From the Principal 

What a busy term so far!

The first 5 weeks of term 3 have been packed full of learning opportunities and events which our students have all enjoyed. 

The Scholastic Book Fair put an added focus on reading and gave students an opportunity to browse a collection of books and write a wish list for purchase. Many students spent time deciding which books they preferred and excitedly purchasing these to take home to share with families. We thank our families for supporting the Book Fair as a percentage of sales is donated back to us to purchase new books for our library. Look out for our new books coming soon!

Last week was Science Week and there were some great learning opportunities across all classes. There were balloon rockets, paper helicopters, skittles colour mixing, STEM challenges and many others. Students were really engaged with the hands on learning and the enjoyment of making a discovery was evident. Take a look at some photos and read more about Science Week later in the newsletter.

This week students have been celebrating Book Week by sharing the shortlisted books, researching information about the authors and writing some of their own pieces based on the books. On Tuesday morning the rain held off for us and we all had a great time participating in the parade. It was fabulous to see so many students dressed in costumes and being able to share this with our families added to the excitement. Thank you to everyone who supported by helping students with costumes and attending our parade.

Pupil Free Day

On our Pupil Free Day during week 3, our staff participated in a variety of professional development learning which was differentiated to target the needs of different staff groups. Our SSOs undertook online and workshop training by one of our DfE Occupation Therapists from the Self Regulation Service focusing on Sensory Processing. Preschool, Reception and Year 1 teachers worked with a Field Officer from the Music Education Strategy in an interactive session which looked at the connection between music and literacy skills. The year 2-7 teachers worked with the PAT Team to delve into the PAT tests and resources in preparation for testing later this term. In the afternoon, each team shared their learning with the rest of the staff, allowing everyone to gain some insight into each learning opportunity. We are now busy planning the next PFD, scheduled for Monday week 7.

Celebrating our SSOs

This week is Support Staff Week and we acknowledge our SSOs, ACEOs and Grounds staff. We know that our school could not function without you and everything you do helps support our students to achieve their potential. At Para Vista, we will be celebrating our support staff throughout next week with a few special surprises.

Thank you to......

Anne Elliott                       Pauline Codd             Nicola McManus

Carla Huddy                     Renee Donnelly        Cooper Pugliese

Marcia Glouftsis             Laura Marando         Emerly McNamara

Erwin Krenn                     Bruce  Amodeo         Gerard Pope

Michelle Simmonds      June Padmore           Selma Jasic

Ameera Abasi                 Jaime  Pocock           Farishta Drokhshan

Julie McNamara

Planning for 2023

We have begun our planning for 2023 and in the next couple of weeks, will be asking parents to provide us with considerations for placements. Keep a look our for this information. To assist us in determining our class configurations, please call our office staff and let us know if your family will be moving or enrolling at a different school in 2023.

Edmodo

We have recently been advised that Edmodo is closing down in September. We are currently investigating another platform for teachers to be able to share information with families and will get the information about how to join as soon as we have it set up.

Anita