Principal’s News - Week 3 Term 3 2026

I would like to thank all families for your input in the logo design and a huge thank you to our Marketing Officer, Jacinta, for all her work with the website West Coast Montessori and marketing materials for the school. It is official, you are now all part of the West Coast Montessori community! Over the coming months you will see the changes unfold as we update our signage, governance documentation and marketing with our new name and logo.

Well, it certainly feels like winter now, or Makuru, with the rain and cold, but we had a wonderful day for the opening and smoking ceremony held for our six season Noongar garden on Tuesday 21 July. The school and childcare children all came together at the Port Kennedy Playground to celebrate NAIDOC. This momentous occasion was the first time we had the entire West Coast Montessori community together. All children/students played some part in this event by creating the artwork now proudly on display in the playground. Another opportunity for us all to come together is the annual Montessoiree to be held on 28 August from 4pm–7pm at the Adolescent Program site, 2 Blackburn Drive, Port Kennedy. This fun event celebrates Maria Montessori's birthday and is an opportunity that all children will be able to take part in.

In the last week of term, we moved the Rockingham Infant Toddler Program from the Dugongs classroom to the Chapel at our Karnup site. The concertina door between the Dugongs and Turtles classrooms has now been opened, enabling the Rockingham Upper Primary class to expand into the second classroom area. On the Rockingham campus, we have three Lower Primary classes that feed into one Upper Primary class, and we anticipate in 2027 we will need to re-establish the Dugongs class due to our continued growth at that campus. We eagerly await Orla's return from personal leave to reopen the Rockingham Playgroup in its new location in Karnup.

Over at Karnup, we have now completed all tasks set by the City of Rockingham for the usage of this site. I would like to welcome Amorenda Bridgland to staff as our Events Officer and thank Keira Fuller for all the work she has undertaken in this role over the past year to set up the website and marketing of the Munja Gardens facility. We are now taking bookings for the function centre through events@wcm.wa.edu.au and are also delighted to have the Larkhill Community Garden (formerly the Baldivis Community Garden) now on site. It is so exciting to see the first crop of lettuce springing from the wicking beds our Adolescent students helped to create last term.

We expect to see all families at our upcoming Parent Education events held across Week 4. In these presentations the teachers will be focusing on Language within your child's class, and you are most welcome to visit any of the other cycle presentations to see how literacy is developed from 3–18 years of age. The presentations will give you a guide on how you can support your child at home to develop essential literacy skills. Please advise your child's teacher/advisor if you are unable to attend.

We have been hearing fabulous reports from the Middle School about the Farm Experience expedition held at Boshack Farm just near Toodyay. We look forward to hearing more stories from them soon. Also, a reminder to fathers and father-figures of our Primary School children about the upcoming event on 12 August from 5–6pm at the Adolescent Program, 2 Blackburn Drive, Port Kennedy. We would love you to be able to take part in this special event.

-Vanessa

Principal