From the Principal's Office

Newsletter Week 5

A very warm welcome back to our Woodland Road families and a special welcome to all our new students and families who have joined us.  Welcome to our Kindergarten students who started on Monday 6th February following their BEST Start assessment. 

I’m sure all new families will enjoy being part of our school community.

To all the returning students, it has been wonderful seeing so many happy children coming into school each morning.

Meet the Teacher Afternoon

Last Wednesday, we had a Meet the Teacher afternoon.  Thank you to all the families who attended and had the opportunity to have a tour of the school, meet their child’s teacher and enjoy a nice sausage sandwich.  We had around 180 community members attend on the day.

Asset Maintenance

The school has been lucky to receive support for several upcoming building/renovation projects.   We currently have painters in the school.  They are working across the school with a focus on ceilings and doors. We are working at minimising disruption to classes as the rooms are being painted.  In coming weeks, we will be receiving a new fence that will stretch across the grass area at the edge of the carpark.  Further plans are underway for an additional covered walkway, recladding of walls and foyer upgrades.

Parents and Citizens Association

We held our first P&C meeting for the year on Monday afternoon.  The new time of 3pm proved to be popular with a number of new faces joining us on the day.  Please attend the next meeting which will be the AGM.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. Each year students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

From 2023, NAPLAN is moving to Term 1 and will take place from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March. The reason for this change is so that results can be returned to schools earlier in the year which will support teachers to understand the learning needs of their students and plan accordingly.

NAPLAN tests are just one part of our school learning assessment program and questions are primarily based on knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the prior year of schooling.

In preparation for NAPLAN 2023, our school will undertake activities to help students to become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked.

Students and parents can access the public demonstration site to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN and the types of questions and tools available. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended.

If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact your child’s teacher.

Attendance

Parents of children from Kindergarten to Year 12 must ensure their children attend school every day. On occasion, your child may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:

• being sick or having an infectious disease
• having an unavoidable medical appointment
• being required to attend a recognised religious holiday
• exceptional or urgent family circumstances e.g. attending a funeral.

Parents/carers are required to explain any student absences from school including reasons for a student being late. 

Dental Van

Totally Smiles dental service is currently checking the teeth of children who have requested check-ups.  Due to the overwhelming support of this program, the team will not be able to see every student during the week.  I have spoken with the company and they will return in a few week’s time to complete the service.

3rd Party Software

Woodland Road Public School is committed to providing a technology-rich environment for our students. Our school community considers the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to be fundamental in assisting teaching and learning in all areas of the school curriculum.  

The school is currently reviewing our list of the software and we will be providing a note with further information over the next week.  This is in line with the Department’s new Data Breaches policy.  The use of certain software at school will require written permission from parents/caregivers.  

Uniform Shop

Thank you to all the community who use our uniform shop.  I would like to apologise for any confusion over times and days. Orders can be placed every day at the front office and will be available for pickup of a Wednesday afternoon if the items are in stock.  Any orders taken after 11am on Wednesday will be filled the following week.

Have a great week!

Welcome to Woodland Road Public School

2023