South Bunbury - Pre-Primary Information 2021
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South Bunbury
Pre-Primary
Information
2021
1
Welcome to South Bunbury Pre-Primary
We’re excited to know that your child will be attending South
Bunbury Pre-Primary in 2021.
We already know many of you from teaching big brothers and
sisters over the past years. We’re looking forward to catching up
with you and your family. We also have some additional information
for parents to help provide a smooth start to the year for you and
your child. Please take the time to read these pages. They include
suggestions for the first day of school, information about term dates
and holidays, pre-primary routines and school staff.
Our classes will consist of around 25 children from often diverse cultural backgrounds. They come to us
with a wide range of abilities, skills, interests and prior experiences. This means that every child is seen as an
individual and we as educators will strive to improve their capabilities as learners during the year.
In 2021, teachers, students and families will enjoy using the classrooms
in our new Early Childhood Centre. The old ‘Apex’ building has
undergone a major renovation and is now a wonderful space for
parent and school and educational community activities.
Our teaching team are constantly learning new skills that aim to raise
the standards of student
achievement in our school.
We have a strong
behavioural program based on shared values and the structures
of ‘co-operative learning’. These are integral in building personal
skills and a supportive and dynamic culture in our pre-primary
classes. Play-based experiences are a vital part of early education.
Play is the context for many real and purposeful experiences for
young children and it is an integral part of the curriculum at this
level.
Here at South Bunbury Pre-Primary we care about our kids and
want every child to feel secure, enthusiastic and engaged when
they’re at school. We want to challenge and inspire them to reach
their full potential. We want children to have a strong sense of
identity, to be connected and to contribute to school life. We want
children to develop a sense of well-being that will help them to set
personal goals and be effective communicators and confident
learners.
We recognise that relationships are crucial to a child’s sense of belonging, and that the early childhood years
are not just a preparation for the future but also about knowing ourselves and engaging in life’s joys. The
emphasis is on quality learning that enables children to fully and actively participate.
Thanks for taking the time to read this information.
We look forward to getting to know you and your child in 2021.
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Pre-Primary Life
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Early Childhood Teaching Staff 2021
Pre-Primary ‘One’ Ms Jill Home / Mrs Judy Westwood
Mrs Alicia Driscoll / Mrs Megan MacPherson
Pre-Primary ‘Two’ Mrs Kate Skane / Ms Julie Halse
Mrs Paula Dyson
Principal Mr Ian Harvey
Deputy Principals Mr Rob Williams
Mr Luke Ruane
Registrar Mrs Justine Wright
School Officer Mrs Lisa Kings / Mrs Sharon Nairn
Library Officer Mrs Julie Newman
School Phone Contact: 9721 3299
South Bunbury SCHOOL TERMS 2021
TERM 1 Monday February 1 – Thursday April 1
break Friday April 2 – Sunday April 18
TERM 2 Tuesday April 20 – Friday July 2
break Saturday July 3 – Sunday July 18
TERM 3 Tuesday July 20 Friday September 24
break Saturday September 25 – Sunday October 10
TERM 4 Tuesday October 12 to Thursday December 16
(School Development Days vary from school to school. Ours are usually on the first Monday each term
and students do not attend on that day).
Pre-Primary Attendance
Attendance at school in the full-time Pre-Primary year is compulsory
Children attend pre-primary five days a week from Monday through to Friday
Pre-Primary doors will open for ‘reception time’ at 8.40am
The first session of instruction time commences at 8.50am
Pre-Primary home-time is at 3pm
We kindly request that children and parents vacate the pre-primary grounds at the end
of the school day
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WHAT TO BRING TO SCHOOL
A really BIG backpack
A folded reusable shopping bag in the pocket of your backpack (for
overflow work)
A personal water bottle labelled with your child’s name
A library bag labelled with your child’s name
A Morning Snack that might include fruit, vegetables, cheese and crackers or
other ‘healthy choices’. You might like to check labels on packaged food and try
to avoid food additives. Beware of sticky dried fruits that are shockers for teeth.
Place snacks in containers that kids can manage by themselves. No nuts, please
– there are kids with nut allergies at our school.
Lunch should reflect the food and nutritional values of
your family. Teachers will help to promote the ‘healthy
eating’ message by supervising lunch at pre-primary and
ensuring that sandwiches, salads, rolls, wraps etc are
eaten first. A lot of pre-packaged food contains
additives and is overly refined, so once again, you might like to check the
package info. Can your child handle their food containers on their own?
Can they open that yoghurt by themselves? Help your child to feel
competent and independent by checking that they can manage the food
in their lunch box. Our school has a team of Waste-Wise Warriors who are
always trying to reduce bin waste. Please help us by using reusable
containers or biodegradable wraps.
A broad-brimmed school hat, to be kept at pre-primary all year. Our school is a ‘Sun Safe School’ and
children are required to wear hats when outside all year round. ‘No Hat, No Play’ and no caps, thanks.
Hats are purchased as part of the school uniform.
A bottle of roll-on sun screen in the summer months is easy for children
to apply if you’d like them to put on sunscreen themselves, with minimal
mess. If you apply sunscreen before school it is more effective when
children re-apply later in the day.
Good, active footwear. Joggers, soft-soled shoes or sandals are best for
play at Pre-primary. Some footwear is not suitable for school. Many
children like to go barefoot in the Pre-primary playground. If your child
has lace-up shoes, please teach them to tie their own laces.
As you can guess, being a child at pre-primary can get messy at times. We will endeavour to keep
school uniforms unspoilt by using aprons. Your child should be able to manage the buttons and zips
on their clothes independently.
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Consider putting in a spare set of clothes for water play splashes etc.
At the very least, please include a pair of undies in case of a toileting
accident.
Please discourage your child from bringing personal belongings to
school. They can be easily broken or lost, leading to unhappy kids. Pre-
primary children will have ‘Show and Tell’ during the year with set topics
and rosters, giving lots of opportunities for sharing special things.
WHAT TO DO AT THE START OF THE YEAR
Talk positively with your child about starting Pre-Primary. Make an
occasion of getting a lunchbox and bag. Use them for a practice picnic
and see how they manage the contents. Can they unwrap their
sandwiches and foods and open the containers you provide? Show them
the way to Pre-Primary and drive past every now and again so it becomes
more familiar.
On the first day of school, come in with a smile and encourage your child
to say ‘hello’ to staff and other children. If they seem a little tense, sit
down with them and look at a book or do a puzzle. Let the staff know if
you think your child needs a hand. For most children, first day nerves are
brief and our experienced staff will be there to help.
To provide a smooth start on ‘Day One’…
1. Help your child to find their name-tag.
2. Come into the Pre-Primary room with your child. You will be greeted by
staff and shown where to place school bags on the bag racks and where
to put hats in the hat boxes.
3. We’ll show you where to put your school book list supplies.
4. Have a little play with your child while we wait for everyone to arrive.
5. On the first day of school, it’s helpful if all parents leave when the bell is rung to indicate the start of
the first mat session. Please say goodbye to your child, have a kiss and a hug and then leave. If your
child is upset, we will take care of them. Please see the teacher if you have any concerns.
6. In the unusual instance that your child is still upset and unable to deal with separation from you after
a reasonable settling-in period, we will call you to discuss the situation. Please call us if you are
anxious about your child.
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Before and After School Care
Before and after school care is available every day at South Bunbury School through Camp Australia.
Childcare benefit approved
50% Tax Rebate approved
Qualified and trained staff
Suits working families
Enrol onsite or visit www.campaustralia.com.au
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
When asked to complete the Student Information sheet for our school records,
please ensure that you include any information relevant to long-term medical
conditions such as epilepsy, encopresis, asthma and allergies. All medical
information is confidential. Medical and Emergency plans will be created to
inform all staff of a child’s medical requirements. It is important that parents
inform teachers about health conditions and treatment. Please keep these
records updated with the school.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Please let us know about any infectious diseases that may affect your child during the year. Current
government policy requires the exclusion of non-immunized children from school in the case of some
outbreaks of infectious disease.
HEAD LICE
Head lice have become a problem in all schools, everywhere. If a child (or a teacher, for that matter!)
contracts head lice, we will notify all parents (via a standard note) of an outbreak in the class. Head lice can
only be controlled on a school level if all parents regularly check their
children’s hair and follow the instructions given for the use of
commercial products very carefully.
If we suspect head lice or eggs in a child’s hair at school, we will contact
the parent and ask them to collect their child, check them and treat them
at home. Once the treatment is complete, the child can attend school
again. Tying back long hair may help reduce transfer of live head lice.
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Our Community Health Nurse does school health checks in Kindy. If your child did not attend a Kindy and
has not had their eyes and ears checked recently, please let us know and we can arrange a visit. These checks
are also available through your Child Health Nurse. Follow-up visits based on Kindy assessments will occur
in the Pre-primary year if they are required. Developmental delays and health issues such as glue ear have
strong links to future learning difficulties and syndromes in young children. Early intervention is the best way
to go.
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Through the Hudson Road Community Health Centre, we have access to Speech Pathologists, Occupational
Therapists and Physiotherapists. We can refer speech problems directly to Hudson Road Community Health
Centre through screening in the Kindergarten or Pre-primary year. If your child has not attended
Kindergarten for assessment, we can begin the process at Pre-primary.
You can contact Hudson Road Community Health Centre on 9795 2888
South Bunbury has a Dental Therapy Centre on site. Pre-primary children have access
to dental services including screening, check-ups, dental work and emergency work.
Parents are required to accompany children to the Dental Therapy Centre. You can
contact the centre directly on 97 211497.
CARE OF CHILDREN
Our school recommends that pre-primary children arrive and depart from the Early Childhood Centre
accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, or someone nominated by them.
Parents should inform the school of any other people who will be collecting their child on a given day and
should inform us of special arrangements if the child is sharing lifts with other children on a permanent basis.
A form is kept near the front door for parents to fill in if other people are collecting their child that day.
It is important that we have either a phone call or a written note informing us of any change to your child’s
usual pick-up routine. We will make note of special arrangements each day.
It is extremely important that parents inform the school of any specific custodial arrangements which might
affect a parent’s access to their child. The school should have a copy on file of any relevant court orders.
If no court orders are in place, we are obliged to respect the legal rights of both parents.
EXCURSIONS
During the year we may organise an excursion to locations such as the
Big Swamp Wildlife Park, King Cottage Museum or the Dolphin
Discovery Centre. They are used to enhance themes, provide learning
opportunities, promote social skills and are always great fun, too.
The Department of Education has implemented very stringent
excursion guidelines. Pre-school children require high levels of
supervision, so we often rely on parents to help meet our supervision
requirements.
In the event of an excursion, parents will receive notice well ahead of
the day. You will be asked to fill in and return the relevant permission
forms to ensure the participation of your child. Parent help with
excursions is greatly appreciated.
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‘NON-CONTACT’ TIME FOR TEACHERS
Pre-Primary teachers have ‘non-contact’ time each week for assessing,
moderating, profiling, programming, reporting, preparing materials, changing the
learning environment, doing maintenance and completing administrative duties.
This is also a great time for parent interviews that require more time for discussion.
If you have any concerns about your child, please feel free to talk to their teacher.
We can usually have a quick chat during school hours or a lengthier talk on
Wednesdays. Teachers are also usually available at the end of the day.
In 2021, we expect teacher non-contact time will be each Wednesday.
COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS
Communicating with parents about school issues is important. We keep a class
diary to let you know what we’ve been up to each day. During the year we will
send home newsletters and notes. School calendars are sent home to help
organise those extra-busy terms. We sometimes send notes home with
children if an event, for example a dress-up day, is of particular relevance to
them. Parents should download the school app and use the ‘Connect’ app for
school messages and events.
All sorts of things can happen in a school setting. In the event that you are unhappy with an experience
you’ve heard about at school, please talk directly to the child’s teacher so that your concerns can be acted
upon and the situation resolved. We are never too busy to listen to parents and kids and we love hearing
about the good stuff, too! Parents are encouraged to join the school P&C, get involved in school activities
and volunteer for the school canteen if you can. Dads might also like to be involved in the fabulous
‘Fathering Project’ which is speically for dads and their kids.
YOUR CHILD’S
LEARNING JOURNEY
The Pre-Primary Curriculum consists of extensive
planned and spontaneous experiences, including
‘intentional teaching’ of academic content. Teachers are
guided by the WA Syllabus and the ‘Foundation Level’ of
the Australian National Curriculum, which has been
developed across all learning areas. Pre-Primary routines, events, experiences and activities occur in an
environment especially designed to foster learning and development in Pre-Primary age children. Social
competence, positive self-concept and emotional well-being are extremely important at this level of
education, as are personal attitudes and dispositions to learning. We value music, art, dramatic play, cooking,
gardening and other life skills which we integrate throughout the curriculum.
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Teachers are constantly screening and observing children in order to work out what needs to be taught and
reviewed. Part of this process at Pre-Primary level involves informing a parent about their child’s growth in
learning. This happens all the time, not just at the end of each semester.
Learning through play is still an important part of the Pre-Primary experience. It allows for the expression
of personality and uniqueness, enhances dispositions such as curiosity and creativity and enables children
to ‘make connections’ between new learning and prior experiences. It assists children in developing
relationships and concepts and it stimulates a sense of well-being. Play is truly amazing in its scope. We try
to record your child’s learning journey over the year in their Pre-primary Portfolio or Journal.
Children become ‘co-constructors’ of the curriculum when we take their interests and ideas to promote
learning. This approach leads to intense and whole-hearted activity. Sustained concentration, intrinsic
motivation and deep-level learning can push the limits of a child’s capabilities.
Well-being, optimism, engagement and a strong sense of connection enable children to develop a positive
attitude to learning. We hope your child enjoys coming to school as much as we look forward to being with
them each day.
CLOTHING
School uniform is recommended for Pre-Primary and is available from the uniform
shop. We encourage the children in our Pre-Primary classes to place shoes, jumpers
and other belongings into their school bag as soon as they are removed, but it can
sometimes be difficult to keep track of things.
Parents can help by labelling school clothing. We usually wave lost property around
until we find an owner, or we will place it in the ‘Lost Property Box’ for parents or
children to look through. It helps if your child has footwear and clothing that they
can manage on their own, for the most part.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Parents, carers and special visitors are welcome to visit Pre-Primary at any time.
The time you spend at Pre-primary is very precious to your child and to us, too.
You can choose to help out with activities, join in with regular routines and
experiences or simply spend time playing with your child and their friends. You
might like to join in a few songs on the mat at the beginning of the day.
The Pre-Primary session begins at 8.50 am. Parents and carers should bring
children to school at 8.40am to allow time for organising drink bottles, bags,
reading books and so on. Children should be ready to begin the first mat
session or change reading books (in second semester) at 8.50 am.
In the morning there should be time to talk to staff about any issues regarding your child that day. We
understand that many children now come from families where both parents are working outside the home,
or perhaps one parent works away from home for extended periods. We welcome your involvement at any
level. Please chat with the teacher if you have interests or skills you’d like to share with the class during the
year.
10SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Supplies listed on the Pre-Primary Book List are brought in on the first day
of school. We will store them and use them for the whole class, as required.
There is no need to label any pens etc. with your child’s name.
It would be helpful if you could label items such as journals, plastic folders,
display books and library bags.
BIRTHDAYS
When you’re five or six, birthdays are very exciting. Most children enjoy a small
celebration at school. The best way to celebrate is with individual cupcakes
which your child can share out at morning fruit time. We can light the candles
and sing ‘Happy Birthday’. There is not really a place for lolly bags etc. Children
whose birthday falls in the holidays or on the weekend are welcome to
celebrate with us on a school day.
Of course, celebrating birthdays is not compulsory… families with religious
beliefs that may conflict with the celebration of birthdays should discuss the
implications with teachers so that we can be sensitive to your family’s needs.
LUNCH
Healthy lunches are promoted at our school and discussed with children as part of the Health Education
program. Some food is good for sustained energy and helping the brain to learn. Please provide your child
with a lunch that is nutritious and also helps to set life-long eating habits. We have ‘water only’ in school
water bottles. Lunch runs from 12.20 to 1.20 pm and is fully supervised by Pre-Primary staff.
Please note we have students at our school who are severely allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. As a ‘nut
aware school’ we do ask that you keep nut products for consumption at home. Students should never share
any part of their lunch with other kids.
Please Note: The School canteen is now available to
Pre-Primary Students every day of the week.
USEFUL THINGS TO COLLECT
Just about everything is useful to us in Pre-Primary. We appreciate your efforts in
gathering up bits and pieces for us to play around with at school.
Apart from the items below, anything that comes in a big quantity or anything that looks
interesting will probably be a good, useful find.
11Wood off-cuts Streamers Small cardboard boxes
Ice-cream containers Lino/vinyl samples & off-cuts Beer bottle tops
Margarine containers Fabric sample books Corks
Screw-top lids Tile samples Seashells
Egg cartons Scraps of lace or ribbon Dried leaves
Eggshells (washed out) Costume jewellery Dried nuts
Material Dress-up clothes Card off-cuts
Wool Dress-up bags etc Old picture books
Cardboard tubes Foam packing beads Old calendars
Sweet wrappers Shredded paper Dried flowers
Easter egg foil Sawdust Artificial flowers
Wrapping paper Wood shavings Wooden beads
Greeting Cards Take away containers Beads
Feathers Kinder Egg containers Old bits of puzzle
Buttons Film canisters Plastic conduit or pipe
Printers card offcuts Matchboxes Yoghurt containers
Big beads Old mobile phones and cameras Shoe boxes
12HANDWRITING
It can be helpful for children to start writing their name with the first
letter as upper case and the rest lower case. For example, Tom.
Otherwise, they will have to change an established habit later on. Keep
an eye on how they are writing their letters, as most letters are formed
from the top down. The letters ‘d’ and ‘e’ are exceptions! Promoting a
good pencil grip helps, too.
Children see many different styles and types of writing around them in
everyday life. At pre-primary we use the ‘South Australian Beginners’
font which is clear and simple in style.
.
Interested parents can show children at home the correct
way to hold their pencil and form letters so that there is
continuity between school and home. We’ll also give you
information about sounds and sight words. We use
‘Synthetic Phonics’ as part of our approach to literacy.
Children are explicitly taught groups of sounds and letters
which they blend together and ‘segment’ or ‘sound out’. At
the Pre-primary level, writing and reading become part of
the Synthetic Phonics process.
LIBRARY BOOKS AND
READING
Children with a library bag can borrow a book each week from the Primary School library. We will
inform you of our allocated library times in 2020. A plastic bag is not sufficient, however any recycle
bag can be an effective library bag.
We ask parents to help teach their children the appropriate care of books. Please tell us about damaged
books so that we can have them repaired promptly. The school library will bill parents for lost or
unreturned books.
During the year we will introduce children and parents to school reading programs such as the Picture
Book Home Reading Program designed to improve language and comprehension. The Home Readers
Program features books that are designed to match the sounds we teach each week in our Synthetic
Phonics. With some help from parents, we try to match individual children with appropriate reading
material.
Research is clear that a child’s phonological awareness (being able to hear and manipulate the sounds
in language) and their knowledge of phonics (the link between sounds and letters) is the strongest
predictor of future literacy. Reading and talking to your child about books every day is an important
way of helping to ensure sound early literacy skills. This is why the sound of the letter is the first thing
we teach and the names of letters can sometimes come later.
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