From Our School Leaders
Feedback Time
Parent Opinion Survey
Many thanks to the families that have already responded to the Parent Opinion Survey so far. If you are one of the 56 families that received the survey, we hope you take the time to complete the survey as we very much appreciate your feedback. It closes on Friday 8th September; please note you cannot share the link as they are personalised.
Google Review
We are trying hard to lift the profile of our wonderful school in the wider community. One way you can help us is to leave a review of our school on our Google page. A few of our school councillors have already added their voice, and I would like to invite others in the community to do so as well. There are some reviews from the past that are not great, but that is the Google platform.
If you have something positive or constructive to say, we would appreciate you adding your voice in helping us with this project.
Reading With Kids
It’s Book Week and we are celebrating! Book Week brings many events to schools such as Book Fairs and dress-up-as-book-character parades, but it’s also about celebrating books, authors, illustrators and the libraries in our schools and greater community.
Books and reading are so important for our kids. We shouldn’t just celebrate Book Week for one week, once a year - it is something to be continually celebrated.
It is never too early to start the habit of reading with kids. Children are exposed to reading from such an early age, which stimulates language development.
But how can we get the most out of reading with our kids?
- Have your child read to you. As our children learn to read independently, they tend to be really excited to read to us if we can find the time to slow down and turn reading into an activity to share.
- Read to your child. This helps them to learn about expression, pacing and the different ways we can experience books. This is a great opportunity to stop and ask them questions about how they would feel, what the characters are feeling and what they are thinking about the story. It’s also a great time to expand their vocabularies.
- Have regular time for the family to read altogether, perhaps once or twice a week as we all know that it can be challenging to find the time. The ability to sit together as a family and read aloud or in silence can be such a powerful tool.
What can we do when our kids don’t want to read?
It is obvious that not all children will develop or sustain a love of reading, however it is important to address these issues if, and when, they arise. Children may feel disconnected from books and find it challenging to engage in a particular genre, series, or theme. Sometimes, kids may feel controlled by what they read and may be seeking an opportunity for more choice, but our role as parents and educators is to help them overcome such boundaries and we can do this by:
- Reading together - them to us and us to them.
- Finding books that are at a level that stretches them, but not so much that it's demotivating.
- Offering them as much choice as possible in terms of what they read, even if that means reading a novel they may have already read.
- Try and stay away from potentially bribing our kids to read, unless the bribe for reading one book is the chance to choose another one!
Books provide a doorway to the world. Through them our kids can climb mountains, experience new cultures and travel through time and space.
For more information regarding how we can support kids in reading please visit:
Letter from our Deputy Secretary, Dr David Howes
Yesterday the Victorian NAPLAN results were released, and the following letter is to be shared with families in Victoria.
SUE HARTLEY AND NICOLE RHEUMER
Scoresby Primary School Leaders