It’s a busy time of the term with lots of things happening in very quick succession. 

One Big Voice

“Spine tingling”, “So proud”, “Beautiful”, “Best behaved and most enthusiastic”, “Amazing” - these were some of the words used by staff to describe our choir’s performance at One Big Voice last Friday night. They sang with passion and gave their all to an event that is a highlight for all choir members.

I would like to thank Mr Rhys Sutherland, our Music teacher, who worked hard with the students to ensure they were ready for the event. The school community is in a privileged position where we have staff who willingly give of their time to ensure opportunities, such as this, are available to students.

National Science Week

Last week we celebrated National Science Week led by Mrs Nerelle Phillips, our Science teacher. The students had a wonderful time in the lab completing a range of activities centring around a technology theme and classroom work complementing all of the learning and creativity that happened. Thank you to Mrs Phillips for entering into National Science Week with great enthusiasm. Her leadership in this important curriculum area is inspiring.

Book Week

Now that Science Week and One Big Voice are done, we can move into Book Week. Tomorrow is the big day because it is dress up day. Children are encouraged to come to school dressed as a book character. Costumes can be very simple so don’t over think it. We have our Book Week parade at 9:00 am and are also doing some activities in groups so the students can work with their buddy classes from Joondalup ESC and their friends in neighbouring classes.

P&C Disco

Thank you to all of the children who attended the school disco. It was a night of glow sticks, fairy floss, music, lollies, sausage sizzle, sushi, dancing and lots of noise.  A wonderful time was had by everyone who attended. The students looked great dressed up for the evening. The disco was made possible by a team of dedicated P&C members and volunteers who did all of the pre-event jobs and were there on the night to make sure everyone had a good time. 

Interschool Athletics Carnival

Traditionally Joondalup Primary School has competed against Currambine and Connolly primary schools in an annual Interschool Athletics program. Unfortunately, the Interschool Carnival is not going ahead this year. The three schools have been in conversation for some time about the fairness of the competition given the difference in school population and the value of a competition with only three schools. One of the schools officially withdrew leaving Joondalup and one other making the Carnival not viable.

Towards the end of last year and throughout the first half of this year, we have attempted to rebuild the Interschool program or join another Association.  We have contacted schools in the local (and not so local) area asking them to join our group to increase the number of schools. We spoke to schools in the East, headed north of Joondalup, and gone as far south as Karrinyup looking for any vacancies that they have in their program for us. We have been unsuccessful for 2023. The good news is that we do have a competition for 2024.

For this year's students and families this is not the news that you want to hear. Please understand that a huge amount of effort has gone into trying to find a solution. 

JPS Facebook Page

We are excited to announce we have now launched our NEW Facebook page. Please like and follow us to keep updated with all the school highlights.  Click here to follow us on Facebook

Next P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 30 August 2023 at 7:00 pm in the staffroom. I hope that you are able to come along.

Ms Selley

Principal

Exploring Rhythms, Soundscapes, and Celebrating Choir Success  

In our Music classes, the students embarked on a sequential journey to develop skills to perform as part of an untuned percussion ensemble. They began by learning speech rhymes – phrases with natural rhythms derived from syllables. Progressing from reciting rhymes in canon and in vocal arrangements to expressing them through body percussion. They then transitioned to performing the speech rhymes on untuned instruments, resulting in some fantastic performances.  

Furthermore, students have been exploring 'Foley,' a technique prevalent in film and television for integrating sound effects during post-production. Students employed melodic instruments to craft accompaniments for narratives. By creating abstract sounds like wind, sunshine, and storms on barred instruments, they immersed stories in an auditory landscape that complemented the mood and tone of the narratives. This exercise introduced students to tuned percussion while encouraging them to harness their creativity in crafting soundscapes that enhance the story.  

One Big Voice

I would also like to extend my congratulations to our choir students for their exceptional performance at the One Big Voice choir festival, held at the RAC Arena last Friday evening. Their contributions truly shone, standing as a testament to their dedication and diligence. Each student's commitment—reflected through dedicated home practise and enthusiastic participation in extra choir rehearsals—is commendable. I would also like to express my gratitude to the parents of our choir students for their support in nurturing their student’s musical education.  

Mr Sutherland

Music Teacher

National Science Week 2023 celebrated innovation as the cornerstone of progress. STEM innovation is happening at an extraordinary pace across every major sector – in agriculture, defence, resources, energy and medicine – and our local scientists are frequently on the cutting edge of that progress. At Joondalup Primary School, our classroom scientists are taking all the necessary steps to understand and grow with this progress.

To nurture the students’ curiosity - curiosity being the germination of all innovations, students from Pre Primary - Year 6 got a glimpse of humanity’s progress in a variety of industries by engaging in activities led by their future artificially intelligent robot teacher R1 and R1’s pet Robodog.

Throughout the lesson, the students became AI workers in a range of industries. The students became engineers and powered wind turbines to generate electricity for housing, they worked in the medical field and used augmented reality to build prosthetic limbs, as artists they designed robotic masterpieces, as mechanics they powered and drove electronic vehicles, as farmers they used robotic claws to pick fruit, as electricians they build circuits to build robots, worked for NASA to design future aircrafts, and finally they engaged in a human versus Siri intelligence quiz.

Mrs Phillips

Science Teacher

As part of National Science Week 2023, Belridge Secondary College (BSC) invited schools within the Joondalup Learning Community (JLC) to compete in a Science Week Challenge. The challenge was designed around the 2023 Science Week theme of Innovation: Powering Future Industries.

The challenge had 4 categories for entry: 

• Year 4 – Solar Oven Investigation
• Year 5 – Kinetic AI Car
• Year 6 – AI Robot Teacher
• Education Support – Robot Teacher

The Year 4 students were taken through the scientific process and explored the effect that different materials have on the effectiveness of melting chocolate in a solar oven. The Year 5 students were taken through the STEM process and designed a kinetic car that had to have AI features. The Year 6 students were taken through the STEM process and built an AI robot that would be able to teach future generations of students.

All students from Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 completed the challenge during science at school, and the two most creative and unique scientific/STEM groups from each year level were invited to present and pitch their designs to a group of ‘shark tank’ experts. The following students proudly presented their designs:

• Year 4: Owen, Caderyn, Verety, Dita, Kevin, Joshua C
• Year 5: Koa, Jasmine H, Stanley, Jayden, Adam
• Year 6: Thomas, Jaiyden, Cody, Locrian, Noella, Zoey

After presenting their designs and having the opportunity to explore the designs completed by other students in the JLC network, the winning design from each year level was chosen.

The following students were awarded medals and prizes:

Year 5,  2^nd place: Stanley, Adam, Jayden

Year 4, 1^st place: Verety, Dita

Year 4, 2^nd place: Owen, Caderyn

A very big thank you to all students who participated and to Ms Hunt, Ms Sivic and Ms Brough who supported and encouraged the students at the excursion.

Mrs Phillips

Science Teacher

The students in Room 20 made robots during Science Week. We had to think about what job we would like our robots to do, the components it would need and what recycled materials we could build a model out of. We all had a great time and made a huge mess. Luckily we did a good job at cleaning it up! Our robots are amazing and ready to work for us.

The students have been busy demonstrating confidence, curiosity, imagination and enjoyment when engaged in their visual arts projects. The Year 6 students have created Zentangle explosion sculptures that look stunning.

The Year 3 students have been amazed by the Terracotta Army and have designed their own classroom warriors experimenting with printmaking. Our Year 2 students created a mixed-media using oil pastels and ink to create these stunning vivid flowers. Finally, the student in Pre-Primary have been inspired by the story “The Dot” and by experimenting with the visual art elements of shape and line to create their own dot/line sculptures.

Ms Thornton

Art Teacher

The Department of Education’s Child and Parent Centre is facilitating a free online workshop Thursday 24 August: "Establishing Bedtime Routines".

This session explores different problems parents commonly face at bedtime and some of the reasons why they happen. The skills children need to get into a good bedtime routine are discussed and parents are introduced to positive parenting strategies to help prevent problems. The approaches to encouraging children to stay in their own bed throughout the night are discussed.

BEDTIME WORKSHOP

Date: Thursday 24 August

Time: 8 – 10pm

Online via Webex: 
https://educationwa.webex.com/educationwa/j.php?MTID=m45bfbc1dd73aa23bfce2b642cd91b2af

Click here to attend