Mr. Barclay's Bulletin

WELCOME TO TERM 3!!!

And just like that - we're back!  Although the weather was not the warmest I sincerely hope you all had a terrific 2-week break and managed to have some downtime where you could. 

In walking around and touching base with many of the students this week it was great to not only hear about all of the great things they got up to in their term break, but to also see them looking and feeling refreshed for the term ahead. 

I think that Mr. McKinnis is still shivering from his Ice Bucket dumping at the end of last term and want to again say thank you to all families who were able to donate money towards such a worthwhile organisation and helping us to raise funds for much-needed MND research. 

In speaking of raising funds, next weekend we have our annual trivia night which is shaping up to be a MASSIVE night! The auction and raffle items on offer are outstanding! I'll be going into the trivia night worried for my bank balance, and possibly my marriage, fearful I'll be well and truly overspending on several already identified items!  There are tickets still on sale although there are not many left! 

I am greatly looking forward to a wonderful term of teaching and learning and know that our teachers are ready to positively build on the back of the great first semester we had. 

A highlight for myself last semester was spending time with our school captains at the end of the term to undertake a 'pulse check' of how they felt things were going throughout the school. I led them through what we call a 'Compass' protocol outlining the following; 

N: What do we NEED to know or do?

S: What SUGGESTIONS do they have for improvement?

E: What are they EXCITED about?

W: What if anything is WORRYING them? 

Their responses were amazing and included the following as a snapshot... 

N: What do we NEED to know or do?

• Run more fundraisers,
• Run more lunchtime and recess clubs,
• Help with grants and getting money for the school,

S: What SUGGESTIONS do they have for improvement?

• Planning another colour run, 
• Having year 6 names on the back of jumpers, 
• Doing more learning rotations, 
• Making our school even more sustainable, 
• Be involved in school council!!!, 
• Have changes to the Uniform, 
• Have NPS Keep Cups and Drink Bottles.

E: What are they EXCITED about?

• The school concert, 
• Another colour run! 
• Jump Rope for eart, 
• More sporting events, 
• Possibly selling hot chocolate during term 3 on Fridays. 

W: What if anything is WORRYING them? 

• Absolutely nothing - apart from starting high school! :)

I have my work cut out for me! ;) 

As a leadership team, we'll revisit this in the coming weeks and see what we can action and where. 

Thank you everyone and have a great weekend! :) 

Kind Regards,

Corrie.  

Newtown PS is Social

Are you connected with our social media accounts?

Did you know that we are on Instagram and Facebook? We love sharing our achievements and happenings with our school community, and one of the ways in which we do that is via our social media. We have recently re-activated our Facebook page and continue to post on Instagram also. Follow us via the links below.

House Hour

This year, our houses, Skene, Aberdeen, George, and Shannon, have been meeting roughly 4 times a term for ‘House Hour’. House hour is when we come together to give students the opportunity to work with students and teachers across all different year levels to help build connections. It also gives some students an opportunity to work with their siblings! The goal of House Hour is to build connections and relationships with students across the school, and other teachers that students may not have worked with before. This will help with transitions and give our students and teachers a greater sense of connection and belonging. House Hour happens on Wednesdays last session on odd weeks of term. 

So far this year we have participated in Clean Up Australia Day, played cooperative games, made book trailers, voted on our House Mascots, learned about Harmony Day, Reconciliation Week, and most recently came up with ways to spread messages on ways to help the environment. To help share with families what our Houses are up to, each student will be added to the House SeeSaw Page, so keep an eye out for updates on Seesaw.

2023 NAPLAN Reporting

Ahead of NAPLAN results for students being released next Monday 17 July 2023, I’m writing to inform you of some changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels rather than the traditional 'bands'.

These new 4 proficiencies are:

• Exceeding
• Strong
• Developing
• Needs additional support

This change will give schools and families clearer information that details student achievement against the new proficiencies. 

Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support our students.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.

As always, parents are welcome to speak to me, or their child’s teacher with any questions about these changes.