Marion Primary School Newsletter

Leadership Report

Term 2 is in full swing and in the thick of core learning time! It is hard to believe we are already at the end of Week 6 with the term flying along. There are lots of exciting things happening in classrooms as well as many wonderful excursions that have taken place lately for all of our classes. We have had many excited and engaged learners across our school! In the past few weeks, all of our Years 1-6 students attended a Dream Big Excursion, as well, as our Reception class had an excursion to the Migration Museum to complement their in-class learning. Be sure to have a look at the dedicated pages (Spotlight on Learning - Rooms 3 and 4 and Reception Excursion to Migration Museum). Enjoy!

Professional Learning - DIBELS

This year, Marion Primary School has been involved in a Partnership commitment with our other local Primary Schools, to raise and improve our students' reading ability and proficiency. During Term 1 and now into Term 2, our staff have engaged in rigorous Professional Learning on the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills) assessment suite. 

 

Below is some information that was released by SPELD SA regarding DIBELS that will provide you with a brief snapshot of what this work involves and why we are embarking on this journey to support your children:

 

What is DIBELS?

DIBELS is an evidence-based assessment that allows us to accurately assess the skills needed for literacy ability and understanding. These skills are based on the Science of Reading – extensive research that has been conducted over 40 years into how students learn, and the skills and conceptual knowledge we need to master reading. The research comes from a broad range of disciplines, including education, psychology, and neuroscience. It allows educators to understand the processes involved in learning to read, so they can design and deliver evidence-based best practice methods for teaching reading and spelling. DIBELS draws on this research to provide assessments that inform best practice.

 

Why DIBELS?

The Department for Education has moved away from assessments that do not provide science-backed information, such as Running Records and PM Benchmarking. These assessments do not accurately assess the skills needed for students to become accurate and fluent and be able to comprehend what they are reading. The subtests provided by DIBELS allows teachers to drill down on these specific skills and to ensure they are meeting peer benchmarks. Results clearly show if a student requires additional support at Tier 2 (small group) or Tier 3 (intensive 1:1 support). 

 

DIBELS – what next?

Often schools will ask what next once DIBELS has been administered. This depends on the needs of the student but in most cases the answer is high quality instruction utilising an evidence-based structured synthetic phonics program. Students need to apply the skills at a text level, using quality decodable texts that match what the student has learned.

It is crucial that schools adopt evidence-based approaches, as without good quality instruction, many students will not acquire the basic literacy needed to function successfully in our society. Poor literacy is linked to poor outcomes later in life, including unemployment, underemployment, and a higher likelihood of involvement with the criminal justice system. This creates a massive burden on the individual and society, and educators have an obligation to ensure this impact is minimised through quality instruction.

 

This is an exciting project that we are committed to and I look forward to sharing many ideas, strategies and tips with our families so we can come along on the journey with us! In later newsletters, I will share more information about the types of assessments within DIBELS and ways you can best support your children with reading at home. Stay tuned!

Other important information...

King's Birthday Long Weekend 

  • Please enjoy the long weekend and remember there is no school on Monday 12th June 2023. We will see everyone back again on Tuesday 13th June 2023.

Movie Night - Friday 16th June 2023

  • Just a reminder, please purchase Movie Night tickets from the Front Office ASAP

School Working Bee on Sunday 2nd July 2023 

(8:30am-12pm - including a BBQ breakfast and coffee). 

  • Please register your availability at the front office. 
  • Come along and help out to improve the presentation of our school surrounds and perimeters. The focus of the morning will be weeding the boundary areas and spreading mulch. 
  • All you need is a positive and cheery disposition and a with a combined effort, we will make some big improvements.

STEM workshops from ASMS at Marion PS - Thursday 22nd June 2023 

  • Senior students from the The Australian Science and Mathematics School are coming to run free STEM workshops/sessions for all of our students. 
  • The sessions will be focusing on innovation / critical and creative thinking and problem-based design thinking. This promises to be a very exciting day for everyone! We will share learning, videos and photos from the day in a later edition!

Finally, I wish everyone a wonderful long weekend! This is a great opportunity for us all to recharge the batteries a little bit as we power into the final four weeks of Term 2. 

 

Regards,

Guy Walmsley

Principal