Teaching & Learning

Parent Teacher Interviews

Thanks to everyone who found the time to attend the Parent Teacher Interviews and 3 Way Conversations in the last few weeks of Term 2. It is a really important part of our communication and reporting process and it was great that the vast majority of families were able to make the most of this opportunity.

As always, please keep in contact with your child’s teacher to assist with any concerns.

During Term 3 we have our Celebration of Learning on Wednesday 12th September.

Term 3 – A Great Term for Learning

Term 3 is always a great term for learning. It comes after students have made connections at school, fully understand the routines and rituals of the classroom, have engaged in lots of learning and most importantly have received feedback on their progress. Having all these jigsaw pieces in place provides students, parents and teachers with a really solid base to launch into meaningful and and engaged learning opportunities.

Top Tips for Parents in Term 3 include:

Keep talking to your child about their learning goals

This doesn’t mean scores in tests but rather the effort and attitude they bring to learning opportunities. By setting smaller goals along the way to a bigger goal will help break it down into digestible chunks for your child. Learning behaviours like organisation, self motivation, persistence and reflection are all great themes to talk about. Success usually comes with a lot of hard work.

For example... So you didn’t’ go so well in the activity, what could you have done differently in the lead up?

Keep the conversation positive

It will happen, that your child will come home from school disappointed from time to time whether it be a learning issue or a social issue, you can be sure it will happen.  As parents it is our role to moderate this thinking to help them move from a ‘Black Hat’ (negative) approach to a ‘Yellow Hat’ (positive) approach.  Discussing the issue and helping your child see the situation from different perspectives may help them understand it and help them move through it. 

Encourage your child to seek support when needed

At times of struggle, encourage your child to talk to their teacher about it. Also ask them about the best time to do this. Hanging around for 5 minutes after class or coming in 5 minutes early allows teachers to give their full attention to the situation. This will encourage your child to develop the confidence to become independent learners rather than relying on others to solve the problem for them.

Promote the Love of Learning

As parents we are the first and most influential teacher in our child’s life. Promoting the love of learning will assist your child continue to build their creativity and intrigue in the world around them. We can do this by linking learning at school to that in the real world, encouraging possibility thinking (What might happen…, I wonder why…), and talking about your life experiences with learning new and wonderful things. Promoting the love of learning will encourage curiosity and wonder.

Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Thanks to those who have already registered. All classroom teachers have login details for this challenge.

Term 3 is a great time to get our teeth into reading and participating in the Victorian Premiers’ Challenge. The challenge ends on September 7th so this gives us the best part of a term to read and register the books.

In 2017 we had almost 45 students complete the challenge, I wonder how many will achieve this milestone in 2018.

Term 3 Big Writes and Cold Write

This term we continue our Big Writes and Cold Write as part of our writing approach. To assist with organisation the following dates can be confirmed:

Please remember that Talk Homework is simply the opportunity for students to talk about the theme for the Big Write, no written preparation is needed. Having a 10 – 15 minute  discussion will encourage your child to prepare their thinking for the Big Write session.

The Play Pod Tinker Box

The Play Pod has been a great addition to the yard at the Buninyong campus with students spending their break times working with others to build and be creative with all the material provided..

We are looking to expand this play experience to include a TINKER BOX.

A TINKER BOX is an opportunity for students to use tools to disassemble small electrical equipment to explore the inner workings. This opportunity is great in building fine motor skills in students as they manipulate the tools to loosen, pry or unscrew the different components.

If you have small unwanted electrical equipment and would like to donate them, please drop them off at the school office. They will be made safe before being becoming available to students.

We are thinking of items like those below: