Piara Waters Early ChildhoodKindergarten and Pre-primary 2021 Parent Information

Contents

1.Welcome

2.Staff

3.Session Times

4.Attendance

5.Communication

6.Medical

7.Family Involvement

8.What To Bring

Welcome!Chapter 1

01 Welcome!

Welcome to Piara Waters Primary School. Our early childhood area of the school in 2021 is made up of six Kindergarten classes and six Pre-Primary classes. We want your child to have the best possible start to their education journey and as such, we focus on Kindergarten and Pre-primary being a safe, friendly and enjoyable place for your child to learn, grow and thrive.

Our early childhood programs are guided by the National Quality Standard, Early Years Learning Framework and the Western Australian Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines.

At Piara Waters Primary School we believe our students in early childhood learn best when: 1. Their social, emotional and physical needs are met.2. They have a positive learning environment. 3. Teaching of curriculum is consistent and explicit. 4. They have regular opportunities to apply their learning5. There are strong relationships between home, school and community. 6. They are engaged.

We are looking forward to embarking on this journey of education with you and your child. Please read through this book to gain a deeper understanding of our early childhood program and if you have any thoughts or questions please reach out to your child’s teacher or the school administration.

“Creating Curious and Confident Lifelong Learners”

Piara Waters Primary School Vision Statement

StaffChapter 2

2 Staff

Principal

Deputy Principals

Manager Corporate Services

School Officers

Library Officers

Beatrice Bouska

Sian Bakewell, Kieran Moore & Matthew Wright

Traceyanne Mutua-Muasya

Kelly Rayner, Mandy Ruiz-Dorado & Kirsten Bennett

Fiona Thompson Leanne Proctor

All of our Kindergarten and Pre-primary classrooms have Early Childhood trained staff members. Each class consists of a Teacher and an Education Assistant. We also have Special Needs Education Assistants who work with a range of children.

Session TimesChapter 3

3 Session Times

Kindergarten students attend 5 full days of school per fortnight. You would have received a term calendar from our office outlining attendance days for your child and school events. Classroom doors open at 8.15am, with formal instruction starting at 8.30am. School finishes at 2.30pm each day.

Kindergarten

Kindy Group A Kindy Group BWeek 1: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Week 1: Thursday, Friday

Week 2: Monday, Tuesday Week 2: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Pre-primary students attend 5 full days of school per week, Monday-Friday. Classroom doors open at 8.15am, with formal instruction starting at 8.30am. School finishes at 2.30pm each day.

Pre-primary

3 Session Times: Kindergarten

A typical day in Kindergarten:

Time Session8.15-8.30 Doors open, unpack & morning activity8.30-8.40 Welcome & attendance8.40-8.50 Phonological/Phonemic awareness warm up8.50-9.20 Explicit teaching Literacy focus9.20-10.20 Literacy activity session10.20-10.30 Crunch & Sip10.30-10.50 Recess eating & outside play10.50-11.00 Shared Reading11.00-11.15 Explicit teaching Numeracy focus11.15-12.15 Numeracy activity session12.15-12.50 Fundamental Movement Skills12.50-1.20 Lunch eating & outside play1.20-2.20 Integrated activity session2.20-2.30 Pack up & home time

Kindergarten students are taught one full day per fortnight (Wednesday) by a teacher other than their main classroom teacher. This teacher provides time for the classroom teacher to do duties other than teaching.

3 Session Times: Pre-primary

All Pre-primary students are taught content from every subject area in our Western Australian Curriculum. Pre-primary students participate in 6 hours with a Specialist Teacher each week. Subjects taught by Specialist Teachers include: Music, Health, Physical Education, Visual Arts and Science. Other subject areas are taught by your child’s classroom teacher, including: English, Mathematics, History, Geography, Design and Digital Technologies. Our school follows the Friendly Schools Plus program to teach social and emotional skills from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Pre-primary follows a similar timetable to Kindergarten, although instead of one full day with a different teacher, Pre-primary students participate in specialist subject areas across the week.

AttendanceChapter 4

4 Attendance

Once enrolled in Kindergarten and Pre-primary attendance at school is compulsory.

In accordance with the School Education Act 1999, all enrolled students are required to attend every day that their school is open.

In the early years of school, many concepts, such as literacy and numeracy, are taught in a sequence. This means that if your child is often away from school, it can make it difficult to catch up later.

Developing the habit of going to school every day is vitally important. This ensures that your child does not miss out on important ideas, concepts, knowledge and skills they need for future learning.

The Western Australian Telethon Kids Institute has found that the attendance habits set in Kindergarten and Pre-primary are likely to continue throughout a child’s school life, so it is important for them to go to school every day.

Staff at Piara Waters PS monitor every student’s attendance and will communicate with you about any absences. We will also work with you to overcome problems affecting your child’s attendance.

4 Attendance

If your child is absent please either:

- Contact the school office by phoning 9397 4300

- Notify the school via Connect- Email the school at

piarawaters.ps@education.wa.edu.au or your child’s teacher.

- If you are going on a holiday, you will need to contact the front office.

Late notes: School commences at 8.30am. If your child arrives after 8.30am, you will need to get a late note from the front office.

We do understand that on occasion children get sick and are unable to attend school. All absences are recorded by the school and require a reason provided by parents or caregivers.

4 Drop Off & Pick Up Arrangements

Children in Kindergarten and Pre-primary are required to be taken to their classroom in the morning and picked up from the classroom in the afternoon by their parent or caregiver.

Please contact the school if someone other than those listed on the student’s details list will be picking up your child.

Older siblings are not permitted to collect Kindergarten children on their own.

The school cannot refuse legal parents or guardians access to their child. If there are legal orders in place, the school must be shown the original document so a copy can be made and adhered to.

Children must be under the care of a parent/carer or staff member at any given time.

4 Out of Hours Care

OSH Club provides a range of structured and unstructured activities for children to participate in and opportunities for children to play and relax with friends.

Children in Kindergarten and Pre-primary are taken to and from their classrooms by OSH Club staff members. If your child attends a different childcare service, those staff members will also be required to drop off and pick up children at the classroom door.

OSH Club operates from 6.45am-8.30am and 2.30pm-6.30pm daily. Care is also available during school holidays from 7am-6pm.

To enrol and book, please see OSH Club information on our school website or at oshclub.com.au

Our school has partnered with OSH Club to provide outside school hours care for students.

CommunicationChapter 5

5 Communication

- Connect: Please make sure you have set up the Connect app to receive communication. Information is sent out via Connect by the school administration and your child’s teacher.

- Face to face: You can make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher before or after school.

- Phone: Your child’s teacher may contact you by phone or you can call the school on 9397 4300 between 8am-4pm.

- Email: You can email the school at piarawaters.ps@education.wa.edu.au

- Facebook: Join our Facebook community to see highlights of student learning, school events and more.

- Digital Newsletter: Additional information for families, sent multiple times each term.

Piara Waters Primary School uses the following avenues to communicate with our school community:

MedicalChapter 6

6 Illness and Accidents

Children find it difficult to play and learn when they are unwell. Keeping your child at home when they are sick also helps to minimise the spread of infection to other children and staff. Please notify your child’s teacher if your child is unwell and going to be absent from school. If your child becomes unwell during school hours, you will be phoned by the school to come and collect your child. If your child is involved in an accident, it will be recorded and treated appropriately. You will be notified by the school of the incident that occurred and any first aid provided. If it is serious, the parent/guardian will be phoned immediately. It is essential that emergency contact details are up to date on our school system.

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school.

6 Communicable Diseases

Please keep your child home if they are experiencing any of the following: - Live head lice- Fever- Cold/flu symptoms- Weeping sores- Diarrhoea or vomiting (do not attend

school until 24-48 hours after it has ceased)

- Any infectious diseases e.g influenza, measles, chickenpox, whooping cough, school sores etc.

For more information on Communicable Diseases please scan the code:

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Some illnesses require an exclusion period from school.

6 Medication & Allergies

Parents may request school staff to administer prescribed or non-prescribed medication for your child. Instructions for administration of medication, including dosage and times, must be in writing prior to any medication being given, through completing the necessary documents at the school office. A medication record and all health plans will be kept on student file. Please notify the school of any updates.All medication must be correctly labelled and handed to staff, not left in your child’s bag. If your child has any allergies, please notify the school immediately. If necessary, an Action Plan will be documented for your child. Please note Piara Waters PS is an allergy aware school. Please avoid bringing any Latex products to school e.g balloons, bandaids, gloves containing latex ect.

Please notify the school if your child has a medical condition or any allergies.

Family Involvement Chapter 7

7 Parent/Guardian Involvement

A Family Volunteer roster will be displayed on classroom notice boards. Parents can sign up here to volunteer to help out in your child’s classroom.In Term 1, Kindergarten volunteer rosters won’t be displayed until about week 7, to allow time for children to settle in to school routines. All volunteers must sign in through the front office. Family members other than direct parents/guardians will require a Working With Children Check upon arrival. Our Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) meets twice a term and always welcome new members. They are advocates for the school and assist with fundraising and organising school events, such as: School Banking, Colour Run, school bag purchases and more!The School Board represents school community members and staff. It helps guide the school’s objectives, priorities and general policy directions.

Parent involvement provides continuity between home and school, therefore parents are encouraged to participate in any capacity that they are able.

7 Parent/Guardian Responsibilities

- Keeping in touch with your child’s teacher on matters concerning your child’s development.

- Connect with your child’s learning on Seesaw (via app or web).

- Encourage independence and allow your child to unpack their belongings and carry their own bag.

- Read notice boards outside your child’s classroom.- Notify the teacher of any changes in normal routine

within the home. Some changes may affect your child’s social and emotional well-being at school.

- Adhere to pick up and drop off times.- Volunteer in the classroom if possible.- Notify the teacher if your child is receiving any

therapies outside of school eg. speech or occupational therapy and provide copies of any reports.

- Notify the office of any emergency contact information changes or medical updates.

- Engage in conversation with your child about their learning.

- Encourage effort and accept mistakes when learning.

Parents are a major influence on children’s learning. You can help your child by:

What To Bring Chapter 8

8 What To Bring

• A large backpack.• A change of clothes (school uniform,

underwear and socks).• A bucket hat or wide-brimmed hat.• A piece of fruit or vegetable for Crunch

& Sip.• A healthy lunch that can be individually

managed by your child (avoid food high in sugar). Teach your child how to open their lunchbox and any packaging supplied.

• A water bottle (containing water only).• Children are to wear full school uniform

and sneakers or sandals with a back strap (no slip on shoes).

*Children should not wear any valuable jewellery or bring any toys or precious items to school.

Your child should bring the following to school each day:

If you have any queries, please contact Piara Waters Primary School

Ph: 9397 4300 Email: piarawaters.ps@education.wa.edu.au