From the Principal's Office

A very warm welcome to Woodland Road for the 2024 school year. To our new families, a big welcome! We are thrilled that you have joined our Woodland Road School community. We are always striving to improve as a school as we foster the lifelong learning of our students with our core ethos of the community being able to “Thrive Through Opportunity”.

We welcomed our new Kindergarten students following their Best Start Assessment. They are all settling in well and have already shown remarkable growth. Yesterday, they attended their first whole school assembly in the hall and were amazing.

Meet the Teacher

On Tuesday - we conducted our Meet the Teacher afternoon. The event was well attended by our community. It was a relaxed atmosphere where tour groups were led by our students in exploring the school, while others had an opportunity to grab a sausage sandwich and have a conversation with the teachers. It was wonderful to see so many new faces among the familiar ones.

NAPLAN 2024

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. Each year students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

NAPLAN will take place from Wednesday 13 March – Monday 25 March (Term 1, Weeks 7-9). NAPLAN tests are just one part of our school learning assessment program and questions are primarily based on knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the prior year of schooling.

In preparation for NAPLAN 2024, our school will undertake activities to help students to become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked. Students and parents can access the public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN and the types of questions and tools available. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended.

If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact your child’s teacher.

Building Works

Contactors are currently completing the playground in our Special Programs Area (SPA). A big thank you to our P & C for securing the government funding. We have also been successful in securing funding for the construction of a shelter to extend over the whole area.

The school is also looking at completing work in the hall. The work will focus on installing carpet tiles and upgrading the steps.

Canteen

The canteen will now stop taking orders from students as the music starts playing in the morning. This is because students are expected to be in line when the bell goes and many students who are playing before school use the music as a time to go to place their order.

Parents are welcome to place orders as the music plays and after the bell.

Attendance Matters

Education in New South Wales is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age. The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at, and regularly attend school, or are registered with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards for homeschooling. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

Unfortunately, habits of non-attendance tend to develop quickly and it is concerning that if a child misses just 8 days a term, they would miss more than one year of schooling by the end of primary school which then presents problems as they begin high school.

Woodland Road Public School 2024 Staff