The Half-Way Mark...

Dear Families,

As we approach the end of week 5 of the school year, it is a fitting ‘mid-way’ point in the term to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work, efforts and achievements of both the students and staff in so many aspects of school life. The many enrolment tours in recent weeks have certainly given me the opportunity to showcase (and show-off!) our school to the wider community, with all visitors making comment on the calm and focussed environment we have created for our students here at St. Joseph’s.

It is no secret that the students at St Joseph’s simply LOVE their sport and it is wonderful to see so many commit themselves to the activities on offer. Congratulations to Digby, Tom, Sophia and Beth (all Year 6) for representing our school so well at the Dendy District Tennis Trials, with Bethany taking first place in the competition. Congratulations Bethany and we are super proud that she will be representing the school in the regional tennis finals.

Last Monday we had 30 of our students attend the Dendy District Swimming carnival, and again we are very proud of the commitment and effort on show from each and every student. Congratulations to Sophie P, James A and Sam L who have all made it through to the regional swimming competition next week. Well done all!

Another proud moment and a huge congratulations to Archie in Year 4 who recently ‘reached for the stars’ and came first in his athletics regional high jump competition, taking out first place. Wow! Well done Archie, and we wish you the best of luck as you head to the State athletics finals in the coming weeks.

We are so proud of all of these students and all who simply ‘have a go’; it’s not about the winning but participation and contributing to ‘the team’ that’s so important.

I must, once again, acknowledge the teaching staff involved in organising and attending these events; I know our students and parents are incredibly grateful. It is also important to acknowledge the support of our parent community: after just a few weeks in our school, Tanya Huebner (Y5 teacher and inter-school sports coordinator) commented on the magnificent efforts of our parents in supporting the school- from assisting in supervising in the before school swimming training to helping carry the very heavy school tents at the end of the swimming competition (thanks Grant, James, Czes and Adrian) you certainly lift the burden when help is needed!

This week the numbers in our before-school tennis program have ramped up considerably, with well over 20 students attending on Thursday. It’s lovely to see our students here bright and early participating in the program, and I thank parents for their patience and understanding as the organisers fix up a few glitches in their booking system. Also, a big thank you to Sarah G and the other ‘netball mums’ who have opened up new netball teams for our students. A few of our Year 1 girls were thrilled to have their first go in the team on Wednesday after school. it’s hard to believe how quickly our 2018 preps are growing up!

We now have several netball teams playing at St. Joseph's, with the numbers of participants steadily increasing. Thanks to all for making this possible for our students!

Student Goal Setting Sessions

On Monday evening, you are invited to attend a goal-setting session with your child and their classroom teacher. We are sure that you that you will be very proud and impressed by your child’s reflection on their learning and the development of their goals and steps for future learning. By developing these skills, we believe that the students will understand the importance of goal setting as an integral part of personalised, life-long learning. The interview format enables each student to engage with their parents and teachers while focusing on what is important to them. A more ‘formal’/ traditional parent-teacher interview will take place on Monday 22nd July. Of course, if you have any questions/ concerns about your child and their progress at school, you are always welcome to contact your child’s classroom teacher.

We strongly encourage you all to regularly check in on your child’s classroom dojo, as the teachers post some great insights into day to day learning in the classroom. The students are also beginning to share their portfolio of work with their parents in this forum, and this is a great way to stay connected to what is happening at school.

The Great Homework Debate!

The topic of homework is always high on the educational agenda, with periodic research supporting/ refuting the benefits of homework, particularly for primary school students. Some of my clearest ‘stressful-moment’ parenting memories are centred around homework, and as a busy full-time working mum, my heart would sink at the mention of a project! In recent years, the debate has also incorporated the notion of online homework being set for children.

Whether online or in written form, all set homework should improve student outcomes and add value to learning; current research indicates that homework in primary school, when not reinforcing classroom learning, can have little effect on student learning and can also reinforce misconceptions in various subject areas.

As a principal and a parent, I feel strongly that we (as a school) should not be encouraging too much screen time by setting homework exclusively online, and this term we have introduced a dedicated homework book containing English and Mathematics exercises, to streamline and simplify homework routines from Year 3 to 6.

John Hattie (Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne) emphasises through his research findings that homework is most effective when it reinforces the learning that is taking place in the classroom, and therefore the text we are using is directly linked to the Victorian curriculum and to the day to day content of English and Maths lessons. The repetition and reinforcement of key concepts and knowledge is vitally important for new learning to become ingrained in long term memory.

We feel very strongly that children need some downtime/ family time over the weekend, with the opportunity to pursue hobbies and interests, so homework will not be set for Saturday and Sunday, although we do encourage reading at weekends (and at all other times!)

Needless to say, homework also teaches our students about time management, how to organise their resources and how to prioritise their after-school activities. There are always things they are going to want to do more than homework, but this is also an important life lesson – sometimes we just need to sit down and complete the “must-do” activities before we get to the “want-to-do” activities!

An email from a parent this week:

"I am immensely pleased with the new homework structure. Firstly, I’m grateful for less screen time. Secondly, the model of learning is excellent as it reinforces class learning through repetition. Thirdly, my son is more engaged, enjoys the set tasks and arguments over homework have come to a sudden halt. Thank you St Joseph’s."

And an interesting article about parental choice, screentime and homework:

https://news.elearninginside.com/online-homework-conflicts-with-parental-limits-on-kids-screen-time/

Staff as Lifelong Learners!

Throughout the year, staff meet twice a week to learn together and to develop our collective teaching expertise; we know that this professional learning has a significant impact on student learning in our school.

Next week we are fortunate enough to be attending our annual conference and I thank you for your understanding with regards to these two closure days. This year we are working with the well-known psychologist, Maria Ruberto, who specialises in the science of wellbeing and positive psychology for educators. Having worked with Maria a few years ago, I know our staff will benefit greatly from working with her during the two days and we look forward to sharing our learning in the next newsletter. Maria’s professional profile can be found here: https://www.salutegenics.com.au/about-maria.html

We look forward to seeing you all on Monday for the student goal setting sessions, and we also hope as many of you as possible can attend the P+F meeting on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm in the staffroom.

I am very grateful to all of you for supporting our school in so many ways: whether this be by coming in to classrooms to share your expertise/ knowledge with students; helping to organise the library (so many of you, but thanks particularly to Laura P, James N and Adrian B); supplying a large box of apples each week for our children (thanks Czez and Christine); volunteering in P+F/ School Board roles; supporting/ organising extracurricular activities; hosting a parent social night; attending important events or simply by sharing a cheery hello on the gate each morning (and updating me with the latest EPL scores) your participation has created a very special community indeed.

Thank you!

Have a great weekend,

Michelle

Open Days 2019

Open Days coming up...