NAIDOC Week
Last week we were proud to be celebrating NAIDOC Week here at Swan View Primary School. Our assembly on Friday will be a special opportunity to acknowledge that we are on Whadjuk Noongar Country and to show our deep respect for Aboriginal culture and history. With over 29% of our students being Aboriginal, cultural responsiveness is a key part of who we are. We are fortunate to have our wonderful AIEO, who helps ensure our practices are culturally safe and respectful.
Our students are learning Noongar language, not just as a weekly lesson but woven into many of our learning areas. We believe it’s vital for all our students to understand that Aboriginal people are the first custodians of this land, and days like NAIDOC help build respect, appreciation and understanding.
Bullying No Way! Week
This week we also recognised Bullying No Way! Week, an important reminder that every student has the right to feel safe, supported, and respected at school. At Swan View Primary, we have a strong behaviour policy in place because we believe that positive, respectful relationships are the foundation of a great education.
As part of this, we have recently updated our Good Standing Policy in response to staff and parent feedback. The key changes are:
- For PP – Year 2, students can now regain their Good Standing after 5 days (instead of 10).
- We will be introducing a Week 5 reward each term for students who maintain their Good Standing (this may be an icy pole treat or extended play).
- There will still be the larger end-of-term Week 10 reward for students with Good Standing.
We have also updated Reflection Time to make it clearer and more consistent:
- PP – Year 2: 20 minutes of missed play (lunchtime only).
- Year 3 – 5: 35 minutes of missed play (lunchtime only).
These updates aim to keep our expectations high while also ensuring students have the opportunity to reflect, repair, and re-engage positively in their learning and friendships.
School Review Success
Recently we had our School Review, and I am thrilled to share that we did exceptionally well. We exceeded expectations in the areas of Leadership and Teaching Quality and, as a result, we are no longer on the one-year return cycle. The reviewers complimented us on our collegiality, unity, and consistent focus on student outcomes.
They were particularly impressed with how we have implemented Berry St (social and emotional learning), Word Origins (upper primary spelling), and Top10 (whole-school maths). They also noted our strong commitment to consistency across the school, supported by our teaching staff attending Shaping Minds professional learning. (This is why you may have noticed our teachers away for training at times – we see this as an important investment in your children’s education.)
Book Week
A reminder that our Book Week Parade will be held at 9am on Friday 22nd August in the undercover area. The theme this year is “Book and Adventure” – we can’t wait to see the creative costumes our students come up with!
Attendance Matters
Every school day counts. Missing even one day of learning can make it harder for students to keep up, as lessons build on each other. We want to remind families that birthdays are not a valid reason for staying home from school. While we understand families want to make these occasions special, children can still enjoy their celebrations outside of school hours. Consistent attendance is one of the most important factors in student success, and we appreciate your support in ensuring your child is at school every day unless they are unwell.
School Reminders
- Uniforms: Please remember that hoodies are not part of our school uniform. A grey or maroon jumper is fine or our school jumper.
- Hats: Many students are still coming to school without hats – please make sure your child has one every day.
- COMPASS: We are now well underway with COMPASS as our school communication platform. We encourage all families to download the app so you can receive important updates. We hope you have noticed more notifications coming from the school about your child.
- Email addresses: Please ensure we have your current email address so we can get in touch with you when needed as these are linked to COMPASS.
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping us create a strong, united, and culturally responsive school community.
Honour Certificates
| A1 | Bryan M |
| A4 | Bella W Christopher W |
| B3 | Rhea A Lockey T |
| B5 | Lyric N Jennifer N JD Felarca |
| C1 | The whole class!! |
| C3 | Caleb L Edward K |
| C6 | Jon J Mally T |
| EC4 | Victoria K Madison E Mikey B |
| EC5 | Beau H Jasmine S |
| Sports | Jedi B |
| Science | Sophie L |
| Music | Malakai P |
| Cultural Studies | Xander R |
| Art | Mona M |
| Aussie of The Month | Jessica A |
NAIDOC CELEBRATIONS
Around the rooms
EC4’s math’s lesson. Students had either 10 or 20 beads on a pipe cleaner. Students then had to show one less and one more. Some students were extending by them rolling a die and showing how much less from 20, ie rolled a six, six less then twenty is fourteen and how much more. EC4 doing subtraction. The students had to place frogs on a log and roll a die and remove the amount rolled and then write the subtraction number sentence.
Reptile Incursion
Maths
The students were learning about ‘Backward Double Facts.’ They first made a sticker booklet starting from number 1 and wrote down the double fact and then had to complete the backward double fact, up to the number 10.
Science
Community News
Vac Swim
We have recently opened enrolments for the October and summer (December/January) school holidays and want as many families in your community to benefit from the programs as possible.
As we head towards summer a lot of families are starting to get back into the water or planning holidays by the beach, rivers or swimming pools. It is important we help them support their child to stay safe and confident in the water.
VacSwim provides children 5 to 17 years of age with the opportunity to develop and progress their swimming and water safety skills during the school holidays across the State. There are programs for beginner, intermediate and advanced swimmers.
Students who complete Stages 13 to 16 through VacSwim enjoy the benefit of having their rescue award fees waived by Royal Life Saving Society WA. It is a great opportunity for them and a huge benefit to the community.
We invite you to access the marketing resources on our website, and would appreciate it if you could display the resources in high-traffic areas around your community and share the social media post on your pages.
Enrolments are now open, and families can enrol online.
Further information, details of locations and information on how to enrol is on our website.
Thank you for your support.
LIAM SMYTH
MANAGER, SWIMMING AND WATER SAFETY
