Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK; 27 May to 3 June.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Year 3 and 5 students completed NAPLAN last week. While NAPLAN measures a narrow range of what schools do, it is an important indicator of achievement in basic literacy and numeracy skills. Parents will receive their children’s results in August. These results will be used by teachers to plan future learning as well as tracking student achievements.

Schools also use NAPLAN to measure the progress students make between Year 3 and Year 5, or ‘value added’. High value added is an indication of the quality and effectiveness of school programs. Our school has made significant value added in previous NAPLAN.

Value-added measures are just one indicator of what a good school looks like. We will never be able to measure in a test every aspect of student progress and development because there are many purely qualitative things that you would never know unless you are experiencing students first hand. Such as those non-academic types of measures, including the contribution schools make to the probability that a student will complete school, or the probability they will go to university, or increase their attendance rates or decrease the probability they will be suspended or excluded from school. All those other sorts of things that are equally important indicators of outcomes for schools. NAPLAN is just one measure of all aspects of the full, rounded education we offer our students.

There has been a wide ranging discussion on the future of NAPLAN in the media over recent weeks. Our school programs are based on student needs and not the NAPLAN assessment. We will continue to work closely with parents to ensure all our students reach their full potential across all areas of the school curriculum.

Our students and teachers are well into the second term of the year. Class routines are established and students are familiar with teacher expectations. I have been very impressed with the level of cooperation and engagement in our classrooms. This excellent classroom behaviour is a solid foundation for learning across our school.

We heard the Year 5 and 6 finalists in our Multicultural Public Speaking Competition last Friday. Years 3 and 4 will complete their finals this Friday. What a high standard we have in our school public speaking! The finalists will be presenting their speeches at our online school assemblies this term. The speeches are such high quality the whole school will benefit from hearing what our student have to say. Our winners will have their speeches posted on our school website. Very impressive! Congratulations to our finalists and winners. And congratulations to parents who have assisted their children prepare for this competition.

Many families are still feeling great anxiety over the COVID-19 situation in India. Distressing images are in regular news items on TV and social media. If parents are aware of students feeling distress over the impact of the pandemic please inform your child's teacher. Our school counsellor is available to assist students at this time.

Reducing viewing of news items and social media may be a good way to limit the impact of this disaster on students. We all hope that the situation improves for everyone affected by the pandemic.

Have a great weekend everyone,

G. Walker

The Girraween Gazette

Issue 7 · 21 May 2021

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