Hello Everyone,

I am really pleased to welcome you to the new school year at Flinders Park Primary School. I am sure that school holidays feel like a long time ago, but I hope that you enjoyed having some great adventures. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new families for 2024. We hope that you enjoy being Flinders Families.

Welcome Breakfast

We enjoyed welcoming everyone to a Welcome Breakfast to celebrate the beginning of the 2024 school year. It was a pleasure to partner with the P&C to put on this event. I would like to thank the staff who purchased and prepared food for the breakfast, as well as the staff and P&C who helped set up and serve on the day. Thank you to everyone for making the event so successful and a great start to 2024.

Classroom Information Evening

All families should have received a note and a Connect message with the full schedule and information about our Classroom Information Evening on Wednesday 21 February. If you haven’t received a copy, please let the office know so that they can get the information to you.

Changes to the break schedule

Thank you for supporting your children with the changes to the break schedule. The changes have had a very positive impact already, in terms of the number of playground incidents and students are entering classes calm and ready to learn. We know that the change of eating time takes a while to get used to but it has now become a habit for students to head straight out to play.

Break 1 Clubs

As a student wellbeing measure, we have introduced several clubs during Break 1.

• Tuesday – Chess with Mr Beard (Library)
• Wednesday – Children’s University with Miss Walter (Library)
• Thursday – Italian with Ms Williams (Library)
• Thursday – Gardening with Miss Thompson (vegetable garden)

Out of School Hours (OSH) Care

We would like to explore the possibility again of providing an Out of School Hour Care facility at Flinders Park PS. Please complete this 2 minute survey to help us decide if there is enough interest for this to be viable at our school: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DXNYD2Z

Vintage Car Club

We have a Vintage Car Club visiting on Tuesday 19 March. We will be inviting families to join their child’s class to enjoy the display, so save the morning if you would like to come along. Further details will be distributed closer to the time.

I look forward to seeing you around the school and at some of the events we have planned for this term.

Regards,

Julie Simpfendorfer

Principal

One of the most impactful and enjoyable activities you can engage in with your child is reading.

Nightly reading matters because it builds language skills, ignites imagination, strengthens bonds with your child, and develops a lifelong love for learning.

Here are some tips for a successful reading routine at home:

1. Be consistent: set aside a time each night to read.
2. Make it interactive: ask questions.
3. Explore different genres (topics).
4. Create a reading nook/corner.

Join us in the reading adventure!

For more information visit: Resources to support reading at home (literacyhub.edu.au)

Every morning in room 2.2, we begin with a welcome circle—greeting each other, taking attendance, discussing the day's schedule, and sharing our feelings using The Zones of Regulation. Understanding each other's emotions helps us adjust our interactions and provide support where needed; for example, if we know someone feels sad, we try to do something nice to cheer them up, such as giving them a smile. Following this, we learn a new regulation strategy from the Zones of Regulation Tools to Try card set, which helps build children’s emotional regulation toolkit. The welcome circle not only contributes to a positive classroom culture but also enhances children’s communication skills through sharing and active listening.

Miss Vanmaris

The financial support of parents is vital to Flinders Park PS and contributes significantly to providing a wider range of educational opportunities than otherwise possible. We use contributed funds to purchase resources which enhance teaching, learning experiences and enhance the learning environment at our school. 

Voluntary Contributions

Whilst termed voluntary, these parent contributions are a vital part of our school funding. Every voluntary contribution received from parents goes directly to the education of the students at Flinders Park Primary School. The voluntary contribution is set at $60 for each child to a maximum of $180 per family. The voluntary contribution at Flinders Park has remained at this value for many years. These contributions provide an important source of funds that allow us to provide additional resources towards high quality teaching and learning. We thank you in advance for making such a valuable contribution to your child’s education.

P&C Voluntary Contribution

The P&C requests a contribution of $15 per student to a maximum of $45 per family. The P&C generously supports Flinders Park PS by providing enriching activities for our community and generously providing funds for special projects, equipment and resources.

Charges

These items will be charged individually as the activity occurs, such as excursions and incursions. Excursions and incursions are an important part of each child’s education, and we encourage participation wherever possible. Interschool Sport, PEAC, Choir and Instrumental Music are only charges for those students participating in these activities.

There are some families who took advantage of paying for contributions via Albany Office Products Depot when ordering stationery, which is fantastic.  Others have been paying via Direct Deposit into our bank account.  We thank all those who have arranged these “earlybird” payments.  We will be sending reminder letters out towards the end of Term 1 to remaining families who have contributions, PEAC or Instrumental Music charges on their accounts.

If you have any queries or need further information, please contact the school office on 9892 5200 or by email flinderspark.ps@education.wa.edu.au  
Thank you for your ongoing financial support of Flinders Park PS, helping us to provide enriched learning opportunities for every student. 

The students are all out and about enjoying the warm (sometimes hot) Albany weather. It has been great to see so many students wearing their own hat and remembering to bring it every day. Unfortunately, many students do not seem to have a hat or have misplaced it. These students then rely on our small supply of fluro orange hats to allow them to get out and engage in social play. We are currently giving out over 50 school hats to students each day. We would like to see all our students have the opportunity to play but need parental/carer support to ensure your child/ren has their own hat to wear daily at school.

On Friday, 16 February 2024, a reminder letter will be sent home to the parent/carer of any student who has not got a hat or has lost their hat. We ask parents to ensure students can obtain a hat for break times and sporting activities.

School requirements for hats:

• The hat must be a broadbrimmed, bucket or legionnaire hat (see photos);
• Baseball caps are not accepted as they do not protect the ears and sides of the face.
• The school colour (navy/dark blue) is preferred but will not be enforced.
• The hat must have the student’s full name written where it can clearly be seen on the inside or under the brim.
• Avoid writing the child’s name on the hat’s tag. It rubs off very quickly.

Thank you for supporting your child’s opportunity to play. They will appreciate it.

  

Flinders Park Primary School

51 Yatana Rd

Bayonet Head WA 6330

(08) 9892 5200

FlindersPark.PS@education.wa.edu.au

Absentees SMS 0438 900 275 or submit via Connect

Facebook Flinders Park Primary School Albany | Facebook

Visit us on the web at www.flindersparkps.wa.edu.au

At Flinders Park Primary School we respectfully acknowledge the Noongar people as the traditional Custodians of the land we live, learn and play on.

We embrace the Noongar community and their continuing connection to Country, water and sky and pay our respects to Elders past and present. As a school we are committed to fostering respectful relationships with the First Nations Peoples and welcome their guidance and support.