Principal's Panorama

Kindergarten (ES1) Angels

I had a special visit from some of our ES1 Angels today! Have a look at how well their writing has progressed.  Mrs Brennan and the class were writing about the weather, these special angels had a couple of 'tricky' words on the board to help with their spelling, however the rest of their work was independent.  

Mrs Brennan told me it makes "her heart sing" to see how far these young ones have come in their learning.

Frazier says he was proud of his work because: "I had capitals at the start, full stop at the end and I used my finger spaces."

Quality teaching, resulting in excellent outcomes. As a member of the St Mary of the Angels community.. I agree with Mrs Brennan, it makes your heart sing.

Reporting, 3-way conferences and Term 2 PAT testing data for Reading and Mathematics 

PAT stands for Progressive Achievement Test and as our community is aware, PAT Testing in Reading and Mathematics occurred at SMOTA in Week 5 for Year 1 through to Year 6. 

This national benchmarking assessment allows our team of skilful helpful adults to “check-in” on our children's academic progress against national standards, SMOTA completes these twice a year with the test in Term Two being used to determine the individual next steps for our students', 'point -of-need' , learning.

With the majority of students this will be about extension and stretching their current skills for the 'even-better-if'. For other students it allows our SHAs to check for any knowledge and application ”gaps” so we can target these through a system of learning sprints that backtrack and re-teach some of the more difficult concepts that have not yet been fully understood.   When we complete PAT again later in the year, we will look for growth markers in their results from the same time in 2023.

This close to end of Semester reporting time, we were also blessed to have some time with Jacqueline Wait (Subject Matter Expert: Literacy K-6 and Data) from ACSO to revisit and extend our learning from last year on the use of different data sets in order accurately report against the NSW Curriculum. Some parents/carers may remember the discussions about triangulation of data, this is where staff use a variety of information about student progress and achievement in relation to the outcomes assessed and the content taught up to the relevant point in time so that staff can make an informed and accurate judgement about the student's achievement at that 'point of time' in the school year.

Requirements for reporting to parents and carers on student progress and achievement are mandated by the Commonwealth Government and set out in regulation 59 of the Australian Education Regulations 2023 (Cth). Schools and sectors determine how these requirements are implemented in their contexts.

As part of the Commonwealth Government requirements for reporting to parents and carers in Years 1 to 10, schools in the Armidale Diocese use what is known as the 'Common Grade Scale'.

This is where the  grades A, B, C, D and E are used as a 5-point scale for each subject studied. 

Additionally our reports have comments for some of the Key Learning Areas (KLAs) which describe student progress and achievement through teacher comments. 

Common Grade Scale Years 1 to 10 

HERE

The Common Grade Scale shown below is what we use to report student achievement at SMOTA as we are within the Armidale Diocese. The scale describes performance at each of the 5 grade levels.

A

• The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.

B

• The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.

C

• The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.

D

• The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.

E

• The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

3-Way Conferences

Additionally, a reminder for parents/carers to book their three-way learning conferences in Week 10.  This conference is the opportunity for parent/carers to have a discussion with their child/ren's classroom educator about what is in their child/ren's Semester One Progress Report. Please do this via COMPASS.

Council of Catholic School Parents; "Our Catholic Faith" Handbook

Since 1995, CCSP have been the voice of Catholic school parents in decision making within and beyond the NSW Catholic education sector.

CCSP assists parents and carers in a range of different ways, from advocacy through to support understanding the Catholic School System.

CCPS have published a wonderful new handbook for parents and carers of young people in Catholic Schools which explains important aspects of Catholic beliefs, traditions and how these occur in schools.  I very much recommend the handbook to all of our school community. To access your copy of 

 Our Catholic Faith: A HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS AND FAMILIES OF STUDENTS IN NSW/ACT CATHOLIC SCHOOLS  you can download it HERE.

Congratulations to Eli Simpson!

Congratulations to Eli Simpson, on her attainment of Master of Leadership from Deakin University. Her thesis was titled Principal self-efficacy to lead improvement, innovation, and change in Armidale Catholic Schools and is a very insightful read.

St Mary of the Angels was blessed to have Eli in Term Four 2023 as our part time Assistant Principal, Religious Education Coordinator and is back at the head office full time as Subject Matter Expert: Strong Teams, Leadership Coaching and Student Agency.  Eli continues her great work with St Mary of the Angels and is currently running a Student Agency Pilot Program with some of our Stage 3 young people. Well done Eli!

From GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS ...to infinity and beyond...

 I can hear some of you saying.. "What? Latin, religion and Toy Story ?....now what!? Augh..".

Let us start with Toy Story... a franchise of five animated films from 1995, 1999, 2010, 2019 and 2022, which was created by Pixar Animation Studios and focuses on a group of toys that come to life and set out on adventures and mishaps. All the while learning about friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, inevitability of change and accepting ourselves and each other for who we/they really are.. unconditional positive regard.

Now to the Latin AND Religion!!

Gravissimum Educationis, is the document that holds the largest importance for any teaching organisation or system, that the Church has published thus far.

Written in 1965, this document which was one of sixteen documents, was released during the Second Vatican Council and guides all of us on what Catholic Education means and looks like, if you would like to read it..click HERE.

The Church recognises the moral, social and spiritual imperative of the growth through developing the whole person and has worked at growing Catholic education all over the world.

"To fulfill the mandate she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the mystery of salvation to all (people) and of restoring all things in Christ, Holy Mother the Church must be concerned with the whole of (a human's) life, even the secular part of it insofar as it has a bearing on (his/her) heavenly calling. (4) Therefore she has a role in the progress and development of education" (Vatican Council II, 1965, Introduction).

Relating these ideals and lessons from both Toy Story and Gravissimum Educationis to Catholic education and our school in particular, we can see that we are all called on to ensure we are doing everything we can to ensureall in our school community are working towards a hope filled future.

We do this is through the recognition that we all come from different backgrounds and that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

Another aspect is that, parents, as the primary educators of their young people are equally charged with the responsibility for helping our young people and our staff to create mutual, trusting partnerships, where all stakeholders are developing their community (school and wider), embracing diversity and consistently working toward academic, social/emotional, physical and spiritual growth.

Learning is a partnership with parents, carers and others in the community, all of whom have a role to play in nurturing the love of learning needed for success at school and in life.

- Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (December 2019)

Looking at the "Families as Partners in Catholic School Communities" from the "Living Well, Learning Well Framework";  this document details that our families "recognise that positive partnerships between families and school strengthen the school community and improve learning, wellbeing, faith development and life opportunities for all children/young people in the school."

When you add to this, that all staff in Armidale Diocesan schools "recognise that the partnership between family and school centres on the child/young person, who has voice in the partnership and whose learning, wellbeing and spiritual development are the reason for the partnership - as taught and modelled by Jesus, our children and young people are at the heart of the Kingdom of God (Luke 18: 16)."

It highlights the value of all the individuals involved and centres the relationships around the good of the young person.  

After all.. it is why you are reading this.. your 'here' because of your desire to ensure that your child/ren have the best that you can possibly provide them, because they ARE the most vulnerable in this equation of life.

Our young people need all of us to work in partnership, to build a scaffold of support so they can learn all of the skills to make them agentic in this ever changing world. 

When parents/carers choose a Catholic school in the Armidale Diocese, they are commiting to entering a positive partnership with the school in which there is shared privilege and responsibility for the child’s faith formation, learning and wellbeing. 

There us the understanding that there is a shared goal that all children and young people in Armidale Diocesan schools are safe, valued, respected and cared for, and esteemed and supported as learners.

 We look forward to continuing to share the aspects of our school that make us a caring and supportive community, where all of our young people work towards a hope-filled future... and in the famous words of Buzz Lightyear.. "to infinity and beyond."

Until next time, blessings.

Zoe