Assistant Principal's Page

The “Summer Slide”  is an umbrella term used in education to describe the loss of knowledge gained during the school year over the summer break.  Studies have shown that the “Summer Slide” can be detrimental to reading, spelling, and maths skills, and indicate a loss of up to 2 months of learning achievement.  However, there is no need to panic and start asking children to sit down and do “school work” on their holidays.  Of course, it is important to slow down, take some pressure off and focus on spending time as a family.  Luckily, it is quite easy to help prevent “summer slide” by simply incorporating activities like the ones described below into the everyday.  This week, I want to focus on numeracy and will share ideas for literacy in next week’s newsletter. 

Easy ways to support numeracy skills over the holidays: 

• Mark or enter dates on a calendar - discuss days/ dates of special events and time between dates
• Read clocks and discuss time as much as possible!  Use the terms half-past, quarter-past, quarter-to
• Calculate travel times during family trips (e.g. we are leaving at 7:15am and it takes 2.5 hours to get to… what time will we arrive?)
• Read the map on a GPS and discuss directions
• Read public transport timetables and make travel plans together
• When shopping: read price labels, calculate total cost of multiple items, weigh fruit and vegetables, estimate total cost of a supermarket trolley, calculate discounts, discuss budgets. 
• Discuss shapes, symmetry and patterns in nature or used in architecture
• Discuss fractions and units of measure when cooking together
• Play number games on drives (e.g. spot number plates that equal 10, 20, 32… any number you choose-  using different operations). 
• Investigate scoring and/or statistics in different sports
• Play games that involve scoring/ maths (e.g. Uno, Dominoes, Yahtzee, Noughts & Crosses, Chess) 
• Complete jigsaw puzzles
• Play safe online games that help build quick recall of number facts (i.e. addition and subtraction facts to 20 for younger students, and multiplication facts for older students).

So much learning can happen during these simple interactions.  The most important thing you can do is be aware of the maths that is constantly around us, bring that to your child’s attention, model curiosity, and interest in numeracy.  

International Day of People with Disability

On Sunday 3 December 2023, we celebrate International Day of People with Disability. The day gives us an opportunity to recognise the vital contributions of people with disability across our communities.  It offers a chance for us to recommit to our work to make the world better and fairer for people with disability, and to ensure their voices are heard in decisions that affect them.  Here are some beautiful books you could look out for in your local bookstores or library, that celebrate people with a disability. 

Thanks so much for reading this and I look forward to seeing everyone at the Christmas concert on Tuesday evening!

Bree Jennings - Assistant Principal