Scoresby PS Whole-school Newsletter

From Our School Leaders

School Review

We completed our 4-yearly School Review last week.  School reviews usually happen over a 2-week time period, but ours was in 3 days due to the commitments of our reviewer, Carolyn Woodhouse. 

 

The process is a very thorough look at the school’s operating systems, policies, planning documents, and feedback from all stakeholders. Each day is carefully constructed in advance to make the most of the limited time available to the review panel. 

 

Day 1    Looking back

Reviewing the work over the past 4 years to see what we have achieved. The principal prepares the self-evaluation document with information gathered from our staff discussions on our Curriculum Day, reports, surveys, school data and student results, and it is submitted. 

Discussions points included:

  • Did we hit the targets and measures that were set in the 2021-2025 strategic plan?

  • What work has been implemented over the 4 years?

  • Evidence of the changes and progress we have made

Day 2    Fieldwork day

Observations of teaching in classrooms, meetings with students, staff and parents. Observations of planning sessions, and planning documentation. These findings are all fed back to the panel at the end of the day.

 

Day 3    Looking forward

Going through the Department of Education Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) Assessments, then setting goals and targets for the next 4 years. 

 

The big takeaways for us as a school were:

  • There is nothing to “fix” and nothing is broken. There are processes to review and refine and we will start addressing these. 

  • We have a calm, orderly environment.

  • Overall, we have a happy school community, and we were very pleased to hear this.

    • Our students feel safe and supported academically, emotionally and socially at school, they are engaged in their learning and are making good progress. We are catering for the needs of our students.

    • All staff work well together and collaborate to ensure that students are at the centre of all that we do. 

    • Our parents are happy with the school and the things we have in place and feel their children are supported in their learning.

  • Lots of excellent work has happened over the last 4 years to improve teacher practice and student achievement. They were very impressed with our daily Morning Rigour sessions (Rainbow Maths and Write2Read Spelling) and our thorough planning and documentation. 

  • Our wellbeing practices were recognised as strong and accessible for all students

There’s always room for improvements, and we are prepared to hear them, review existing practices, and make changes; that’s what the school review is about. We received feedback from our panel and all stakeholders. The overall view was that many things were in place and we run many activities and events for a school our size.

 

Things we are going to address that need reviewing and improving:

 

Leadership 

  • Keep building staff capacity to improve their practices

  • Keep building our middle leaders within the school 

Teaching and Learning

  • Better understand how children learn to ensure they are progressing. Currently staff are reading The Science of Learning to gain information about student learning. 

  • Review our Rainbow Maths program - make it more rigorous

  • Continue to implement new reading approach from Department of Education

Wellbeing

  • Fully review the Friendology program

  • Improve hand-over information processes from year to year    

Now our reviewer will formalise the discussions we had on Thursday and write up our new strategic plan. This forms the direction and path for the next 4 years. 

 

Future plans will include :

  • A more targeted approach to student learning. We are currently reading about “The Science of Learning” and gaining a better understanding about short-term and long-term memory. This will impact the teaching practices in the classrooms.

  • Refining the hand-over information from year to year, including IEPs, Intervention Programs, student issues, etc.

  • Strengthening our communication process and improving the flow of information to parents about programs happening in our school.

     

NAPLAN Results

Our 2025 NAPLAN results are in. We are very pleased and proud to say that our Year 5s have, once again, had outstanding NAPLAN results, as they did in Year 3.  They have remained high achievers over the 2-year period,  and this is another terrific measure of the teaching and learning practices at Scoresby PS. 

 

Our Year 3s also did well, and are comparable to similar schools in most areas. 

 

Buildings And Grounds 

Holiday Projects Complete

The holiday garden works were completed. The sandpit has been redeveloped, cleaned out, and edged with mudstones suitable for sitting on while playing. The eating area has new seat tops as the old ones had begun to perish. The junior playground has new concrete sleepers to hold the mulch in place. Funds from PFA fundraising were used for these projects.

 

Windows and Door Installation this Term

We are well on the way to starting the installation of the new windows on the south side of the main building. The start date is looking like the 11th of August. Plans and staging have been organised, and we have accepted the quotes to paint and re-carpet the 3/4 and 1/2 classrooms. The Science room and Cultural Studies room will also be painted. Finally, the electronic door at the main entrance will be installed during the school holidays. 

 

 

SUE HARTLEY AND NICOLE RHEUMER

Scoresby Primary School Leaders