From the Principal
Twilight Sports
We encourage as many families as possible to attend the upcoming Twilight Sports night,
which is being held on Wednesday, 27th March commencing at 5:00pm and finishing at 7:00pm.
Please read Compass feeds for additional information about this event.
This is a very popular community event, and we look forward to seeing as many students and families there as possible.
Lunchtime Trivia with Junior School Council
Our Junior School Council led by Miss Eaves and Miss Gabrielle is planning to run some trivia lunchtime events for Years 1-6. These events will occur on the following dates:
- Year 1 / 2 - 18th March
- Year 3 / 4 - 21st March
- Year 5 / 6 - 25th March
Students will be asked to express their interest on sign up sheets located in 2G, 1KR, 3CB,
and 6E. We are recommending students get into small groups (between 3-5) but obviously we want to promote inclusion, so this is flexible.
We are also planning on giving out icy poles as a prize for the winners so we’re expecting to have lots of interest!!
This will be a great event and we would like to thank JSC for coming up with this wonderful idea!
Harmony day at Camelot Rise Primary School
Harmony Day, Thursday 21st March, is a celebration of cultural diversity, promoting inclusivity, respect, and a sense of belonging for all Australians. It's a day where we come together to embrace our differences in language, traditions and culture.
Harmony Day is an opportunity for all Australians to embrace cultural diversity and to share what we have in common. Multiculturalism is in Australia's national interest. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.
Orange has been the Harmony Day colour since the first event was held in
1999. Traditionally the colour orange relates to social communication, stimulating two-way conversations. It aids in the development of new ideas and frees the spirit of its limitations, giving us the freedom to be ourselves.
At Camelot Rise on Thursday, 21st March, we invite our students to participate in this celebration by dressing up in a form of cultural attire or accessories. This can also include wearing sports clothes with your country’s name or emblem on them. Students could also choose to wear orange clothing or accessories as orange is the official colour of Harmony Day.
If your child brings a traditional lunch, they may like to talk about their meal with the class.
Annual Report to School Community
The Annual Report to the school community will be presented on Thursday, 21st March at 6.30pm (in the Conference Room) just prior to our School Council meeting that commences at 7.00pm.
All community members are invited to attend the Annual Report to the School Community.
Ben Heys, our Assistant Principal, and I will be presenting the Annual Report.
The Annual Report is designed to add value in a number of ways:
Keeping the school community informed:
The annual report provides a means for the school council to inform the community of what has been achieved and how the school is performing. Providing information about schools helps the community hold schools, the system and government accountable for improving student outcomes.
Contributing to system accountability and meeting legislative requirements:
Public accountability for improving student outcomes and for the use of public money is mandated in the Education and Training Reform Act (2006), where school councils are required to prepare and publish an annual report.
Relationship between the planning and annual reporting processes:
The development of the annual report is an opportunity to reflect on the school’s achievements and use this as a basis for future planning.
It is great to reflect on the results we have achieved as a school and celebrate our successes whilst carefully planning to ensure our results continue to improve.
NAPLAN
We wish all the best to our Year 3 and 5 students who will be participating in their NAPLAN assessments between Wednesday, 13th to Friday, 22nd March.
Drones @ CRPS
We are thrilled to annouce that we have purchased some drones for our students to use in classroom and STEM activties. The drones we purchased are from educational supplier CD-Soft, and are educational models, designed for teaching coding within a 3D environment. As such, the drones use different measurement language to other robotics utilised at CRPS, such as Spheros or code.org. This allows for a greater connection to mathematics for our senior learners. Although capable, the drones are not designed for free flight, but use educational apps, such as Tello EDU, to program them using blocky and python code. The drones we use have protective functionality to help make them safe around students and classrooms, as they are designed predominantly for inside use. The use of drones helps engage students in STEM learning in a way that can’t be accessed in other ways, adding new dimensions to the learning achievable at CRPS.
Professional Learning Communities Training
As part of our ongoing professional learning we have a number of our staff are currently completing a Department of Education refresher course called ‘Professional Learning Communities’ (PLC).
Our staff completed this training in 2023 and due to their commitment and desire to constantly ensure we are meeting the needs of all students a number of staff will participate in this ‘refresher’ course.
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an approach to school improvement where groups of teachers work collaboratively at the school level to improve student outcomes.
Professional learning community (PLC) schools start from a simple idea: students learn more when their teachers work together.
Building a PLC is a proven way for schools to increase student learning by creating a culture that is:
- focussed on continuous improvement by linking the learning needs of students with the professional learning and practice of teachers
- committed to professionalism
- fuelled by collaborative expertise.
The 10 principles of effective PLCs
Found in all effective PLCs are 10 principles that bring together the best available research on school improvement:
- Student learning focus: School improvement starts with an unwavering focus on student learning.
- Collective responsibility: For every child to achieve, every adult must take responsibility for their learning.
- Instructional leadership: Effective school leaders focus on teaching and learning.
- Collective efficacy: Teachers make better instructional decisions together.
- Adult learning: Teachers learn best with others, on the job.
- Privileged time: Effective schools provide time and forums for teacher conversations about student learning.
- Continuous improvement: Effective teams improve through recurring cycles of diagnosing student learning needs, and planning, implementing and evaluating teaching responses to them.
- Evidence driven: Effective professional learning and practice are evidence-based and data-driven.
- System focus: The most effective school leaders contribute to the success of other schools.
- Integrated regional support: Schools in improving systems are supported by teams of experts who know the communities they work in.
We would like to thank all our staff for their ongoing commitment to professional learning and always wanting to develop and improve their practice and the educational outcomes of their students.
This is another example of what makes Camelot Rise such a wonderful school!
Student Supervision
Thank-you to the many families who ensure their child arrives on time to school every day. Punctuality is an important life skill and a great habit to form early in life. Students ideally should arrive at school around 8:45am, which allows enough time to enjoy a quick catch up with friends before the preparation bell at 8:50am. At 8:45am, a teacher is on ‘yard duty’ and therefore supervision is provided from this time onwards. We are concerned by the number of students arriving at school without a parent as early as 8:00am! Whilst we understand that some parents have work commitments that require them to leave for work earlier than 8:45am you need to plan for your child. Camp Australia offers an excellent Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) program to support our families.
Congratulations to our 2024 Student Leaders
We would like to thank Mr John Mullahy (State Member for Glen Waverley) who attended our Student Leadership Badge Presentation on Friday, 8th March. This was a very special time for these students and their families. We look forward to these students having a great impact on our school this year. Congratulations to these students.
Matthew Coney & Ben Heys