Class Updates and Reminders

Messages from our Learning Levels...

Whole School Dates

In previous years, families have asked for more preparation time when events require any form of 'dress up'. This year we are using a Family Events Calendar to communicate events that are relevant to multiple year levels and have an impact on families. This includes the dates for the year. It is shared in the Principal News Feed each fortnight as well. Please find term dates on the final page of this newsletter.

Prep

Reminders:

School Pick Up Time

From next week, Preps will have full school days. Pick up will now be 3:30pm.

Home Readers

It has been wonderful to see how many students are reading every night at home! Please remember to fill in the reading diary before every Friday so we can see how your child is progressing with their reading. We are not able to give books to take home unless your child has a library bag. You can purchase these from the uniform shop or front office.

Year 1

Reminders:

Uniform

At SMPS, students are required to wear black polishable school shoes. We have noticed a lot of students wearing black leather sneakers/runners. Please ensure you are sending your child to school wearing the correct shoes. 

Devices

Please ensure your child comes to school with a fully charged iPad. Our students require fully charged iPad so that they can access the learning that takes place within the classroom. Please support your child by encouraging them to charge it before coming to school.

Homework

Please remind your child to only complete one lesson of Mathseeds a week. We are so impressed with the rate of completion amongst our students however, some students still require parental support and supervision to ensure they only complete the one lesson.

Year 2

Dates to Remember:

Tuesday 19th March: Chewsday In-Visit

Reminders:

Homework Expectations:

Mathseeds: 1 lesson a week (Sunday begins the new week)
15 minutes of Reading (4 nights a week)
Diaries to come to school every day

A reminder that Mathseeds and myON are the only apps to be accessed at home. Please do not access the other apps.

Devices

It has been great to see a high percentage of our Year 2 cohort bringing their iPads fully charged. Please continue to support your child to charge their device each night so that it is fully charged coming into school the following day. We use our devices throughout the day to access our school programs.

Toys

We have still been finding that our cohort are bringing toys to school. It is important that your child's toys remain at home and not be brought to school. They can be a distraction to learning and can be lost or broken at break times. We would appreciate your support in making sure your child does not bring toys to school.

Year 3

Dates to Remember:

Wednesday 13th March: NAPLAN Writing
Thursday 14th March: NAPLAN Reading
Tuesday 19th March: NAPLAN Language Conventions
Wednesday 20th March: NAPLAN Numeracy
Thursday 21st March: Democracy and Me Invisit

Reminders:

NAPLAN

Over the next two weeks our wonderful Year 3 students will sit their first NAPLAN tests. To help set them up for success it is important they get a good sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. We ask that you please ensure that your child arrives to school on time every day but especially so over the next couple of weeks. As students will require their devices during these assessments it is important that they are fully charged each day.

Uniform

The Year 3 teachers have been impressed at how smart our students are looking in their full school uniform. This week as part of our uniform spot check, it was great to see 92% of Year 3 students wearing appropriate black, polishable shoes. Can we get to 100%?

Year 4

Reminders:

Uniform

It was so fantastic to see 96% of students in their correct, full school uniform this week during our uniform spot check. Please remember if your child's hair is past their shoulders, it needs to be tied up.

Reading

At this stage in the term, students should be about 70% of the way towards their Accelerated Reading points target. The Year 4 Teachers love seeing students working hard to read for 30 minutes a night and then demonstrate their comprehension by taking a quiz. You can support your child to reach their AR target in the following ways:

Ensure your child is reading a book in their AR range for 30 minutes per night. We would strongly suggest ensuring they either have one longer novel they are reading each night or finishing 1 or 2 shorter books on myON per night. Please discourage your child from starting many different books and not completing them.
Check in with your child about what they are reading or what they read. Ask them questions about what they learnt (non fiction) or what happened in the story (fiction). This will aid their comprehension.
Check in with how they are going towards their target.
Celebrate and praise your child when they tell you they successfully completed a quiz.
Support your child to be at school by 8.45am so they can take a quiz in the morning.

We thank you for your support in developing your child's skills as a reader!

Year 5

Dates to Remember:

Wednesday 13th March: NAPLAN Writing

Thursday 14th March: NAPLAN Reading
Tuesday 19th March: NAPLAN Language Conventions
Wednesday 20th March: NAPLAN Numeracy

Reminders:

Devices in Preparation for NAPLAN

Please remind your child to charge their laptop every evening after school. We would appreciate support from families to ensure student devices are plugged in and charging each evening, especially the evening before NAPLAN.

Homework 

We are so impressed with how committed Year 5 students have been in completing their homework - let’s keep it up! We encourage students to complete their Mathletics homework early in the week and read for 30 minutes each night to ensure they reach their AR target. Please also continue to sign your child's diary as they bring them to school on Friday to be checked by their teacher.

Uniform

Year 6

Reminders:

This week we had a uniform check across all three Year 6 classes. Some trends we have noticed in the uniform are students wearing black runners instead of black polishable school shoes.

Students should have achieved at least 80% of their Accelerated Reader target by now. You can support your child on this by asking them to show you their progress on the Accelerated Reader website. You can also encourage them to read each night and sign their diary with them.

We are very proud of the progress the students are making in our Maths Invaders Mental Maths Program. We would like to remind students to use the resources available to them on Teams and on the Maths Invaders website if they are struggling on a step. Students should not play Maths Invaders at home but are encouraged to practise using the worksheet function.