Newsletters

From the Principal

From the Principal Team

Our focus this week is on the academic progress and achievements of our middle years students. Leading into the end of term assessments and parent teacher interviews can be quite a stressful time. There are a number of ways that families can help their children and support their learning in proactive ways. Though I am sure our families work hard to support their children at school, it may be timely to suggest some strategies that you can employ to support at home:

  • At least fifteen minutes of focused reading with a family member every day;
  • Provide a quiet place for quality school work time;
  • Post a TO DO list at home which also helps to set up a routine;
  • Make sure that the School Diary is checked regularly;
  • Check assessment task requirements on Showbie in collaboration with your children;
  • Log on to check your child’s progress in Maths Pathways;
  • Make it a priority to attend your child’s Parent Teacher interview or catch up with the teacher if you cannot attend on the evening.

The following information has been presented to assist you with this request:

In Mathematics, our students as a collective have been working really hard in improving their maths skills and have shown significant growth and progress in their mathematical abilities. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to read the article titled ‘Utilising Maths Pathway and Growth Rate’ in this newsletter for further information regarding Mathematics at The Lakes. In this article, you will get some more details regarding growth rate as well as the MATHS Tracker that should be coming home each fortnight to be signed. This tracker gives immediate feedback on each student’s growth and overall mathematical level. Families whose children are in Year 6-9 are able to log onto the Maths Pathway Parent Portal to access progress on an ongoing basis.  

 

In Science, the Years 6-8 students have been working industriously throughout Term 3, researching, designing and developing their projects for the upcoming Science Fair. The overarching theme of the Science Fair this year is Energy - with a specific focus on renewable and sustainable energy resources, energy saving devices and complex machines. The event offers an authentic and challenging forum for students to share their knowledge of, and passion for, science and technology. Our high achieving STEM students in the SANE Academy have also been working on self-designed projects relating to Future Cities. They have been designing solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing society in the coming years. You will be amazed at the level of thinking, sophistication and creativity of the concepts our students have devised. Many of their outcomes will be on display at our Science Fair on Tuesday September 10 between 5-7 pm so families are strongly encouraged to come along and show their support. At home, we ask that you encourage your child to be inquisitive, to ask questions and seek answers to their curiosity. In combination with work on our Inquiry program, our students become connected and passionate community members capable of making positive change. They develop critical thinking skills, collaboration, communication, empathy and better research skills. You can support your student at home by talking about current affairs, having open discussions about opinions on local and global issues, asking your student what they think and encouraging them to support their ideas.

 

There has been a spike in student lateness to school in this term. This does impact on learning time for all staff and students. Students also miss out on Home Group which is a key communications forum and an opportunity to share news and opinions. On rainy mornings, traffic around our school is extremely congested. Leave earlier if you can to allow for the increased travel time to school. A reminder that all students are encouraged to attend Breakfast Club on Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting at 8:15 am. 

 

On some extraordinary news, our Wakakirri Dance team was one of only ten schools to progress to the final winning the preliminary stage for most inspirational story. This is a great achievement for the team of staff and students involved. The final will be at the Palais Theatre in St.Kilda on September 11. What a wonderful experience and we wish them the best in their journey.

Thank you for your cooperation and support once again this week. Have a lovely weekend!

 

Bill.