Welcome back to Term Three

The students have started so well, they have been fantastic and with a real positive attitude. I am very proud of them!

We have a lot happening, particularly with the middle and older students sport, but what has been pleasing is the students working on their skill development. It is easy to want to do the activity, but really focusing on the specific skills is what improves performance. The same is true in academics.

One key part of this is having the students be successful. Often it is thought the we have to get students motivated to achieve. However, the research suggests that achievement brings motivation. We can't always win, but we need to show students they are improving, and that brings the motivation despite the result.

It is our Prep students 100 Days at school next Wednesday....it is time for them to celebrate. More information will be sent to families.

PLAYGROUP

Today we hosted Casey Council Playdaze event, with many young families from the area coming to the Hall and having a great time. From next Monday, we will be hosting another Playgroup called Little Saints, a Catholic Playgroup started out of St Kevin's. We have attached the flyer. As a school, we always want to connect with the community as this creates opportunities for our families and school. A reminder that our playgroup runs each Thursday 9-10 with Glenis.

MATHS ACCELERATION INITIATIVE

This semester, our school has been selected for a Maths acceleration program. This will mean that many of our teachers will be attending high quality professional learning, combined with mathematics experts coming to visit our classrooms and guide our teachers in how to ensure our students are achieving great outcomes in Mathematics. The work is based on the Grattan Maths Research. It is widely reported that Maths results in Australia are falling. We want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to shift that needle. Your children deserve it.

NAPLAN and MOVING FORWARD

NAPLAN results went home today. What is important is that we use data to promote discussion and generate questions. Start with the child's strengths. Then, look at the area for greatest improvement. If you would like to chat to your child's teacher, please make a time, you don't have to wait until interviews. If you need assistance analysing the data, I am happy to help you.

As a school, my early analysis is focused on the growth. We want to make the greatest impact year to year. The Year 5 data provides the best lens of that. Here are some findings:

Spelling is our strongest area across the school, which aligns with our phonics explicit instruction that's been happening for four years.
Our greatest growth data was in writing, which was a focus for our teachers last year.
We had more students achieve high growth (as measured by NAPLAN compared to all students) that achieved medium and very few low growth results. This is testament to the teachers and students.
Reading growth was the lowest growth, still reasonable results, but we want high growth. We will analyse why this occurred.
Mathematics growth was solid, yet is still well below where we want it to be.

Our PD on Monday with the staff was great, with a clear focus on explicit teaching. We want our teachers to be responsive. This is why students use whiteboards often so we can quickly check their understanding and make informed decisions about what we teach next. There has been a lot of talk about schools going back to basics, and the instruction is much more direct, but the biggest difference (improvement) is how we give feedback. A tick on a piece of work after the learning does little to assist students. We want to provide immediate feedback and address any misconceptions in the moment. In simpler language, show students how to be successful, then do it with them, then they do it alone.

Catholic Faith Reflection

I am conscious that School Holidays often create much more pressure on parents and families. Thanks for all the support you give your children. It was timely that the Gospel Passage on the weekend focused on a hectic Martha and her contemplative sister Mary. It is an invitation for us to take some time, find the quiet and allow our mind to wonder. It is in the silence, which is so hard to get to due to fast paced world we live, that God can really talk to us. How can we find five minutes a day to just sit and ponder and be quiet. A previous Bishop I knew said over and over again, the language of God is silence.

Wishing you all well,

Paul Sharp

Principal

St John's College

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