Term 1 Week 8 2019

Dear Parents / Guardians,

Well Cyclone Veronica and the following deluge made an interesting start to our week. I hope all families managed to ‘weather the storm’ without too much damage. A huge thankyou to our local SES, Police, Fire Brigade, TOPH and all other associated essential services. I have heard some wonderful stories of community spirit and some of the photos I have seen have made me realise despite the damage caused how lucky we were that we did not receive a direct hit. Thank you to all of our families in regards to our extra day of school closure whilst we made the school safe. We had a number of large trees down and some precarious branches, some very water logged (and smelly) classrooms and some ceilings that needed inspecting – our poor uniform shop also copped a lot of water damage to the carpet and the roof; but thanks to the amazing support of contractors we were able to reo- pen on Wednesday.

Congratulations to our Head Boy, Kye Richards and Head Girl, Noku Magwenzi, who have recently returned for a leadership camp funded by BHP. I know the rest of the leadership team is looking forward to hearing all about it and learning some of the skills they have been taught.

ANZAC Day

We invite our school community to join us on the first Thursday back at school next term (Thursday 2ndMay) at 8:30am for our ANZAC Service. Students involved in Scouts are invited to wear their scout uniform for the service.

Regional Executive Director; Recently Ms Cheryl Parkin commenced as Regional Executive Director, Pilbara Region replacing Mr Neil Darby. Ms Parkin has begun visiting schools across the region and is looking forward to meeting students, staff and parents at Baler Primary School. Further details regarding Ms Parkin’s visit will be communicated in the near future.

School Board

As an independent public school (IPS) we will be transitioning from a School Council to a School Board and as such we encourage and invite expressions of interest from parents and community members. We require a diverse range of members on our school board to ensure all areas of our school community are rep- resented.

If you are interested in joining our inaugural school board then please email the Principal, Karen Burgess Karen.Burgess@education.wa.edu.au, or the current School Council Chair, Michelle Boothey michelle.boothey@health.wa.gov.au

Our first transition meeting will be held tomorrow night (Thursday 1st May) and all expressions of interest will be considered and if necessary put to a parent / community vote.

What does a School Board do? How is it different to the P&C?

As an independent public school the School Board provides advice to the school around governance. It rep- resents the school community in the process of school planning and policy development, but is not involved in the employment of teaching or ancillary staff or the day to day operations of the school. A member of the school board may be invited to sit on the selection panel for a new Principal when required.

The school board plays an important role in contributing to good school governance so that school re- sources are used efficiently and community expectations and the school’s priorities reflect the needs of students.

Ms Karen Burgess Principal