General Office

L-R Back Row: Ashlee Johnson, Amy Jones and Angela Skinner

L-R Front Row: Di Lincoln and Lisa Gray

Meet our General Office staff:

Amy Jones Reception

Lisa Gray Reception

Ashlee Johnson Student Administration

Dianne Lincoln Finance Manager

Angela Skinner Business Manager

OFFICE HOURS: 8:00am - 4:00pm

TELEPHONE: 03 5127 9200

Parents must present at the General Office first when visiting the school or trying to make contact with their children.

Appointments with teachers can be made by telephoning the College or emailing the staff member directly via Compass.

Facebook

Please note that the Lowanna College Facebook messenger will not be available over the school holiday period. Any enquiries will be responded to when school resumes on Tuesday 23rd of April.

Attitudes to School Survey 2019

At Lowanna College, we value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. During term 2, we will be conducting a survey to discover what your child’s opinion of our school is. The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.

All students from Year 7 to 12 at Lowanna will participate in the survey. Students will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey.

Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. All responses to the survey remain anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file ensuring that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.

The Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at Lowanna College over the period Monday 6 May – Friday 24 May. The survey only takes 20 minutes to complete and occurs during class time.

Survey results will be reported back to the school before the end of term 2. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified.

If you would like more information, please call Mr. Cox on 51279200 or visit:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyat.aspx

Uniform

NAPLAN 2019

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2019 for Years 7 and 9 will occur between Tuesday 14 May and Thursday 16 May. NAPLAN tests the skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. Literacy and numeracy skills are a critical foundation for other learning and for productive and rewarding participation in the larger community.

It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing and failing, but about assessing your child’s learning progress.

At the classroom level, NAPLAN is one of a number of important tools used by teachers to measure your child’s progress. Teachers are able to use this information to challenge higher performing students and identify students who require support. Importantly, NAPLAN starts a conversation about strategies to best support your child’s future learning.
Schools use NAPLAN results to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching programs and to set goals for numeracy and literacy. Programs can be changed and modified for different year level needs.
NAPLAN results are directly linked to funding support Lowanna receives for programs such as the Middle Year Literacy and Numeracy Support initiative (MYLNS). It is essential that all students sit NAPLAN if we are to continue to receive this vital support.
Although no preparation or study is required, the NAPLAN tests expose your child to a formal testing process which will enable them to build academic resilience and stamina for later years.
In keeping with Lowanna’s culture of high expectations, NAPLAN data will be used to recognise and celebrate student growth and achievement.

NAPLAN is about driving student growth and improvement at Lowanna. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that your child actively participate in NAPLAN.

Please, help us, help your children.

Attendance

Reading- Helping your child every day

Research shows that families are the most significant influence on their children’s learning, development, health, safety and wellbeing. Families play a key role in helping children succeed at school and developing children’s reading skills. A child’s understanding of the world and their capacity to learn is greatly influenced by how much their family values and nurtures their literacy skills.

Reading increases your child’s vocabulary and writing skills expands their understanding of the world and gives them confidence when using language. Books expose students to new ideas and new worlds, and their imagination grows. Reading is also an important way to make the link between spoken words and written words. The ability to read well enables your child to communicate effectively and will improve their chances of success at school and in their future careers. Here are some general tips on how to support your child:

Talk positively about reading so your child values it.
Model reading to your child by reading yourself.
Engage them in discussions about the books they are reading as this will improve their ability to articulate ideas and concepts.
Discuss articles in magazines and newspapers to help your child become more aware of news and current events which will enrich your child’s understanding of the world.
Ask questions to help your child develop oral fluency when discussing social issues. Questions are an effective way to encourage your child to think critically about an event and can help foster empathy.
Weekly, select books, magazines or multimedia stories according to their interests from the Lowanna and Moe Library.
Set aside time for reading every day. Reading before bedtime is a good habit to get into.
If your child likes an author, find another book or a series of books by the same author and encourage them to read about their favourite author on their website.
Encourage them to use a dictionary to look up words they might not understand.
Introduce your child to different genres such as fantasy, science-fiction, action, and adventure. Get them to read different types of texts, such as poems, music lyrics, and short plays.
Encourage your child to join the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, which runs each year from March to September. Lowanna librarians will register your child – otherwise, you can register your child at:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/events/prc/Pages/default.aspx

Community Updates

Student Exchange

Teen Girls Fitness

Saver Plus

Moe/Newborough Dodgers Baseball

Chaplain Dinner