Assistant Principal Report

UP DATE re: TUTOR PROGRAM – SMALL GROUP CLASSROOM TEACHER INTERVENTION MODEL

Dear Families and Friends,

I would like to extend my sincere apologies in getting the Curriculum Newsletter out a little late, on this occasion. Some of you may, or may not, know that our school was selected to showcase our approach to the Tutor Learning Initiative by the Department of Education. This has meant that for the past two days we had two film crews on our site filming students, teachers, a parent representative and leaders sharing our experiences about our Tutor Learning model. I can proudly report back to you all that it was very successful and now we wait for the final product. Once we receive the footage we will share it with all in our community.

With the Tutor Learning Initiative Funding that we received we have been able to put in place intervention and supports for students who require Catch-up or Extension across the school, in every classroom. Through hiring additional teachers to teach the Inquiry, as a Specialist subject, we were able to provide the time for classroom teachers to plan for and implement the Tutor Learning Initiative. At this early stage of the program I can report to our community that it is going well.

What we are hearing from students about the program is that they love working in small groups, away from classroom distractions with their class teacher. Students are sharing with us their excitement and satisfaction about being able to apply skills learned back in the classroom.

For our students who are on the program the impact so far has been increased levels of motivation, engagement and focus back in classrooms. We are noticing increased levels of stamina during reading and increased confidence to apply strategies back in the classroom.

Our teachers are saying that there is a noticeable increase in student engagement and motivation. Teachers are impressed with the eagerness of students to transfer strategies learnt, when they are back in the classroom.

Finally I wish every member of our community a safe and Happy Easter as we move into our final week of the first term. Thank-you to all our wonderful parents and friends for the support you continue to provide to your children and our staff. It is so wonderful to be able to end the term face to face with you all as our restrictions ease and we return to a brighter future.

‘I trust that everything happens for a reason, even when we’re not wise enough to see it’, - Oprah.

Warmest Regards,

Kathy Cvitkovic – Assistant Principal

VICE CAPTAIN REPORT

Welcome Melton West to the second last week of Term 1. We hope you are having an extraordinary week so far. 

This week we had a film crew onsite filming some of our teachers and students. It was a very exciting and proud experience for our school. 

As your student leaders, we want to bring to your attention the importance of being SunSmart. We have noticed that there have been more and more students with no hats on when outside. Skin cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and UV exposure during childhood and adolescence has a big impact on future skin cancer risk. Research suggests that reducing UV exposure reduces skin cancer risk. We want to make sure that everyone is wearing a hat outside during Term 1 and Term 4 so we will be discussing this further during our JSC meetings with Ms Moore to come up with a solution. 

In the meantime, if you lose your hat make sure you look around your classroom or check lost property near Miss Korrina and Lady Marmalade’s office. Having your name on your belongings increases the chance of them being found. Parents, if your child has no hat or has lost theirs please try to get your child a new hat or encourage them to sit under our P-4 pergola or our wonderful Year 5/6 pergola until they have a hat. NO HAT, NO PLAY! 

Thank you for reading and please remember to be SunSmart by following our safety rules when at school.