Hi Solway Community,

As part of our 2026 Annual Implementation Plan, a key area of focus for our school is continuing to strengthen our responsive teaching practices to ensure every student is actively engaged in their learning and that teaching is consistently meeting students at their point of need.

Over recent weeks, staff have been engaged in professional learning at both a school and network level, led by Bron Ryrie Jones and Brydon O'Neill Guy. This work has focused on responsive teaching practices, particularly how teachers check for understanding throughout lessons to ensure all students are participating, thinking and learning. More recently, Brydon has worked alongside our leadership team, modelling lessons focused on retrieval practice, supporting students to bring previously learnt information from long term memory back into working memory so it can be strengthened and applied in new learning. Our leaders are continuing to build their understanding and classroom practices so we can support consistent, evidence informed teaching across the school.

Mrs Watkins and I also had the opportunity to attend the recent Riversdale Network Principals Conference, where Bron delivered the keynote address. It was affirming to hear the strong connection between current educational research and the instructional practices we are embedding here at Solway.

Attendance

Regular attendance continues to be a priority at Solway. Every minute of learning counts, and even arriving five minutes late each day, over a sustained period of time can add up to a significant loss of learning across the year. At last week’s assembly, I announced a new attendance initiative, with the year level achieving the highest weekly attendance percentage earning the opportunity to choose our bell music for the following week. Last week, our whole school attendance rate sat at 95 percent, which is a strong start. Of course, we are not encouraging students to attend school when they are unwell. If your child is sick, they should absolutely be at home recovering. However, when students are well, we ask for your continued support in ensuring they are at school, on time, every day, ready to learn and connected to their school community.

Bikes and Scooters

It is wonderful to see so many of our student's riding bikes and scooters to school. A reminder to families to please speak with your children about safety when arriving at school. Students should not be riding bikes or scooters once they enter the school grounds. We ask that all students walk their bikes and scooters from the gates to the bike racks to help keep everyone safe.

Cross Country

Last week’s Cross Country was another fantastic example of our students giving their best and representing Solway so well. A big thank you to Miss Peterson and Miss Danaher for their organisation and coordination of the event, and to our Grade 3 to 6 teachers for their support throughout the day. Thank you also to the parents who volunteered their time to assist on the course and to those who came along to support and encourage our students. Congratulations to all of our students. They demonstrated great Responsibility while out on the course, encouraged one another, and showed tremendous Resilience when the running became challenging. We now look forward to sending a strong Solway team to the District Cross Country on 19 May.

Family Help

We currently have a family in our community who are seeking housing/ rental property. If you have anything available or know of someone who may be able to assist, please contact me.

2027 Enrolments Now Open

Finally, a reminder that enrolments for students starting school in 2027 are now open. If you have a child who will be ready to begin school or know friends or family who are exploring school options, information on how to enrol is available on our school website.

Thank you for your continued support and lets all strive to be “our best always”.

David Rosser

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