Leadership Report
Written by Ryan Ma
Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
How time has flown, as we now have concluded four weeks of the 2025 academic school year, it seems as though the start of the year has gone in a blink of an eye. Students are settling into classroom routines and are in the process of creating their 'Essential Agreement' in collaboration with their teachers. A vital and important part of the first term is the development of routines to assist in the creation of a safe and orderly learning environment. Students and teachers will discuss our learner profiles and how they play a role in making this world a better place. This is also a topic worthy of a family discussion. Another school priority for 2025 is for teachers to foster positive relationships with students. Creating positive relationships will aid in 'putting money in the piggy bank' when times get a bit rocky later on in the school year.
Parent Information Sessions
Thank you to all those families who attended our parent information sessions over the last few weeks. We have had an excellent response to these sessions, and hopefully, they have provided teachers and families with an opportunity to share information at an individual year level. Families have also been able to tour classrooms and ask questions about student learning and school processes.
Teaching teams have recorded the information sessions and have sent out communication to families regarding access to these recordings. We look forward to working closely with families throughout the year.
Nightly Reading
One of the best ways for students to improve their reading ability is to practise reading after school. Reading with your child at home and promoting independent reading will help them in all areas of their learning. Research shows the importance of reading daily in developing students' use and understanding of vocabulary and increasing general knowledge. Reading will be part of students' weekly homework tasks. We encourage all students to read independently and to share reading material with family members.
Sun Smart
Our school has a 'No Hat, No Play' policy from mid-August to April. This month, there have been several days where the temperature has exceeded 30 degrees, and more hot weather is on the forecast. We want to remind families of the importance of students bringing an appropriate school hat to school, which can be worn during outside play sessions. We understand that this is often an item of school clothing that can be easily lost. Please ensure that hats are clearly labelled with the student's name. There is usually a collection of hats in our lost property collection near the front office. It is also an excellent idea for students to bring a water bottle to stay calm and hydrated. Please remind your child to apply sunscreen before leaving home and during the school day. We are able to supply sunscreen but students must apply it independently.
NAPLAN
Our school has been busy preparing for the upcoming NAPLAN assessments, which will take place in Weeks 7, 8, or 9 this term. The Year Three, Five, Seven and Nine students have been working on some practise tests to familiarise them with the test structure and the types of questions they might encounter during the official testing days. We will very shortly have some demonstration videos available to families, which will explain each type of test and how to navigate the online platform. Over the next couple of weeks, we will also host a parent information evening via Webex to give you some tips and tricks in helping your child/ren prepare for the upcoming NAPLAN tests. We would also like to remind parents of the need to bring student devices to school to be configured if they have not already done so, as the NAPLAN will be conducted mostly in an online format. Please see the XUNO notification regarding assessment dates that was sent out previously.
Data-Driven Planning
One of the primary objectives in our annual implementation plan for this year is to enhance teachers' ability to consistently and rigorously utilise data for informing teaching and learning. Teams have started utilising formative data and are crafting specific plans to strengthen instructional practices and student achievement. The past four Wednesdays have been crucial for our prep team as they collected valuable data to gauge the readiness of their students entering their first year of schooling. We are now beginning to analyse and synthesise the results through deep discussions to identify overall trends and areas to target throughout 2025.
Below is our PLC planning process, which our teachers will use to plan student learning and engagement.
Dogs in School - Not Allowed
We want to remind all families that dogs are not permitted within the school grounds, unless approved by the Principal. The exception to this policy is for dogs that assist people with disabilities, such as Therapy Dogs and/or Wellbeing Dogs.
It is not permitted to tether a dog at the school boundary fence. Owners must remain with their dogs outside the school boundaries at all times. Owners are entirely responsible for the dog’s behaviour and for cleaning up any mess the dog leaves. We appreciate your support in ensuring the school is a safe space for all students and families.
A Reminder for the Usage of St. Mary's of the Cross Car Park.
This is a forwarded message on behalf of St. Mary's of the Cross.
'This is just a friendly reminder at the start of a new school year that St Mary of the Cross Carpark is only available to parents of students enrolled at St Mary of the Cross.
Many of our parents have observed Saltwater parents using our carpark.'
If you use the carpark, please refrain from doing so, as it generates friction between our two schools.
Saltwater College's Goals and Priorities for 2025
The leadership team have worked with our staff to define our goals in our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). As outlined within the AIP, our annual goals align with the School’s Strategic Plan (SSP), which guides the school's progress over four years.
Saltwater’s Annual Implementation Plan goals for 2025 are:
Priority Goal 1: To improve student learning outcomes for every student in literacy and numeracy
Priority Goal 2: To improve student engagement and agency in learning
From our two priority goals above, we have developed six Key Improvement Strategies (KIS), which are summarised in the visual below.
School's Privacy Policy- Annual privacy reminder for our school community
Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.
Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy, see policy link below, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.
We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365 and Google Classroom safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365 and Google Classroom, please contact the school.
Please see below the link to the Department of Education's Privacy Policy.
Schools' privacy policy | vic.gov.au
Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy
Below is the link to Saltwater P-9 College's Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy.
Thank you,
On behalf of the Leadership Team