Principal's 

Report

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Community,

Meet the Teacher

On Monday 19 February, we held a ‘Meet the Teacher’ afternoon, with our P&C generously hosting a welcome BBQ. Thank you to all the families who were able to join us for the afternoon. If you weren’t able to join us, your child’s teacher has sent home an information sheet.

Thank you to our wonderful P&C who provided a free sausage sizzle for our community. Their time, commitment to our community and support of our school is greatly appreciated.

Dental Van

Each child should have brought home an A4 size envelope with information and a permission form for a FREE dental check though Illawarra and Shoalhaven Local Health District.

This is only a fairly new service to our area and our school is one of the lucky ones selected to participate. If you child sees a dentist regularly, they can still be part of this program. Additional dental check-ups and reminders to children to care for their teeth will never be wasted.

If your child is apprehensive about seeing a dentist, parents are able to indicate if they would like to be there for the check-up, however the dental team specialise in seeing children only and your child can attend with a friend or be supported by staff.

If you have any questions or need support with the forms, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.

Life Education

Over the next couple of weeks, each class will visit the Life Education Van, participating in learning to complement our Personal Development and Health programs, covering the areas of health, social and emotional wellbeing and safety. We are lucky enough to have this program provided to our students free of change.

NAPLAN

This term, students in Year 3 and year 5 will undertake NAPLAN assessment. NAPLAN provides schools with information about your child’s learning progress in literacy and numeracy. NAPLAN is only one way we assess student learning in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

NAPLAN will take place from Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March in 2024.

Your child's teacher is getting students ready for NAPLAN and will provide appropriate support and guidance. Students will become familiar with the types of questions in the tests and the online testing platform that we use. In addition to school preparation, I want to share with you some information on how you can further support your child for NAPLAN.

Preparation for NAPLAN - Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN and do not need excessive preparation or the use of services by coaching providers. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program. If you or your child/children would like to know more about the NAPLAN online platform you can go to the public demonstration site and do some practice tests and past NAPLAN papers are also available online.

Participation in NAPLAN - Adjustments are available for students who have diverse functional abilities and needs. On a case-by-case basis, reasonable adjustments for individual students can be made so they can complete NAPLAN. Speak to your child’s teacher to discuss the adjustments available.

Assessment tips - You can support your child by reminding them to simply do their best. You can also encourage:

· a healthy diet

· drinking lots of water

· getting enough sleep

· exercise and relaxation time

These along with arriving at school on time ready to sit the test will help prepare our school to bring their best on the day.

Occupational Violence in Schools

This term, you will notice new posters around the school that aim to help support a safe and respectful culture at our school.

These posters are part of a state-wide initiative to remind everybody to treat our hard-working school staff with kindness and respect. Every school community around the state is very different. While most schools are respectful and harmonious, violence and unsafe behaviour in any form is not acceptable in schools. School staff and students have the right to learn and work in safe and respectful learning environments.

With that in mind, I encourage you to join everyone at our school in getting behind this important work to make a positive change.

We value our partnerships with you to support our students to learn, grow, and belong. It is up to us – the school and the parent-body - to be good respectful role models to our students. Together, we can create a safe and harmonious environment for our students and staff.

I hope you will support this initiative. What do you need to do? It is easy: Please treat our students and staff with kindness and respect, at all times. We are here to help you.

Kind regards

Jodi Niedermayer

Principal