Messages from the Principal

Good afternoon NPS Families, 

We've had another busy yet productive past few weeks as we head into the home stretch of Term 1 (I cannot believe I am saying that!)! 

This week students in years 3 and 5 began their NAPLAN Assessments and I would like to extend a huge congratulations to all our students who participated. I am, as are their teachers, incredibly impressed and proud of the engagement, focus, and effort they have put into each assessment thus far. It's wonderful to see our students demonstrating their learning and resilience and for our Year 3's with NAPLAN being very new to them, they did extremely well. We will need to wait for school and individual student results - which we will share with our community and families respectively. We have a lot to be proud of as a school and traditionally, our NAPLAN data is one of those things and I am confident that it will be once again. 

A huge shout out to Mr. McKinnis for his organisation regarding our recent Cross Country. events. Both the 3-6 and F-2 events were resounding successes! Although I was unable to attend, I was told many times that the atmosphere was electric with high levels of enthusiasm and competitiveness! There were fantastic displays of determination from all our students, from our youngest runners in our Preps to our most senior students. 

A massive thank you also to our staff and parent volunteers who helped make the day run smoothly. It was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together and celebrate healthy activity. 

Finally, I would like to share an email that was received from one of our families following our year 3-6 Cross Country event that I know made myself, and Mr. McKinnis, quite proud.   

"Just a quick note to say well done on a flawless cross-country morning at Barwon Valley Fun Park! 

All the kids did such a terrific job, lots of fast running and very determined running. Most importantly (I think) lots of smiles and encouragement for those who found this hard. 

I spoke to quite a few mums after (and during) and we were all extremely impressed with the whole morning. When it’s all so smooth it’s easier to get help in future.

I was very proud of our school today. A well-oiled machine down there."

Before I finish up with a final reminder, I do need to mention the "A" word = Attendance. We are beginning to see increased patterns of absenteeism and students not coming to school, some of which we have no reason or explanation for. Kids get sick, families go on holidays/extended weekends, and there are other unforeseen reasons also - however, we know that the math is simple = our kids cannot learn if they are not here (and here on time). The two days sets below highlight attendance and absenteeism data from last year and although not completely dire when compared to similar network and state schools, it is still not great. If your little one/s are going to be absent it must be for a valid reason and we must be notified. 

Reminder: Curriculum Day - March 24th - Pupil Free Day

Please remember that Monday, March 24th, is a Curriculum Day. There will be no students attending school on this day. Our staff will be participating in professional learning focusing on the Berry Street Education Model which is a 4 day course that we will complete this year and next. For those families needing it, Our Patch will be running their service on this day (see info in Community News). 

Thank you to everyone for reading and have a great weekend! 

Principal

Newtown Primary School