Leadership Report

Dear Saltwater Community,

Who can believe we are halfway through the term already? It seems only last week we were opening our school gates for the first time for 2023. They do say, time flies when you are having fun and yes, it has been busy over the past few weeks at Saltwater College.

NAPLAN

Our Year 3, 5 and 7 students and teachers have been busily preparing for the upcoming NAPLAN assessments that will be commencing on Thursday 16 March. As the NAPLAN assessments will be conducted online, the testing period will continue until Monday 27 March, with the school scheduling particular days for each of the different tests. 

Teachers have been ensuring students are exposed to the testing genre, including practising working to a time limit. To compliment this, the students in these year levels have been participating in targeted learning groups focused on specific skills and gaps in their learning to ensure each child's success. Our school's tutoring team have also been heavily involved in supporting these year levels to ensure that all students feel prepared and ready to succeed during the testing period.

For families with students in a NAPLAN year level, we encourage you to support your child at home by:

• Ensuring your child eats a healthy and nutritious breakfast before coming to school each morning.
• Packing healthy 'brain food' such as fruit and vegetables as snacks for throughout the day.
• Ensuring your child gets to bed at a reasonable time and has adequate sleep in the lead up to the testing period.
• Scheduling in plenty of down time - testing can be stressful for some students so giving your child the opportunity to participate in restful activities after-school (e.g. going for a walk, taking a bath, having a favourite meal, baking a cake etc.) is important too.
• Talking with your child about the importance of trying their best, in the end, that is all that we ask for!

For more information for parents and carers, please see the link below:

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers

We wish all of our Year 3, 5 and 7 students the best of luck!

Saltwater College's Goals and Priorities for 2023

The leadership team have worked with our staff to define our goals in our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). Our annual goals as outlined within the AIP, align with the School’s Strategic Plan (SSP), which guides the school's progress over a four-year period. 

Saltwater’s Annual Implementation Plan goals for 2023 are:

Goal One

In 2023 we will continue to focus on student learning with an increased focus on numeracy and student wellbeing through the 2023 Priorities Goal.

Goal Two

To improve student learning outcomes for every student in literacy and numeracy.

Goal Three

To improve student engagement and agency in learning.

More information will be shared with our School Council at our upcoming meeting. 

Dogs in Schools

We would like to remind all families that dogs are not permitted within the school grounds at any time unless given approval by the Principal. The exception to this policy is for dogs that assist people with disabilities, such as Therapy Dogs and/or Wellbeing Dogs. It is not permitted to tether a dog at the school boundary fence. Owners must remain with their dogs, outside the school boundaries, at all times. Owners are entirely responsible for the dog’s behaviour and for cleaning up any mess left by the dog. We appreciate your support with ensuring the school is a safe space for all students and families.

Attendance 

It is important that your child attends school everyday where possible. Attending and participating in school will help your child develop: important skills and knowledge to help them learn, social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and team work. Remember every day counts. 

Environmental Action

This year some of our teaching staff have developed an environmental committee who are working hard to promote sustainability and demonstrate good environmental practices in the day to day running of our school. Across Year 5, 6 and 7, students will have the opportunity to apply as Environmental Leaders who will support this work in 2023. Further information has been shared with students of these year levels.

Throughout the year our environmental team will be implementing different strategies. One of the first initiatives they are rolling out is a clean up roster that promotes students and teachers taking action to keep our school clean. We are very much looking forward to a cleaner and greener Saltwater College community!

Junior School Council (JSC)

Saltwater College students in Years 1 to 6 have been hard at work applying for the 2023 Junior School Council. Students had the opportunity to nominate themselves as their class and year level representative and spent time creating persuasive speeches to present to their peers on why they should be elected. This year we are only having four representatives per year level, so students had to work even harder to become their Year Level Reps!

At assembly, our 2023 Junior School Council representatives were introduced to our school community. A huge congratulations to the following students who were elected:

Year 1

Lisa Smith

Reeya Mannem

Theodore Cifersons

Annina Justine

Year 2

Seoha Yoon

Cruz Gomez

Israel Tuiatua

Mayukha Navuluri

Year 3

Iris Fan

Adam Goh

Rithvik Vijayakumar

William Luan

Year 4

Esabella Cong 

Nikhil Sole

Hannah Sheat

Belle Chenery

Year 5

Heyda Hew

Noah Gill

Anshu Enukonda

Zainah Mohammed Asif

Year 6

Cibe Chen

Stacy Vartanov

Sriman Sridhara

Ahmed Hoff