Leadership

One more week until our School Production! All of the tickets are snapped and everyone is ready to go. Before we get into the excitement of production, there is a lot to catch up on over the last seven days. As promised, here are all the photos from last week’s epic book parade. A big thank you to Kehani for organsing and making the event a massive success.

Wear It Purple Day

Today was ‘Wear It Purple Day’, where Newlands came together to celebrate diversity and show support for LGBTQIA+ youth. The school was a sea of  purple as students and staff proudly donned the colour, symbolising inclusivity and respect. The day was filled with activities aimed at promoting understanding and allyship, including workshops, discussions, and creative projects that encouraged everyone to express themselves and stand up against bullying and discrimination. Wear It Purple Day was a powerful reminder of the school's dedication to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students, where everyone is celebrated for who they are.

Plant a Tree Day – Planet Ark

Today, the school celebrated Planet Art – Plant a Tree Day with great enthusiasm, planting over 400 native plants behind the portables. The event was a resounding success, thanks to the dedication of Agus, Lucy, the Wild garden team, and the supportive parents who helped make the day so fantastic. Students played a vital role in the planting process, fostering a deep connection with the garden as they look forward to watching it grow. The excitement was palpable as the kids joyfully participated in planting, making it a memorable and impactful day for everyone involved. We would also like to thank all the sponsors and donations the school has received to ensure maximum impact in the area. Here are just a few snaps from today!

Father’s Day Celebrations

the Values Bun and Keystone Veg Sandwiches continue being a hit amongst everyone. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all the teachers who helped set up and serve the food, the students who enthusiastically brought their families along, and the parents who offered their positive and valuable feedback. We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our families, and this breakfast is just one of the ways we strive to show our appreciation for the strong school community we have. 

Term 4 Specialist Timetable Changes

For Term 4, there have been necessary adjustments to the Specialist Timetable due to the VGSA agreement, which ensures that teachers receive their allocated planning and preparation time. We've made every effort to minimize disruption to the program while implementing these changes. Below, you will find the updated timetable indicating when each cohort will have their Specialist classes each week. Grade levels will share their Term 4 weekly timetable in their section of next week's newsletter, and the specialists will provide specific details about when each class will attend their sessions.

Foundation and 5/6 students have four specialist subjects: Physical Education, Visual Arts, STEAM, and Music/Performing Arts. In addition to these, the 1/2 and 3/4 students also have Community Inquiry and Library as added specialist subjects.

Foundation

I joined Juan and the foundation class for some choral reading this week. It was wonderful to see Melvin confidently read sentences in front of the whole class, demonstrating how to break words down into syllables. He did a fantastic job, and it was great to witness the students supporting each other. The positive energy in the room made for an excellent learning environment.

1/2s

As I walked through the 1/2 Learning World, I was impressed by how the students were preparing for the day. Ashton pointed out Kaya’s visible timetable on the board, which not only highlighted upcoming events but also recognised some of the great work being done in the classroom. It was also fantastic to join the 1/2 Spanish Maths Daily reviews on Wednesday, where I saw students effortlessly revisiting their previously completed work during their daily maths skill-up. This recent change to our Numeracy program has been met with fantastic feedback from both students and teachers.

3/4s

This week, I joined the 3/4s for a bit of circle time, where we shared some of our painful broken bone stories. Florence recounted her horror story about a trampoline mishap, Djuna shared how she accidentally cracked her head on a deck, and Hazel described a bike incident that led to a hospital visit. The room was filled with a mix of "ohhhh" and "aaahhhhs," as well as plenty of laughter, making it a fantastic way to start the day. Later, I sat with Bonnie, who was impressively demonstrating her spelling skills on Nessy, practicing her 'le’, ‘al’ and ‘el’ words. This activity followed a fluency task where students listened to each other read and provided feedback using a rubric.

5/6s

After our recent curriculum day with Brian Poncy who really honed in on the importance of Fact Fluency, the school is now implementing Facts of Fire, which is a 4 minute a day practice of facts. The 5/6s have implemented this so quickly and it was an absolute joy to watch it in action. It has been really great to see the data of our students strengths and what their next steps are, in being fluent in their fact fluency. We know that if students are fluent they have a reduced cognitive load when learning mathematical problems steps.

Next Week Emergency Evacuation

Next week, the school will conduct two safety drills. On Monday, there will be a drill on-site at the school oval, and on Friday at 2:30 PM, an off-site drill will take place at Dunstan Street Oval. Students will be informed ahead of time and will understand that these are just drills, helping them to practice and be prepared in a calm and orderly manner.

School Production Next Week

Next Wednesday and Thursday night, our students will be performing at the Darebin Arts Centre, with the show starting at 7:00 PM. For final details, please refer to the School Production page. We apologize for the previous mix-up; the soft start in the classroom will actually be on Thursday and Friday, not Wednesday and Thursday as previously mentioned. We can’t wait to see you there!

Have a great weekend!

We will see you next week.

Thanks, 

Luke