Principal Message
As part of the adaptation to the new restrictions in place after Lockdown 5.0 we will have to postpone or change a few dates in our school calendar. Our Bogan Bingo has moved to the 4th September (subject to no further lockdowns) and swimming for F-2 has been moved to start on August 30. Check our calendar page for other changes as we will be updating the changes each week. We are not running assemblies at the moment as per the new School Operations guide. We'll let you know as soon as they are back on.
As a staff we have discussed the issue of our school production and it has been decided to keep the August 27th date and plan for any eventuality. Currently there are only 100 allowed in an audience but it is likely to be expanded in the coming weeks. In any case we will look into applying for a Public Event Permit and if conditions are right, this will allow us to proceed with good audience numbers. In the event of a lockdown on that date we will postpone to perform at a later date but otherwise we want you to be able to plan for a 27th August performance.
The students are so keen to perform and we really do believe that keeping this date provides some stability for them as they work towards the performance. In the coming weeks the rehearsals will ramp up and the teachers are planning for this in their timetables. You will notice a real spirit begin to form amongst the students as the date approaches and this is such a valuable thing for them to experience during uncertain times. We will delay ticket sales at this stage but let you know when they are ready to purchase and what restrictions may or may not be attached to the show.
This afternoon I was asked to go into Steph's Prep room to see the learning they had just completed. I was so impressed to see that each one of them had conducted a survey, collected data from their peers, plotted as well as anaylised their data using manipulatives as a tool. Most impressive was not the outcome of the task but the way the students were able to clearly articulate what it was they had done and each step of the process. It is from the work teachers have done around setting Learning Intentions and Success Criteria that are helping to engage students and have them consider the purpose of their learning and what success in a task looks like. In short we are working very hard to set the students up for success by making it very clear to them what they are learning and use simple statements to demonstrate the criteria to succeed. In this scenario, the Prep students were learning skills that went beyond the statistics and probability curriculum. They were also applying critical thinking skills by being able to identify, describe and use different kinds of question stems to gather information and ideas.
What also pleased me was that while I was in the room celebrating their learning, two grade 6 girls coincidentally came in to survey the preps about any activities that they might like the grade 6 students teach them. As part of their Literacy, they are covering the genre of procedural texts. Rather than just have them complete a random text, the students have been asked to find out what the preps are interested in and create procedural texts to then deliver to the preps.
Again, the learning here goes beyond Literacy skills as they also test the strength of thinking when delivering their lessons. In fact they are constructing analogies, visualising ideas, summarising and paraphrasing information and then reflecting on the application of these strategies in different situations. A much broader scope of learning is becoming evident in the lessons and activities the teachers plan as they dig deeply into the Victorian Curriculum to set the Learning Intentions and Success criteria.
Have great weekend.
Nieta