Principal's Message
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Communication Processes
High level communication between school and home is an extremely important process in supporting the social, emotional and academic needs of each and every child. I’d like to remind families that the first port of call for communication for your child is the classroom teacher. The most effective method of communicating with your child’s teacher is through Seesaw and if you select the ‘Conversations’ drop-down option, you can send private messages directly to the classroom teacher of your child. If you would like to arrange a meeting with the teacher of your child, again Seesaw is the best platform to make contact or alternatively call the office.
If your child is away however, we ask that notification comes to the office either via the Skoolbag app or calling the office directly. Please do not send the teacher of your child a Seesaw message as they often only check these at the end of a school day.
A comprehensive list of our school communication strategies was included in the newsletter last week.
Specialist Classes
This week our specialist classes commenced for all grade levels and this year our students will participate in Art, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), Music and two Physical Education classes each week in addition to their regular classroom lessons. Our Specialist teachers for these subject areas are:
- Arts – Ms Emma Brown
- STEM – Mr Sam Nolan
- Music – Mrs Megan Garland
- Phys Ed – Mr Lachie Watt
Art, STEM and Music classes all take place on a Tuesday and Wednesday whilst Phys Ed classes take place from Monday to Thursday. Our students display high levels of skills across a variety of areas and these specialist subject areas not only cater to the required curriculum areas but also to the skills and interests of our students. We look forward to these specialist classes taking place throughout the year and seeing the students develop and shine through the opportunities provided to them. A timetable of when your child participates in each of these subject areas was included in the newsletter last week.
Languages (Auslan)
It is a requirement of the Victorian Curriculum for students to learn a language other than English and for the past few years our students have learnt Auslan, an area they thoroughly enjoy! This year we have changed our approach and we are using an online delivery program that will help ensure there is consistency across the school in the way Auslan is taught. With the online Auslan program being taught in classrooms with classroom teachers, it is also providing invaluable professional learning for staff in this area.
School Review
In term 2 this year we will be participating in a School Review. These take place every four year and schools, with the assistance of a panel involving an external reviewer, Department of Education and Training (DET) representatives, school staff and community members (School Council and parents) are required to evaluate progress and achievement over the past four years against our School Strategic Plan. The second part is to then develop a new School Strategic Plan covering the next four years. I will share more information about this process at a later stage. Next Monday I will be away from school as I will be on the panel for the Balmoral K-12 Community College, assisting them with the same process. This will also provide me with great insight to what lies ahead for our own review next term.
Sounds Write Program
Our school has been implementing the Sounds Write Program now for a number a years across our grades Prep to 4 areas, this being a systematic approach to the teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness in Literacy that encompasses reading, spelling and writing. This approach strongly supports students knowing how and why particular letter and sound combinations are formed, moving away from a ‘whole language’ approach to teaching literacy that most of us were taught ourselves. We have found this approach to be highly beneficial to our teaching and learning programs, evident through the Literacy gains being made by our students. Our commitment to this program continues with our two new staff members in the P-4 area, Miss Ballinger and Miss Bish, commencing the four-day training program on Monday and Tuesday of next week in Warrnambool. We will also be providing an overview of Sounds Write to parents at our ‘Prep Welcome BBQ’ on Tuesday 28th February.
Circus Skills Incursion
Earlier today we had Scott Griffin visit our school and spend time with our grade 3 to 6 classes teaching them some circus skills. Scott is a professional performer who is in the area attending the Tyrendarra Show this weekend and we were fortunate to be offered his services today for our students. The sessions were highly enjoyable for the students – no doubt many students will be busy at home over the next few days trying to perfect their juggling skills!
‘Meet and Greet’ Interviews – Grades 1 to 6
Each year we offer families the opportunity to attend a ‘Meet and Greet’ Interview with the classroom teacher of your child. This process will be taking place for families of students in grades 1 to 6. These have been scheduled for Tuesday 21st February between 3:50 and 7:30pm. This will be a great opportunity for parents to come in and meet teachers, and to discuss relevant items important in the education of your child. We ask that any reply forms are returned to school no later than next Tuesday 14th February.
School Council
Our School Council will meet for the first time this year next Wednesday. The main function of a School Council is to oversee the operational matters of the school governance, such as Policy development, monitoring of school achievement through our School Strategic and Annual Implementation Plans, Finance Management, Buildings and Grounds maintenance, among other things. Each year vacancies become available on School Council through a nomination and election (if required) process. For anyone interested in becoming involved in School Council, information will be published via the newsletter in the coming weeks.
It has been another terrific week at Gray Street!
Have a great weekend.
Ben Kelson
Principal