From the Principal's desk...

Term 2 Wrap up

It is always a great way to celebrate a term by reflecting on what has taken place across the last 10 weeks. The students at Moriac have had a great balance of learning, growth, fun and at this point in the year when assessments are being conducted, we can see the progress and hard work our staff have put into the year so far paying off.

To list a few highlights this term:

Year 3/4 Camp

Education Week- STEM open afternoon

Year 5/6 Production- what an amazing night!!

Year 1/2 Local Excursion to Newling Reserve

GSODA Excursion- The Little Mermaid

Fundraiser- Zoe’s FIght- Superhero dress up

Year 5/6 Market Day

Reconciliation Week

National Simultaneous Story Time

SSA- District Tennis, 3-6 Aths, Cross Country, Football and Netball Lightning Premierships, Bellarine Division Netball

Transition events- Year 5/6 to Grovedale Secondary, Surf Coast Secondary

GRIP- Student Leaders conference 

In addition our students as you will see on the following class and specialist pages, have been working really hard within all classroom spaces. Our image in the banner on this page is what is called a 'Bump It Up Wall' which is a visual worked example that we have begun using in our writing sessions in the Year 3/4 space to support students to know and understand what they can do to their writing to bump it up! This helps students to look at their own writing pieces and work on something they identify as a goal. We have also as a whole school this term work on developing student learning goals WITH students specifically in writing. Rather than tell a child what they need to work on next, we have delved into the area of student voice to see if having more ownership of your goals impacts student learning. 

Maths At Moriac

This term the staff have spent a large focus on unpacking the new curriculum that is due to be implemented in 2025 for Maths. We have spent a great deal of time unpacking the content descriptors and looking at the proficiencies that make a great maths learner as these are now embedded in our curriculum. We are building our skills in developing tasks that we call 'Low Floor High Ceiling' to support students to enter a task at their level but that has the ability to quickly extend and challenge their understandings as well.

Reconciliation Week 

This was acknowledged as an important event in our school calendar this term and I wanted to share the wonderful display that was created by the students in 1/2 B with Miss Rhodes. What a beautiful effort and such a lovely acknowledgement from these students.

Kenshi Life Changing Candles

If you've visited the office lately you might have noticed the new stand we have with the fundraising event that I mentioned last newsletter. Kenshi Life Changing Candles are now available for purchase, we have samples for you to come and have a look at including reed diffusers. There is a brochure with a QR code as well which you can scan to make your purchase and the items can be delivered straight to your door. They make a great gift idea!

Zoe's Fights

Please see the details about the dress up day for the last day of term which is a fundraising event that our student leaders have organised-

Common Assessment Tasks- CATs

You will be able to view your child's assessment task for writing and some specialist areas from today. This will include the ability to see the task, view your child's response to the task and the teachers comment on their work  as well as an outcome of whether they did well or needed to do something further for improvement. 

As some tasks were recorded via video, these are available for viewing on Seesaw which is a much more user friendly way to upload videos for staff than Compass is. All CATs will also be included in semester reports for both Term 1 and 2 for parents to see. 

Reports

Next week all student reports will be available for viewing and download from Compass on Wednesday 26th June. Staff have worked exceptionally hard over the last 5 weeks to gather their assessments and make teacher judgements about where all children are sitting for reporting purposes.

In some cases, you may have received a personal phone call from a teacher to discuss your child's report as there can be many reasons why it might appear that a child hasn't 'shown' growth on a report when in fact they have. Due to the 5 point system scale schools are required to use for reporting purposes, it can make it difficult to show all growth in a single dot which is why our teachers spend a lot of time writing written comments. 

We would like all student reports to be a real celebration for all the hard work they have done over the first half of the term and would like to congratulate them all on their success! Time to discuss the reports will be available in Week 2 of Term 3 when we meet for parent teacher conferences.

Please keep an eye out for the Compass post letting you know when all reports will be ready for viewing.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Early in Term 3, I will send out a compass post and let families know when the booking system will be open to book your time to speak with your child's teacher for interviews/conferences. Wednesday July 24th, is the afternoon/evening allocated for all classes for interviews as well as Tuesday 23rd for 1/2A and 1/2C interviews. This is to support part time teachers who work in those spaces and are only available on those days. We will run the interviews from 2pm for most classes and 3:30pm for others all the way through until 6:30pm. If the times do not suit or you cannot book in for your preferred time, please make contact with your child's teacher regardless as they may have availability on another day or offer a phone conversation as an alternative.

Teachers on Leave- Term 3

During Term 3 there are several teachers that are taking some extended leave for various reasons which have some impacts on programs here at school. Mrs Brodie Saunal our French teacher is heading to France for the term with her family and will be absent. In her place we have been able to book a teacher that will endeavour to deliver a more cultural perspective approach to French lessons for the term and will support students learning within this subject until Brodie returns. Mrs Lisa Edwards our Performing Arts teacher is also heading away for most of the term with her family and there again will be a replacement teacher covering that program to allow continuity in learning. 

We wish them a wonderful time away!

Preps 2025

A reminder to any families that have children beginning school in 2025 to please complete all enrolment paperwork as soon as possible and return this to school. This helps me to begin planning for class structures for next year early which is always a large puzzle of work for schools. If you have not received an enrolment pack, please either visit or call the administration office and we will get one to you ASAP.

Student Attendance

Please make sure you notify us of any absences your child has either via phone, via your child's teacher or straight onto the Compass app. This helps us to track any un-explained absences at school and if there is anything we can help families with. In addition, if you are planning on taking extended family holidays during a term, you are required to let us know in writing as I may be required to put extra things in place or notify the department to ensure all children are accounted for. Thanks in advance with your support of this as student attendance is something our school is starting to focus on more as we know that long term absences can impact a child's learning in many different ways.

Parents and Friends Committee

Early in Term 3, be on the look out for a Compass post inviting any parents to meet with Zoe Engel from School Council regarding getting our Parents and Friends group meeting more actively at school. We are aiming to get a group of parents together who might like to oversee some potential fundraising events that could be organised that would then feed back through to school council. If there is anyone that would like to take the charge on this, please reach out to Zoe in the meantime or email moriac.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

Wishing all our wonderful families a relaxing and restful break and if you are travelling these holidays, stay safe. Thank you to all the dedicated staff at the school from admin to support and teachers alike for all your hard work over the first half of the school year! It has gone so fast, enjoy your holidays.

Thanks,

Mel