Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting

Dr Denise Clarke

Acting Assistant Principal

Student Support Meetings (SSG's)

Thank you to parents and caregivers who attended the SSG's recently. These meetings at the beginning of the year are a great opportunity to share your child's progress and achievements over the summer break with his/her new teacher.

SSG Meetings also provide an opportunity for students to feel empowered to take an active role in the design of their learning. This helps them make a purposeful contribution to their learning environment, feeling better prepared for the challenges in life.

Incrementally we provide opportunities for student voice and agency in SSG's.

Stage 1: Students share their progress by demonstrating completed work or activities.

Stage 2: Students share their work and begin to reflect on their preferences.

Stage 3: Students discuss their PLSP goals and progress, sharing their opinion about their own development.

SSG's for the year are planned in the following way:

Term	Theme	Purpose
1	Goal Setting	Exchange of information from parent/carer to teacher to support the collaborative goal-setting process
2	Student Led Conference	Students present evidence of achievement to parents/carers
3	Student Led Conference	Students demonstrate input and ownership of the process of designing their own learning
4	Student Led Conference	Students lead a celebration of their learning journey by following a formal process with structured questions

We look forward to increasing student voice and agency at the remaining SSG's for the year.

Personal Learning and Support Plans (PLSP's) are being currently being prepared for every student. These will be sent home to parents and carers by email in the last week of the term.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy)

NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.

Specialist Schools are generally exempt from completing the NAPLAN testings, however parents of students at the appropriate age level were asked if they wanted to participate. The school had a tight cut-off date for participation after the details were delivered to the school.

Some parents asked about the NAPLAN testing from 2020. NAPLAN testing was abandoned last year because of the COVID lock-down and the need for remote learning

Curriculum Teams Focus Areas

The school has a three year curriculum plan that covers all areas of the school curriculum.

Staff are working in Curriculum teams to develop details for the school's three year curriculum plan. This ensures that there is consistency and sequencing of activities and topics across the school and staff can develop new material to engage the students in their learning.

Currently teachers are working in the six curriculum teams below:

Literacy/numeracy
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG)
Science/humanities
Secondary
Personal and Social Capabilities
Specialist classroom