2021 -2024 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Our 2021 – 2024 School Improvement Plan has been approved and is now available for viewing on the DPS website. One of our main goals for 2021 is to work with our staff and parent community to help create a whole school reading culture where students engage with texts for learning and enjoyment. By developing a whole school reading culture, we are confident student’s vocabulary will become more extensive and their fluency and comprehension of text will improve.

A link to the school plan on our website is below.

https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/doe-nsw-schools/plan-report/2021/4029/2021-2024_Dundas_Public_School_SIP.pdf

HELPING YOUR CHILD STAY CYBER SAFE

Every now and then we have an issue with students not using technology appropriately. It can be difficult ensuring that our children understand the importance of making good decisions online and our school has spent Term 1 of this year reminding students of practical strategies for staying safe online. As parents it can be difficult to know where to start or where you can go to get the right information. Below is a link to the NSW DoE Digital Citizenship site for parents which may prove useful.

https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/parents-articles

2021 CHECK IN ASSESSMENT (Term 2 Weeks 1-3)

Students in Years 4 and 6 will be sitting the online Check in Assessment that was introduced last year during COVID. The Check-in assessment includes two online assessments:

• reading assessment

• numeracy assessment

Each assessment is designed to be quick and easy to administer, consisting of approximately 40 multiple choice questions. The Check-in assessment will provide feedback soon after the completion of the assessment.

2021 NAPLAN PROGRAM (Term 2 Weeks 4-5)

In 2021, NAPLAN Assessments for Year 3 and 5 will be completed online. The NAPLAN program will commence on Monday 17th May and will be completed over two weeks to the 28th May. Students will sit NAPLAN in the areas of Language Conventions, Writing, Reading and Numeracy. As in previous years, Year 3 students will complete the NAPLAN Writing paper as a pen and paper assessment, whereas Year 5 will complete all NAPLAN assessments online.

The school will continue to keep this assessment program as low key as possible. You can assist by reinforcing to your child that the tests are not pass or fail and that they should just do their best. Teachers will be showing students how to complete NAPLAN online as part of a practice test in Week 9. If parents have any questions regarding the NAPLAN they should speak with their child’s teacher. Issues of exemption due to specific learning difficulties or disability should be referred to the class teacher. A link to the online information brochure for parents is below.

https://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/resources/naplan-online-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf

DUNDAS TOKEN WINNERS

Congratulations to the following clever learners for winning the Dundas Token Draw in Week 9.

FAREWELL

Sadly, we must say farewell to Miss Yeji Kim today. Miss Kim is leaving us to take up a temporary appointment at Drummoyne Public School. We thank her for all that she has done this term teaching 2 Amber and we wish her every success in her career.

WELCOME

When one door closes, another door opens. Once again, I would like to welcome Miss Rebekah Kim to our school. Miss Kim has been successful in gaining a permanent teaching position at our school and will teach 2 Amber students from the beginning of Term 2.

SAFE HOLIDAY BREAK

I thank the staff and school community for making me feel so welcome this term at DPS and I am very happy to see parents back on site where parents should be. Hopefully, we will not have any more significant COVID outbreaks and we are able to continue to welcome everyone at our wonderful school.

I wish all families a lovely Easter long weekend and a safe school holiday period. A reminder that the first day back next Term (Monday, 19th April) is a Staff Development Day and as such, students get an extra day of school holidays. We look forward to seeing all students return to school next term on Tuesday, 20th April.

Kind regards,

Lee Shipley

Principal

Dates to Remember

2021 - Term 1

Term 2