HARMONY DAY

Thursday 21st March 2019

So what is Harmony? As a musical term, it means different notes and instruments joined together to create a beautiful result. In human terms, it is people living and working together, respecting each other, and contributing different skills to achieve common goals.

Harmony Day is an Australian celebration, an acknowledgement of multiculturalism in our country. It is particularly relevant to children of today, and especially to children at our school, as we continually welcome families from overseas who come to Australia to study, work and contribute to our community. It is an opportunity for children to develop an understanding of the rich social, cultural and religious diversity that we see in the world today. With so many different nationalities making up our school community, we have much to celebrate!

Schools have a key role in preparing young people for responsible citizenship and effective participation in Australia’s society. We are continuing to enhance our culture of tolerance, where harassment is not accepted, where everyone’s contribution is valued and where we can begin to understand Australia’s place in the world. This celebration is enabled through:

Our diverse curriculum
The way we encourage all children to identify and share their cultural heritage in the classroom
Whole school programs

At LNPS we assist children to develop their skills by:

Encouraging positive social skills
Helping children to understand harassment and how to deal with it
Acknowledging and celebrating special events from other cultures
Looking at our own families, our community and our country to explore our heritage

We believe that it is important for students to have a global perspective at an early age and this is key in preparing caring, nurturing and responsible adults of tomorrow.

Students and staff will be engaging in activities which promote belonging and acceptance of cultural diversity, respect, acceptance, Racism. No way! etc.

We invite the school community (students, teacher and families) to wear something orange on Thursday 21st March.

Tyson, Mirjana, Rosemary & Kim

NAPLAN 2019

Term 2 - 14th - 24th May

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

In 2019 most students across Australia will sit NAPLAN online. Feedback in the first year of NAPLAN Online showed that students engaged well with online assessments. One of the main benefits of NAPLAN Online is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test automatically adapts to a student’s test performance. The test presents questions of higher or lower complexity, depending on a student’s performance. Tailored (or adaptive) testing is designed to assess a wider range of student abilities and to measure student achievement more precisely.

The assessment window for NAPLAN Online is extended from three days provided for the paper test to nine days. Where possible, schools may arrange for individual students who are absent at the time of testing to complete missed tests at another time during the school’s test schedule.

To get an idea of what the online assessment looks like, visit the public demonstration site at nap.edu.au

Participation in NAPLAN

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to participate in the annual NAPLAN assessment. Students with disability may qualify for adjustments that reflect the support normally provided for classroom assessments. Families are encourage to discuss the use of any disability adjustments for your child with your child’s teacher and/or leadership.

A formal exemption may be granted for a student with disability that limits their capacity to participate in the assessment, or for a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-English speaking background.

If families have any questions regarding NAPLAN assessments, we can give you more information on NAPLAN Online disability adjustments or the process required to gain a formal exemption.

If you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Mirjana

mirjana.grubor793@schools.sa.edu.au

84435544

Lockleys North Primary School

Issue 5 · 20 Mar 2019

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