Mr. Barclay's Briefing!
Hello NPS families,
It has been a wonderful start to the term, following what I hope was a great 2-week term break! I hope that you managed to find some time for yourselves and your families to enjoy what patches of sunshine we had.
The energy, enthusiasm, and sense of community across our school this week have been very positive, and in leveraging the strong finish we had to term 2, I look forward to that continuing throughout this term and further on.
To start the term, I am delighted to share that our students have achieved exceptionally strong NAPLAN results this year, reflecting the hard work of our students and the dedication of our teaching team and wider staff. It's a proud moment for our whole school community, and a reflection of the strong foundations we continue to build together.
As you can see below, we have surpassed our network schools in 9 of 10 areas, which also includes however is not shown below, a number of our similar and like schools. This is clear evidence that our teaching and learning programs are having a strong, positive impact on our students' learning and development.
In addition to the above, this year's data also tells us that the growth being made by our students from year 3 to 5 is outstanding, meaning that the work we do from year 3 to 5 to ensure strong, consistent, and rigorous teaching and learning is happening is definitely in place. Although NAPLAN is only one assessment and only one snapshot of what our students are capable of, it is a very important piece of the puzzle that drives our school improvement!
A huge thank you to everyone and everyone who came along to our school disco at the end of term 2. It was a fantastic night filled with plenty of laughter, dancing, and joy. DJ McKinnis once again had the crowd pumping, and I am starting to wonder if he is moonlighting after hours as Geelong's best DJ. Like all of our school events, these wouldn't be possible without the support of our families and the efforts of our staff behind the scenes. Thank you all for helping make it such a memorable evening for our kids!
The end of term 2 often culminates in the huge event that is the annual Ice Bucket Challenge – which once again was a huge success, raising $436.75 for the Fight MND Charity! Mr. O, unfortunately/fortunately, made the wall of fame and was a great choice by our school community to be selected! Thank you to everyone who donated and cheered on Mr. O and helped this great cause.
Looking ahead, the term calendar is filling up fast, and next weekend we have our first event of the year taking place – our term working bee! I am excited to invite all families from Shannon House to the working bee, which will take place next Sunday from 8:30 am to – 11:30 am. It's always a lovely opportunity to come together, spruce up our school grounds, and spend some time connecting with other families. Many hands make light work, and we'd love to see as many Shannon House families there as possible!
Again and always, thank you all for your continued support and involvement in our school community. We are always working very hard. It's this kind of togetherness that makes our school such a special place to learn, grow and be part of.
Corrie Barclay
Principal