27 July 2017

Newsletter Articles

A Note from the Principal

Coping with Change

Change is a natural part of life, and everyone faces it at one time or another. Most of us are continually making small adjustments that reflect our changing needs or the changing needs of our community/society.

How you react to a change may depend on the results you think it will bring. You may feel comfortable about change that involves some form of gain. But you may worry about changes that impact on established routines or behaviours.

Accepting change can be very difficult as it is quite natural to want to have control over the situation and to rationalise why it should go back to what it was before.

Accepting the reality that you do not have full control over what happens beyond your sphere of influence often makes it easier to adjust to changing situations. The best strategy for coping with change involves focusing on what you can control, letting go of what you can’t and being prepared to give the changing situation a go.

Understanding the benefits of change is an important mind shift and being able to accept that almost all new situations will have both advantages and disadvantages is important. Change can help you to stay flexible and be solution focused.

As a Butler Primary School parent, grandparent or caregiver you will be experiencing change with regards to parking within the school grounds. Most schools in the metropolitan area experience parking and traffic issues at pick up and drop off times and just like us develop evidence based local solutions to ensure the safety of students. Throughout this term we are trialing our parking initiative and we are aware that the first few weeks could be quite stressful for parents, grandparents and caregivers. Below are some suggestions to assist at these times;

• During pick up and drop off times, use the Community Centre car park and walk across the oval. The gates will be unlocked before school and at the end of the school day.
• Be patient and ensure that you abide by the traffic rules so that you don’t unintentionally put your own children’s safety at risk.
• Park a bit further up the street safely or in a side street and enjoy the walk back to your vehicle.
• Where possible, carpool with other parents. This will cut down on the number of vehicles vying for parking spots and promote a safer and more enjoyable experience for both the driver and their passengers.
• If you live close to school, try walking or riding a bike to pick up your child/children.
• Be courteous and respectful to others and don’t forget the Rangers regularly patrol around schools.

Thank you to our fabulous parents who trust us and support us in doing the most important job of all - educating the students in our care.

Mrs Julie Woodhouse
Principal

Term 2, Week 10 Merit Certificate recipients:

What’s on in………

NAIDOC Week

During Week 10, Butler Primary School students, teachers and community members celebrated NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. This year, the theme was ‘Our Languages Matter’. Students took part in various activities learning about how Indigenous languages shape cultural identity, link people to their boodja (land) and kep (water) and are kadjining (learnt) through story and song.

On Wednesday, 28th June we held an official opening ceremony of the school’s Yarning Circle. Noongar Elder, Mr Neville Collard was invited to perform a traditional smoking ceremony. A smoking ceremony is one of the most significant ancient ceremonies performed. The ceremony involves smouldering special native plants to produce smoke. This spiritual ceremony cleansed the land that the Yarning Circle sits on.

The Yarning Circle was designed and built for the school community to use as a safe place to meet and talk based on the principles held within the Noongar community. The event was a spiritual and meaningful experience. Miss Jurgowiak and the school choir are to be congratulated on their beautiful performance of the Noongar song ‘Pass the Song Along’. This enabled the choir to sing in both Noongar and English.

Butler Primary would like to thank Noongar Elder, Mr Neville Collard and family for performing the Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony and Mr Jason Barrow for his contributions and assistance during NAIDOC Week. We are also very proud of the students who spoke so confidently for this special occasion.

Butler Primary School is working towards being more culturally responsive and this Yarning Circle will become a much valued teaching hub and a respected place within the school grounds. We look forward to continue working with our community members to establish a safe and supportive learning environment for all students at Butler Primary School.

Everyone had a mooditj (great) week!

You may have seen us in the North Coast Times on the 11th July (see photos).

Aboriginal Committee

Our School Choir

Peer Mediator Program 2017

During the last week of Term 2, twenty of our Year 6 students took part in the Peer Mediator Training Program. These students took on the program whole-heartedly, knowing that they are going to make a difference within our school. I am very proud of their commitment and reasons for wanting to become Peer Mediators.

So what is a Peer Mediation?

Peer mediation is problem solving by students with students. It is a process by which two or more students involved in a dispute meet in a private, safe and confidential setting to work out problems with the assistance of a trained student mediator.

During recess and lunch play times, there will be 4 Peer Mediators out and about, assisting the duty teachers with solving low-level problems that may arise with their fellow peers. They will be seen around the main playground area and down on the oval. Their aim is to help the students come up with solutions to solve conflicts so all parties are left with a win-win result.

You will see a display of our wonderful Peer Mediators on the main Library window. The Butler Primary School staff is looking forward to working with these students. You are assets to our school. Thank you.

Miss Jurgowiak
Peer Mediator Coordinator

Holiday Reading

Parent Parking

To help ease congestion around the school during peak times we encourage families to walk their children to and from school wherever possible, especially in fine weather or park at the Community Centre car park and walk your children across the oval.

All Staff park at the front of the school. This will free up all bays in the public car park off Cambourne Way.

Families are reminded that parking is not permitted on grassed kerbside areas around the Pre-primary car park and along Tollesbury Avenue, as well as the bricked median strip in Cambourne Parkway or across any footpaths. Parking is also not permitted in bus bays. Please consider the safety of all other road users and pedestrians when parking and leaving schools grounds.

Please also give consideration and respect to owners of properties surrounding the school.

All usual road and parking rules apply around the school and parking fines are issued by rangers (who visit frequently) to those not adhering to the road rules. Please download the map below for parent parking information.

School Payment Options Available

Butler Primary School now has eftpos facilities available in the front office!

Payment methods for charges and contributions can now be made via:

• Eftpos
• Cash or Cheque (please use the school money envelopes and place the sealed envelope in the black letter boxes. The boxes are located in the wet areas of each of the blocks and the office)
• Direct Deposit (reference student name and payment description.)
  BSB: 016 338
  Acc: 110391487

Absentee Messaging Service

Due to the ease of this service, the sending of a text message to Butler Primary School to notify us of your child/ren’s absence has been embraced by many families.

Please send absentee messages through to 0419 091 075 with all of the following details so we can correctly update student records:

• Full name of your child/children
• Reason for absence
• Date of absence

Absences can also be phoned through to the office on 9562 1804.

As per Department of Education policy, it is the parent’s responsibility to notify the school of the reason for your child’s absence/s within three days of the absence. Failure to do this will mean that the absence will be marked as “unacceptable reason” affecting your child’s education and attendance record.

Students Arriving Late

Any student arriving late to school, after the siren sounds at 8.35am, will need to enter the school through the front office to collect a late note which is to be given to their class teacher.

Update Student Contact Information

If you have recently changed mobile numbers or moved address, it is important you update your contact information with the office. Please also advise if there is a change to any of your emergency contact information.

Siren Times

Please note the change in time for recess and lunch this year. The start and finish times for school remain the same.

2017 Siren Times

Donating Uniforms

Butler Primary School is seeking donations of uniforms, including polo shirts, dresses and suitable navy bottoms, especially in sizes 8-12. If you are able to assist please drop the clean clothing at the front office.

From the Library

Welcome to Term 3 2017!

We are again pleased to advise that we have many new books in the Library and we continuously update our displays to advertise these.

Dates to remember:

• 4 August 2017 – Book Club Issue 5/2017 orders close.
  Please remember that the easiest way to order is via the Book Club LOOP system. Please follow this link: https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx
• 16 – 20 October 2017 – Week 2, Term 4 Scholastic Book Fair

Parents, please help protect our precious library books by asking your children to use a library bag. Again, a recycled shopping bag is perfect!

The Best Library in the World

The Admont Library in Admont, Austria

Please remember, no library bag = no library book borrowing

Mrs Pengelly and Mrs Dowrick

Chaplain’s Corner

HELLO Everyone,

WELCOME to Term 3! I hope you had a restful break and are feeling ready and energised for another term.

As a new term begins, it’s a good time to re-focus on your goals. Acknowledge your achievements from Term 2, and keep working on the things you would have liked to do better in. Here are a few quotes to help inspire you over the next 10 weeks:

“Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a destination.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
“If you’re your authentic self, you have no competition.” – Scott Stratten
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there,” Theodore Roosevelt
“I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new staff and families who have joined us at Butler Primary this term. I trust you will have a happy time with us, and I wish you all the best. We are thrilled to have you with us!

Have a fantastic fortnight everyone!

Kind regards,

Ms Hunter
School Chaplain
Thursdays and Fridays

Canteen Corner

Online ordering is available for the Canteen via

Recess and 2nd bell lunch treats and snacks are still available through the canteen hatch.

Mrs Siakia
Canteen Manager

P&C News

Upcoming Events

Term three will be a busy term for the P&C with two major fundraising events being held.

Due to the success of the Mother's Day Stall and the positive feedback we received, the P&C will be a holding a Father's Day Stall. (Date to be confirmed). There will be a range of items available and a note will be sent home with more details at a later date.

The BPS Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday, 1st September and the P&C will be selling refreshments and holding a sausage sizzle and cake stall at the carnival.

We will be seeking volunteers for both of these events and information regarding how you can help will be sent out at a later date. We are looking forward to a productive term and being able to provide more resources for our school.

Recent Events

The Pizza Lunch fundraiser, held at the end of term two, was a great success! $1200 was raised over the two days. A big thank you must go to Shelly in the canteen for her hard work in making all of the delicious pizza and to the helpers who volunteered their time to help out in the canteen. Some of the money raised was used to update equipment in the canteen and the rest was used to purchase the Lego Technics kits.

The cake stall held at Fantastic Furniture during the school holidays raised $312. Thank you to the families that donated delicious baked goodies and to everyone that came along on the day. The money raised will go towards buying weights for the school gazebos.

Online Canteen Ordering

Just a reminder that we have a new online ordering system. It only takes a minute to sign up and the P&C will be using the same website for all future events like discos and sausage sizzles.

Sign up now at the link below (also known as QuickCliq)

School Banking

School Banking is on Thursdays. Please remind your child to put their deposit book in the grey banking bag. For anyone wanting to sign their child up to school banking you can do it online now at this link:

Don’t miss out on the Grand Prize competition ending this term. To be in the running for a family trip to Tokyo Disneyland, students need to make 15 or more School Banking deposits between 23 January 2017 and the end of Term 3.

On Monday 14 August 2017, the Commonwealth Bank will be launching an exciting School Banking competition with prizes to win and an incredible game experience. You will receive more details soon!!!

After making 10 School Banking deposits, students can choose from the 3D Chalk Set, Colour Change Markers, Smiley Emoji Keyring, Volt Handball or Tablet Case. Prizes are available until stocks run out. To order their prize, students can put a note in their deposit book with their name, class and prize. If your child isn't sure how many tokens they have, they can put in a note in their deposit book or see me in the banking room (in the undercover area) on Thursday mornings.

For further information contact the P&C via email at butlerps.pandc@gmail.com or through the P&C Facebook page “BPS P&C Association” – please see details above.

Next Meeting P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday, 2nd August. The meeting will be held in the Staffroom, starting at 6pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Canteen Helpers

If you or anyone you know would like to volunteer to help in the canteen for an hour or so please see Shelly in the canteen, email her at butlerpscanteen@gmail.com, call the school or send us a message on the P&C Facebook page.

Many thanks from your P&C Committee:

Kellie Holland - President
Becci Young - Vice President
Clare Marashlian - Secretary
Emily Batchelor - Treasurer

BUTLER OUT OF HOURS SCHOOL CARE

Please feel free to drop into the centre or contact us on 0403 347 952 or butler.oshc@ymcawaa.org.au for any queries. Information is also available at the school office.

Kind regards,
YCMA

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