Ben Venews

Principal's Message

I hope that the recent rain has provided welcome relief for gardeners and farming families alike. It is wonderful to see green grass and a thriving vegetable patch for our students to enjoy once again.

 

Thank you to Lana Howlett and Jeanenne Gale for relieving in the Principal and Deputy Principal roles respectively while I was on leave earlier this term. 

 

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Creative Arts Showcase, at the upcoming assemblies or in classrooms for Learning Showcases in the coming fortnight.

Reflections on learning

Last year, we introduced a student self-reflection as part of academic reports. Included below are examples of student reflections on their learning this semester.

 

I am good at reading and writing because I have had lots of practice and I can write most words by myself and I don't need to use dots for sounds I haven't learnt. I would like to be better at writing longer sentences. My favourite thing about Kindergarten is investigations because I get to do things where we can pick. I would like my teacher next year to know that I like loud rather than soft and I have a louder voice.

Kindergarten

 

 

This year I have achieved neater writing. I have done this by taking my time. I am proud of my narrative writing, because it is more interesting and it will probably hook the reader's attention! I would like to improve my narrative writing. I could do this by thinking through my writing before I write! I would like my next year's teacher to know I am creative. I am enthusiastic. I love art. I am interested in writing.

Year 2

 

The most interesting thing I learned about this semester was when we were doing our endangered animal information report because it was super fun. I am proud of my learning successes in reading fluently this semester and using full stops, commas to take pauses when reading. I am also proud of my efforts in typing quickly and using cursive writing and getting my pen license. I would like to learn more about endangered animals including their status as well as using punctuation in paragraphs. This semester I have shown PAX leadership by forgiving my friends when we have friendship fires.

Year 3

 

I enjoy learning about spelling because I can figure out some new ways to remember words by breaking them up and creating sayings to help me remember how to spell them. I am proud of my progress in mathematics because I have improved a lot in my understanding with strategies like the box strategy and breaking the problem into little bits and working on those 1 at a time. I am also proud of my understanding of decimals, fraction, area and perimeter. I would like to improve my speaking and listening. I could do this by taking my time when I am speaking to make sure that what I'm saying sounds like what I'm supposed to say.

Year 4

 

 

I enjoy science because I learnt a lot about the solar system and the order of the planets by learning a mnemonic. I also enjoyed learning about the place we live in and the different kinds of planets. I'm proud of my maths because I learnt a lot more about decimals and fractions this year and enjoyed being challenged. I would like to improve in oracy because I'm not very good at talking to other people, other than my friends and I need to get better at listening. I could do this by challenging and building on other people's ideas and opinions.

Year 6

Evidence of increasing school performance

The Department of Education Check-in Assessments provide valuable information to schools on how their improvement efforts are impacting on student learning. Using these assessments, schools can track the progress of student groups from Year 3 to Year 6, with students completing the assessments twice each year, excepting in Semester 1, Year 3 and 5, in which NAPLAN occurs. Below is a summary of our most recent Check-in assessment data. 

 

Six out of eight measures of progress on the Check-in assessments indicate very positive results for Ben Venue. In reading, Ben Venue students are on average: 

  • outperforming statistically similar (comparable) schools in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
  • outperforming the state average in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
  • have improved 2022 - 2023 at a rate in excess of both similar schools and state averages in Years 4, 5 and 6 (data comparison not available for Year 3).

In numeracy, Ben Venue students are on average:

  • outperforming statistically similar (comparable) schools in Years 3 and 6
  • outperforming the state average in Years 3 and 6
  • have improved 2022 - 2023 at a rate in excess of both similar schools and state averages in Year 6, but not in Year 4 and 5 (data comparison not available for Year 3)
  • below state and similar schools in Year 4 and 5.

Overall, this data is very encouraging and reaffirming of our improvement strategies. However, further work is needed to support those groups not yet excelling, and this will be a focus for our next steps in school improvement.

End-of-year activities

K-2 Assembly, Learning Showcase and Picnic - Wednesday 6 December, 12 noon

K-2 families are invited to an assembly, followed by Learning Showcase in children's classrooms. Families are then invited to stay for a picnic in the playground.

 

3-6 Learning Showcase and Assembly - Thursday 7 December, 11:30 am

3-6 families are invited to a Learning Showcase in classrooms, followed by an assembly, including Year 6 graduation. Families are then invited to stay for a BBQ.

 

Year 6 Farewell Dinner - Thursday 14 December

Year 6 students are invited to a formal dinner to celebrate their time at Ben Venue. 

 

Class celebrations

Each class will hold their own celebration to mark the end of the year.

 

Please check the calendar for other upcoming events.

The Christmas sugar rush

The end of the year will be upon us before we know it. At this time, it is always lovely to see students' desire to give tokens of appreciation and holiday spirit to their peers. In advance, I ask that the following considerations are taken into account:

  • Many students have dietary requirements that prevent them from eating lollies.
  • Feedback from a number of families indicates that the stream of sugary treats disempowers parents and carers in their management of a healthy diet for their children.
  • Increase in sugar consumption has a clear and detrimental effect on students' ability to learn and get along with others.
  • Financial limitations place many families in the position of not being able to reciprocate gifts, which impacts upon relationships and self-esteem.

Should families wish to arrange small Christmas gifts for classmates, please consider low cost or hand-made cards, or perhaps contributing fruit to the end of year class celebrations. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

Cam Pryce

Principal