20 March 2020

NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

2020 Term 1, Week 7

Principal’s Message

What a week! I wish I could say that the hard work is over but I think we all realise that is far from reality. What is important right now? That as a school community we all work together and support each other because at the core is our children and students.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this challenging time. A letter outlining how we are addressing issues arising from COVID-19 was sent to our families yesterday via SEQTA. Thank you to the many parents who responded with emails of encouragement and support.

In these times of uncertainty, giving back to our community is certainly one way of upholding our school’s iCARE values. Congratulations to Michael Pailthorpe for being elected as President of the P&C for 2020. Michael has had two students already go through the school and two currently enrolled. He is also a member of our Alumni. A huge thankyou to David McMeekin who has undertaken the role of President for the past four years. David has been a familiar face at assemblies, transition activities and Valedictory as well as supporting his own children in Drama productions, Languages competitions and Volleyball. David remains on the School Board as a P&C representative.

It was lovely to meet the Year 7 families at the picnic held on 4 March after been postponed due to weather on 27 February. Give the current situation, as you are aware, we have cancelled all non-essential activities until further notice. Unfortunately, this has also included our annual celebration of Harmony Week. We will endeavour to keep you involved of school activities via Facebook and SEQTA notifications.

We are looking forward to our ‘virtual’ Parent Interview Day next Wednesday 25 March. As you know I embrace the opportunity for parents to be a part of the education process. It will be different but I’m sure still very worthwhile.

Our Houses will be supporting the following charities in 2020:

Congratulations to:

• Ikramjit Singh Bhalla (Year 11 Ross), Vishaal Chopra (Year 11 Barra), Robin Fu (Year 11 Barra), Wei qi Goh (Year 11 Barra), Azhar Kyaw (Year 11 Stewart), Siobhan Lake (Year 11 MacNeill), Cindy Lawrence (Year 10 Barra), Dawson Lawrence (Year 11 Barra), Marlynn Leo (Year 8 MacNeill), Jia Loo (Year 11 MacNeill), Abbey Man (Year 11 Stewart), Avelyne Mathew (Year 10 Stewart), Harishyam Ravichandran (Year 11 Stewart), Gavin Rozario (Year 11 MacNeill), Jeffrey Tang (Year 11 MacNeill) who were selected to compete in the BAWA Badminton Upper School Tournament;
• Elphan John Jimmy (Year 11 Barra) and Vanessa Miller (Year 11, MacNeill) who were selected to represent Western Australia at the 2020 Australian Track and Field Championships; Vanessa qualified in four events by achieving the Australian time standards and also finished with second and third event placings at the recent Athletics WA State Championships; and
• Matilda Hamer (Year 12 Barra) who had her head shaved, and Mr Hood who had his hair braided, to support the World’s Greatest Shave last Friday. (Photo on Facebook).

Best wishes

Ms Milanna Heberle
Principal

A message from the School Board and P&C

As a result of the rapid escalation of the measures that have been put in place to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus the last couple of weeks have been very challenging for us all, and these are extremely difficult times. Throughout, the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, our staff and our community remains the School’s priority.

The School is continuously monitoring the advice of the Government of Western Australia and following the directions of the Department of Education.

We are confident that the procedures and practices that the school has implemented are focused on the wellbeing of our students and staff, and are in accordance with the advice being received from the Government. Things continue to move quickly, and the school is also working hard to be prepared so that we can respond accordingly as circumstances change.

Please be respectful of the school and its staff in their commitment to keep our students safe, while minimising as far as possible the disruptions to student learning and delivering an excellent education for all our students. We are in this together, and we really appreciate your patience, support and assistance at this time.

Ms Kirsty Barnetson, Chair School Board

Mr Michael Pailthorpe, President P&C

Important Dates*

*Also see the Calendar at the end of this eNewsletter.
**Students to not attend on School Development Days

PARENT-TEACHER INTERVIEW DAY

Parent Interview Day Update

As you are aware, the Parent Interview Day scheduled for Wednesday 25 March will go ahead in a different communication mode to our normal face-to-face format. While the school will still be closed for students, we ask parents NOT to come to the school on the day. Our aim is to still provide you with personalised feedback on your child’s performance at school so far this year.

Teachers will provide this personalised feedback via telephone or email, rather than the usual face-to-face interviews. Some teachers may be able to video-call, though this will be dependent on available technology.

You can still book 5-minute appointments with teachers online though PTO (Parent Teacher Online). If all available times are booked in Parent Teacher Online, please contact the teacher via email using SEQTA Engage. (Instructions are available on the Contact page of the school website).

Teachers will make contact with parents who have bookings before Wednesday 29 March to confirm their mode of communication.

Mr Peter Klifunis
Associate Principal
E: Peter.Klifunis@education.wa.edu.au

NAPLAN 2020 will not proceed

Education Ministers met today and decided that NAPLAN will not proceed in 2020. The decision to not proceed with NAPLAN was taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education, including potential online and remote learning.

Read the official statement here.

Volleyball High Schools Beach Cup

Several Rossmoyne students competed in this event with great results:

Mr Rory Read
Volleyball Coordinator
E: rory.read@education.wa.edu.au

Coaching Connections

Earlier this term, Certificate II Sport and Recreation students were building connections with the community through coaching Year 3, 5 and 6 students at Rossmoyne Primary School.

Mr Kye Middleton
Health and Physical Education
E: Kye.Middleton2@education.wa.edu.au

Zone Swimming Carnival

Rossmoyne placed second at the Zone Swimming Carnival held Friday 6 March at Fremantle College. Students competed against students from Fremantle College, Willetton Senior High School and Melville Senior High School, with the majority of our students competing in a higher age bracket.

This carnival was preparation for our Interschool ‘A’ grade swimming carnival, which unfortunately has been cancelled in-line with COViD-19 Health Department advise.

Ms Lisa Somers
Head, Health and Physical Education
E: lisa.somers@education.wa.edu.au

Check out more exciting action photos of the Carnival on our Facebook page taken by Luke Buchanan, Year 9 Ross.

Approved Specialist Programs

A tradition of excellence in Classical Music, Mathematics and Volleyball

Applications for selective entry into our specialist programs including Classical Music, Mathematics and Volleyball for Year 7 in 2021 are now open. Details are available on the school website below:

Second-hand Uniform Shop

Second-hand uniforms are for sale at Rossmoyne Senior High School on Fridays between 8.30am and 9.30am during school term.

Donations of Rossmoyne Senior High School uniform are always greatly appreciated. Donations can be left at Reception.

The Second-hand Uniform Shop only accepts cash. No cheques or electronic/card transactions can be accepted.

Contact details

A reminder to all parents

Please ensure your contact details are up to date. Details can be updated through the online forms located on SEQTA.