Learning and Teaching

Welcome to the learning and teaching space of the newsletter. We look forward to sharing everything, Learning and Teaching, at Wembley PS! 

Please be sure to visit the Wellbeing newsletter tab to read about how we are supporting the learning and wellbeing of our students. 

THE FIRST 15 DAYS OF LEARNING

At the beginning of each school year, teachers and students revisit learning structures and processes through the 'First 15 Days' programs. These programs are delivered in each of the major curriculum areas of Reading, Writing and Maths, as well as a 'Learning to Learn' program. 

These have been developed within the school to remind students of important routines, processes and expectations surrounding their learning environment, as well as crucial lessons providing opportunities for effective collaboration and getting to know new classmates and teachers.

Teachers will also be using these first 15 days to conduct some assessments to better understand their students' academic strengths and needs, while taking the time to get to know their interests and passions.

MEET & GREET PARENT AND TEACHER SESSIONS

In order to establish vital links between home and school, 'Meet and Greet' sessions have been scheduled for Wednesday February 15 and Thursday February 16, beginning at 3:45pm.

These initial meetings will be scheduled for ten minutes and will be an opportunity for you to meet your child's class teacher/s, visit their classroom/s and to share information about your child's learning, and transition into the new school year. Whilst students are encouraged to attend the June 'Student Led Conference' which they facilitate, this initial 'Meet and Greet' is primarily for the parent/s and the teacher/s to meet, as such we ask that students do not attend, if it can be helped.

The meetings will be held face-to-face this year, after a couple of years of online interviews. If you would prefer to hold your Meet and Greet session via Webex, please contact your child's teacher/s requesting this, once you have booked your appointment time, and they will send you a meeting link.

HOW TO BOOK

You will be able to book your interview time/s with your child/rens classroom teacher/s via the Sentral parent portal. Bookings opened at 10.00am on Tuesday 7 February and will close at 3:00pm on Tuesday 14 February.

When the booking window opens, please login to the Sentral parent portal: https://wembleyps.sentral.com.au/portal2/#!/login , click the 'Interview' option and follow the prompts.

Specialist and Intervention teachers will also be available for appointments until 4:45pm on both afternoons, and an interview may be requested with these teachers via email at wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Bookings with these staff members however are not compulsory.

If you have any difficulties booking an appointment, please contact the office on wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au or 9314 7054.

COLLABORATIVE TEAM DATA DAYS

At Wembley Primary School, given the context of our Professional Learning Community focus on ‘collaboration’, we have allocated the implementation of Collaborative Team Data Days for our teachers. Each teaching team will be allocated one data day per term to enable them to further collaborate and focus on: 

• creating SMART Goals
• analysing cohort and class data
• instructional groupings
• differentiation and moderation in preparation for reporting
• implementation of Essential Learnings, and 
• mobilising actions from our Annual Implementation Plan.

The Data Days begin in Week 4, from Tuesday 14 February, and will occur over the next few weeks. Please see the 'Important Dates' section pf the newsletter, which specifies the day that your child/ren’s teacher/s will be engaged in a data day. On Data Days, teachers will be in attendance at school, however a casual replacement teacher (CRT) will teach the class.

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI)

Wembley continues to run its Response to Intervention program (RTI) this year. RTI is designed to support our highest needs students in their academic progress, by providing additional time, support and resources, often in the form of small group instruction. 

Since its inception, RTI has taken many forms, evolving with the school and the needs of its students. At present our RTI team consists of one teacher, Zarah Moloney, who will initially provide small group support to students in Year 1 - Year 4. 

RTI will commence from week 4, Monday 13 February, and will initially target students in Year 1 - Year 4. The small instructional groups will focus on phonological awareness, supporting students with their reading, spelling and writing. Academic data such as: PM Benchmark reading assessments, Reading and Writing Teacher Judgement data and Phonological Awareness Screening, has been used to identify students who may benefit from involvement in RTI. Depending on a child’s year level and allocated group they will receive small group instruction 2-3 times a week. Zarah will also be visiting classrooms in the senior part of the school, providing differentiated learning supports, resources and materials for older students who are not part of the current RTI program but who would benefit from additional support. 

If your child has been invited to participate in RTI, you will receive communication from Zarah Moloney next week, via Sentral. Participation is not compulsory, but highly recommended. If you do not wish for your child to participate we ask that you communicate this in a timely manner so that we can offer support to another student. 

As many of you may be aware, the field of education is currently experiencing a national teacher shortage which has left many schools unable to fill all of their classroom teaching positions. Fortunately, Wembley PS has not found itself in this position, however we were unable to recruit additional teachers of satisfactory experience to staff our preferred RTI structure of three intervention teachers. It is crucial to us that we employ highly skilled and experienced teachers in these roles, as they work with our students with highest needs. 

Consequently, the number of groups that can be served by Zarah, our solo intervention teacher at present, is reduced in comparison to previous years. There may be students who have previously participated in RTI, who may no longer be a participant, or who may be on a waitlist. We will do our best to communicate with the parents of such students, but do also encourage you to reach out to your classroom teacher if you were expecting your child to participate and have not received communication on the matter. Classroom teachers are of course aware of the learning and wellbeing needs of their students and will continue to provide ongoing learning support, and small group instruction within the classroom. 

We look forward to commencing RTI this year and are very fortunate to have Zarah, a highly skilled and experienced teacher, who has taught intervention in school settings across Australia, and provides extensive support to our students and teachers. 

NAPLAN 2023

As mentioned at the end of last year, this year's NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) is running in Term 1, as opposed to Term 2; this is a nationwide scheduling decision, independent of Wembley Primary School’s organisational structures. The formal test window for NAPLAN 2023 will be 15 - 27 March. 

NAPLAN is a series of tests covering: writing, reading, language conventions and numeracy for students in Year 3 and Year 5 in primary schools. 

The following dates will apply at Wembley Primary School, for both Year 3 and Year 5 students: 

Parents should note that catch up opportunities for the writing test can only be scheduled for students in Year 3, in the case of student absences. Catch up writing tests are only allowable in Year 5 if there is a disruption to the test due to technological issues. 

NAPLAN tests are conducted online for all subjects, except for Writing in Year 3, which is conducted on paper. Year 3 students will access their online tests on school provided iPads, whilst Year 5 students will conduct the tests on either their own Macbook, or a school provided Macbook, if they do not participate in the 1:1 Macbook program. 

We encourage all students to participate in NAPLAN, however there are circumstances where families may wish to withdraw their child from taking part. In this instance we encourage you to reach out to either your child's classroom teacher, or Katie McClue the Assistant Principal for students in Years 3-6, on wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au or 9314-7054. 

Testing adjustments are available for our students with formal diagnoses, or who usually receive significant classroom adjustments; further information will be sent to all families in Year 3 and Year 5 next week regarding this. 

Parents seeking additional information about NAPLAN, including test demonstration pages, are encouraged to visit the NAP website: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site 

YEAR ONE ENGLISH ONLINE ASSESSMENTS

In 2023, the Department of Education have made the decision that all Year One students in Victoria will have their literacy skills assessed through the English Online Interview (EOI) during Term 1. This is a new requirement for Year One government school students, and is aimed to support them in learning to read by providing teachers with some targeted assessment data.

We have initially planned for each Year One teacher to be release for 2 testing days, and will evaluate whether we need to provide more days to assess all of our students, after the initial testing days have completed.

On the following days, your child's classroom teacher will be/has been replaced by a Casual Release Teacher (CRT) to enable them to work one-on-one with each student to conduct the English Online Assessments:

1A and 1B- Monday February 6, and Monday February 13. 

1C and 1D - Tuesday February 7, and Tuesday February 14. 

We look forward to using data gained from these assessments to better understand our students' academic strengths and needs.