Teaching and Learning 

Dear Karoo Community,

Welcome to November! A time where flowers are blooming, birds and chirping, and for me unfortunately hay fever sets in. It is also the time where teachers work closely together to undertake whole school assessment tasks to acknowledge the achievements of students, identify learning areas for improvement and highlight the next steps.

I wanted to share some thoughts on why we at Karoo highly value monitoring and assessing our students' progress.

IMPORTANCE of Assessment

Assessment plays a crucial role in education and has importance in teaching and learning. It provides valuable information about students’ progress, identifies areas of improvement, and helps enhance the teaching and learning process. It serves as a tool for measuring students’ knowledge and skills, allowing teachers to gauge their understanding of the subject matter and identify any gaps in learning. By evaluating students’ performance through assessments, teachers can tailor their instructional strategies to meet individual learning needs and provide targeted support where necessary. This enhances students’ learning experience and promotes their overall academic growth.

Moreover, assessment serves as a means of motivation and encouragement for students. When students receive feedback on their performance, they become aware of their strengths and areas for improvement, enabling them to set goals and work towards improvement. Regular assessments also contribute to developing students’ self-confidence and self-esteem by recognising their achievements and progress. Additionally, assessments help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills as students are encouraged to analyze and evaluate information to produce well-structured responses. It also fosters a sense of responsibility and accountability in students as they become active participants in their own learning process.

Part of our assessment process at Karoo Primary School is providing opportunities for students to articulate how they feel they are going and identifying what helps them learn.

I have taken some time to find out what helps our students learn, in Reading.

"When I don't use my tracking finger I lose where I am, and when I use my tracking finger I don't lose where I am"

Kass 1K

"We use our Readers Notebook to help with our reading. We keep track of our thoughts in our Readers Notebook"

Layla and Ava 3B

" I do a Roll and Read and I tap the words as I read, I also ask questions when I read"

Jay FG

"If I get stuck on what a word means, I ask someone what it means. I sound out the words if it is tricky and I skip a word then keep reading, then I go back to see if it makes sense" 

Tom 2F

"I like to re-read the sentence 2 or 3 times so I can get the meaning and understanding of the book. I also take notes in my Readers Notebook of words and questions that I want to know more about"

Layla 6W

"I use different strategies such as predicting and visualising to help me understand what I am reading. I use my Readers Notebook to write about my reading and to keep my thoughts"

" I like a quiet place to read that is not super bright. I ask someone if there is a word I don't know, and I sometimes visualise the pictures as a I read"

Myles 4B

CLUBS @ Karoo

Our CLUBS @ Karoo continue to be as popular as ever. Students are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of clubs during their lunch and afternoon breaks. It has been wonderful to witness students joining in these clubs, they are developing their social confidence as they mix and interact with different peers and teachers.

Here are the fantastic clubs we have on offer in Term 4!

Have a wonderful extra day of rest on Tuesday and I look forward to seeing you all around our brilliant school.

Warm regards,

Peta Phillips