Mr. Barclay's Bulletin

Good afternoon NPS families! 

Welcome to another bumper edition of the Newtown News! 

I'll aim to keep my bulletin brief to allow you all time to read and review the important information contained in this fortnight's newsletter! As always we have a plethora (what a great word!) of things happening and still to happen so please take the time to have a look through the newsletter and items.

Our swimming program was a huge success with almost every one of our students engaging. The Geelong College staff were exceptionally pleased with how our students conducted themselves and represented our great school which was and is, always special to hear. 

We always like to think, or hope, that we're winding down as the year draws to an end however it seems that we are usually ramping up our events and activities. We've had students attending a Pickleball competition at Matthew Flinders Girls SC, High-Performance Netball Clinics, the last of our Prep Transition Program sessions, a Remembrance Day Recognition Service, Circus Excursions, and more! Oh, and not to forget - OUR FABULOUS ART SHOW! A MASSIVE thank you to Mrs. Washington for her organisation and effort in coordinating such a large-scale event. As much as I enjoyed seeing the student's artwork, I did also enjoy the Smashville Food Truck!

In sharing a little more strategic and serious information, we recently received two key DET documents that drive a lot of our whole school performance planning for 2024. 

The first is our annual 'School Performance Report' which is where we are placed into a category of performance based on key DET metrics. I am very happy and proud to say that we have shifted into a category that has highlighted that our data, based on those key metrics has improved considerably. We certainly still have work to do however this is great recognition that what we are doing to support the learning and wellbeing of students is indeed working. 

The second document pertains to our Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Opinion Survey. This data always gives us a great insight into the feelings, thoughts, and perceptions of our families and is something we take very seriously.  As good as this survey is for us, we only receive numerical data and therefore not the thinking behind the responses. 

One area explicitly that we as a school are very keen to understand more about is 'Parent Community Engagement' data - as seen below. 

I am asking that any and or all families respond to the data above outlining why the data is, to your knowledge and understanding, saying what it is... What are we as a school doing well, what are our teachers doing well, regarding communication? What our are our areas of growth? What communication do you want that you're not getting? Or are you getting too much? Any further feedback would be welcomed!  

Please use the anytime feedback form, located on the Important Information Page, to share your thinking. Thank you.  

Finally... our class structure has been decided for 2024 and this is shown below. Like with the bulk, if not all, of our strategic decision-making, the students are placed firmly at the center of all of our decisions.

• Foundation x 1
• Year 1/2 x 3
• Year 3/4 x 2
• Year 4/5 x 1
• Year 5/6 x 2

The inclusion of a year 4/5 class has been created to largely alleviate class number concerns. We also take confidence in knowing that we have done this before (2021) and made it work with great success. Although class lists are still being finalised, families of the year 3 students who will be part of the year 4/5 class in 2024 will receive individual notification. We/I ask that you keep this news under wraps as best possible please to reduce any anxiety and or undue stress on our students.  

That's it from me! So much for keeping this brief!

Thanks, everyone and have a GREAT weekend,

Corrie Barclay

Principal.