Teaching and Learning 

Meet and Greet Parent-Teacher Interviews

Dates: 

Monday Feb 17th (4-6pm)

Wednesday Feb 19th (1:30-5pm) -*Students finish at the earlier time of 1pm

Bookings have been strong so far, which is great to see. Bookings will remain open until this coming Friday, 14th at midday, so if you have not yet had a chance to make a booking, please log into Compass and make a time to chat with your child’s teachers

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter our Year 3 and 5 students have NAPLAN coming up later this term- see the table below for dates and times.

Here’s some simple information for parents and carers about NAPLAN:

• All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Australia do NAPLAN tests in March  each year. 
• NAPLAN tests students’ skills in reading, writing and maths. 
• The test questions are presented in Standard Australian English dialect.
• Students read some of the questions and listen to others with headphones.  
• The tests will get easier or harder, depending on how students are going in the test.  
• Students will participate in four tests:

• Students in Year 3 will do the Writing test using pencil and paper. Year 3 students will answer the other test questions on the computer. 
• Students in Years 5, 7 and 9 will answer all their test questions on computers/iPads.
• Teachers will help students get ready for NAPLAN tests. 
• Schools will get their students’ results. The school will then give parents/carers a report showing their own child’s results.   
• Parents/carers can talk to the teacher about these results. 
• NAPLAN shows how students are going all over Australia. People who work in the Australian  Government, state and territory education authorities and schools use NAPLAN results. The results  let them see which schools are doing well and which schools might need help. 

Further information for parents and carers can be found HERE and we will continue sending information over the next few weeks.

One practical thing that you can do at the moment is to ensure that your child/children has a pair of headphones for NAPLAN compatible with their device.

As mentioned above, if you have any questions regarding NAPLAN, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Homework

Last Friday the first lot of homework was sent home for all students in Years 1-6 and is due back this Thursday.  As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, our routine at BPS is that homework is sent out on a Friday and due back the following Thursday.

Homework records will be kept by all classroom teachers in Compass with the following:         

• N/A - No homework handed out or student absent for the homework period
• Not Attempted - Homework has not been completed and handed in
• Partially Completed - Homework partly completed or not handed in on time
• Completed - Homework completed and handed in on time (including home reading)

Homework records will be visible by parents in your child’s Compass profile from this Friday.

We strongly encourage parents and carers to communicate with your child’s classroom teacher early in the year regarding any questions that you may have regarding homework and home reading.  The meet and greet sessions are a perfect opportunity to discuss any questions you may have.

We thank all parents and carers in advance for your support of homework and home reading throughout the year ahead, it is greatly appreciated.

BULLDOGS READ PROGRAM

We have once again been selected to participate in the Bulldogs Read Literacy Program in 2025, with Year 5 identified as the area of focus. 

20 students in Year 5 have been selected to participate this year and they are all very excited about being involved.

Tomorrow evening, students have been invited to attend a parent information session with a parent or carer at the Ballarat Library to find out all the details about the exciting year ahead.

The first engagement day will take place next Monday 17th February, which is the Bulldogs Read Welcome Launch Day and excitingly, there will be Western Bulldogs players in attendance!

Students will  hear from  some Bulldogs players with a Q & A, along with an opportunity for player signings.

There will be many more opportunities that these students will have available to them throughout the year, which we look forward to sharing with the broader school community.

Congratulations to the following students: