Principal News
The end of Term 1 is fast approaching and what a busy one it has been! Although COVID-19 has still caused some disruptions we are pleased that all of our students have been provided with uninterrupted onsite learning and hope this continues heading into next term.
We thank our students, staff, parents/guardians and Brookside Community for their resilience and flexibility, as well as all of the hard work that has been put into making this term such a success. It has been nice to see our students not only engage in their learning but also participate in experiences such as incursions, excursions, camps, swimming carnivals, athletic carnivals and interschool sports.
We wish all of our families a relaxing Easter break and hope you take this time reconnect with family and friends.
End of term
Friday 8th April marks the end of Term 1 and school will finish at 2:15pm on this day. Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) will be available via Camp Australia for families who are unable to arrange pick up at this time.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews were held on Monday 28th March via Zoom. Thank you to our families for taking the time to meet with teachers to discuss the learning of their children. We have received a great response from our community in regards to the online process which will support future planning of Parent Teacher Interviews.
Easter Bonnet Parade
The annual Prep-6 Easter Bonnet Parade will be held under the hayshed on Monday 4th April from 9:15am-10:00am. On this day students will be required to wear their normal school uniform, however they will be able to wear their Easter bonnet/hat to school. For the safety of our students and to minimise the risk to COVID-19 exposure before the holidays, this event will only be for students and staff. We look forward to seeing the marvellous creations of both our staff and students!
NAPLAN
Students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 will be participating in NAPLAN Online in 2022. This is the first year the school will be conducting NAPLAN using the online platform.
The NAPLAN Online test window starts on Tuesday 10 May and finishes on Friday 20 May 2022. Tests will be scheduled as soon as possible within the testing window, prioritising the first week. A timetable will be communicated, detailing when students at Brookside College will be participating in the tests and we ask parents of students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 to record these dates in your diary/calendar.
To prepare our students prior to the official testing period, students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 the students participated in a practice online Writing test on Thursday 17 March (Year 5 & 7) and Friday 18 March (Year 9.) Year 3 students completed a paper version of the practice test on Thursday 17 March, as they will continue to complete the Writing test on paper during NAPLAN this year.
Students also participated in an online practice test incorporating all other test types (Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy) on Thursday 24 March.
Our students were highly engaged during all of the scheduled practice tests and appeared to prefer the online test format.
Please feel free to explore the NAPLAN Public Demonstration Site in the link below. This will show you the question types students will be provided with and you can explore and discuss these together with your child/children.
https://www.nap.edu.au/onlineassessment/public-demonstration-site
Crazy Hair Day
If you were on the school grounds on Friday 25th March you may have noticed a variety of crazy hairstyles worn by both our staff and students! The whole college watched on with awe as Natasha Li (9D) cut her hair to support the Leukemia Foundation and raise awareness. The college raised approximately $1200 and we thank our whole community for their support.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
The Executive Team