Teaching and Learning 

Homework and Home Reading 

PLEASE NOTE:

Due to the public holiday this Thursday, followed by the pupil free day on Friday, it will not be possible for students to return homework or teachers to send out new homework. Therefore, the homework sent home last Friday will be for a two week period, due back on Thursday, May 2nd.

Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge 

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open for all students and will remain open until September 6th.

Please see the details below to find out how to register and log into the challenge:

Logging in with a Challenge passcode:

Teachers have (or will in the coming days) provide students with their log-in details on a sticker that has been stuck in the home reading diary/student diary. Please see your child’s classroom teacher if you have any queries about logging in, or you can’t find the log in details.

Go to the Challenge application.

1. Select the School/Student button.
2. Select the VPRC login option.
3. Enter your username and password.
4. Select Login.

Semester 1 Reporting Timeline 

One of the important ways of informing parents and carers of how their child is going at school is via semester reports.

At Buninyong Primary School, a written report is provided at the end of each semester- June and December. These reports contain personalised written comments from classroom teachers regarding your child’s progress along with progression points that report on the Victorian Curriculum levels. A report is also provided for each of the specialist subject areas which includes a subject blurb, your child’s achievement in the skills and knowledge of the topics taught and a rating against the Victorian Curriculum.

Along with these written reports, an opportunity to attend a parent teacher interview with all classroom teachers and specialist teachers is provided on two separate days each semester. 

In addition to these two formal opportunities for parents and carers to find out how their child is going at school and what they are learning, you are welcome to make contact with teachers via Compass, email, phone or in person at any time throughout the year.

Below is the timeline for semester 1 reports and parent-teacher interviews.  Please add these key dates to your calendar and keep an eye on future editions of the weekly newsletter and Compass for further details on how to access reports in Compass and make bookings for parent-teacher interviews.

• Week 10-Friday June 21st- Reports home
• Week 11-Monday June 24th- Parent Teacher Interviews (4-6pm)
• Wednesday June 26th- Parent Teacher Interviews (1:30-5pm)

Kryal Castle Chess Tournament 

Last Thursday, 17 of our students attended Kryal Castle to compete in an interschool chess tournament. 

There were 164 students involved from 23 schools across the state. It was a lot more professional than our students were used to, with clock timers and special rules, but they all adjusted brilliantly. 

Each student played 7 rounds each and would score one point for a win and half a point for a draw. Everyone from our school scored points which was fantastic.

Our school finished the day ranked 6th out of the 23 schools. Go Buninyong!

Not only did the students play lots of chess, but they got to explore Kryal Castle which included playing on the playground, doing the maze, going to the gift shop and eating lots of lollies!

A special mention goes to Charlie H and Ethan H who each scored 4.5 points, thus qualifying for the State Primary Open later this year.

Teacher Professional Learning Learner Agency 

This Friday on our pupil-free day, staff will be involved in professional learning to help build our knowledge of learner (student) agency.

This focus is a result of our school review last year and forms a part of a four year strategic plan.

Friday’s work is only one part of this focus- staff were involved in an after school session with educational consultant Chris Egan last Monday as well as another session at yesterday’s staff meeting after school.

Throughout these sessions, staff are working to achieve the following:

• Build a common understanding and definition of student agency to empower students in their learning.
• Develop strategies to promote learner agency and student empowerment in the learning process.
• Evaluate current practices to encourage students to take an active role in their learning journey.

These sessions are only the beginning of our journey and we look forward to sharing our work and knowledge with the broader school community in the coming months.