in standardised test results.
As from next term we will need to think about how practically we are going to go about producing the recipe cards, and how we think they will best be distributed. I look forward to all your suggestions.

This is an exciting announcement and I encourage everyone to get involved.

Friday, 24 June 2011

Behaviour

We are very proud of the high standard of behaviour and the positive feeling that
exists in our school. I regularly have people tell me how welcome they feel when they
visit our school and interact with our staff and students. Part of the way that we maintain standards and promote this positive feeling is through the way we foster student and community pride in our school.

One way that we do this is through the implementation of our school’s dress code which has been endorsed by the School Council. It is important that students comply with our school dress code through the wearing of our uniform. Students are not permitted to wear denim to school (except on free dress days).

Students with long hair are required to have their hair tied back and should not be wearing nail polish. Students are not permitted to wear jewellery for safety reasons. Girls may wear stud earrings. Students should not have temporary tattoos on visible parts of their body (lower arms or legs). Students must wear a school hat whenever they are outside playing, regardless of the weather conditions. Good shoes are essential and we recommend that sneakers are the best kind of footwear as they allow students to participate in any activities including sport.

On a number of occasions this term I have reminded students about the importance of
looking after their health especially as this is the high risk season for colds and flu. We ask that parents always ‘err on the side of caution’ by keeping students who are not well at home. Parents should also remind their children to regularly wash their hands especially before eating. Students who get itchy hair should be checked for head lice and treated with a recommended product before returning to school. Together, we can ensure that this winter is a healthy one for all.

Many thanks go to Mr Ioannou and the staff that helped him to run such a wonderful ‘Walk Safely to School’ day this week. We had over half the school participate. Great effort everyone!

Newsletter Week 8 Term 2

From our latest newsletter:
The health and wellbeing of our students is of paramount importance to us at all times. We endeavour to build and maintain a highly safe and supportive school environment which makes students feel safe and encourages them to engage actively in all learning opportunities. Most of our teachers have been trained in the use of co-operative learning strategies which help to increase student engagement and accountability for their own learning. Teachers have also received training in CMS behaviour management strategies. When used together, these strategies help to build a positive and cohesive bond within the classroom. This bond helps students feel safe and secure and usually leads to a greater willingness to engage actively in lessons and activities.

As part of our school’s occupational safety and health planning 16 staff members will be completing their Senior First Aid certificate (provided by St John Ambulance) in Term 3. We are also compiling a list of any known hazards on the school site so that we can endeavour to get them fixed as soon as possible. Parents who notice hazards are welcome to let our office staff know, either by visiting the office or via email: TuartHill@det.wa.edu.au .

To ensure our students stay safe we also rely on our parents and community members to abide by the rules and communicate closely with the school. We still have some parents who insist on driving in school carparks and/or parking illegally and dangerously. We also have parents who instruct their children to wait on the school boundary so that they can pick them up (often well after school closing time). This conflicts with our insistence that they wait in the office until they are picked up. Another concern is the number of students who are using the school play ground after school without adequate parent supervision. While I am happy for parents to socialise together after school I require that they provide adequate (line of sight) supervision of their children. Children are not allowed to move around or in any buildings including toilets. Students who persist on doing this will be asked to leave the school grounds and will no longer be permitted to play after school.

Parents who have moved house or changed phone number are asked to communicate these
changes to the school. This is important as we often need to make contact with parents whose
children become sick at school. We look forward to your ongoing support of our school.