principaL's addresS
Dear Parents/Guardian
Welcome to Term 2. We have hit the ground running this term with immunisations, school photos, Year 10 OLNA, Keys for Life Health Program, HASS Week, Music Camp, Year 7 ANZAC Day Assembly, the YOH Fest Auditions as well as the Year 8 Lightning Carnival.
Mindfulness in May started this week those of you who are unfamiliar with this, it is the world’s largest online mindfulness campaign encouraging everyone to spend four weeks in May training our minds. There are multiple positive results for this including calmness, an increase in confidence with stressful situations, reduction of mind chatter and learning to become more resilient to situations around us.
Paul Litherland from Surf Online Safe visited Leeming SHS in Week 4 to give much needed information to our Year 10 and 11 students regarding safety online. Paul is a well respected educator, presenting to over 850 schools and organisations across Australia and was 2022 WA Australian of the Year.
I would like to take a minute to welcome all Board members to the School Board. Thank you to you all and to existing members for your commitment to our school and the Leeming community.
This term for Year 10, 11 and Year 12 students will have exams. Exams can be a stressful time for students. It is important that students space out their study and take regular breaks to regroup and freshen their minds. We wish our students the best of luck in their efforts.
Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you wish to discuss any issues or challenges regarding your child. I encourage you to follow Leeming SHS on Facebook and Instagram, and check the website regularly for updates.
If you don't have social media i would like to invite you to the Leeming SHS website home page where you will be able to see our Facebook posts even if you don't have a account.
Mr M. Paton, Principal
COMPASS PUSH NOTIFICATIONS
It is important that you have Compass downloaded on your phone to receive all school notifications.
If you haven't updated your Compass app to receive push notifications on your phone for upcoming events such as excursions, please follow the steps below.
TERM 2 DAtES TO REMEMBER 2024
Japanese Specialist Program - Handmake a Lunar New Year Dragon kite.
Congratulations to the winners of the Term 1 Challenge
Sgro. Sensei
スグロ先生
Japanese Specialist Teacher
Leeming Debate Teams Success
The Leeming Debate team has gone from strength to strength with the debut of the Year 12 team in round 2 of the Western Australian Debating League. The team strongly argued against prestigious schools such as St Mary's Anglican College, Carmel College and Mercedes College and won three out of their four bouts. Topics included the value of compulsory voting, whether local governments should have more power, and the importance of changing the date over reconciliation. The team's arguments were all researched, and they could make more robust and more eloquent arguments.
The league continues for another three rounds, and on 17 May, team members from years 7 to 10 will also start their entry in the Fremantle Debating League.
Displays & Activities
There have been many activities in the library this term, creating a very busy space for the students.
Chess Club is still very popular with students as is the Lego Wall, mindful colouring and jigsaws.
We helped celebrate HASS Week with a display and the students created some great lego castles and buildings.
May the Force be with you!
May the 4th once again took over the Library with lots of different Star Wars reading adventures borrowed.
Many students also worked together to create an amazing Lego Yoda who is sitting proudly on the Circulation Desk as well as doing some calming, mindful Star Wars colouring and jigsaws.
Keep up to date with everything that’s happening in the Leeming SHS Library by following leemingshs_library.
Current activities are posted regularly - including reading suggestions to suit all year groups.
Building Reference Lists using Scribbr.
Through Digital Literacy, all Year 7s are learning the importance of providing a Reference List with their research.
Students have the advantage of using online Bibliography Generators (Search online - Scribbr APA) where they can add their book title/authors and websites and the site will then build their Reference List for them.
We are practising this process regularly in Digital Literacy so that it becomes second nature to the students for all research assignments.
Managing Screen time
Many parents have reported excessive screen time as the number one health concern affecting kids, especially now in the hyperconnected world we live in. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should be no screen time at all for children under two, less than an hour a day for children aged from two to five, and less than two hours for five to 17 year olds. However, these guidelines have been disputed by experts and often ignored by families. Parents must play an important role in modelling a positive approach to using screens, and assisting children to navigate the content they access. Please follow the link to our SchoolTV site to see more.
Exam Jitters
Setting a schedule is vitally important. Students need to schedule everything from sleeping and eating, to studying and exercising. It is one of the best ways to manage inevitable exam stress. Students need to look after themselves when they have big demands in their life.
When it comes to productive study, sometimes less is often more. It is recommended that students hit the books in 50-minute stints, broken up by 15-minute breaks. This gives the brain, and body, a rest. Adolescents will often underestimate the amount of sleep they need. Getting enough sleep is key to successful study practices.
Research shows that physical activity also has a very positive impact on mental wellbeing. Eating well is another crucial factor to maintaining concentration and staying focussed on the task ahead.
Please follow the link to our SchoolTV site to see more.
Welcome back to Term 2 we are halfway through the term!
The term has been busy thus far.
I hope you all had a relaxing, safe, healthy, and enjoyable time with your children.
I wish you and your children a great term.
As the year progresses, and the volume of work and exams look upon our kids, I see more and more students with worry and anxiety. See below a link for a website which offers tools to deal with the challenges of worry and anxiety.
Medical Conditions
If your child has or develops a medical condition, for example asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes epilepsy, or any other medical condition of your concern please contact the school to discuss further so correct medical forms can be completed. It is important that your child's medical condition can be properly managed in school at all times.
Anaphylaxis Action Plan - If your child has been diagnosed with Anaphylaxis a reminder to update your child’s action plan yearly or when you update their Epipen.
Asthma
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that affects up to one in nine students up to 15 years of age and up to one in 10 teenagers and adults. It is a common reason for school absenteeism and is a major cause of childhood admissions to hospital. People die from asthma and more than half of these deaths are preventable. With appropriate management the impact of asthma can be minimised. Winter is almost here and people with asthma, their families and carers are urged to make sure their asthma is adequately managed.
The Asthma Foundation is advising people to contact them if they or their family member do not have a written asthma action plan, have not had their asthma reviewed by their GP in the last six months, or are having asthma symptoms at least weekly.
World No Tobacco Day 31 May 2024
Smoking - What’s in a cigarette? Cigarettes are made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant after they have been treated with many different chemicals. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, and many of these cause cancers. Some of the chemicals found in cigarette smoke include.
• Arsenic (also found in white ant poison);
• Hydrogen cyanide (the poison used in gas chambers in World War II);
• Benzene (also found in petrol), and;
• Acetone (also found in paint stripper and nail polish remover).
Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the Western World.
Facts about smoking
• Approximately 80% of Australian adults don’t smoke.
• Most Australian adults who do smoke say that they wish they had never started smoking and that they would like to stop.
• Around 80% of Australian smokers have tried to quit at some point.
• Almost 93% of young people aged 12 to 17 years do not smoke.
• People who start smoking in their teen years are more likely to become regular smokers, smoke more heavily, have difficulties quitting and are at greater risk of getting smoking related diseases.
Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in Australia and about 245 Western Australians have body organs partially or completely removed because of problems caused by smoking each year.
Mrs D Kitak- Community Nurse - Deb.Kitak@education.wa.gov.au
Youth Steering Committee
The Australian Government's Youth Steering Committee works with the Office for Youth to provide advice about policies and programs that matter to young people.
There are vacant positions for 7 enthusiastic young people to join the Office for Youth and the Minister for Youth to deliver Engage! The new strategy to include young people in the decisions we make.
The Office for Youth is looking for young people aged 12 to 24 from all across the country with a diverse range of experiences and insights to bring to the committee. Membership terms are up to 2 years.
Applicants do not need prior experience on an advisory group, board or as a volunteer to join. The Office for Youth is looking for young people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and skills.
Apply online before 5pm (AEST), 19 May 2024.
BRAVE Program
The brave program is developed for children aged 7 and up, and their parents who need tools to deal with the challenges of Worry and anxiety.
It's free to register and do the interactive steps at home. Please see link below to register.
Acknowledgement of Country
We respectfully acknowledge the past and present traditional custodians of this land on which Leeming Senior High School stands, the Whadjak/Noongar people.
It is a privilege to be standing on Noongar country. We acknowledge the contributions of Aboriginal Australians to the education of all children and people in this country we all live in and share together – Australia.