Dear parents,

NAPLAN School Success

Many parents of Year 3 and Year 5 students will have received their individual NAPLAN report for their child in recent weeks. Both the Year 3 and Year 5 students performed very well in the nationwide NAPLAN assessments that occurred in March this year.

There were some changes to the test timing and design this year that all education ministers across the country agree to. The tests were held in March, rather than in May and the tests have moved from a test with the same questions for all students, to an adaptive test. Adaptive tests get harder the more questions the students get right, or easier if the students get questions incorrect. This style of testing gives results that are typically more accurate measures of the child’s ability on the day of the test.

Student achievement in NAPLAN is now reported using proficiency standards for each assessment area at each year level. The standards are set at a challenging but reasonable expectation of what students know and can do at the time of testing.

There are 4 proficiency levels:

Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.

Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.

Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.

Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

Below is a summary of the whole school results for students in the Strong and Exceeding proficiency band from Reading, Writing and Numeracy.

	Percentage of Macedon students in the Strong and Exceeding Proficiency bands
Year 3 Reading	73%
Year 3 Writing	83%
Year 3 Spelling	58%
Year 3 Numeracy	78%
Year 5 Reading	86%
Year 5 Writing	72%
Year 5 Spelling	79%
Year 5 Numeracy	83%

These are strong results and stack up exceptionally well compared to schools that are a similar size with similar demographics to Macedon PS and our fellow Macedon Ranges network schools. To have greater that 72% of our students in the strong and exceeding proficiency 7/8 of these measures is an outstanding result. It is also important to celebrate that we have excelled in four of these measures where we have the strongest result for all the Macedon Ranges primary schools.

The results where we excelled include Year 3 - Numeracy, Year 5 - Reading, Year 5 - Spelling and Year 5 - Numeracy. It’s pleasing that the staff's concerted efforts to improve these results has had an impact.

In our meetings, we have started analysing these results to support our future planning and build on our strengths and identify areas for renewed effort.

I would like to congratulate all the students in Year 3 and 5 for their achievements and their families for their ongoing support, and acknowledge the effort our dedicated staff team, Educational Support, Teachers and Admin staff in achieving them. These results are the result of a community-based team approach to achieving excellence. Ensuring strong academic results is core to our approach at Macedon and I know we can continue to build on this success.

Parent Opinion Survey

You will have received your unique link to the parent opinion survey today via email. The survey is open until the 8th of September. I encourage you to participate in our quick and confidential parent opinion survey. Your insights support us to drive positive change for your child's education and those who come after you. Thank you in advance.

Safety Drills

The staff and students completed our “evacuation to the oval” drill this morning to practice and refine our safety processes, we call this a code green. The drill ran very smoothly and all students and staff were evacuated and accounted for quickly. We practise these drills once a term to ensure our staff and students know what to do in an emergency.

We have different processes for different scenarios.

Evacuation to the Oval – Used when evacuating students quickly out of the building, such as if there is a building fire.

Shelter in Place – Used as a last resort if a bushfire front is approaching and it is unsafe to bus students offsite.

Off-Site – Jubilee Hall – Used when there a safety concerns on the main school site, such as a gas leak.

Lock Down – Used when a safety concern is inside the building such as an intruder or aggravated visitor.

Father’s Day Stall

With Father's Day around the corner, we are sending home information about the pre-order system for ordering gifts today. This was the same process we used for our Mother’s day stall. There is more information in the graphic below.

Working Bee’s – Saturday 2nd September 9am-11am – Bourke and Curtin House Families

The school council is committed to enhancing our community connections this year and we have re-formed our building and grounds team and will be hosting a working bee each term for the remainder of the year. The next working-bee will be held on Saturday the 2nd of September between 9am and 11am with a morning tea provided at 11am. We’re planning to plant out and mulch the front garden beds in front of the main school building and down the side with ground covers. Other tasks that we hope to achieve are tidying up the yard, weeding and mulching gardens, ivy removal and blackberry removal.

We are inviting the families of children in Bourke and Curtin House to come in term three and families of Hume and Mitchell to join us in late October, term four. If you’re up for attending both, you’re more than welcome!

If you would like to be a part of the buildings and grounds team please contact the school.

Kind regards and Sampai jumpa (until next time),

Matt

Middle Gully Update