From the Principal
STAFFING
At the end of this week we farewell Mrs Cassie Dixon, who will be commencing maternity leave. We extend our best wishes to Cassie and her husband James on the upcoming birth of their first child.
We are pleased to welcome Mrs Claire Eason as the replacement teacher for Prep D. Claire has been working with the prep team this term and has been associated with our school since last year.
We are also sadly farewelling our canteen manager, Amanda Beet, on 19 June, to undertake different pursuits. I would like to thank Amanda for the wonderful work she has done managing our canteen over the past two years. Her efficiency and skills have been much appreciated, and have enabled the canteen to run smoothly and effectively, with a focus on healthy eating. Amanda will be taking up full time work in a different field of her passion, and we wish her well in her new endeavours. An advertisement for a replacement manager has been placed in the local newspapers, with commencement expected early in term 3.
The canteen will be closed for the last week of this term.
SCHOOL REVIEW
When gathering community and staff feedback for our review, one important consideration is to identify what we are doing well, in order to ensure these practices are continued in the future.
Below are some of the parent responses:
-Maths nights
-Numeracy program (personalised)
-Sports assessment
-Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) program
-Buddies program prep-grade 6
-Community functions e.g. school picnic and disco
-Grade 6 Exhibition
-Starting prep as a staggered start and going every day
-Art Show
-Visual Arts - unit of inquiry
-Performing Arts – unit of inquiry
-School concert
-Parent information workshops
-Friendships beyond grade levels – friendly and cohesive
-PYP Units of inquiry
-Home learning framework
-Seeing the teachers coming outside after school (accessible)
Below are some of the teacher responses:
-Whole school consistency e.g. maths, comprehension
-Differentiation – catering for individual needs – being inclusive
-Addressing individual learning styles
-Data driven teaching (to inform planning, groupings, catering for diversity)
-Assessing students’ prior knowledge
-PYP – authentic learning; inquiry based teaching; highly engaging; conceptual understanding
-SAKG – authentic learning
-Students’ questions guiding inquiry
-Students achieving success and being challenged
-Students proud of success
-Team planning
-Circle time/ Restorative Practices
-Peer Support and Peer Mediation
-Good staff development
-Great variety of learning experiences
-High standard in spelling
-Sporting program
Some of the student (years 5 and 6) responses:
“I love how we have PYP at our school because it gives us a chance to learn different things.”
“Grade sixes are well prepared for high school.”
“I think Earn and Learn is a really fun and good unit. It gives us lots of experience.”
“We are good at doing sport.”
“It is good that teachers are trying to help us learn in certain areas.”
“We are getting good education and our teachers are teaching well!!”
“I like how you are doing buddies so little kids can learn the rules of this school.”
“I think it is good that the teachers are engaging with the students instead of leaving us to do our own work.”
“I think it’s good that the teachers get the students interested in the topic.”
“Our school makes learning fun and interesting.”
“All the creativity in the school is GREAT.”
“You prepare us by doing harder stuff to prepare us for the future.”
“Keep encouraging children to work at their hardest for good results.”
“Practice/learn English and maths every day.”
“Challenging us.”
“I think we should keep what we are doing, but maybe make maths more challenging.”
“Continue getting us fit, and doing challenging learning.”
“Keep presenting us with challenges to overcome.”
As we develop our future plans, we will ensure that the best of our practices and processes at Murrumbeena Primary School are maintained and further improved.
Heather Hill