Hi Solway Community,

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through Term 3 already. I would like to start this week’s newsletter by wishing good luck to Miss Brooks (PB) as she begins her family leave next week. Miss Brooks and her partner Andy are expecting their first child and hope for nothing more than the safe arrival of their bub in the next couple of weeks. We are looking forward to welcoming back Mr Catalano to replace Miss Brooks in Prep B. Mr Catalano has been part of our school community for the last 18 months, teaching grade 6 last year and covering Japanese for Term 1 this year.

NAPLAN

Our NAPLAN results have now been released, and reports have been provided to Grade 3 and Grade 5 families. I would like to congratulate our students on their achievement and growth. There is a great deal to be proud of in the results. In Reading, 69% of our Grade 3 students and 90% of our Grade 5 students were assessed as Strong or Exceeding. Our Grade 5 result was 1% above similar schools and equal to our network schools. In Writing, 87% of Grade 3 students and 75% of Grade 5 students were assessed as Strong or Exceeding, while in Numeracy this was 79% of Grade 3 students and 85% of Grade 5 students. The growth of our students between Grades 3 and 5 is also pleasing, with 80% of students demonstrating High or Medium Relative Growth in Reading, 78% in Writing and 73% in Numeracy. Both reading and writing results were the same or above those of similar schools.

While these results are encouraging and provide us with valuable information about student achievement and growth, it is important to remember that NAPLAN is one measure of learning at a particular point in time. It provides schools with useful information to help inform our teaching and learning, but it is only one snapshot of a student's learning journey and does not capture the many other qualities and achievements that make each of our students unique.

Grade 3-6 House Athletics

Despite the weather threatening to dampen our day, we had another successful Grade 3 to 6 House Athletics Carnival. It was great to see students stepping outside their comfort zones, trying new events and giving their best effort throughout the day. Our students demonstrated our values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience, particularly when they were faced with events that challenged them. Thank you to Miss Peterson for her organisation of the carnival, Miss Lanyon for her support and to our teachers and parent helpers who gave their time to run events and encourage our students throughout the day.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

Creating a calm, safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment remains an important priority for us at Solway. Our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support approach provides a consistent framework for explicitly teaching students the behaviours and expectations that allow everyone to learn and feel safe. Our expectations are centred around our school values. Just as we explicitly teach academic skills, we also teach students what our values look and sound like in different situations. When expectations are not met, we follow a clear and consistent process that is proportionate to the behaviour and focused on helping students take responsibility and make better choices.

Our approach recognises that different behaviours require different responses. Minor behaviours are generally managed by the classroom teacher through reminders, changes to learning arrangements or reflection. Repeated or more significant behaviours may involve support from a Team Leader, reflection and opportunities for students to repair relationships. More serious or unsafe behaviours are managed by school leadership and may involve the loss of privileges, communication with families and further consequences where appropriate.

I want to reassure families that when behaviours occur that are inconsistent with our expectations, they are followed up. While some responses to behaviour may not be visible to families or the wider community, please be assured that concerns are followed up by staff and appropriate action is taken with students when expectations are not met. Our aim is not simply to apply a consequence, but to help students understand the impact of their choices, repair relationships and learn from their mistakes.

Where an issue requires family involvement, we will communicate with parents and carers. We value your support in these conversations, as working together helps us provide a consistent message to students and supports them to take responsibility for their behaviour.

Our goal is for every student to feel safe, connected and ready to learn. This requires all members of our community to uphold our values and to work together to create a respectful and inclusive environment.

Thank you for your continued support and let's all strive to be “our best always”.

David Rosser