A message from Margie   

Sports Day 

We loved our unusual Sports Day this year! It felt very 'grown up' using the Uraidla town oval this year, due to flooding on our own school oval. We were lucky with the weather too; although we were looking at the clouds and the BOM all day, the rain held off and we managed to complete almost all of the events... getting through the sprints in record time! 🤩

 A highlight of the day was the wonderful Welcome to Country, didgeridoo and dance performance by Kyle, Jarrell and Dave Booth. This is Dave and his family's second visit to our school this year, and we look forward to continuing and strengthening this relationship in the coming years.  Dave has a thriving aboriginal art business too and we hope to invite him to work with our students in the future. You can find Dave's work on your socials too @davesaboriginalart .   

Congratulations to Flinders for winning the shield. Well done to all of the House Captains for leading your Houses with care and enthusiasm. It was heart-warming to see the students cheer one another on, regardless of the house colour they were wearing.  

Thank you to all of the families who helped teachers during the day, and who helped us to pack up quickly; we loved how everyone just pitched in to help - Go Team Uraidla! 

We hope you enjoy these photos of Sports Day 2022. 

Challenge-seeking 

Each student is working on completing their personal goal by the end of term.  Please remember to ask your child how they are going with their goal. Do they still need to practice more? Do they need to ask someone else to help them? Have they already achieved their goal, and if so, can they set a more challenging goal? We will be asking the students to share their goals with us in the last week of term. Good luck! 

Transition 

On Wednesday we welcomed our 20 new 2023 Reception students and their families in a half-day transition program. The students all seemed so excited and ready to be at school, and they had a great time with Katie experiencing school life. We were very proud of our current Receptions, who helped the new students in the yard at recess play time and made them feel so welcome. 

Data snapshot from Troy 

Staff at Uraidla Primary School have been spending time analysing student data this term. We received our NAPLAN and PAT results for 2022 and have been looking at how our students went and what are our steps for 2023. Here is a summary on student achievement and growth for 2022. 

NAPLAN 

In 2022 students in Years three and five did NAPLAN testing for the very first time (due to NAPLAN being cancelled in 2020 for those in Year 5). 

Year 3 Reading 17/20 students reached Standard of Educational Achievement (SEA) in reading with 11/20 students achieving the higher bands (two bands above standard). 

Year 3 Writing 17/20 students reached (SEA) with 6/20 achieving the higher bands. 

Year 3 Maths 17/20 students reached SEA with 7/20 achieving higher bands. 

Year 3 Spelling 16/20 students met SEA with 8/20 achieving the higher bands. 

Year 3 Grammar and Punctuation 17/20 students met SEA with 11/20 achieving the higher bands. 

In Year 5 Reading 14/15 students met SEA with 12/15 achieving the higher bands. 

Year 5 Writing 14/15 student met SEA with 5/15 achieving higher bands. 

Year 5 Maths 14/15 students met SEA with 8/15 achieving higher bands.

Year 5 Spelling 15/15 students met SEA with 7/15 achieving higher bands.

Year 5 Grammar and Punctuation 14/15 students met SEA with 6/15 achieving higher bands. 

The images above show average scores for Year 3 and 5 in all areas of testing for NAPLAN. The box and scatter plot shows the range of scores for all of our students, and the black line indicated the median score. We are pleased that in year 3 and 5 all of the median scores are at least one band above SEA, and for some tests averaging in the high bands. In all test areas, our school’s NAPLAN scores are averaging higher than like schools in South Australia. 

PAT Testing

Late Term 3 students in Years 3-6 completed the PAT reading and Maths testing. This is a diagnostic test which gives the school and teachers information on areas for development for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023. 

In PAT Reading 58/64 students in Years 3-6 reached SEA with 52% of students reaching significantly above the SEA. From Year 4-6 26/42 students showed growth greater than one year in their reading. 

In PAT M 61/64 students in Years 3-6 reached SEA with 34% reaching significantly above SEA. From Year 4-6 31/42 students made more than one year’s growth in their Maths. 

Looking and analysing student data from 2022 has allowed us to make adjustments to our Site Improvement Plan for 2023 providing professional learning to develop staff and student knowledge in areas where we would like to see more growth next year. 

If you would like to talk to your teacher about your child’s data please make contact with them to discuss their achievement and growth this year. 

End of Year Events  

The last few weeks of every school year are always exciting and full of action, and this year is no exception. Please take note of the dates and times above. 

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers 

We are so grateful for all of the family members who volunteer at school, whether it be driving students to and from events, attending excursions to supervise students, listening to children read, being a member of Parents and Friends or Governing Council, or any of the other ways that you help us! We couldn't do it without you. 

We would like an opportunity to thank you in person, so please join us at 9am on Wednesday December 14th at the 'Uraidla Primary Cafe' located at the gym galley, for a hot beverage made by our very own barista Sara. ☕ 

End of Year Performance 

A highlight in our school calendar is always the end of year school performance on Tuesday 13th December and we are looking forward to watching our kids and all of their hard work towards this in action.  We also enjoy a tradition of gathering after the concert as a school community.  There will be some catering options organised by the Parents and Friends group for the night and we ask that you pre-order via the Flexi app before Monday 5th December to assist with catering and preventing wastage. This will consist of hamburgers, a sausage sizzle and fruit boxes (vegetarian and gluten free options available).  You are encouraged to BYO picnic rug, own food if you prefer and drinks to stay after the concert and celebrate the end of year with the school community.   The very popular ice cream van will be onsite also on the night.  

We hope to see you there! 

Margie