Assistant Principal's Report
By Roland Lewis
A focus on continuous improvement during pupil free days.
Over the last two weeks, we have had two pupil free days. The first was a Department of Education initiative to address replacement teachers shortages across the state. All schools were required to host their planning days on the same day, as a pupil free day. The second day was a planned Curriculum Day – these days are precious to schools because they are a rare opportunity for all staff to collaborate and improve teaching and learning. Below is summary of what occurred during these two days.
Whole School Planning Day
On Wednesday 8th June, our school conducted a whole school planning day, where teams spent the day developing the learning for Term Three. This time was spent building a deep understanding of where learning in English, Mathematics, Inquiry and You Can Do It will go in Term Three. The table below outlines what is planned for Inquiry learning next term.
| Year Level | Inquiry Question and focus for Term Three | Curriculum Areas |
| Prep | How can we all live well together?
Students explore different modes (body language, verbal, visual) of communication. They build emotional intelligence skills to collaborate with each other effectively. Students develop an appreciation for diverse cultures and their celebrations. They compare cultural celebrations and gender roles within the community. | History Intercultural Capability |
| Year 1 | How can we connect to different places?
Students explore the places they come from. They create links to the places they and their families are from and investigate the importance of ‘connection.’ This then leads into an investigation into how technology helps us to connect with people and places around the world.
| Geography Intercultural Capability |
| Year 2 | How are we connected to different places?
Students explore connections they have to different places. They investigate their own culture and history and that of the places they are connected to.
| Geography Intercultural Capability |
| Year 3 | How did European settlement affect the indigenous community?
Students explore the different lifestyles of the British and Indigenous cultures during European settlement and identify challenges that were faced. How did they impact one another?
| History Civics and Citizenship Intercultural Capability |
| Year 4 | How do geographical challenges impact quality of life?
Students explore the impact that geographical challenges (urban sprawl, climate, demographic etc.) have on communities locally, nationally and globally and their way of life. | Geography Civics and Citizenship Intercultural Capability |
| Year 5 | How does the media influence our perceptions of the world?
What is media? Students develop an understanding of how media influences perspectives through bias. Explore gender and cultural stereotyping in the media and how they impact groups of people. Student then explore how our personal beliefs about a gender and culture might be a result of what we see in the media.
| Media Arts Intercultural Capability |
| Year 6 | How are viewpoints influenced by digital technologies?
Students explore the evolution of communication through symbols and images to the modern world, including memes, GIFS and emojis. They examine how the data within digital platforms are transmitted. Students also analyse the impact digital technology is having on the development of social skills and empathy. | Digital Technologies Media Arts Intercultural Capability |
Curriculum Day
On Tuesday 14th June, we hosted our final curriculum day of 2022. This day focussed on deepening our whole school approach to reading – CAFÉ. The CAFÉ approach to reading encompasses targeted teaching and personal learning goals that are designed to help students build their Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary when reading. Each of these big concepts are underpinned by a set of strategies that students can explicitly learn to become stronger readers. Until now, we have only had 1 ‘menu’ of strategies for students to choose from. This year, we have begun working on a set of five menus, that build in challenge from emergent readers, through to exceptional readers. These menus should help us teach and student learn to a much deeper level, ensuring that every child is challenged to become the best reader they can be. On this curriculum day, we have finalised a draft set of five menus that we will now begin trialling with our students. We also plan to seek their feedback on the new menus, as they are the ones who will be ultimately using them to learn. Stay tuned for more information as the menus are finalised and rolled out for trial.