Principal's Report 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to school after the holidays. We hope you enjoyed some well-earned rest, as all the staff did, and had some precious family time. The weather was kind for the most part and I enjoyed catching up with family and friends. 

We have had a first international teacher start this week. Mrs Jenny Toews (pronounced “Taves” as in saves). She is taking over 56A, with Ms Davies moving into the coaching and mentoring role with the 5/6 team. Please help Mrs Toews feel welcomed by introducing yourself when you see her around.

Camps: We are looking forward to the upcoming Year 5/6 Camp to Canberra next week and the Year 3/4 Camp to Kangaroobie the following week. Children have been given all the information required, however please contact us if you have any specific questions about either of the camps. If your child has medication that will need to be taken on camp, please meet Sherrie in the first aid room on the Monday morning of the camp. Please ensure you arrive in plenty of time to speak with Sherrie and hand over the medication so that we can leave on time. The year 5/6s are leaving at 8.00am SHARP and the 3/4s at 9.00am. We look forward to providing the students attending with an enriching experience whilst on camp. All students who are not attending will be provided with an alternative program to complete during the week. I’d like to acknowledge the staff who are going on camp as they give up valuable family time to ensure these experiences can go ahead. Without their attendance at camp, these programs would not be able to go ahead. 

Parent-Teacher Interviews: Thank you to the parents and carers who participated in the Parent-Teacher Interviews on Wednesday. It was great to see so many faces on-site. We have continued a strategy we started during Covid to have interviews over the phone as an option and called parents who had not booked a time. We appreciate the time you gave to take the call and talk to the teacher about your child’s progress.

Upcoming Changes to NAPLAN Reporting: NAPLAN results for students are being released on Monday 17 July 2023. There are some changes to this year’s reporting which have been 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: exceeding; strong; developing; needs additional support. 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. It also 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 results, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean. If you have any questions about these changes or your students results, please contact your child’s teacher or a member of the Principal Class Team.

High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa

Principal