Early next term we will be asking all of our existing Primary School families what is their preferred campus going forward, to continue on the Rockingham campus or relocation to the new Port Kennedy campus and at what time in the future they anticipate this move to be for their child/ren. Although only one class per cycle will be available at Port Kennedy, we anticipate that all families who wish to move will have a place made available at the time they wish to move across.
And now for an exciting staffing update!
Throughout this term we have been undertaking recruitment for new staff for the expansion of our school with the Adolescent Program and Primary School Port Kennedy sites due to open in 2022. I am so delighted to inform families that Di Edmonds will be going on Long Service Leave on 13 September 2021. It is amazing to think back to when Di started in the school as our music teacher and then the following semester commenced the Jellyfish class with six children. Jellyfish has thrived under Di’s guidance and we thank her for this commitment to the school. We wish her well on her travels before her return to commence the new Lower Primary class at the Port Kennedy site. The new teacher for Jellyfish will be Robyn Walker who completed her Montessori Practicums under Di’s guidance many years ago. Robyn commenced her Montessori journey as a child in the playgroup and Children’s House at Montessori East in Bondi and then on moving to WA, she was enrolled at Beehive Montessori in Mosman Park to complete her primary school education. Robyn has been teaching for the past five years in Lower Primary at Blue Gum Montessori where she has also undertaken the leadership role for that cycle.
We welcome Yasmin Ismail to staff as the DOTT teacher for both Turtles and Dugongs in semester two where she will be covering the arts component of the curriculum for the Upper Primary children. Yasmin has been working across both the Adolescent Program and Primary School this past semester which has prepared her for her full time teaching position in Turtles class in 2022 when Venus commences the new Upper Primary class at Port Kennedy. We look forward to supporting Yasmin in her completion of her Montessori training and her transition to Montessori after many years teaching in the mainstream sector. Whilst we have appointed our new Children’s House teacher for the Port Kennedy site this news will be shared with our school community in Term four once the teacher has informed their current school community.
We also welcome Dave Flack who will replace Julie in the Koobalongs next term whilst she has a term on Leave without Pay. As Julie was due for Long Service Leave at her old school this leave in Term 3 was a condition of her employment at the beginning of this year. We will not be backfilling Julie’s music position for Term 3 and I know that the students will be really looking forward to these classes recommencing in Term 4 on Julie’s return as they have loved having her teach Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard and Ukulele this past semester. On Julie’s return Dave will undertake relief across both the Primary and Adolescent campuses for term 4 and will be our new advisor for the third Middle School advisory in the Barna Marlak sub school in the Adolescent Program at the commencement of 2022. Dave is a Physical Education specialist with a Bachelor of Sports Science along with a Bachelor of Commerce who comes to us with a wealth of experience teaching across the globe in a range of alternative educational settings both in Primary and Secondary education.
We are also very pleased to announce the appointment of Jo Gow who will commence with us next term as our new Finance Manager. Jo is a welcome addition to our administration team and will have the task of ensuring our school continues to maintain financial stability through our building programs in the short term at Port Kennedy and for the longer term goal of the Karnup campus. Since 2000 Jo has worked as a Level 5 Manager of Corporate Services/Business Manager/Registrar in Government Schools including Singleton PS, Meadow Springs PS, Halls Head Community College, Rockingham Lakes Primary School, Mandurah High School and Warnbro CHC ESC. Through this time, she was also seconded for six years to the Department of Education central office as a Level 6 Professional Learning Consultant to train Business Managers across the state. Jo has managed the planning, build and development of facilities and administration procedures for two new schools being Meadow Springs PS and Rockingham Lakes PS, along with managing numerous building stimulus projects that she secured funding for. We look forward to her extensive knowledge enhancing our already amazing admin team.
The whole school is a buzz at the moment with our Adolescent Program exhibitions across both the Middle School and Senior School in full swing. We also have 29 students across the school who are transitioning to their new classrooms/advisories. Our teachers look forward to meeting with all parents/guardians between now and the end of term to discuss your child’s progress report which were distributed last week. We are looking forward to “The Game” which will be performed on the evenings of Thursday 17 and Friday 18 at the Adolescent Program. If you have not been to one of our school plays previously please contact APadmin@rms.wa.edu.au to secure your ticket.
I would like to thank the Community Spirit for the recent school disco as this was a huge success with so many families joining us to dance the night away. Our Senior School students returned from the Senior School Odyssey after having an amazing journey around the mid-west. Although being rained out in Coral Bay, I would like to thank the amazing Wendy, our administration officer in the Adolescent Program, for ringing around on the Sunday to find alternative accommodation at the Geraldton Camp School which enabled all the students to dry out equipment and to enjoy the activities on site. Great job Wendy.
Aiden and I greatly appreciate your support for the Camp Quality Sleep Out that was held at the Primary School site on the weekend. We had 60 people join us for this fun event and whilst it was a chilly night, the fire pit and good company kept us all warm. Our goal was to raise $1000 and to date we have raised $2118. We are so grateful to all our families for your generosity and if you have not had time to make a donation as yet the site will remain open for another two weeks.
Vanessa Aikins – Principal