Principal's Report

Pride in Learning                                                                       We are an ADA Accredited School

Wollert prides itself in building a LEARNING CULTURE FOR ALL, with investment in staff growth being our number one superpower in growing all students.  The professional and diligent approach my staff take in being active learners is something that sets us apart. Before we even opened our doors in 2022, a dedicated team of five educators committed to an intensive learning experience with the Institute for MULTISENSORY STRUCTURED LANGUAGE Education (IMSLE), which is aligned with the  Australian Dyslexia Association (ADA).  This learning requires hours and months of commitment to knowledge and skill building in the quest to find solutions for those who learn literacy differently, while at the same time providing quality, exemplary literacy learning access for all.

It is with pride that I share that Wollert is now an Accredited ADA school due to the exemplary practice of Libby, Katya and Elise over the past 18 months. They have collaboratively honed their craft by actively accessing and engaging in scientific based practices to improve the literacy outcomes for all students. This is no easy feat and something we acknowledge and celebrate with the utmost JOY. We are at the very beginning of our school learning story.  Building staff knowledge and skills to become exemplary Inclusive Practice Educators will ensure every child will access what they need, every day. 

Supporting our students to be literate is a complex and layered mission. Word Recognition and Language Comprehension needs to be woven together to develop skilled readers.

MSL is an approach that looks at WORD RECOGNITION specifically.  Multisensory learning involves the use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways simultaneously.  Connections are consistently reinforced between the symbols the student sees, the sounds the student hears, and the actions they can feel. This helps the brain to learn and remember the written language. 

Our MSL Team Grows

Our commitment to our vision continues with the following team of educators participating in the intensive first stages of MSL training.  Jayden and Stacey continue with their 2022 learning while Kim, Eda, Tien and Jo begin putting theory into practice, sharing knowledge and learnings with their teams and each other over the next 12 months. I feel so very fortunate to be working alongside committed, passionate educators every day.

MSL is briefly described in Our Learning Story in this edition.

EVERY DAY OF LEARNING REALLY DOES COUNT

Absence and being late to school impacts your child's learning critically. Every minute not in the classroom is a minute your child is not accessing learning. When those minutes move into days and weeks, the learning lag that appears becomes increasingly difficult to close. If your child is not in the classroom, they are not learning and at risk of becoming increasingly disengaged from both school and their peers.

Above is our current tracking of absence across the school for Semester one which is significantly high in terms of 'school absence health'. Within all absence data, there is a range of 'uncontrollable' scenarios that exist, namely illness. We also know that some families choose to take family holidays through a school year, which often can be seen as an educational experience as well as supporting wellbeing. Repeated absence of any nature however inevitably puts your child behind before they even try. We also have a very high number of students late to school, which is just as negative in impact. When you get your child's report this Thursday, you will be able to see how your child is tracking in absence and lateness. Anything more than 20% in either is seen as chronic absence and/or lateness and aligns to risk in learning. 

We hope to reduce this data significantly in Semester 2, knowing when we do it means more students are accessing learning and their potential for growth. School and future success starts with good attendance.

I BID FAREWELL FOR A SHORT WHILE - BUT TEAM WOLLERT REMAINS STRONG

As I move into the last week of Term 2, feeling exceptional proud of our students and staff in all we have achieved so far, I also approach the break with an increased level of excitement. I will be departing mid break for an eight-week trip, exploring Europe with my husband and adult children. I return just before the end of Term 3, ready to hear about all the great progress our students have made. 

Our school will be left in very good hands with our known leaders ensuring the Wollert Way continues strong. We also have the very good fortune of welcoming Kaylene Kubeil to our team in my absence. Kaylene is currently one of the Assistant Principals at Harvest Home Primary School, just up the road from us. Kaylene will be Acting Principal in my absence and we look are really looking forward to the opportunity to share our brilliant school, while also learning from the knowledge and experiences of Kaylene. I know you will give her a very big Wollert welcome.

Stay well everyone.

Leanne