12 December 2025
Welcome to week 9!
Tip for Families:
Try something new together this week! Cook a recipe you’ve never tried, explore a different park, or learn a fun fact about another culture. Little steps can spark big discoveries!
In this edition:
- From the Principal
- Invitation for Community Comment on Our Ten-Year Strategy
- Message to the Graduating Class
Message to Parents and Families of Graduating Students
Camp Year 4
- The Grok Academy Blockly/Python Challenge
Year 5 student make a splash
Key dates
🎓 Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 17th December
🎉 Last day of school 2025 – Thursday 18th December
🖼️ First school day 2026 - Monday 2nd of February 2026!
Friendly Reminder: Lost & Found Pick-Up!
Our Lost & Found area is overflowing, and we need your help. Please take a moment to check for any missing clothes, lunch boxes, or drink bottles. All items must be collected by next Thursday.
After Thursday, unclaimed clothing will be donated to the uniform shop, and drink bottles will be disposed of to keep the area clean and safe.
Thank you so much for your support in helping us tidy up!
Celebrating Year 4 Strong Leadership and Learning
I am pleased to acknowledge the outstanding success of our Year 4 Leadership Program, Pieces with Purpose. This initiative has had a significant impact on students’ confidence, social connection, and academic engagement throughout the year. The program’s focus on belonging, inclusivity, and cooperative learning has fostered remarkable growth in our students’ leadership skills and strengthened the positive culture within the cohort.
The 2025 literacy and numeracy data shows a notable improvement compared to the previous three years, with students performing more strongly across both English and Mathematics. This upward trend reflects not only the academic effort of our students but also the strengthened learning behaviours, emotional regulation, and collaborative skills that have emerged through the leadership program. Combined with the Social Network Analysis which highlights increased inclusion, stronger peer relationships, and reduced conflict these results demonstrate a cohesive and positive shift in both student wellbeing and achievement.
I would like to formally acknowledge the professionalism, enthusiasm, and dedication of the teachers who have led and supported this program:
Chris Dombrowski, Kim Couch, Annelie Fourie, and Kate Dillion. Their passion for developing confident, compassionate, and capable young leaders is evident in every aspect of the program’s success. Their work has strengthened student wellbeing, enhanced learning outcomes, and enriched the culture of our school community.
We are extremely proud of our Year 4 students and look forward to seeing them continue to grow as resilient, inclusive leaders in the months ahead.
Invitation for Community Comment on Our Ten-Year Strategy
Over the past twelve months, many hands and hearts across our community, including our School Board, staff, and parent representatives, have been working together to shape a Ten-Year Strategy that will guide Coolbinia Primary School well into the future. The full strategy, along with supporting documents, is now available on our website, and we would love for you to take a look.
This strategy is not just a plan on paper. It is a shared vision for the kind of world our children are growing up in and the kind of school we want to be as we help prepare them for it. Although each child spends eight precious years with us, from those first Kindy steps through to Year 6, the impact of their time here reaches far beyond primary school.
Looking ahead ten years allows us to zoom out from the needs of a single cohort and build a strong, future focused foundation that grows with our community. It helps us keep pace with a fast-changing world and ensures Coolbinia remains a place of excellence, belonging, optimism, and innovation for many years to come. This long-term view lets us focus on the skills and mindsets our children will need not only now but in the world, they will inherit, a world that calls for adaptability, curiosity, resilience, creativity, and confident communication.
Within the strategy, we have identified several bold and exciting priorities, including:
• Nurturing a culture of optimism and resilience, helping children embrace challenge and adopt an "I cannot yet" mindset.
• Strengthening instructional leadership and teaching excellence, so every child experiences high quality teaching and continuous growth.
• Amplifying student voice and agency, giving students meaningful opportunities to shape their own learning and contribute to the school community.
• Deepening communication and community engagement, reinforcing the partnership that makes our school strong.
• Future ready learning, facilities, and sustainability, ensuring our students develop the knowledge, habits, and capabilities to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
A Ten-Year Strategy also helps us plan thoughtfully around resources, facilities, wellbeing, and long-term school improvement. It ensures that the children of tomorrow, not just those with us today, experience a school that is strong, safe, inclusive, and ready to meet whatever comes next.
But a strategy is only as strong as the community behind it.
We warmly invite you to read the Ten-Year Strategy and share your thoughts, ideas, and hopes for the future of Coolbinia. You can find the documents on our website: Policies & Guidelines – Coolbinia Primary School
Your voice truly matters. Coolbinia has always been at its best when our community comes together, families, staff, students, and supporters, all united in helping our children flourish. Whether you are new to the school or have been here for many years, your perspective will help shape this strategy into a living document that reflects our shared aspirations.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. Your dedication, insight, and optimism are clear throughout the strategy. We are excited to take the next steps and even more excited to take them together.
Message to the Graduating Class
Many of you began your journey here in different ways. Some came from other schools, and some from other states or countries. Yet today, you stand united by something powerful, a shared story of growth, challenge, friendship, and achievement.
In Make Your Bed, Admiral William H. McRaven reminds us that small actions have the power to change your life, and maybe even the world. Making your bed each morning becomes a symbol of discipline, pride, and beginning each day with purpose.
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
Admiral William H. McRaven
This graduating class has done more than embrace that message, you have lived it. You have helped shape a culture of belonging, contribution, and striving for your personal best. You have shown that student voice is not just an idea, but a catalyst for real change. Your courage to lead, your willingness to take responsibility, and your commitment to something bigger than yourselves have left a legacy at Coolbinia, one that will inspire future students for many years to come.
As you step into high school, keep choosing courage over comfort, purpose over popularity, and kindness over convenience. The world needs your voice, your values, and your vision. We are incredibly proud of all you have achieved, and even more excited for all that is still to come.
Congratulations, graduates.
Message to Parents and Families of Graduating Students
Thank you for being the steady support behind this remarkable graduating class. Whether your child began their journey at Coolbinia Primary in Kindy or joined us from another school, state, or country, your partnership has helped shape not only their success but also the culture and spirit of our school.
Throughout their time here, your children have demonstrated leadership, courage, and a commitment to doing their personal best. Their willingness to contribute, to listen, to speak up, and to care for others has left a meaningful legacy at Coolbinia, one that reflects the values you model at home.
As they move into high school, we know they carry with them the foundations you have helped build, including resilience, kindness, responsibility, and a sense of purpose. Thank you for trusting us with their learning journey and for the encouragement, patience, and love you have shown along the way.
We wish you and your children every success, joy, and opportunity in the years ahead. They leave Coolbinia prepared, confident, and ready to make their mark, and we are deeply grateful to you for being such an important part of that journey.
Warmest wishes and heartfelt thanks.
Year 4’s Camp - Adventure at Woodman Point!
Our two days at Woodman Point were packed with sunshine, silliness, and so many moments worth remembering. The trip kicked off with some heated bus trivia, which set everyone in the perfect camp mood, competitive, chatty, and very excited.
Once we settled in, the fun unfolded naturally. The Beach Challenge gave everyone a chance to show their leadership, teamwork, and beach-running skills. Orienteering had groups wandering, wondering, and celebrating each checkpoint, while archery brought out some surprising sharpshooters. The Flying Fox was a clear favourite nothing beats that swoosh of air and the cheers from friends below. Ultimate Sports kept the energy high, and Escape from Quarantine had everyone puzzling, laughing, and racing around together.
The food was definitely a highlight; we never went hungry as well. Plenty of treats that kept our spirits high and tummies very happy. Evenings came with relaxed chats, musical bops, and lots of giggles echoing across camp, especially during the night.
By the time we climbed back on the bus, we’d collected a whole bundle of memories, inside jokes, and lots of fun and laughter. A peach-perfect Year 4 camp!
Coolbinia PS Students Continue to Impress in the Grok Academy Blockly/Python Challenge
Coolbinia Primary School’s senior students have once again demonstrated outstanding talent in digital technologies. During Term 3, our Year 5 and Year 6 classes took part alongside more than 30,000 students worldwide in this year's Edition of the Grok Academy Blockly and Python Coding Challenge.
Across five weeks, students built their computational thinking skills by solving a series of creative and progressively complex coding problems. Depending on their experience level, they entered one of three streams: Blockly.Comp Newbies (Age 10–14 curriculum), Blockly.Comp Beginners (Age 12–16), or Python.Comp (Age 12–16).
Our Year 5 cohort excelled in their first year of competition, embracing each challenge with enthusiasm and persistence. Year 6 students continued their strong trajectory, with every participant improving on their results from the previous year. A special acknowledgment goes to those who achieved High Distinctions and Perfect Scores a remarkable accomplishment in a global challenge.
Certificates were sent home today, and families are encouraged to log into their child’s Grok Academy account if they would like to view the full evidence of learning and the challenges completed.
Learn more about the competition at: https://groklearning.com/challenge/
Year 5 Students make a splash
Visitors to Yokine Regional Open Space will now be welcomed by three vibrant new murals, thanks to our Year 5 students and the Water Corporation’s Splash of Colour program.
Local artists Marisa Santosa and Iwan Isnin collaborated to create a playful, flowing design on the pump station and power boxes - the first time multiple structures in one location have been painted as part of the initiative. Their artwork uses bold shapes, colours and patterns to depict the water cycle and the many ways we celebrate and depend on water.
The concept was inspired by ideas from Room 3 and Room 4 students who took part in a special workshop exploring the journey water takes through our environment.
Students also learnt about the impact of climate change on Perth’s drinking water supplies, with streamflow into dams reducing by around 80 per cent since the mid-1970s.
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