The Newlands Times

Leadership

Welcome back to all of our students and families this week! We hope you had an incredible break and are ready for Term 3. The kids have jumped back into the classroom and I have seen so much learning take place this week, it like the holidays never existed. There are so many exciting events coming up this term, organised by both our staff and our Parents and Friends Association. We encourage you to look on our website and SENTRAL for more information. The not-to-be missed event for the term is our School Production. So much work has already taken place by the Specialist Team, staff and students to ensure that our two nights at the Darebin Arts Centre (4th & 5th of September) are fabulous. Important information about the event will be in next week’s newsletter. 

 

What happens at Newlands Primary School between 8:50 & 9:00…We call it our Soft Start.

 

Above is one of the pages in the Newlands Primary School wellbeing principles, processes and procedures handbook. We will be launching this handbook to our community. More details will be provided very soon!

 

It’s only week 1 and there has been some great learning taking place in the classroom. 

 

Foundation

I visited Juan’s classroom this week and joined in the development of vocabulary that you mind find in recipes. It was great fun to join in on the actions of corta, mezcla & pela amongst others as Juan prepares our foundation students to be contestants on MasterChef season #68. There was some passionate cutting and mixing that made the class very fun! In English, I jumped in Katherine’s room and listened to the students read a book together on the Interactive Screen. It seems like ‘Ned’ is doing very well!

 

1/2

The school had some visitors from the Department of Education this week. While they were here, I was able to show off our new Learning Worlds. The visiting teachers were so impressed by how well our students were listening and working together. They all stopped by Kaya’s room to listen to her Collective in reading and could not believe she had only been an official teacher at Newlands for 3 days. We are all so excited to have her as a part of the team!

 

3/4 

While it may have seemed that the students were laughing and enjoying themselves like a summer time pool party, the students were actually involved in some fantastic hands on learning experiences about volume and capacity. It was excellent to see the students estimating, comparing and using formal and informal measurements outside of the classroom.  I would also like to say that the school has received some great feedback in relation to our 3/4 circle time this week. The teachers have been using NAIDOC week resources as a way for our students to share their thoughts, feelings and insights into indigenous culture. The 3/4 teachers have set up such a fantastic safe space for our students to build relationships and connection. 

 

5/6

I apologised to Karren & Lisa for not attending their Open to Learning Cultural Week celebration last term. To demonstrate what I missed out on, Karren had Rocco share  with me the fantastic work he completed . Rocco excitedly shared his trip to the Dominican Republic, the flights, the accommodation, the landmarks, beaches and restaurants he had booked. It was fantastic to see all the learning that took place in the classroom and for our students to want to share their work with so much enthusiasm. 

 

Building Works

While the Gym was officially opened at Ross’ send off last term, the large amount of works taking place at the school continues: 

  • The front fences for the school.
  • The automatic gate between the administration and gymnasium which opens at 7:30am and closes at 9:30am. They reopen at 3:00pm and close at 5:45pm. 
  • The staffroom – Our staff are finally receiving a room upgrade. Works are currently being finalised and should be completed in the next few weeks.
  • Outside Bag Rack structures – Currently outside of Christine’s room a structure is being added for bags. Once this has been completed and ticked off, we will continue with the other areas without a designated bag area. 
  • We are happy to announce that a new playground will be built ready for the beginning of 2025. We would like to thank the PFA for their significant contribution towards the playground. 

Gymnasium has been leased for the next 3 years. 

Both Coburg and Darebin Basketball Associations will be utilising our school gymnasium 7 days a week for the next three years. They will use the hall from 6:00pm Mon-Friday and from 9:00am on weekends. We are happy to be able to support the many students that play basketball on the weekends. Both associations have agreed to contribute to our school gym with seating, seating for the change rooms and the purchase of a scoring table. We look forward to building a strong relationship with both associations!

 

NAPLAN Results

Students in Grades 3 & 5 will receive their NAPLAN results today. We want to thank our students & teachers in remaining positive about having their normal program interrupted to complete these national assessments. NAPLAN results at Newlands have never been a surprise, as the school is always collecting data about each individual student to ensure that it is meeting the needs of the students. 

 

Below are our results for 2024  and our comparison against similar schools (schools around Australia serving students from statistically similar backgrounds to the selected school) & network schools (35 schools in the Darebin/Yarra network). 

 

Grade 3 Results

 

Grade 5 Results

Newlands will continue to ensure that we prepare our students for success not only academically but emotionally and socially. 

 

Writing Rules/Maths Club

The incredible teachers at Newlands are running a before-school program for selected students. This is just a reminder for families to please have your child ready for the 8:20am start. We appreciate your support. 

 

We hope you have a fantastic weekend,

Luke