Dear Parents and Carers,

We have come to the end of another term, full of learning and skills building.  Remember to take some time over the holidays to relax, chill and rest.  In this fast-paced world, this is essential for all of us including our children.

This is my last Enews for a while and would like to say what a pleasure it has been to lead this great school over the past 13 years.  I have seen two full sets of Kindy to Year 6 students go through our great school to learn, develop, blossom and thrive.  I have worked with staff and the community to create an enduring learning environment that promotes positive behaviours.  I have enjoyed valuable partnerships with our school board and P&C to upgrade playgrounds, building an outdoor classroom, water/nature play and early childhood undercover areas.  We have state of the art technology in every classroom and throughout the school. 

But most of all, I am proud of every student and the smiles on their faces when I say hello in the morning or throughout the day.

Goodbye for now.

Darryn Martin

Principal.

It gives me pleasure to announce the recommended applicant for Little Grove PS Principal for the next 18 months (subject to the breach period), Mr James Baker. Here is short introduction, he would like to share with you:

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

I feel very honoured to be joining Little Grove Primary School as Principal for the next 18 months. 

Over the past six years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as Principal at Allendale Primary School in Geraldton and, more recently, at East Hamersley Primary School in Perth. These roles have provided me with rich and rewarding experiences, and I’ve learned a great deal along the way. I believe this experience, combined with my personal values and leadership approach, place me in a strong position to work collaboratively with students, staff, and the wider school community to support the continued success of this school.

Over time, through family connections, I’ve heard truly wonderful things about Little Grove Primary. The school’s strong reputation was one of the key reasons my family chose to build and settle in the local area. My daughter is a student here, so I come to this role not just as the new Principal, but as a parent and community member with a genuine and vested interest in the success of the school. Like you, I want every student to leave LGPS well-prepared and confident, on a clear path toward a positive and successful future.

My key focus in the first few weeks of Term 3 will be getting to know you all. I’m really looking forward to meeting staff, students, and families, so please don’t hesitate to say hello if you see me around the school. I’m eager to listen, learn, and build strong connections as I settle into the role. 

I hope you have a great holiday break, and I look forward to seeing you in Term 3. 

Regards

James Baker 

You may have noticed a few shenanigans happening over the past week as we farewell Mr Martin. Mr Martin has been a part of this School, and community, for 13 years, and has certainly left his mark. We thought it would be fun to make the last week memorable by making each day a little bit different. We have had a change up in music, and honour certificates, a few Fred Flintstones running around and poor Mr Martin could hardly reach his desk one day as his office was covered in balloons! Thankfully some very happy students helped share the joy by spreading the balloons around the school. Today there are quite a few variations of Mr Martin walking through the corridors as Staff all tried to give their best Mr Martin impersonation.

We wish you all the very best Mr Martin, I am sure we will see you around on your travels. We thank you for your dedication, leadership and positive impact on our wonderful school. May this time be filled with the joy and satisfaction you’ve brought into the school over your career. Best wishes on your well-deserved break from us all at Little Grove Primary School.

Room 7 held a very interesting and entertaining assembly this week. They showed their incredible skills at making their own animations. Their stop motion films highlighted the incredible creativity and tech skills of all of our students and made for a very entertaining assembly. Well done room 7!

Well done to the following students who have been working extra hard recently in order to achieve an Honour Certificate, one of them has been working towards this for 13 years!

Mr Darryn M, Isla T, Bodhi H, Allie K, Baylor B, Isabella G, Thomas M, Harrison B, Henry B, Stormy S, Lily V, Ava C, Imogen H, James H, Sage S, Grace C, Klara S, Billie B.

This month’s Aussie of the month went to a student who is always looking out for those left behind. What a lovely trait, well done Allie, such kindness.

This term, we have been looking at information reports. We began by learning the purpose and then the features of an information report. I modelled how to create an information report on Sumatran Tigers, and then, as a class, we collaboratively created one on Polar Bears.

We learned that Sumatran Tigers have partial webbing between their toes to help them swim. Also, Polar Bears are born with pink tongues that darken over time, turning to shades of blue, purple, or even black. After building students’ knowledge, they chose an animal that interested them and worked hard to create their own information reports!

NAIDOC week is an annual national celebration of the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It provides a valuable platform for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures, histories, and achievements, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for Indigenous heritage.

This year's theme, The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy offered our primary school children an opportunity to learn from Elders, the knowledge keepers, leaders, and mentors within their communities, and to embrace the opportunity of making a difference going forward. 

We are very grateful to have had Aunty Eliza speaking to each of our classes about her experiences growing up. The children have used her stories to understand better what has happened in the past and what they can do in the future. 

As well as reflecting on Aunty Eliza's stories, classes have been celebrating and learning about other aspects of Indigenous culture. We have some photos of some work that was completed around the school during this important week. 

Well done to Chace, who has been working so hard this term in his Auslan classes, well deserved recognition.

The sign of the Week is Tomorrow. I hope you all have all had a wonderful final week of Term 2.

What a Fun Week of Sporting Activities!

What a fun and active week it’s been at LGPS! We kicked things off with Skipping Club on Monday and Wednesday mornings, followed by Soccer Clinics during PE lessons. Students in Rooms 7 and 8 also enjoyed Basketball Clinics run by coaches and players from the Perth Redbacks NBL team.

It’s always great to have sporting visitors come in to help us build our skills, connect with local sporting communities, and explore a variety of sports.

Soccer Clinics

This week, all students from Years 1 to 6 participated in exciting soccer clinics led by Ches from Football West. It’s been a few years since a soccer development officer has been available to visit local schools, so we were thrilled to welcome Ches to LGPS.

Soccer is a much-loved sport here, with plenty of lunchtime action as students enjoy playing during their breaks. The clinics gave students a chance to learn new skills and put them into practice through four fun mini games.

A huge thank you to Ches for visiting our school! He was incredibly impressed with our students’ soccer skills, how well they listened to instructions, and the respect they showed him and the equipment.

Here’s what some students from Room 4 had to say about the soccer clinics:

“I liked how Ches let us shoot goals.” – Alex H.

“I loved soccer so much, I wish I could play it every day.” – Hannah

“Soccer is super fun. I always play it with my friends and try to score goals.” – Jack

“I liked the way Ches told us what to do, but explained it so well that we could understand and still have fun.” – Alex B.

“I think soccer is so fun, and I loved how the coach taught us about the importance of passing to our teammates.” – Xavier

“I enjoyed when we played a game using our new skills—it was lots of fun with my friends.” – Charlie A.

Basketball Clinic 

 A big thank you to the players and coaches from the Perth Redbacks for delivering some fun basketball drills and skills to our students in Rooms 7 and 8!

This is what the students had to say:

On the 4th of July students participated in the Redbacks Basketball clinic. 3 Representatives Patrica, Issy and Cal came to help us with basketball. Some of the drills we did were challenging and some were just for fun.

We ran up and down the court learning our cross overs. The first one was crossing over from the left hand to our right. The next one we learnt was crossing over the ball from in between our legs.

Some fun drills we did were trying to balance 1 basketball on top of the other while moving from 1 side of the court and back. We played basketball knockout where we tried to hit other people balls out of the circle while dribbling our own. As more people got out the circle got smaller and smaller.

At the end they handed out posters and tickets to their upcoming game and certificates.

Thank you to Issy, Patrica and Cal for coming out to play basketball with Little Grove students we all enjoyed your clinic.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, head down to ALAC on Saturday, 5th July, to watch the Perth Redbacks take on the Perry Lakes Hawks!

The P&C would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mr Martin for his support and leadership and we look forward to working with Mr Baker to achieve our fundraising goals and host some fun events for students and LGPS families. 

We would also like to extend a Farewell to Mrs Knight, thank you for nurturing and inspiring our students as they prepare for graduation and leaving the LGPS school community to achieve great things.

Next term our class competition starts up! Let’s get collecting!

The P&C are doing Picture Products Fundraising next term. Keep an eye out for the forms coming home with more information. We should have spares in the School office if required.

For further events or detailed information about upcoming events, please view the schools event calendar on Compass.