From the Principal's desk

Teaching and Learning Goals for 2020

This year we will continue to focus on improving outcomes in reading, writing and numeracy. 

Across the school over the last 1-2 years we have implemented a Reader's and Writer's Workshop model. Everyday students receive 2 hours of explicit instruction in reading and writing. The workshop model involves the teacher setting the learning goals and success criteria at the start of the lesson, then explicitly teaching and modelling the learning strategy before children break into independent reading or writing. Later in the workshop children work in small groups for activities, like guided reading, before at the end of the workshop reflecting back on what they have learnt.

In writing we are now moving to explicitly teaching the process of writing and all children from Prep to 6 have a Writer's Workshop Notebook, where we will have them constantly writing, and hopefully enjoying the whole process by the end of the year. 

Meanwhile as parents and carers, you can work in partnership with us by ensuring your child or children read with you every night. Also encourage them in their writing to think up original ideas, use great words, use challenging sentence structures and experiment with different text types.

Last week I attended an induction course on Respectful Relationships. This program which will be mandated across the state next year and arose out of the Royal Commission into Family Violence which highlighted a need for building skills in children around having positive, equal and respectful relationships with one another. This year we will begin unpacking the program which ties in really well with our approach to building positive behaviour across our school. The topics in the program are: Emotional Literacy, Personal Strengths, Positive Coping, Problem Solving, Stress management and Help Seeking.

Debbie Oliver

Principal