From the Leadership Team

It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through the school year! When we spent some time reflecting on the past 2 terms as a staff group this week, it is evident there has been some very hard work gone into providing quality learning programs for students and supporting individual students to achieve their best. These are some of the thoughts from staff......

*Morning circles have helped students be ready to learn each day

*The time spent in the afternoon reflecting on learning has been valuable

*Brain breaks have worked well and allowed students the time to reset

*We're looking forward to developing "Ready to Learn" scales with students next term

*Things that we implemented or changed that worked well were the development of  

 phonics knowledge, modelled reading, new morning routines and teamwork

We look forward to building on these areas and others during the next 2 terms.

External Review

As we explained in the previous newsletter, we participated in an External School Review during week 8. This involved a Review Officer and Peer Principal visiting our school over 2 days to learn about the processes, goals and vision related to our improvement journey, particularly our Site Improvement Plan (SIP). They met with all staff, groups of students and parents to discuss specific aspects of student and site achievement and to develop some directions moving forward. Preliminary feedback has been very positive and we look forward to receiving the final report which will assist us in our planning across the next 3 years. Once this has been received, we will share the directions with our community.

School Times 2024

At the beginning of this term, we made a change to some of the lesson times which has supported our implementation of our Berry Street Education Model learning. These changes have been successful, with students preparing more successfully for the start of the day through the Morning Circle, re-entering classes with less disruptions and ready to learn after break times. The most significant shift has been the positive data collected reflecting the success of the reduction of our recess break by 10 minutes. To enable a permanent shift to this structure and meet maximum teaching time requirements, a proposal was approved at the last Governing Council meeting which supports a change to the daily start time which will take effect from Term 1 2024. Until then, there will be no further change to any of our times. 

From Term 1 2024, the school times will be as follows....

8.30am                              Students can enter the yard which is supervised by a staff member

                                            (same as current time)

8.50am                              Lessons start. Students in class ready to learn.

11.30am                           Lunch eating

11.40am-12.10pm         Lunch play

1.50pm                             Recess play

3.00pm                             School finishes

We thank you for your support as we implement this change in 2024.

Reports & Interviews

As student reports come home today, you will notice we have a new format. The information you receive in the reports is the same but we have used our online administration system, Sentral, as the platform to design a new template. As it is a cloud based system, teachers have been able to access reports in any location and multiple staff can edit them together, making it much more collaborative and simpler to use. If you have any feedback about our new format, we'd appreciate your input.

In week 4 next term, 3 Way Interviews will again be offered to families. Teachers will be in contact with some families to arrange times but we would encourage all families to make a time with class and specialist teachers.

SAPOL Cyber Safety Session

We are really aware that many of our students already access social media and as adults, there is so much to consider. On Monday 31/7 SAPOL will be conducting a cyber safety session with our year 5/6 students and at 3.30pm, will be holding a session for parents. Due to the timing, we understand that students may need care so will be offering a supervision for school age children if needed. The sessions are relevant for ALL parents, no matter the age of your children and we encourage you to attend. Please refer to the brochure for information on how to book.

Thank you Blanche

This week we farewelled Blanche Ricci who has been working with our year 2-6 classes in our Italian program this term. Students have really enjoyed participating in the learning where Italian culture has been mixed with relevant language as well as Blanche's unique experiences as an English teacher in Italy. We are sad to see her leave us but wish Blanche all the best as she relocates interstate to be with family.

We hope you enjoy the holiday break with your family and look forward to seeing everyone back in Term 3.

Anita