Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning 

Here at Karoo Primary School, we are always endeavoring to provide our students with a variety of opportunities that support their learning, wellbeing and engagement.

Over the last couple of weeks, teachers and educational support staff have been working with teaching teams and using data to pin-point support and enrichment activities for Term 1. 

Tutor Learning Initative (TLI)

In 2023 the Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) is back. TLI provides opportunities for students to work in small groups or individually with a tutor to work on skills that will help support them academically, either to catch up on their learning, or extend them further. We are fortunate to have three experienced teachers fulfilling the TLI role and working across sub-schools. This term, our whole school TLI focus will be in the area of Reading. 

• Fiona Marker is our Foundation to Year 2 TLI Tutor. Fiona is one of our whole school Literacy Leaders and the Year 1 PLC leader. 
• Simone Vitas is our Year 3-4 TLI tutor. She is also our whole school Mathematics Learning Specialist and Year 3-4 Sub-School Leader.
• Robyn Harris is our Year 5-6 TLI tutor. She is also our whole school English Learning Specialist and Year 5-6 Sub-School Leader. 

Literacy Enhancement Activity Program (LEAP)

The Literacy Enhancement Activity Program supports students between Foundation and Year 6 who are experiencing difficulties with literacy development. Some students require intensive practice with literacy skills and their learning is best supported in small group teaching. The LEAP program has been designed for groups of up to four students to allow explicit instruction and modelling of key skills and specific, immediate feedback. Students across the school are currently being assessed for LEAP and groups will be formed over the coming week. Students involved work with a trained Educational Support staff person multiple times a week in order to support their literacy development in 1 of the 4 areas, including:

• Oral Language
• Phonological Awareness
• Reading Comprehension
• Writing  

High Abilities Students (HAS)

Miss Sasha Goss is our school’s High Abilities Practice Leader. She also oversees the Achieving Students Program (HAS) and Victorian High Achievers Program run by Virtual School Victoria. This term, Miss Goss will specifically be working with Year 3 and 5 students on a weekly basis to further develop and extend their math problem solving skills. 

*A reminder also that next week on Wednesday 1st March we have our ‘Born to Soar’ parent information session in the library from 7-8:30pm. 

Student Leadership

We have three formal sections of student leaders’ program which aim to develop student’s leadership capacity and confidence. 

• PLAY Leaders 

Mr Matt Leeson worked with our Year 5 students earlier in the year, training them to become our official 2023 PLAY Leaders. Each day at lunch time, PLAY Leaders are rostered on to provide leadership and guidance to younger students through a variety of fun games, all the while developing their own capacity to be a leader to others. At our next assembly, PLAY Leaders will receive their official badges.  For more on PLAY Leaders, go to our newsletter page 'Student Achievements.'

• Representative Council Leadership Program 

Miss Jess Cole and Mr Josh Edwards will be working with our SRC this year. Each class is currently in the process of selecting their SRC representative. Any student can choose to be elected and students interested need to prepare and deliver a short speech for consideration. SRC reps will meet regularly throughout each term across the year to discuss, plan, and support a variety of whole school events and activities. 

• Student Leadership Program 

Miss Gemma Wild and Mr Matt Leeson work with our senior school leaders on a weekly basis to develop their leadership skills further and support them to be confident role models. This term, they will be focusing on the themes of team work, decision making, critical thinking, organisation, communication, honesty and fairness. 

Lunch Time Activities 

Lunch time activities are a way of engaging students by providing them diverse opportunities and activities they can do in order to engage in supervised play, develop a particular skill set and/or meet new people, and develop friendships. Our first round of clubs will commence next week. Please talk to your child/ren about what is on offer and if they would like to come along. 

• Monday: Mrs Robyn Harris with ‘English Fun’. Join in the fun and magic of books and all things English! 

Week 5 – All students: Butterfly Adjectives

Week 6 – Year 3 -6: English Board Games 

Week 7 – Foundation, Year 1 and 2: The Hungry Caterpillar 

Week 8 – All students: Dreamtime stories (linked to Harmony Day)

Week 9 – All students: English Board Games

Week 10 – All students: Buddy reading 

• Tuesday: Mr Matt Leeson with ‘PE Fun’ Are you excited for the Karoo House Athletics day on Friday 19th May? Would you like to start training now? Do you want to get a head start on your competitors? If you answered yes to these questions, the ‘PE Fun’ lunchtime club is for you! Every Tuesday until the end of Term 1 the ‘PE Fun’ lunchtime club will take place on the turf area. Each week the focus will be on a different athletics event. The events that will be covered include the 100m sprint (Week 5), hurdles (Week 6), long jump (week 7), discus (Week 8), shot put (week 9) and vortex javelin (Week 10). Bring a friend, join the fun and be prepared to get physically active! Please Note: The ‘PE Fun’ lunchtime club is only available for students from Years 3 – 6. 

• Wednesday: Miss Gemma Wild with ‘Rainbow Club’  The Rainbow Club is a safe and inclusive space for all students to express their individuality, whether it be through dance, drawing or expressing their creativity through art activities (such as bracelet making). Last year, students came up with the following rules for the Rainbow Club:

Rules:

Acceptance

Inclusive

No negativity

Behave in a fun way

Open-minded

Weird, welcoming and wonderful!

During our first Rainbow Club we will revisit these and personalise them to 2023.

• Thursday: Mr Adam Horne and the Media Captains Ethan and Raymond with ‘Media Fun’.  Calling all tech heads! Media Club will be happening every Thursday during Term 1! Come to the Media room at the start of Lunchtime to join in the fun. But be quick, as space is limited. Below is a schedule for when you will be able to take part! 

Week 5 – Foundation, Year 1 and 2: Drawing with Paint

Week 6 – Year 3 and 4: recording with mics

Week 7 – Year 5 and 6: recording with mics

Week 8 – Foundation, Year 1 and 2: Online games

Week 9 – Year 3 and 4: Basics of coding

Week 10 – Year 5 and 6: Basics of coding        

Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Friday: Mrs Simone Vitas with ‘Maths Fun’. Why was the math book crying?  Because it had so many problems! 😊 If you love Maths or love numbers or simply want to find out how fun Maths can be, come along to the Karoo Maths Club!  Maths Lunch club will be held every Friday in 4M (Room 3) from 2:20-2:40pm.

Week 5 – Year 3/4

Week 6 – Foundation, Year 1/2

Week 7 – Year 5/6

Week 8 – Year 3/4

Week 9 – Foundation, Year 1/2

Week 10 – Year 5/6

So come join us for your chance to participate in variety of maths games, test your problem solving skills and even investigate some maths ideas. Hope to see you and your friends there! 

If your child has an idea for the next round of lunch time clubs, I would love to hear about it! Please encourage them to come and talk to me about their ideas, as next term we will introduce a new round of clubs for our students to enjoy. 

Wellbeing Groups 

For more on these, please make your way to the following page, where the wonderful Courtney Hoffmann will explain further.

Whether it be intervention, support, enrichment and/or extension, we are proud of the variety of programs we can offer our students to support their unique learning, wellbeing and engagement needs. We hope that you can also be excited about the opportunities on offer and promote those that your child/ren become a part of, and support them to get the very best out of them. Remember, we are just a phone call or visit away, so if you want to learn more please come and talk with us. 

See you about the school, 

Ms Ashley Kuusela 

Assistant Principal