It has been a very different and unusual school semester and I would like to thank you all for your ongoing support during this time. With all challenging situations there are also many positives, I have been very impressed with the way students have returned to school this term. It is great to see students so engaged with their school programs and enjoying being back at school with their peers.

Parents will now be aware that all students are required to be at school unless they are unwell or cannot attend school due to them, or a family member having a chronic medical condition, or a compromised immune system during COVID-19. If you are keeping your child home due a member of the family having a compromised immune system, you must contact myself on 9237 6870 to discuss your situation and I will inform you of the process to follow.

Current situation at school:

• Only students in Year 11 and 12 who require off site activities to complete course work can attend excursions and activities out of school. This includes ASDAN programs and school based traineeships
• At this point in time students cannot attend work experience placements. The Department of Education is currently looking into this with the Chief Medical Officer
• The canteen will continue to provide a takeaway service
• No interschool activities or camps
• Cleaning has increased in Term 2, with cleaners present throughout the school day to undertake continuous cleaning regimes.

• All schools have cleaning staff on site during the school day to regularly clean and disinfect high-contact surfaces that are frequently used by students and/or staff.
• Playgrounds are open and play equipment is being cleaned before school and after each break.

• Visitors to school sites are limited to student health, wellbeing and individual student case management
• Therapists must go through Mrs Houden, Student Services Manager so that we can adequately manage the number of therapists onsite

Through all the uncertainty and challenges over the past few months we have had to change and adapt very quickly. I am very proud of all the staff and how creatively they have modified programs to meet student needs. This has included online learning which has given students the opportunity to develop technology skills, which will no doubt help them in the future.

Thank you to Mrs Parwani, Mrs S, Mrs Chamberlain, Mrs Shivers and the students in ESC 13, for hosting our first Webex Assembly on Monday 25^th May. This was a big job to organise, not to mention all the technical challenges with over 200 people participating in the online event at one time. It was great to see students receiving certificates and being acknowledged for their achievements. Congratulations to all the award winners.

Over the past six months we have been working on our new 2020 – 2022 Business Plan. This will be presented to the Board for endorsing and will be distributed to families in Term 3. Our Core strategic priorities in this plan will be:

1. Quality teaching
2. Purposeful curriculum
3. Effective Leadership
4. Positive Culture
5. Community Partnerships

Reports will be sent home in week 10. Due to Corona Virus impacting on student learning this semester, the grading has been changed to better reflect what the students have been progressing towards in years 7-9. Senior school students will receive a Progress Report, as their subject enrolments are over the school year.

Following the announcement of Term 2 learning arrangements, Tuesday, 28 April was deemed a pupil free day with students returning to school on Wednesday, 29 April.  This pupil free day was to assist schools with their Term 2 preparation.

The Director General has confirmed that:

• any school which had planned a school development day for Tuesday, 28 April can reschedule that day to a future date; and
• the pupil free day (28 April) in Week 1, Term 2 is in addition to the six school development days allocated each year.

Our School Board will be meeting on Monday 15^th June and will confirm when the Tuesday 28^th April School Development day will be re-scheduled.

Term 2 has been a little different, however it has also been very positive with staff and students adapting very well. I look forward to the rest of term continuing in the same positive direction.

The School Board utilised Webex to have a meeting on Monday 11th May so as to adhere to the guidelines in regard to access to the school grounds by parents.

We were not able to have our meeting scheduled for March 23rd as this was at the beginning of the COVID 19 journey that we have been experiencing and such gatherings were not possible. Since then we have become more adept at the use of video conferencing.

At our May 11th meeting we discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the school - school attendance, impact on school programs, online learning platforms and communications, reports, school cleaning, personal protective equipment and updated information from the Department of Education.  

We also considered the School Business plan, and Annual Report (it should be noted that while exemption has been granted to the 2019 annual report, so much work has been done on our school Annual Report by Mrs Davies and the school that the report will be completed and submitted). In addition, we had updates on capital and other works around the school and finance. 

Our school chaplain, Vangi, updated the board on the School Community Project. There is need for sneakers of a smaller size, cheese and margarine. We are all going through this together and anything you might be able to contribute to other members of our school community is gratefully accepted. Thank you

Kind regards

Digby Claydon

Chair, Leeming ESC School Board

Our school will be using Connect to distribute Semester 2 Reports. The ConnectNow app can be uploaded from the App Store or Google Play to view notices and your child’s class information and report. Enable notifications through Settings, so you are kept informed of events, notices and photos as they are added. We are in the process of identifying parents who are yet to log in to Connect, and will be reissuing passwords in the coming weeks for these families. If you have any questions regarding Connect, please contact Kerryn Coles on 9237 6870.

The total amount payable for Years 7 to 12 is $300.

Credit card payment is available using our bPoint banking facility via our school website (Leemingesc.wa.edu/payments). Please be sure you are on the Leeming ESC website and not the mainstream high school website.

Click on the 'Payments' tab on the red ribbon, click 'Online Payments' then ‘make an online payment’ and enter the requested details. 

BPoint can also be used to pay for camps and excursions.  Ensure the event the payment is to be receipted against is clearly stated in the detail area of the payment screen.

Please note we do not have EFTPOS facilities on site but payment can be made either by cash, cheque, bPoint or alternatively you can pay directly into the school bank account.  State the students name / fees or event as your reference.

BSB Number        066040

Account               19900866

Name                  Leeming SHS ESC

School Development Days

Term 3: Monday 24th August 

Term 4: Monday 12th October & Friday 18th December

Public Holidays

Term 2: Monday 1st June

The Uniform Shop (within the school next to the Canteen) sells both new and good quality second-hand clothing items.

REGULAR OPENING HOURS:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:15 am to 1:45 pm

If you need to contact the Uniform Shop please call directly 08 9237 6858

Hi everyone from the staff and students in ESC 1.

We are so happy to have all of our students back in class after what was an unprecedented start to the term. Through all the chaos and uncertainty we have still been able to get stuck in to our work programs. We are very excited to be starting a retail course through GSI this week which is being presented to us online through Webex.

I would like to thank all of our amazing staff for their dedication in preparing online learning packs for our families. They have managed to keep calm during these uncertain times which has no doubt had a huge effect on the general wellbeing of those at school.

We would also like to thank the parents and carers for their flexibility in moving to online learning. It was fantastic to hear from the students through Webex and hear about the wonderful work systems parents were using while in self-isolation.

We wish you all the very best and hope you all stay safe as we continue to move through these difficult times.

We have started to slowly get back to ‘normal’ after a challenging start to term. ESC 3 students have risen to the Webex challenge and have successfully navigated through Connect to log in and connect with each other (at home and in the classroom). We also learnt the importance of the ‘mute’ button when we are all on camera, in the same room. It has been a lot of fun and we have all upskilled in a short time.

The class has been delving into the theme of choices- good and bad, and the consequences associated with making positive and negative choices. We are also very excited about the theory work related to ASDAN- Out in the Community, and we will be venturing out, hopefully, when all returns to normal and we have completed our theory tasks in detail. We have selected many types of drinks we would like to try and the people we would like to meet for a drink and we will explore these locations at a later date.

In Bush Rangers, we have been discussing the impact of ‘dieback’ on trees and plants and how it spreads so easily. We learnt that sometimes fire can be ‘good’ for plants and trees and their thick bark can protect the bulb and seeds and allow them to regrow and flourish after a fire.

I am very proud of how the students of ESC 3 have adapted and embraced the challenges we faced over the previous weeks, they have been patient, calm and accommodating. Students have shown growing maturity and the skills to achieve. Well done ESC 3 and keep up the great energy and spirit.

Mr Scott Brechany

What a strange start to the year we have had! The students have worked beautifully through all the chaos and time is flying by. 

I would like to thank the wonderful staff in our room for their support and dedication in helping prepare for online learning while keeping the students calm and focused through the uncertainty. Thanks to Mrs Johnson, Mrs Banks and Mrs Lester Smith along with Mrs Blaxell, Mrs Brayne and Mrs Morgan, who have become welcome regulars in our classroom. 

Thank you also to all the wonderful families of ESC 4 who have supported their children and stayed in contact as we worked through this unprecedented time.

In saying all of this – we have had some fun times as well as you can see in the attached photographs. We went to Sculptures by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach and also Fremantle for lunch on a Community Based Learning excursion in Term 1.

ESC 5 would like to warmly welcome back Year 7 students and their families.

A big thank you to the students, parents and families for your ongoing support and sense of community during these uncertain times. It has been lovely to see the students back and hear how much they have missed school. They have been happy to return to class and catch up with their friends and staff.  

The class have been learning to log on and access, Connect, independently and developing new information technology skills.  Students are applying these exciting skills to access a variety of online learning, Seesaw and class activities with confidence.

This semester projects have included the study of germs and how to prevent their spread. In Bush Rangers we collected and surveyed the litter around the school, analyse the types of materials to decide if they are helpful or harmful to the environment. We have looked at where the litter goes and how it can end up in the water ways. Our focus has been on what we can do to prevent the litter harming the animals, plants and people. Learning about the ways the Aboriginal people lived and cared for the environment and their totems. We have enjoyed singing the Noongar welcome song- ‘Wanjoo’ and learning many new Noongar language words. The students have embraced learning the Noongar language and I am amazed at how quickly they have picked it up.

The students are to be commended on their independence to transition around the school, attending option classes and break times with their peers. The ESC 5 staff are impressed with the high standard of positive team work and responsibility displayed and would like to congratulate each and every student. Well done!

I would like to also acknowledge our amazing team, Michelle Smith, Katy Blacklock and Anne Lersdejsakul, for all their hard work, kindness and commitment to supporting the students, their families and myself during the many changes over the last 2 months. Thank you!

We look forward to a busy and exciting term 2.

Kind regards

Lorraine Vann 

Welcome back to term 2! I’m sure we can all agree that the end of last term, and beginning of this term has been an interesting and challenging one for many of our students, teachers and families at home. We all worked together, and supported one another as we embraced our distance learning model. Check out the photos below to see some of our students completing their at home learning tasks, and a screenshot of a Webex call we had.

The first couple of weeks of the term saw us with half of our class back. We made beautiful cards and mugs and coasters using Sharpies and Isopropyl alcohol spray for our lovely Mums for Mother’s Day. The end result was awesome!

We are now getting back to normality here at school, as we have all of our students back in ESC 6. Term 2 has already been an exciting one with the arrival of 12 chicken eggs from U Can Hatch Us in week 3. ESC 6 watched the eggs hatch, and took care of the chicks for 10 days. It was so exciting to see the chicks hatch from their eggs, and observe how they grow and change each day. We have been learning about the life cycle of a chicken, and what living things need, as part of our Bush Rangers and Science program. This is what ESC 6 think of the chicks:

Jai: I liked getting to pat them.

Archer: Get to see them get big.

Goldie: It’s cool because the chickens are here. They are really cute and their legs are big.

Izzie: I get to see them grow into roosters and hens. They are so cute and I like the orange comb. They are cute and I like the feathers.

Rohan: They are nice and cute and fun to hold.

Star: I like holding them and looking at the chicks running.

Ari: I like them because they are cute and I like that I get to see them grow.

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome back to school from Year 8.1 in ESC 7.

After a very strange and unprecedented end to term 1, we are delighted to see the smiling faces of our students back in our classroom! I would like to commend everyone – students, families and staff included – for how well we have coped amongst all of the chaos going on around us and embracing what is the ‘new normal’.

A highlight for us during this time was being able to keep in touch with each other via regular Webex video calls. We loved all of the house tours, introductions to siblings and pets, and musical performances we were able to experience! Students and staff have definitely gained some key digital learning and communication skills in the process which is fantastic.

Since our last newsletter, we have dedicated time each week for our class recycling project. We recognised the harmful impact plastic has on our beautiful environment and animals, then made a pledge to pick up rubbish around the school grounds and recycle what we could. We discovered that soft plastics couldn’t go into our regular yellow recycling bin so we set these aside and give them to a company called ‘REDcycle’ to be made into other things such as indoor and outdoor furniture.

ESC 7 has also grown in class size gaining three new superstars. We welcome new students, Raghuram (Raggy) Narendran and Zoe Balcombe, and Education Assistant, Torii Hamel, to our class. You have been amazing additions to our classroom family and we are so happy to have you join us!

Finally, we would like to wish everyone a safe and fun remainder to term 2.

ESC 8 staff welcomed the students back to school with open arms in term 2. A big ‘Thank You’ to my EAs Ms Patterson and Ms Mitchell who developed some amazing resources during the term break to help our students working on Seesaw and Connect. A big shout out to the amazing families who have shown their support in making my online education program a big success and connecting through Webex video calls and using Connect during the school break.

The students have enjoyed coming back to school and have been participating in social distancing and practicing good hygiene to keep the environment safe. As part of ASDAN and HASS students have been learning about international tourist attractions, which countries the students belong to, places visited, favourite holiday destinations and food from different countries.

The students prepared an Indian meal for guests and enjoyed serving and savouring the curry and paratha. They also have been learning about the United Nations, The World Health Organization, Unicef and World Wildlife Fund. It’s been an exciting learning curve during these challenging times and the students have adapted beautifully to the new routines and rules. The students have also been busy learning about natural and man-made landmarks in Australia, different forms of energy in science, safety network in Protective Behaviours, hazards in our environment in Bush Rangers. In PCP the students have been learning about their roles and responsibilities in making and following school rules.

Keep up the great effort ESC 8 and stay safe.

In Science, the students have been learning all about slime. After lots of hypothesising, we used our five senses to predict how the rainbow slime would look, feel, hear and smell. In teams, the students were given a rainbow slime recipe to follow, however the mixtures resulted in a watery, colourful mess!

Following our slime disaster, the students were given a new problem to solve …‘how could you thicken the slime mixture?’ In teams, students chose an ingredient to add to their slime mixtures. After lots of hypothesising and experimenting, they discovered that baking (bicarbonate) soda was the best thickening agent. Check out our gooey, green slime pictures below. Our next challenge … how we can turn the slime into a rainbow colour?

It’s official ladies and gentlemen, school is back! After many weeks apart and the uncertainty of what term 2 would look like for us, we are back in the classroom and learning continues as normal!

In just 4 weeks, we’ve been busy tackling projects in D&T, learning new dance routines, practising soccer skills in phys ed, exploring physical sciences and adding to our Life Skills repertoire!

It’s been wonderful to have most of our students back at school and their focus is commended. Whilst students were doing online learning, they sent us some snap shots of what daily life was like and how they were completing their school work.

I am extremely proud of everyone’s hard work while they were learning from home. I even had some students working during the school holidays, can you believe it!? We’re all being very vigilant in maintaining high personal hygiene standards and as the term progresses, we will be able to do more of our curriculum. So for now, take a look at some photos of what we have been up to and we will see you soon!

ESC 10 team.

Wow, what a year we have had to date. COVID-19 really did put a spanner in the works, especially having to teach and learn on line.  Fortunately for ESC 11, the disruption to students was minimal, with most students returning to school on the first week of term 2.

At the start of term 1, ESC 11 students embarked on a class enterprise selling savoury muffins to staff. The students purchased the eggs from Mrs Zivkovic and his Cluckingham Palace girls (thank you Nelly for delivering these each week) and source fresh produce from our class enterprise garden, such as spinach and chives. All profits from term 1 and 2 will again be donated to the organisation ‘Soldier On’.

Although COVID-19 disrupted the 2020 ANZAC Day ceremonies, ESC 11 students learnt the importance of ANZAC Day, with a focus on WW2. The students discussed similarities on essential foods during WW2 (ration books) and COVID-19 (limits) and how people had to queue for many essential items. Student helped make a bright poster with a soldier silhouette. Other classes were invited to create poppies to place on the bottom of the poster. This was displayed in the front office for all to remember the ANZACs.

Can you believe it is already half way through term 2, the holidays will be on us before we know it!

Keep well and stay safe,

Angelique Dinning

Hi everyone from all of us in ESC 12

We are very happy to say that we have had a full class of students since the end of week 2. I would like to thank the wonderful EAs in ESC 12 who were extremely supportive and helpful in creating the work packs to send home at the end of last term. I would like to also thank all the parents who were very understanding of the changes and uncertainty during these unprecedented times.

Since we have been back together in class, the boys have been learning about Aboriginal history and culture in the lead up to reconciliation week. We have learnt about the Aboriginal flag and the meaning of its colours, represented by our hand painting photos, as well as the stolen generation and what National Sorry Day represents.

All of the boys have settled back into school with a positive attitude and willingness to participate and learn each day, and have enjoyed each other’s company within the class.

I would like to once again thank all parents and the EAs in ESC 12 for all of their support.

Thanks, Mr Drennan.

Welcome back to term 2. Wow, what a whirlwind we had with the strange and unprecedented end in term 1. I would like to thank the amazing and dedicated staff in ESC 13, for supporting students and parents, helping them navigate through Connect and Webex.  Thank you to Mrs Shivers, Ms Subramaniam, Mrs Chamberlain and Ms Cox in keeping everyone happy and calm. I must also commend our wonderful parents and students for adapting so well to this new normal way of learning at the end to term 1. I am so glad to see all of our students back at school this term. 

Last term, students participated in a First Aid training organised by school nurse Deb Kitak.  They have also learnt the importance of practising good manual handling skills and had the opportunity to fine tune their skills and techniques.

This term, we have been focusing on reducing our environmental footprint which couldn’t come at a better time as we watched how COVID-19 has given nature a break from us.  Our focus this term has been to collect plastic wrappers for Mrs Vann’s class who is sending to a company called ‘REDcycle’ which recycles wrappers to make other things such as indoor and outdoor furniture.

Our Maths program this term is focusing on using money in our everyday life.  Students have grown more confident in calculating change and applying simple concepts of counting up to the next dollar.

One of the highlights for this term has been the arrival of the leaver’s jackets.  The wait was finally over! The students were over the moon when they received their leaver’s jacket.  It was as if they had received Christmas presents! Look at the photos!

Finally, congratulations to Morgan Dewhurst for receiving his white card certificate.  Though Morgan found the task challenging and onerous, he stayed focused and persisted.  Well done, Morgan.  We are so proud of you!

From the ESC 13 team

Ms Parwani, Mrs Cox, Mrs Chamberlain, Mrs Subramaniam and Mrs Shivers

Even though it has been a very different start to the year than anyone could ever have expected, there have been some amazing outcomes from the opportunity that has been presented to us. Thank you to Mrs McCarthy, Mrs Broadhurst and Mrs Tan who collated an enormous amount of resources to ensure our students learning could continue at home.

The online learning platform has opened up a whole new world of technology to both myself, staff, students and parents! Webex is now being used to host our assemblies, and students are taking part in Connect lessons. iPads have been incorporated into lessons more frequently to familiarise students with its functions, and provide an additional way for students to record and present their work.

This term, students have loved taking part in a mobile phone program designed to increase their awareness of safe usage of the device, and for those without a phone; introduce them to its basic functions and features, which will come in handy when they have to set their own alarm for work next year! Students who are more familiar with mobile devices, work in pairs as a mentor with less experienced users.

Students have continued to practise and reinforce skills in preparation for the return of CBL, by lining up appropriately at the bus stop, remembering how to find the stop number, and hailing the bus. We’ve also listened to our parents who are desperate to have their child assist with life skill tasks such as washing and drying clothes at home, and we provided photographic proof that they can do it!

Thank you to parents who have provided positive feedback about the implementation of the Zones of Regulation program. It is great to hear that you are noticing a change in behaviours at home, and the strategies are providing your child with additional emotional support and regulation skills.

It has been another busy start to term 2 in the physical education department! It has been brilliant to see so many smiling faces returning to school. Middle and Senior school have been participating in a mixture of soccer, tennis and dance over the past few weeks. There has been a fantastic display of skills in soccer and tennis, as we now prepare to play some real games & competitions!

“Trick Shot Tuesday” has been awesome so far this term! Our staff took the time to show off their cool tricks last term and these are now being posted on Facebook every Tuesday! If you have any fun tricks you would like to share, send them to Ms Allomes and Miss Heard.

We are lucky to have Mrs Bancroft from Wellbeing for Kids, back on board, helping with our dance program. Students have been learning some new dance moves and full dances. These dances include space jam and the YMCA. We can’t wait to showcase these dances to an audience, when we are allowed!

Well done to everyone on their terrific efforts in the Health and Physical Education program so far this term. Fingers crossed we will be back to planning carnivals and events very soon!

The Triple J team

STEM has been so much fun lately, we have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes using clay and playdough models and the brilliant app ‘MORPHI’.

If you want to learn more about how you can create a virtual world online with your child, Google Morphi on YouTube for great tutorials and you can download it!

Morgan Dewhurst received the Workplace Learning Employee of the Month award at our virtual assembly in week 5. Morgan is to be congratulated on completing his White Card through online training in readiness for returning to his Activ Property Care independent work experience placement. Morgan worked really hard to complete this particular online training. Holding a valid White Card means that you have completed official, certified general construction induction training with a registered organisation within Australia.

Awesome Morgan!

All of our senior students have been busy working online engaging in COVID-19 training, learning and practicing the social distancing and hygiene requirements for when we all re-enter our work placements in the near future. This training is now a requirement for students to continue with employment or education within the hospitality and tourism sector.

On Thursday of week 5 during the ADWPL session we were super excited to have some of our senior students launch the very new and exciting work experience shirts that all students will wear next semester! These students did an amazing job showcasing the shirts. Students are going to look extremely professional at their workplaces. All the senior students and staff gave the shirts the big thumbs up!

Internship Wednesday term 2 update from Lou FP:

The Internship program being delivered at school has been developed in conjunction with the Activ Innovation Team. Students are currently working on the discovery stage, developing their career profiles. This program involves 3 components; individualised coaching, group sessions and a small business enterprise, to develop the students work readiness skills. The students have made significant gains in the short time the program has been running. They are very excited to now be launching their micro enterprise, selling a select number of herbs and spices. Students will be advertising in the coming weeks and look forward to receiving many orders.

Term 2 is flying along and Vangi the school chaplain and I have been thoroughly enjoying Leeming Links this term.  Leeming Links is a social group run for our students on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at recess and lunchtime.  Some of our most memorable activities this term have been Soup Day (perfect for the cold weather), Mothers Day cards and coupons, Balloon and Paper Plate Ping Pong and some Star Wars mindful colouring in to celebrate Star Wars Day.

I have attached the timetable for the rest of the term for you to go through with your child.  Next Thursday 28^th May, we will be having the Biggest Morning Tea at Leeming Links.  Students can enjoy a piece of cake at morning tea or lunch for a gold coin donation with all money raised going to the Cancer Council.

Cathy Houden