News From Mr Smith

Dear School Community Members,

Why Cant I Skip 20 minutes of Reading Tonight: 

Earlier this term, I shared some research that highlights the importance of a regular Home Reading program and the long term benefits for students. I have included this information again to celebrate the high majority of our students that engage in a Home Reading program and the impact this is having on their learning progress. 

A study conducted by highly regarded scholars, Nagy and Herman, highlights the power and impact of a regular Home-Reading program.

Student ‘A’ reads              Student ‘B’ reads             Student ‘C reads

20 minutes each day       5 minutes each day         1 minute each day

3,600 minutes in a            900 minutes in a                 180 minutes in a 

school year                         school year                         school year

1,800,000 words               282,000 words                   8,000 words

90th percentile                    50th percentile                   10th percentile

By the end of primary school, Student ‘A’ will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student ‘B’ will have read only 12 school days. 

Which student would you expect to have better vocabulary? 

Which student would you expect to be more successful in school….in life?

Recently, our staff conducted a ‘health check’ of our home-reading program across the school. 91% of students have an embedded home-reading program in place. The expected amount of minutes per week is: 

Prep – Grade 2

• At least 10 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)
• Reading log completed, including signed by parent/guardian, by each Friday morning

Grade 3 – Grade 4

• 20 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)
• Reading log completed, including signed by parent/guardian, by each Friday morning

Grade 5 – Grade 6

• 20 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)
• Submit reading log via SeeSaw, including signed by parent/guardian, by each Friday morning

We are committed to assisting the 9% of students (or approx. 34 students) who have not developed a regular home-reading program. Please contact your child’s teacher, Mrs Geary or myself if you would like to discuss your child’s Home-Reading program further.

Parent Teacher Discussions: 

Thank you to our families who have ‘booked’ a Parent Teacher Discussion for Thursday, 3rd July. We have 79% of our families ‘book’, and this highlights the healthy ‘Home-School Partnership’ embedded here at Mano. These discussions compliment the Student Report Cards that will be distributed tomorrow (Friday, 27th June).

Term 2 Social Service Activity: 

Our Term 2 Social Service activity has been finalised by our Junior School Council.

Date:                     Friday, 4th July

Charity:                Launch Housing

Donation:            Gold coin

Students and staff are invited to come to school dressed in their PJ’s! Please see poster in this edition of the newsletter for further information. 

End of Term Arrangements: 

Next Friday is the last day of term 2. Please note, students will be dismissed from school at 2:30pm next Friday. After School Care will begin at 2:30pm. Term 3 will commence on Monday, 21st July.

Thank you for supporting our school and have a great week.

Christian Smith