Principal's Message

Welcome Back

Welcome back to school and to the start of Term 2. We had some lovely weather over the Easter long weekend and I hope you got the chance to enjoy some time together as a family. I also hope that the COVID virus has not affected you or those you care about. If it has, I am sorry, and I truly hope that recovery is swift and complete.

You will have read that the mask mandate in Primary Schools no longer applies. This means that we will not be enforcing masks inside the building for students or staff. If your child feels more comfortable wearing a mask, that is fine - but it is not longer required.

We will be handing out the last batches of RA Tests to your child to take home and we encourage you to continue with this system until it is no longer supported with the free kits. I only know that we will continue with handing out enough kits to last for the first month of Term 2. After that, I am unsure. RA kits will be handed out on the first Wednesday back.

A reminder that Monday and Tuesday are pupil free and that all classes return at 8:45am on Wednesday. Monday is a public holiday (ANZAC Day) and Tuesday is a Curriculum Day for staff. OSHClub will be operating on Tuesday and you can book online through the normal process. 

ANZAC Day

Anzac Day falls on Monday and I want to recognise the efforts of the many who have defended Australia and its way of life down through history. For those who lost their lives, who were wounded, who contributed in the myriad ways to protect our land and for any who had lingering effects of these efforts - we pay tribute.

Our children, families and staff live and grow on the lands we inhabit due to the efforts of those who we will never meet - but owe a great debt of gratitude. I hope ANZAC Day can mean something significant to the reader as it is a significant day of remembrance for our country. Lest we forget.

Progress Updates for Students (Dashboards)

At the end of Term 1, you were given instructions regarding how to access your child's Student Dashboard from Compass. I hope all readers have done that so you are aware of your child's progress. Please note that these are not official reports required by the Department of Education. Dashboards are locally derived content which gives you a window into the main data sets that we track over the course of the year.

Now and then, we get parents who make queries about their child's outcomes. We use a traffic light visual, with Green being above grade level, Yellow being at grade level and Red being below grade level. We love when parents make further inquiries via their classroom teacher regarding these outcomes as that shows a high level of interest and investment in progress. It would not make sense if your child received a doctor's report with concerning data and for you to be ignoring it - and so your child's education data should pique your interest too. 

If your child had lots of red in their Dashboard, I would expect you to make immediate email contact with your child's teacher to see what you can do to assist progress in Term 2. Dashboards are not the be-all-and-end-all of education; but are good indicators of what the next steps might be if there are concerns. 

I remember when my daughter was in Grade Prep and her high-frequency word outcomes were below standard. I contacted the teacher and made plans to do extra sessions each night before dinner to arrest her slow progress. My daughter picked up really quickly and caught up with the grade level standard - and never looked back. I don't know what would have happened if the school was not sharp enough to inform me of this concern. I would never have known and would certainly never have done anything. 

If you have not done so, access Compass and check out your child's Dashboard and make contact if anything is of concern to you. The sooner we work together as a team to try to get most (if not all) data from red to either yellow or green - the better. You would not leave a health concern festering without acting - why would you do that with education?

Contents of This Newsletter

The start of term newsletters are a bit different to the usual content with different sections denoting curriculum content for Term 2. I encourage you to find your child's Grade Level tab and read what exciting things are in store for this term.

There are also some important dates and information for you to ensure a successful start to the Term.

Key Dates

Pop these into your diaries so you can plan ahead:

• Monday, April 25: ANZAC Day (no classes, no OSHClub)
• Tuesday, April 26: Curriculum Day (no classes, OSHClub running)
• Wednesday, April 27: First Day of Classes at 9am
• Monday, June 13: Queen's Birthday Holiday (no classes, no OSHClub)
• Thursday, June 23: Parent Teacher Interview Day (no normal classes - OSHClub running)
• Friday, June 24: Last Day of Term 2 (2:30pm finish)
• Monday, July 11:  Curriculum Day (no classes, OSHClub running)
• Tuesday, July 12: First Day of Term 3

Thank you for the privilege of helping us care for and educate your child. We have the best children in the world at SMPS. See you at the gate on Wednesday at 9am.

Noel