Acting Principal's Report

Learner showcase

Thank you to the overwhelming number of families who made time to attend our inaugural Learner Showcase this week. It was fantastic to witness our students and community coming together to celebrate students’ learning journeys and highlighting the achievements they have made in Spelling and Writing through their individual writing goals. This work builds towards our school wide Strategic Plan focus on developing Learner Agency over the course of the four-year cycle from 2022 - 2025. 

The Specialist classes were also highly attended, as the Specialist teachers celebrated the rubrics they have been developing with students to build their understanding of the Specialist curriculum areas, where they’re at and what their next steps are in learning. 

NAPLAN results

We hope you all had the opportunity to read through our Compass message earlier this week celebrating our 2023 NAPLAN results. 91 - 96% of students received results in the top 2 proficiency standards for both Literacy and Numeracy which is defined as either meeting or exceeding the ‘challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing’.

NAPLAN reporting

There will be some changes to this year’s NAPLAN reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels:

These are:

• exceeding
• strong
• developing
• needs additional support.

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels.

Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.

When we provide you with your child’s results in the coming weeks, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean.

Curriculum day 

Last Monday our staff participated in a Wellbeing focused curriculum day. The day involved a number of different workshops, working towards out Annual Implementation Plan Key Improvement Strategy: to effectively mobilise available resources to support students' wellbeing and mental health, especially the most vulnerable; supporting all members of our community to feel safe, valued and respected.

We looked at the results of our Attitudes to School Survey and Resilient Youth Survey, and developed actions for response back in our classrooms. One area identified for further investigation and development was students ‘readiness to learn’, with only 32% of students reporting that they arrive at school tired, hungry or ‘in the blue zone’. As we know, if students aren’t ready to learn, then they aren’t ready to process new information and learning. This data prompted us to reflect on our morning routines and learning environments and make modifications to our schedules to support students to get into the ‘Green Zone’ and ready for learning by 9am. For more information on how you can work with your child to develop a calm and smooth morning routine at home, please see tips on the Raising Children website. 

We also participated in professional development sessions with our partnered occupational therapist and psychologist services. Our staff learnt more about the modifications that can be made to support the various sensory needs of students in our classrooms, and the specific tests and assessments that can provide further insight into students with learning disorders, additional needs and specific diagnoses. 

Getting to school on time 

We ask for your support in getting your child/ren to school on time. It is an expectation that all students are in their classroom by the second bell at 9.00am. This allows teachers to begin lessons promptly, helps create a positive start to the day and builds a calm and supportive learning environment in which learning can be maximised. 

Equally, we have asked students to focus on getting back to class on time after playtime. The message we give is that the ‘first bell’ is your reminder to go to the toilet and get a drink, and the ‘second bell’ is when you should be back in your classroom ready for learning. Thank you for supporting these key messages at home!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and thank you for working with us to ensure a smooth transition back into learning for Term 3. 

Nicola Smith

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WELLBEING REPORT

Inclusion coordinator

Morgan is EPS’s very own Inclusion Coordinator and works at our school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Morgan works closely with teachers to proactively identify areas of need across cohorts requiring a more intensive small group intervention such as developing social skills, building confidence, navigating friendships, managing emotions and implementing playtime initiatives. Morgan provides a tier 2 level of support and helps parents/carers navigate referral processes for external provider support if needed. 

Allied health services  - Speech, OT and psychologist

We are so excited to have Domain Health (Speech and OT) and Nepean Psychology both partnering with our school to offer private appointments on site at EPS. We look forward having them work in the Green Zone as soon as it’s furnished! Please note there is now a waitlist for psychology services after an overwhelming response. Both these services operate independently as allied health services and come at a cost to families. For further information, please email me directly.