Term 3 Issue 8 2025

Our Vision

Principal's Article

We had a fabulous ESNN Carnival last week, and it was a privilege for Westminster Education Support Centre to host such a wonderful event. With over 300 students attending, the day was filled with excitement as everyone participated in running races, tabloid activities, and of course, the always-entertaining Parents vs Teachers Tug of War!

On Wednesday, we were honoured to welcome the Heads of WA Ballet, who attended to watch our dance session. We were also fortunate to host Elizabeth Perran, who came to see the Chance to Dance program in action. This program, proudly funded by the Stan Perran Foundation, continues to provide incredible opportunities for our students.

Yesterday, our school recognised R U OK? Day. This important day gave us all the opportunity to pause, connect, and check in with each other, reminding us of the value of kindness and genuine conversations.

Looking ahead, next week is shaping up to be another exciting one. Our Junior ESNN Carnival will take place at Roseworth ESC, giving our younger students the chance to enjoy a fun and active day. Meanwhile, our middle and upper students will be heading to Kings Park for a cultural immersion excursion, where they will deepen their understanding of history and culture in a truly hands-on way.

From Monday, 23 September, I will be taking four days of Long Service Leave. During this time, Chris Ralph will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the school. Please reach out to him if you require any additional support.

As we near the end of the term, I would like to wish all of our families a restful and enjoyable break. May you have the chance to soak up some sunshine and spend quality time with family and friends. Term 4 promises to be a fun and busy one as we prepare for the year ahead, and I look forward to everything we will achieve together.

Warm regards,

Carmen Lopez

Djilba Season

SECOND RAIN

SEASON OF CONCEPTION

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER

COLOUR – ORANGE

To represent spiritual connection to the land (boodja) through the warmth of karl (fire),ngardanginy (hunting practices) and the preparation of the land for growth and transition into the flowering Season of Kambarang.

Djilba is welcomed by the bright yellow flower of many Acacia varieties. The weather is cold and birds are taking shelter from the sudden showers, then busy themselves with nest preparation during the mild sunny days. Food is abundant and animals begin pairing to prepare for offspring. Yonga (Kangaroos) and weitj (Emus) are taking advantage of the new growth and venture further inland as water sources are replenished and food is in abundant supply.

As we progress though the Season and the weather warms, we can expect protective koolbardi (magpies) to guard their nest area by swooping upon uninvited guests, the djidi djidi (willy wagtail) dances to distract and chase larger birds and predators away with a swoop and loud clicking sound. The brushtail possum sometimes takes bird eggs for protein and is relentlessly chased away by the djidi djidi. Nearing the end of the Season, the grass tree (balga) will grow magnificent flower stalks and the yellow-green large cone flowers of the poolgarla (bull banksia - banksia grandis) can be seen. Traditionally, the cones were used to start campfires (karla) and were also useful for transporting the hot fire coals to a new location.

Aboriginal Six Seasons, Djilba season, https://www.aboriginalsixseasons.com.au/pages/djilba-season

News from Djeran 4

Welcome to our class news update!

We’ve had a fun, busy and productive start to the term, full of learning, creativity and new experiences. Here are some of our highlights.

Learning highlights:

In Maths, we have continued to explore counting, shapes, measuring, adding one more and comparing and ordering numbers. Providing the students with concrete, hands on activities, has helped them become more confident with numbers.

In Literacy, we enjoy doing our UFLI lessons each morning. The students are very engaged and eager to participate, and we have noticed improved phonemic awareness, decoding skills, spelling performance and confidence in reading. We also focus on a different story each week and the children undertake written, sensory and hands on activities relating to the weekly story.

In Talk for Writing, we recently completed Jack and the Beanstalk, where the students enjoy retelling the story using AUSLAN signs for key words. They thoroughly enjoy taking it in turns to stand up and act out the story each day. By doing this, we can see how confident and composed the students are becoming.  We are now exploring The Boy who cried Wolf, and the children are again enjoying the repetition and familiarity of the actions and vocabulary.  It has been amazing to see their engagement and interaction grow as we go from story to story. We love to use our outdoor and indoor play areas for imaginative and sensory play relating to our lessons. The students love to explore different, fun resources and props to bring the stories to life.

In Health, we have been focusing on our feelings – by naming and sharing them to each other, how to be a good friend and maintain friendships, recognising our personal strengths, building healthy habits for our mind – for example practising mindfulness and different calming techniques and problem solving in everyday situations by discussing the Stop, Think, Do strategy.

During our weekly cooking sessions as part of our Life Skills program, we have made some lovely recipes. Some of these include orange muffins, hot dog mini pizzas, cheesy spaghetti cases and pancakes. The students love getting involved and especially sampling their gourmet dishes afterwards and sometimes asking for more!

Special Events:

We participated in a Bush Tucker Garden incursion where the students helped to plant native plants in our newly established garden.

We also celebrated National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day where we participated in engaging cultural activities to commemorate this important day.

Most recently, we celebrated our Sports Carnival and Book Week with great success and enthusiasm from all in Djeran 4.

We are so proud of all our lovely students in Djeran 4 with all the success and progression that they have individually made so far this term. We are excited to see what the reminder of Term 3 has in store for our class.  

My New Gallery

Merit Awards

PBS

This fortnight’s PBS focus is “We Stay Within School Grounds” under our core expectation “We Are Safe.”This fortnight, remind students that when they stay within school grounds, they:

• Keep themselves safe where adults can see them
• Stay safe in their designated play areas
• Feel proud for doing the right thing
• Show respect for our school and those who care for us

Student Wellbeing

Our school is lucky to have an amazing Student Wellbeing Officer. Kellie is available four days per week, Monday Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays, to provide support to our students and families. Some of the ways Kellie will be assisting our school community include:

• Supporting families with NDIS
• Supporting with family advocacy
• Facilitating social skills lessons
• Facilitating social clubs during break times
• Supporting students in their classrooms
  

Kellie's presence will greatly enhance our efforts to ensure the well-being and success of every student at Westminster Education Support Centre.

Speech Pathologist

We are fortunate enough to have a Speech Pathologist, Helena Challis, supporting our staff and students every Thurday. Helena supports with:

• Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) across the site
• Programming and planning for language rich activities and literacy lessons
• Providing consultation with teachers
• Completing Speech and Language assessments for specific
• students
• Supporting in case conferences

Enrolments

Uniforms

Term Planner

Child & Parent Centre

Voluntary Contributions

School Board Members