A message from Margie     

Term 2 off to a great start! 

I just love Term 2. There's something about the cooler weather, the 'busy'ness of Term 1 being behind us and the fact we're all now properly settled into the year that just feels so solid!  It's time to really get stuck into our teaching and learning. 

This year's Site Learning Plan is well underway. Our whole school goals for this year are: 

• Numeracy: for students to apply the problem-solving process in all maths problem-solving lessons using age-appropriate problem-solving strategies
• Literacy: Teachers in all years use the Department for Education's phonics (R-2) and spelling (3-6) scope and sequence to teach and improve spelling outcomes. 
• Learner Agency: To develop teacher understanding of learning agency and build student learner agency across the school through teaching impact cycles. 

Each week in Terms 2 and 3 I do 'walkthroughs', where I visit classrooms and ask students questions about their learning. I ask about our Site Learning Plan above, about students' personal learning goals, about what they believe is the purpose of their learning tasks and how they go about ensuring they are 'Ready to Learn'. Talking to the students about their learning is one of the favourite parts of my role, because they are so articulate and they love their voice being heard. 

Here's some comments from this fortnight's walkthroughs with students in Alex' class (pictured above) that show Learner Agency: 

• We decide which learning tools we use, whether to learn alone or with a partner and who we work well with- Victor
• We get to choose who to be in a group with, but it needs to be a sensible decision.- Thomas
• We get to choose the level we work at. The teacher gives us 3 different levels of tasks, and you can choose to start at any of these. - Mia 
• We can decide the best tools to use to be Ready to Learn. I use breaks and fidgets if I need them,. - Alyssa
• I know my Ready to Learn plan is always in my tray, and I can have breaks, a drink of water or just take a breath if I need to. - Gus
• I have a SMART goal in maths- renaming 3 digit numbers, and a writing goal- Tightening the Tension - Klara

Inclusive 

Our Learn Stand Give Fly focus for this term is INCLUSIVE. We've started by considering why it's important to include others, how to include others in play and how to be proactive so that you are more likely to be included. This all sounds easy, but it is one of the most challenging aspects of childhood! I'm sure we can all remember times when we either felt left out, or didn't want others to join us in play. It's tricky stuff! 

I'm always impressed with the kindness shown by our students towards others, even towards others who may not be their friends. Please discuss with your children this term about how they manage including others, and what skills they use to join in. I'm sure they'd love to hear you talk about your Primary School playground experiences too! 🙂🍎

Cricket

Congratulations to our SAPSASA cricket team who won the recent second round, and are now into the next stage of the competition in Term 4.

Photos of Pyjama Day 

I wish you all a terrific weekend, especially all of the wonderful mums out there... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! 🌷 😊 I'll be celebrating with my 3 grown-up children on the Yorke Peninsula; they've finally worked out how to make a mean breakfast in bed! 🥐☕

Margie