Message from the Principal 

WELL DONE & THANK YOU CAMPERS

Our Year 6’s had a GREAT Anglesea Camp last week. Camp provides our students with a wonderful opportunity to try new things and challenge themselves. It might be acting with courage or being open to trying new things by having a go on the zipline and facing a fear of heights. It might be engaging in dialogue and connecting with others to share ideas, information or feelings by working with a group of peers to complete a range of initiative activities involving leadership and teamwork. It may even be as simple as being open to the new and asking questions and seeking new connections by being able to meet new friends or broaden a friendship group. Our Year 6 Camp is definitely one of the highlights (or should we say HILAT’s) of the year and I know our students will remember the experience long into the future.

These opportunities are only organised thanks to the dedication and commitment of our staff and of course the parents that attended as well. Many thanks to Ros Mackie, Steph O’Donnell, Joshua Hick, Lynsey Barrett, Jordan Daley, Brad Ryan, Sheryl Munks-Callahan, Delian Mills, Jayce Dall’Amico and Taryn Francis.

ANNUAL REPORT 2024 DATA

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we continue sharing some of the data from our 2024 Annual Report which as presented to School Council on 4th March.

2024 NAPLAN Learning Data highlights the large percentage of students in Years 3 and 5 achieving in the “Strong of Exceeding” proficiency levels. All of these percentages were well above the State average and also importantly above the Similar School average. This included 86.4% of Year 3 students in Reading with Similar School level at 81% and State average at 68.7%. Similarly 86.3% of Year 5 students in Reading with Similar Schools at 84.4% and State average at 73%. In Year 3 Numeracy, the school percentage was 78.5% which was the same at Similar Schools with the State average being 65.5% and the Year 5 Numeracy percentages were 83.8% for the school, 79.7% for Similar Schools and 67.3% for the State average.

Of note the 2023 School Performance Report measures our school as “High” in the Learning Performance Group. This included a 2% improvement in amount of students with High or Medium relative growth NAPLAN (from Year 3 to 5) in Reading.

These strong learning outcomes were delivered through our continued focus on the FISO dimensions of Excellence in Teaching & Learning and Assessment under two key improvement strategies:

• Further develop, document and embed whole school collaborative curriculum planning and instruction.
• Strengthen teacher capacity to analyse and use learning and wellbeing data to inform differentiated learning.

These strong outcomes were delivered through developing teacher capacity to plan a differentiated program that ensures challenge and progress of each student. The school prioritises planning times for each teaching team supported by an assistant principal. This leadership structure which also includes a School Improvement Team (SIT) leader at each level supported staff to develop stronger data literacy and planning for learning became more dynamic and focused on the next “two-week” block period. 

Over the course of the year common templates and protocols enabled consistency across the school and an increased focus on teachers using data to inform teaching. SIT leaders and teachers reported increased confidence and competence in use of the PLC Inquiry cycle to improve practice and outcomes. A Maths 2.0 Scope & Sequence was also developed as part of a Community of Practice project with 3 other local schools.

Other key areas of Learning included the Tutor Learning Program being successfully delivered through 4 x key staff members and a variety of learning approaches. A Reading Support Program was delivered successfully including significant staff professional learning around synthetic phonics (Prep, Year 1/2 & ES team). A High Abilities Program was also successfully delivered including identification of students, VHAP, Maths Olympiad & Maths Games and Writing Extension. 

All teams completed three PLC cycles including celebration and capture of learning at the end of each cycle. Peer observation started to become interwoven within the cycle, along with targeted and directed professional learning at whole school and team level. High Impact Teaching Strategies were built into all cycles with precision and effectiveness. High Impact Wellbeing Strategies were also a central theme in each cycle

WE VALUE YOUR CONTRIBUTION

We know that maintaining and extending these strong data sets are a team effort. We value your contribution and seek your continued support.

At home, you can assist your child to find an extra 10 minutes a day to read. It might be as simple as 10 minutes less on technology or reading for 10 minutes before dinner. We know that you can become better at something if you focus on it more. Reading becomes easier and more enjoyable the more you do it! If you need some motivation have a think about this: If your child currently reads for just 1 minute a day, they will read 21,000 words this year. Increasing this by 10 minutes a day will lead to 321,000 words being read in a year. It also works for those students that are already reading for the suggested 15 minutes a day. Currently these readers would be churning through 1.8 million words a year. Ten minutes more would take this to over 2.7 million! 

Help your child to choose different types of books to read and take turns to read with them. Talk about the book and look for words to pay special attention too. Most importantly, make the experience as fun and engaging as possible.

STUDENT AGENCY CONFERENCES

This is a reminder that our Student Agency Conferences will be held on Thursday 27th March. On this day, students only attend school for the duration of their conference. These are 15 minutes each and they will run between 9am and 6.30pm. Bookings are now open via Compass and they will close on Wednesday 26th at 12pm.

Please note that the conference structure will be 15 minutes with the teacher, student and parents. As is always the case, should you wish to discuss any issue with your child’s teacher throughout the year, you can contact them to make a suitable time.

NAPLAN ONLINE

This week and last week, our Year 3 & 5 students have been completing the annual NAPLAN assessments. This year, the tests continue to be completed online using iPads. The value of using this platform is that the test will adapt to better match the student’s level as opposed to a one size fits all where often there is only one or two questions that stretch students at the top end. The online platform will also mean that in time schools and families will be able to access the data and results in a timely manner. In the past, NAPLAN results have been sent to schools in September which is well past the used by date for our teachers to use the assessments to guide their teaching and planning. 

James Penson,

Principal.