Principal's Report

Acting Principal - Julie Hommelhoff 

Assistant Principal - Matt Saunders  

     Upcoming Events

Friday 25th March – School Photo Day

Friday 25th March – Ride to School Day

Friday 25th March – Year 5/6 Interschool Sport - Tennis

Bernie Turns 1

Happy 1st Birthday to Bernie, who had a special groom for his special day.  Congratulations Bernie.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Free rapid antigen tests are available for all students in Victorian schools for the first Term 2022. Rapid antigen testing will be voluntary for all primary students and staff. It is recommended by the Department of Education that rapid antigen testing is done twice weekly, on school days. If you have not picked up your second box of RATs from the school, please visit reception.

Students will do the tests at home. Parents must report positive tests results through the Department of Health system, phone 1800 675 398. Parents must also notify the school of any positive results; this is so the school can support families, record that student’s will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.

Families with students who return a positive test result from a rapid antigen test should follow the latest advice at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/rapid-antigen-tests.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit in May each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students do. As students’ progress through their school years, it’s important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ progress. NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy. 

Schools are transitioning from paper-based to computer-based assessments. Most schools will complete NAPLAN tests online in 2022. All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper. Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are more engaging for students. One of the main benefits is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test presents questions which may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway. 

NAPLAN testing begins on Tuesday 11th of May 2022. Prior to this we will be completing a number of practice NAPLAN sessions. The first of those will be on Tuesday 15th of March. 

If you have any questions or concerns about NAPLAN in 2022, please contact Nat Harvey or Matt Saunders.

Traffic (reminder)

We are continuing to talk with students in relation to road safety.  We have noticed before and after school that both Wilkinson Drive and Coliban Steet are getting busier and busier. Works for the new supermarket have also caused concern. There are many students taking risks when crossing the roads. Please…If parents are dropping children off, we encourage you to walk across the road with children to ensure their safety. With the noise and busy traffic, students are hesitating to cross, and this could end up in an accident.

We also have several students riding their bikes/scooters without a helmet and taking risks at the roundabouts beyond our school. Please have a chat with your child about ensuring their safety. Helmets are compulsory when riding bikes and scooters. 

Safety of our community is of the utmost importance to us. 

 Swimming Program

Grade 3/4's are splashing their way through their swimming program this week. It is great to see the development of swimming abilities throughout the week. 

SENTRAL

A friendly reminder that SENTRAL is our school management system. As a parent/carer, you now have the ability on SENTRAL to give parental permission for your child/ren to attend events that occur throughout the school year. If you need support with accessing SENTRAL please contact the school office and they can assist with your access codes.

Ride to School Day Friday 25 March

Respect, Inclusion, Resilience, Responsibility (Academic Excellence) 

Enjoy the weekend!

Julie Hommelhoff                  Matt Saunders

Acting Principal                     Assistant Principal