WHOLE SCHOOL REFLECTION
Hello and welcome to Winter! I’m not sure why, but it always surprises me when the days start getting longer and the mornings are so fresh. I absolutely love our seasons but by golly it’s been cold this week! It’s so lovely to be back at school this week. I have been keeping in touch via Mr Hickey over the past four weeks and I have loved seeing everyone thrive this term but seeing and hearing it straight from the students is very special.
Encouragingly, the number of COVID-19 cases in our community are declining. This means that we can now start gradually reintroducing activities, such as whole school assemblies indoors! This will begin in Term 3 and we are so excited to welcome back all our parents and carers. All adults will need to wear face masks and we are so pleased to be able to begin sharing all our learning with you in this way again.
Launching into Learning (LiL) caps have also been removed, and we’re excited to welcome back more families to our LiL sessions in the GP Hall, beginning in week 6 (10th June 2022). Please remember that sometimes circumstances may change quickly. We will let families know of any changes via Facebook, Seesaw and Schoolzine, and we appreciate your flexibility if activities are cancelled or modified at short notice.
Another important reminder, especially as we move into the cold and flu season, is to please continue to keep children at home if they are unwell. I encourage all adults and children to obtain a flu shot to help us keep all our vulnerable community members safe.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Sarah Peart, who recently stood down as School Association Chair. Sarah has been (and still is!) a wonderful supporter of our school and has been a diligent and passionate Chair over the past few years. She has been a very big supporter of all the recent work in the Kitchen Garden. Sarah is always willing to volunteer at fundraisers and events, she has campaigned passionately for many of our indigenous projects and has been a fantastic conduit between the school community and the school staff. Thank you for your contributions, Sarah, we value and appreciate your time.
I would also like to thank Mrs Kate Rainbird who has retired as our School Association Secretary. Kate has been integral to our marketing and fundraising, is always willing to volunteer her time and skills and we will miss her organisation and IT skills!
I would like to congratulate Allison Walker, who has been elected as our new School Association Chairperson. Allison is a wonderful addition to our School Association and has a son in Prep. She is very keen to encourage other new parents to attend the next School Association Meeting, to be held in 3/4 Black classroom (Mrs Moore and Miss Street) on Tuesday the 7th June at 7pm. We still require a Secretary and a Vice Chair, so if this is something you have been thinking about, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Allison to discuss how much fun it is!
As you will be aware the reporting process has changed significantly this year. Mid-Year reports will be sent home on Friday the 24th June. The key changes that you will notice this cycle are that there will be no written comments about your child’s progress in the mid-year report. The Department of Education is introducing a new 9-point visual scale for Prep to Year 10 students. This goes with a generic worded description to help you understand how your child is going against the expected standard for their year level. The new 9-point scale will show more specifically where your child is at with their learning and judgements are based on a wide range of evidence that the teacher collects across the year. At Mid-Year, your child’s report will also provide a tick in a box for effort and behaviour for English, Maths and Science, as well as for specialist subjects.
Please note: For PREP students, Judgements against the 9-point scale are only made at the end of the year and only the worded descriptor will show.
If your child is in Years 1 –6 you will see both the 9-point scale and the worded descriptor. English, Maths, Science will be reported on in this way at Mid-Year with the addition of HASS at the end of year report in Term 4. Specialist subjects will show effort and behaviour, as well as a description of content covered. If your child is on a Learning Plan, the 9-point scale will be applied to their progress against the student’s learning goals.
For Mid-Year, the written comment will be replaced with an opportunity to chat face-to-face with your child’s teacher in a 3-way learning conference. Online bookings for Parent/Teacher/Student Learning Conferences will be open between Monday 20th June and Friday the 24th June. Booking information will be sent home prior and will allow parents to book a 15-minute timeslot with your child’s teacher to discuss their wellbeing and learning progress. Your child’s teacher will have samples of their learning to share with you. If your child has more than one classroom teacher, you only need to book a meeting with ONE of their teachers. These conferences will take place in your child’s classroom between the 27th June and the 1st July.
Kind regards,
Kel Innis
Principal
