25th October 2024

Dates to remember

Dates to remember – view live calendar on side panel of newsletter, website, or communication app.

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Community Members,

Safety House

Over many years, the Ashdale Primary community has been a strong supporter of the Safety House concept. We have had many workshops throughout the years, when students learnt about protective behaviours, especially whilst walking to and from school. Fortunately, the number of times the service was needed was extremely small.

Over the years, the Safety House program has provided reassurance to many that children would be safe as they walked around the community. As times have changed and the advent of mobile phones, the community has been less reliant on the Safety House Program and more connected to “Real Time”” contact with their children.

Therefore, Ashdale Primary School is no longer a member of the Safety House Program. (It is also difficult to ascertain whether the Safety House Program exists).  This information has been relayed to students by classroom teachers and should be reiterated at home. Houses with Safety House signs/Logos may be out of date.

School Leaders - 2025

The end of term 4 is always an exciting time for our year 5 students as the selection and elections of our 2025 school leaders will take place. Information about the different processes is listed below. It’s important everyone understands these processes and therefore can discuss the concepts if the opportunity arises.

Year six student leaders are selected through a variety of different formats.

• School Leaders are elected by their peers and teachers after an election speech Friday, 15th Nov.
• Faction Leaders are elected by fellow peers of their individual faction and teachers after an election speech Friday, 15th Nov.
• Library Leaders are trialled and selected by the library staff. (Weeks 6 & 7)
• ICT leaders complete a written application to the ICT staff. (Due Monday, 10th Nov)

We wish all possible candidates all the best in their quest to become a 2025 Ashdale Primary Student Leader. Successful candidates for all positions will be announced at the Week 8, Wednesday 27^th November assembly.

Secondary Enrolments – 2026

If your year five student (2024) is keen on looking at alternative secondary opportunities in 2026, please keep abreast of all information available online.

https://www.education.wa.edu.au/gifted-and-talented

https://www.education.wa.edu.au/approved-specialist-programs

Please note that Ashdale Primary does not facilitate either of these processes.

Regards

Tony

Library News

Premier’s Reading Challenge

We started this term celebrating all our fantastic readers who completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge. We had 74 students complete the challenge, that’s the highest number of students to complete the challenge at Ashdale in one year, all students received a certificate presented on behalf of the Honourable Roger Cook MLA, Premier of Western Australia and the Honourable Dr Tony Buti MLC, Minister for Education. At our first assembly for the term we had the pleasure of announcing our top readers from each group. The overall highest reader at Ashdale this year, was year 5 student Chloe De Piazzi from LA19. Chloe read an amazing 211 books! We had four other students who read 100 or more books – Brock Longney from Kindy, year 2 student Dhivan Bhuva from LA12, and year 3 students Aneek Apte from LA23 and Aidelyn Urbisinov from LA24.

How many books does Ashdale’s Library have?

It was lovely to see so many parents and students visit the Library during Learning Journey. Students, and parents, had fun ‘guesstimating’ how many books we have. Our winners, who had the closest guesses to how many books there are were:

Maria Zuhair LA17

Leya-Jae LA31

Norah Petkovic LA19

Noel McGregor LA21

The answer that everyone is wanting to know is...Ashdale Primary’s Library currently has 12,201 books in its general collection.

Holiday Reading Challenge

We have been very pleased with the number of students who have continued to read during their school holidays. We have been busy recording the ‘book bricks’ earned during our last school holidays and will announce the class that has won a special morning tea and games with Mr Watson very soon. So, stay tuned and keep reading!

Past student Nisreen Marouff - National Girls Leadership Medal

Ex-student, Nisreen Marouff, has made history by winning the first-ever National Girls Leadership Medal at the Bachar Houli Foundation National Senior Girls Leadership Program. 

Voted by her fellow participants, the prestigious award recognises her for demonstrating the values of sportsmanship, leadership, and teamwork during the three-day camp in Melbourne.

WA’s top participants, Nisreen Marouff and her sister Aaliya Marouff, were selected to represent the State at the Senior Girls Leadership Program.

Nisreen has been involved in football from a young age and has progressed through the female pathway which included playing in this season’s Rogers Cup team for Subiaco.

The Bachar Houli Foundation National Senior Girls Leadership Program is a three-day camp designed for Muslim girls aged 15 to 18, with a focus on enhancing physical activity, health, well-being, identity, and leadership. Held at Essendon Football Club's The Hangar and the Australian Paralympic High-Performance Training Centre, the camp’s objective is to build confidence in young women, preparing them for leadership roles across sports and society. The program featured a range of activities, from AFLW training and fitness testing to archery, horsemanship, and team challenges. Participants also experienced elite-level fitness assessments and recovery sessions at La Trobe University, the home of the Matildas , a world-class sports precinct. Leadership mentors and guest speakers from diverse backgrounds offered inspiration and guidance to participants.

Ashdale Primary School is very proud of Nisreen and her incredible achievements.

Legends

Office News

Kindy Enrolments are still open!

Leaving the school?

Are you planning on leaving the school before the end of 2024 or at the end of the year? Please inform the office as soon as possible to assist with our planning.

School Voluntary Contributions (including P & C Contribution)

Have you paid the voluntary contribution $60/student and P & C Levy $40/family?

We encourage payments via the Qkr! app – this is a very simple and quick process and alleviates the need for busy parents to come into the office or send money in with students.

Instructions on how to download the App are available on our website from the link below or see the Qkr! Tip article below.

• Remember to change the profile (year, LAs etc) for your children when first accessing Qkr! for the year
• Alternative payment methods (cash/eftpos/credit card) are available through the front office.
• Families may pay the Voluntary Contribution in instalments.

Student Update Forms

It is important that our school’s database is up to date with student’s current details.  Families can update their child’s details held at the school by completing an online form on the Ashdale Primary School website. 

This is located under the home tab, or use the following link https://www.ashdaleps.wa.edu.au/contact-student-update-form

If you require any further information, please contact the school on 6207 4500 or email Ashdale.ps@education.wa.edu.au.

AusBike at Ashdale Primary School

AusBike 1st Gear & 2nd Gear | Thursday sessions (4:30pm - 5:15pm)

24 October, 31 October, 7 November, 14 November, 21 November & 28 November

Ashdale Primary School Oval - all welcome!

1st Gear is perfect for kids new to riding or still on training wheels.

Payment is upfront and in full for all sessions.

AusBike is Australia’s national program designed to give kids the essential skills to experience the freedom, fun and adventure of life on a bike. The program has been designed by expert coaches and is delivered by accredited instructors. The sessions are flexible and designed to teach kids fundamental skills in locations ranging from basketball courts, indoor halls, local pump tracks, footy ovals and more.

AusBike caters for kids with all levels of bike riding experience – whether they’re just off training wheels, or further down the track with their cycling journey.

The program is fun, interactive and progressive. AusBikers will work their way through a program of core skills, progressing from beginner to expert and will graduate with the skills and confidence for a lifetime of adventures on two wheels!

FAQs: https://www.auscycling.org.au/page/ausbike/faqs

Check out this video to see AusBike in action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kycjjUBgKdc

To register click on: 2024 — Cycletorq — Race Roster — Registration, Marketing, Fundraising

DoE SECURITY

Please help to keep our school safe!  As part of our school community, we ask that if you see any unusual behaviour, evidence of theft or vandalism of our school outside of school hours, could you please contact school security on the number below. 

Please do not approach any individuals, just contact security and they will investigate the situation or contact the Police.  Working together will help protect our school.

9264 4771 (24-hour number) or 9264 4635