Dear Parents and Carers
It was lovely to see so many parents and community members join us on Wednesday morning for our Barefoot Circle event, acknowledging the traditional owners of this land. This is done barefoot as a way to connect to Country, but also as a moment to reflect that we are on common ground, and we need to stand strong with each other, for each other. Tyler-Ann and Clint did an amazing job as the joint hosts. – we couldn’t have been more proud of two outstanding young people that we are so lucky to have as our students. We thank Mr Garlett for his heartfelt Welcome to Country and for performing the smoking ceremony, along with Mitchell. At East Victoria Park Primary School, we believe reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of our school community as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Junior and Senior Choir, superbly led by Mrs Alison Motherwell, sang beautifully and the rest of the school joined in the chorus, to the Archie Roach song The Colour of Your Jumper, inspired by legendary footballer, Nicky Winmar. Wednesday morning was the culmination of weeks of each class learning about Aboriginal languages, culture and histories, in the context of National Reconciliation Week. If you haven’t already, ask your child/children about the barefoot circle and what it meant to them.
We are delighted to announce East Victoria Park Primary School has drafted a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) through Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawli (narr-gunna-wally) program. Narragunnawli supports schools to foster a higher level of knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions. We submitted our plan to Canberra on Tuesday evening this week and following the necessary approvals, our school’s RAP will be launched and published. I would like to sincerely thank Mrs Jeike Benschop and her RAP Committee for their extraordinary commitment get us to the stage where we have a plan submitted our. An unbelievable amount of work along with passion and drive has got us to this very important stage. We look forward to sharing and living out this document with the school community.
A huge thank you to the RAP Committee, led by Mrs Benschop. The team consists of Bianca Matthews, Annabelle Oag, Jeike Benschop, Blair Ranford, Karen Rundle, Lauren Garvey, Seantelle Walsh, Joe Ugle, Tony Matheson and Kim Knowles.
Year 2, Room 5 delivered a wonderfully educative assembly this morning, concluding our school activities for National Reconciliation Week. All students spoke beautifully and confidently and we thank them for their efforts. I would like to share with you a poem written by three of the Room 5 students:
Reconciliation
By Johan, Summer and Jing Chian
We say sorry to the elders, the stolen children, and the land,
We respect Aboriginal people and listen to understand.
We are sorry about Australia’s sad past,
We will try to make a better future fast.
So, we will stand on the boodja, together as one,
Together we will play and have fun.
Sadly, we continue to have a number of parking issues along Beatty Avenue. I received a call from the Town of Victoria Park this week, informing me that a parking ranger had been verbally abused by a person dropping off children to our school on Wednesday morning. I remind everyone that the rangers are simply doing their job and infringements are only issued when people do the wrong thing. I implore everyone in the school community to please obey the street signage. Restrictions are there for the safety of the students and other road users. The number one priority for the rangers visiting school sites is to keep our children safe. Every day I continue to ask people not to use the Staff Carpark to pick up or drop off their children. Finally, please do not U-turn in front of the school if it causes you to have to reverse into oncoming traffic – I have witnessed a number of near misses involving children and cars already this term.
Finally, a gentle reminder that we encourage all students to wear their uniform to school every day. We understand from time to time that things happen but we appreciate the effort that everyone puts in to having their child in the correct uniform each day. If you need any assistance with having your child in the correct uniform please contact me at kim.knowles@education.wa.edu.aufor a confidential discussion. The current East Victoria Park Primary School Policy states the following:
The school believes the following are the benefits derived from the wearing of school uniform by all children.
- Families have the opportunity to purchase economical, durable, functional and practical clothing items.
- Wearing a uniform improves school tone and atmosphere and helps develop a sense of pride and identification with the school.
- Compulsory uniforms assist to eliminate peer group pressure to wear less appropriate clothing, reduces competition amongst children and removes pressure on families to provide “fashionable” items for daily wear.
- Assists with student identification and safety in public places.
- Maintains the high public and community regard for the school and its students.
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable weekend.
Kind regards
Kim Knowles
Principal
Congratulations to our Award winners
| ROOM | YEAR | |
| ECE1 | Pre Prim | Huxley |
| ECE3 | Pre Prim | Ariah |
| Rm 1 | Yr 1 | Alexander |
| Rm 2 | Yr 1 | Mason |
| Rm 3 | Yr 1/2 | Naite |
| Rm 4 | Yr 2 | Elijah |
| Rm 5 | Yr 2 | Alisa |
| Rm 6 | Yr 3 | Jonty |
| Rm 7 | Yr 4 | Aaliyah |
| Rm 8 | Yr 5 | Mehar |
| Rm 9 | Yr 5/6 | Lucca |
| Rm 10 | Yr 5/6 | Sophie |
| Rm 11 | Yr 3 | Adam |
| Rm 12 | Yr 3/4 | Willow |
| ESC | Room 17 | Pavani |