Principal's Report

We are at the mid-point of Term 1 and today I would like to focus on the great teaching and learning that we are seeing in our classrooms to begin the year.

‘Professional Learning Communities’ Approach and New Timetabling Structure

Our Year Level Coordinators are participating in the DE ‘Professional Learning Communities’ initiative, focusing on curriculum development. Our coordinators are leading collaborative planning sessions with their teaching teams, working together to ensure each student receives a minimum of six sessions of reading, writing and numeracy instruction each week. This approach focuses on analysing student achievement data to plan a differentiated and challenging curriculum. There is nothing more important academically than students being highly literate and numerate, and this approach puts this focus at the centre of our work. 

NAPLAN Preparation

Years 3 and 5 will participate in the suite of NAPLAN examinations beginning Wednesday 13th March. Our teaching teams are working with their students to help familiarise them with the testing style and format. They will investigate different questioning styles, build confidence in ‘multiple choice’ problems, as well as longer-form timed writing pieces. We will undertake a technology readiness test this week and continue to support all students to be confident in tackling the examination period. 

‘Little Learners Love Literacy’

All teachers in years Prep to 2 are now trained in the ‘Little Learners Love Literacy’ program. This program focuses on the ‘science of reading’ and is a synthetic phonics-based approach to learning to read. Learning to read is no accident; single letters and combinations of letters make particular sounds, with these combinations forming to create words. It is integral for our students to learn these sound combinations as they learn to read. 

‘6+1 Traits of Writing’

Our whole staff are participating in training across this year in the ‘6 + 1 Traits of Writing’ approach to writing instruction. This approach focuses on what makes writing pieces great and utilising the support of ‘mentor texts’ to further develop how our students approach writing. 

Numeracy Curriculum 2.0

Our whole staff are implementing the new Victorian Curriculum ‘Numeracy 2.0’ in advance of its mandated roll-out in 2025. The Numeracy 2.0 curriculum focuses on key skills and proficiencies that support students to be highly numerate first, before learning to apply number skills in a real-world context. Our staff have also focused on consistency in curriculum planning, ensuring they have a cohesive ‘scope and sequence’ of learning across the year. 

Learning Intervention

Year level teams have identified students who require learning intervention across the school in multiple categories:

• Students who are working six months or more below the expected level in Reading, Writing or Number.
• Students who made low growth in any of the above areas.
• Students who were categorised as ‘needing attention’ in an area of the 2023 NAPLAN testing suite. 

The school has a variety of strategies to support students who fall into any of the above categories, including:

• Learning intervention sessions external to the classroom.
• Participation in the ‘Mac Lit’ or ‘Mini Lit’ program.
• In-class adjustments at learning ‘point of need’. 

The school continues to invest in teacher and support-staff training to better build our understanding of how to best support students who are not achieving at the expected level, or not showing expected learning growth. 

Homework

Building positive learning routines at home is a critical skill to develop before secondary school. It begins in Prep, with a focus on nightly home-reading, and continues through each year level, building-in spelling practice, mathematics revision and content related to PYP units of inquiry to be completed on a weekly basis in the middle- and upper-year levels of the school. I really care about quality homework and encourage our classroom teachers to send any students who have completed high-quality homework to share their achievements with me in my office. 

Our school provides high-quality learning programs for all students, and I look forward to continuing to share their learning achievements with you through our newsletter.

Thanks for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan Cooper

Principal