From Marie

Wrapping up our 2024 Encounter Program

Tomorrow afternoon, at a special assembly, we will farewell our 19 Encounter program students who have been with us a month.  These students will head home to China and Hong Kong and get ready to commence their new school year in September.  To wrap up their time with us, our Encounter students, their buddies and families, visited Healesville Sanctuary to check out the beautiful Australian fauna. We want to thank all of our students for the amazing way that they embraced their new classmates, welcomed them into their friendships and games, and demonstrated our school values of respect, kindness and curiosity.  We cannot wait until July in 2025 when we can welcome a new group of international visitors.  If you have family or friends who would like to take advantage of this program, please chat to Kelli Heriot or myself.

Colour Run Fundraiser

The Junior School Council is excited to announce that they will be holding a Colour Run Fundraiser!  The Colour Run will be held on Friday 25 October in Term 4.  Details about how you can donate (and earn prizes) will be shared soon!

Police Visit to Foundation

Last week, our Foundation students had visit from local constables, Keith and Ellie. Check out the information and photos on the dedicated page in this newsletter.

NAPLAN in the media

This week, media outlets have reported to the Australian community the concerns about literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in Grade 3 and 5.  All students, across Australia, in Grade 3 and 5 undertook the range of literacy and numeracy assessments in March this year.  We are very pleased to let our community know that students at Mullum Primary performed well in these assessments.  The changes we have made over the last three years in teaching literacy and numeracy are having a big impact on student learning outcomes and therefore the NAPLAN results of our Grade 3 and 5 students.  Excitedly, our Grade 5 students have gained higher than state growth in both literacy and numeracy. The following results are worthy of celebration and are an acknowledgement that our approach to explicit instruction and the introduction of intervention, are making a difference to learning outcomes for all students:

• 82% of Grade 3 students achieved at or above expected level in reading
• 94% of Grade 3 students achieved at or above expected level in writing
• 30% of Grade 5 students have made high growth in reading
• 32% of Grade 5 students have made high growth in numeracy
• In all curriculum areas tested, the school has significantly reduced the number of students requiring additional support from last year to this year.

We are very pleased with the evidence of student learning at Mullum Primary and will continue this work until all students are making expected progress in their learning.

Book Week

Next week is Book Week.  Across the week there will be a range of activities in classrooms which will culminate in a Book Week Character Parade, at an outdoor assembly on Friday 23 August at 9:00.  This year's theme is 'Reading is Magic'. A number of activities will be held throughout the week and include:

Foundation - Grade 2: Students bring a favourite book (gift wrapped if possible!) to be read to the class by the teacher.

Grades 3-6: Students can bring a favourite book that they would like to recommend to their class.

All week: Teachers will be sharing their favourite books between classes. Families are welcome to come along and join in the fun. All students are encouraged to choose a favourite book character and come dressed as this person for the day.  This parade is always a highlight of Book Week, here are a few ideas from last year that might spark some creative ideas: