Principal Team's Message

Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families

World Teachers’ Day 

World Teachers’ Day was first recognised in 1994, and is celebrated this year on Friday 25 October 2024. It marks 30 years of recognising the extraordinary value of the work teachers do and providing the community with the opportunity to express collective thanks to teachers for their hard and effective work. 

Today, we celebrate the excellence that is evident in most teachers:

• The excellence that marks the many intricate facets of their role. 
• The commitment that shines through in their ability to care for a child, transforming that child's perspective on the world. 
• The excellence by which teachers collaborate with each other and the community to support students and their families. 
• The dedication with which they help hundreds of thousands of students explore diverse interests and develop their potential.

Join me in thanking our amazing teachers at Maramba Primary School.

Student Supervision

Student safety at Maramba is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school. 

School staff supervise the school grounds from 8:35-8:45am in the mornings. Similarly, from 3:15-3:25pm each afternoon.

Breakfast Club is run by our parent volunteers for students every Wednesday, unless communicated otherwise, from 8:10-8:35am. A member of staff is present for the session. 

Parents and carers are responsible for the care and supervision of students:

• travelling to and from school
• outside the times of school supervision before and after school.

We have an Out of School Hours Care provider, Theircare, whose services can be availed if students are to be dropped before 8:35am and have not been picked up by 3:25pm. Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending Theircare.

Spotlight on Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction is a systematic, engaging and success-oriented teaching approach. It involves fully explaining and effectively demonstrating what students need to learn. Learning new information happens most effectively and efficiently when teaching is clear, systematic and does not leave students to construct or discover knowledge and skills without guidance. (Reference: https://www.edresearch.edu.au/summaries-explainers/explainers/explicit-instruction-optimises-learning )

To build this, at Maramba Primary School, we have 'Explicit Teaching' as part of our 2024 instructional model to help students effectively learn new content. This involves breaking down concepts and using explanations, demonstrations, and models, especially when students are encountering a topic for the first time. It is important for teachers to introduce new information in a clear and organised way. 

This week our spotlight is on 4B, the United Warriors, who have been interviewed by our School Leaders, Susanna, Aiden C and Will to get an insight about explicit teaching. 

Questions for Ms Banovic: 

What is explicit teaching?

Ms Banovic: So explicit teaching is a way teachers teach to make it easier for students to understand. It explains what the students need to do and learn. It can include things like setting goals, showing videos, creating anchor charts and worked examples. It is followed by guided practice where we work together and then independent practice where the students complete it on their own. This when I will be going around checking for understanding. We have a review at the end so it is basically a very structured way to how teachers teach to impact students the best they can. 

What are some of the strategies you use to teach explicitly?

So, some effective strategies that teachers and I use are chunking information and direct explanation which is clearly explaining each section and the expectations around them. Another one is 'modelling' to demonstrate the skill and the concept step by step using think aloud strategies, using visual aids and guided practice. I will also be checking for understanding, providing feedback and roaming the room. I will also be looking at students’ books and then I am also relating new information to prior information so linking it to our learning as best as we can so when there is a new concept, it is easier for kids to understand.

Student Interviews:

Foundation 2025

Next week on Thursday Oct 31st from 2:30pm-3:15pm will be our first 2025 Foundation Transition session.  We are so excited to meet the 2025 Foundation students.

Starting school is an exciting milestone for parents, children, and staff alike. Transition sessions mark the beginning of this journey and are designed to give your child the best possible start for 2025. We look forward to meeting your child and partnering with you to support their path toward becoming lifelong learners. 

Future 2025 Foundation sessions:

• Thursday 7th November 2:30pm-3:15pm
• Thursday 14th November 2:30-3:15pm

Assemblies and Newsletters

Please see the schedule below for our assemblies and newsletters:

We wish all families a wonderful weekend ahead where you get to enjoy the sunshine. We look forward to your attendance at the next assembly on 31st October and 6th November at our SWPBS Info session at 5pm.

Kind regards,

Moniba Ehsan and Stephanie Sharp

Principal and Assistant Principal