From Marie

Some upcoming dates you need to be aware of:

• Monday 10 March - Public Holiday
• Tuesday 11 March - Curriculum Day, no student at school on this day

Curriculum Day

So, you might ask, what are teachers doing on the upcoming Curriculum Day? All of our classroom teachers will be working with Anna Kapnaoullas, numeracy coach from Top Ten.  Like our move to more explicit teaching of reading, using research evidence of how the brain learns something new, we are jumping into more explicit teaching of numeracy. Anna will lead us through the research and resources that will enable all students to access the numeracy curriculum and improve their learning outcomes. These resources were purchased with some of the $10 000 that we won in the Eastland Shop for your School Competition in 2024.

Eastland - Shop for your School 2025 - Can we win again?

Exciting News!  We are thrilled to be part of Eastland’s competition, Shop For Your School!

Help us secure the first prize of $8,000 cash by simply shopping at participating Fresh Food Retailers and K-Mart, Target, Big W and Harris Scarfe at Eastland from 11 March to 8 April. From 7am on 11 March, scan the QR code around the school or visit eastland.com.au, to register your details.  You will then be able to upload the receipt details from your docket. There is a chance to earn a bonus 250 points for our school when you register and go into the draw to WIN weekly prizes for yourself!  Let’s rally together for a chance to win big for our school! See the designated Shop for your School page in this newsletter for more details.

Playground Play

It has been great to see our students engaging in positive play options outside at lunchtimes.  There is some creative, and cross-age, activities underway, Prepy Beauty Parlour, giant Jenga, Marble Run, Twister and more:

NAPLAN Starts next week

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy  (NAPLAN) for Grade 3 and 5 students is due to commence next Wednesday, 12 March. Each year students across Australia are tested in Numeracy, Reading, Writing and Conventions of Language (spelling and grammar). These tests are a snap shot of student learning on a particular day in time. At the school level we use this student achievement data to determine the successful indicators of our teaching and learning programs.  Are we supporting students who need assistance?  Are we providing challenge to those who need it?  In 2024, we looked very closely at the Grade 3 Literacy data as evidence that the approaches to explicit teaching of reading and writing were making a difference.  

The table below shows the percentage of Grade 3 students who were achieving at or above standard in literacy at Mullum Primary School compared to schools with similar student family occupations and then against schools across the whole of Victoria. Our 2024 Grade 3 students, recieved three years of the more explicit teaching of reading and writing and we are excited by their results for literacy, with data clearly showing us that the explicit teaching of literacy, using a Science of Learning approach, is working for our students, your children.  In numeracy, however, our data has remained static, hovering around the similar school and state scores.  The numeracy data has prompted us to move to provide a more direct and explicit approach to teaching numeracy, which includes modelling and providing students with worked examples. Purchasing new resources for mathematics and providing teaching staff with professional learning in this area is a priority for 2025, we expect to see an impact of this work in 2026.

Make It & Race It - Fathering Project 

All fathers, father figures and kids are invited to come along and join in the fun of Mullum Primary’s Make It & Race It event, hosted by the Fathering Project! Get creative by building your own race car out of cardboard, decorating it, and then racing against your friends in a fun-filled showdown. Start saving up big cardboard boxes now so you have the best materials to craft your ultimate racing machine. Don’t miss this exciting day of creativity, competition and connection. On the school oval, Sunday 23 March, 2-3:30pm. RSVP will be via Compass-watch out for the notification. 

Collections at the office

Just a reminder to everyone that we are still collecting 10c bottles and cans in the grey bin at the office, also we have a green container there for all of your egg shells to create grit for the chickens to boost their calcium levels.