A Great Start to Term 2!

What a great start to the term. Everyone is back into the swing of things, learning, laughing, and playing together. During my classroom visits last week, I was struck by how quickly students have settled back into school and are engaging in their learning.

A highlight for me was the incursion for the Year 1 and 2 students last week. ‘Professor Brains’ was skillful in the way she was able to capture all the student’s interest and attention through an array of super science experiments which enthused and amazed her captive audience. The incursion supports the science concepts which our students will be exploring as part of their Inquiry unit for Term 2.

An Insight into Staff Professional Development

At Syndal South Primary School, we have staff meetings every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. These meetings take a variety of forms and can be a whole school staff meeting, or a meeting between year-level teachers. These meetings are central to the professional development of staff.

Our meeting schedule includes weekly meetings where teachers meet in year levels, using the Inquiry model below. During these meetings, teachers identify groups of students with similar learning needs and develop and implement learning and teaching activities for students to progress and grow in their learning. This collaborative inquiry approach provides a valuable opportunity for teachers to share expertise, analyse data and apply professional development learnings in a collaborative environment. 

Prospective 2022 Foundation Families

Last night we had several families attending our 2022 Foundation Information Night. If you know of families looking to enrol their child at SSPS, direct them to our school website for the enrolment process, timeline, and relevant forms.

If you are a current Syndal South Primary School family and have a kindergarten child who is ready to commence school in 2022, we ask that you submit an enrolment form by the end of term (Friday 25th June) to facilitate the planning of staffing and resources for the coming year.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.  The 2021 NAPLAN test dates for Syndal South are:

• Tuesday 11th May - Writing
• Wednesday 12th May - Reading and Language Conventions
• Thursday 13th May - Numeracy.

Encourage your child to think of this as an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in these areas, not a competition and nothing to be worried about. You cannot fail NAPLAN! It does show us what still needs to be learnt and can assist the teachers to identify whole school areas to work on in their teaching.

If you have any further questions please refer to your Naplan information flyer which was sent home last term, alternatively please call Rebecca Stonehouse-Melke on 9802 5277.

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)

Playing our part to build a national picture of child health our school, along with thousands of others across the country has begun preparations for the fifth Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC gives us a national picture of the development, health, and wellbeing of children in their first year of full-time school. Since 2009, the census results have helped communities, schools and governments plan services and develop better policies to target support for children and families. Children don’t miss any class time, and parents/carers don’t need to supply schools with any new information for the census. 

The AEDC gives us data at a school and community level - it isn’t an assessment of individual children. Some teachers have also noticed that completing the assessments made them more aware of the needs of individual children and the class as a whole and that the census results are useful in planning for transitions to Year 1 and developing class programs. Participation in the AEDC is voluntary. Parents/carers do not need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census. To find out more about the census and how communities are using the data to help children and families visit the AEDC website: www.aedc.gov.au. If you have any questions, you can contact either Tahni Ross or Irene Antzoulatos

Student Attitudes to School Survey

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing, and quality instruction and we are surveying to find out what children in Years 4 to 6 think of our school. The 2021 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS), is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist our school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings about their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying, and life in general. This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at Syndal South Primary School over the period 17th May – 31st May.

I would like to wish all our mum’s and grandmothers a very special Mother’s Day for Sunday.