Term 3 Week 4 - 17 August 2023

Perth Primary School Calendar

From the Principal…..

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back, I am sure I am not the only one who feels the holidays is a distant memory. It was great to see all our families back at the beginning of term, it seems we are finally getting over the winter sickness!

A major focus for our School Improvement Plan for 2023 is around providing feedback to our students to progress their learning.

Research has proven that praise addressed to students is unlikely to be effective, because it carries little information that will support students to understand; How am I going? And where to next? and too often deflects attention from the task. There is certainly a place for praise and affirmation in schools however in order to progress learning, feedback is essential. Students need to learn to accept feedback if they want to improve and develop their skills as well as gain resilience and confidence.

Feedback is not the same as criticism, this is difficult for many students to grasp. Receiving feedback does not mean the student has done a bad job instead it means the teacher sees potential for improvement and cares enough to help them grow.

Feedback is necessary for improvement. Without feedback students don’t know how they are progressing and in many instances may not have the knowledge of next steps to improve. As adults, we know that we will continue to receive feedback for the rest of our lives whether it be in the sporting domain, work life and even our family lives.

A big focus for our teachers is around building the culture in the classroom to be able to give and receive feedback, this takes trust. Throughout the remainder of the term, talk with your child about the feedback they are receiving, some examples may include rubrics, verbal or written comments on work or Seesaw, reflections on learning goals, opportunities for peer feedback and importantly the opportunity to also provide the teacher with feedback.

Are you making every school day count?

It’s Term 3 already – welcome back for another term!

As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging. We certainly appreciate that during Term 2 many of our families succumbed to the dreaded winter bugs which impacted attendance for many of our students (and staff).

It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits though. Concerningly, we have a number of students in each grade whose attendance is below 85% this equates to missing one day of learning per week, over the course of the year this is over 40 days or 8 weeks of learning. In the coming weeks, I will be writing to every parent who has a child whose attendance sits at 85% or below. In cases where students are missing significant amounts of school, we are able to request a doctor’s certificate for any absences.

Our teachers work to tailor their teaching to meet the needs of each student, providing personalised support and interventions when necessary. It is incredibly hard for teachers to ‘catch up’ students who have poor attendance.

Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future.

Our current attendance for the year sits at 89%, our aim is to get this over 93% by the end of the year.

Changes to High School feeder school arrangements

The Department for Education Children and Young People is seeking feedback from families on current feeder school arrangements. The current policy states that Kings Meadows High School is the feeder school for Perth Primary, despite this, for many years students have attended Cressy District High School. In future, if these arrangements stay the same, in order to be enrolled at Cressy, parents will have to complete an ‘out of area enrolment’ which is accepted at the discretion of the Principal. The Department is currently undertaking a review of the model.  The current feeder school arrangements have been published and can be found on the Department’s Find Your Local High School webpage.  Feedback on these current arrangements can be provided via on online survey at https://forms.office.com/r/q6SrdMne2i . Your feedback will be a valuable input into the review process, particularly for those families who are considering Cressy District High School in the future.

NAPLAN

Last week all students in Grades 3 and 5 who completed the NAPLAN testing were sent home their individual test results.  The NAPLAN testing was completed mid-March which is much earlier than previous years. Please be mindful that this is one test in one week and that teachers use a range of samples of work when making judgements about student’s academic ratings.  Some students can find these test situations particularly stressful and may not always perform at their best.  We are proud of all our students for showing courage and aspiration to try their hardest and have a go!

Book Week - Read Grow Inspire

Book Week is officially held from 19-24 August.  Due to our involvement in the Swimming and Water Safety Program during this time, we held our dress up day on Monday 14 August. It is always a very exciting day for our school community. We thank families for getting into the spirit of Book Week, throughout the next week our Reading Ambassadors have some exciting events planned.

My New Gallery

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 10

Next

Student Well-being survey

Preparation is underway for the 2023 Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey, which will run in Term 3, between 28  August and 22 September. This is an online survey for all students in Grades 4-12.  All students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 will have the opportunity to participate. The information we gain will help us to support our School to plan for student’s well-being in the future. Information was sent home to families concerned at the end of last week.

Swimming and Water Safety Program

The Department for Education, Children and Young People provides a Swimming and Water Safety Program for all Year 3, 4 and 5 students in Tasmanian Government Schools and Year 6 students assessed as being at-risk at the end of the Year 5 program. This year our program will run from Monday 21 August to Friday 1 September. It is expected that all students participate in the program.

The program has a strong emphasis on:

• water safety, including boat safety
• using personal floatation devices
• survival swimming
• reach to rescue
• entering aquatic environments safely
• efficient stroke development
• building swimming stamina.

These skills build the foundation for safe participation in aquatic activities.

Country Gold Representative Teams  

At the end of Term 2, trials for the Northern Midlands Representative teams were held. It is always a hard decision for coaches selecting students for trials, taking into consideration skill level, suitability for positions and also coachability along with sportsmanship. There are some cases where students are selected for trials in a sport that they may not participate in for Friday Sport. There may be a number of reasons for this, including too many numbers in their selected sport, students wanting a break from the sport they play all the time outside of school or those who would just like to try a different sport.

We are very proud of all our students who participated in the trial day and especially how they handled themselves with either the excitement of being selected or the disappointment of not making the team. The Country Gold tournament will be held on Thursday 28 September at various venues with the exception of the Girls Football which participate on Friday 1 September.

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected;

School Crossing

We are very grateful for the support from the Northern Midlands Council in constructing a footpath and raised crossing for our School. As our School’s population increases, so does the amount of foot and vehicle traffic around our School. Despite having a crossing, there are still a number of parents particularly those with younger students who walk across the road. We would request in order to set the example for our children, that at all times parents use the crossing if they need to cross Fairtlough Street.

Sharing of Evidence of learning

In Week 9 of this term, 18-21 September we will be providing another opportunity to parents and students to meet with teachers to share evidence of learning and discuss student progress in learning. More information about booking times will be provided closer to the date.

School Association

On Saturday 23 September, our School Association will be holding a fundraiser at Bunning Invermay. The funds raised from this will go directly into supporting the costs of our upcoming 5-6 Camp. We would especially ask if there are any Grade 5-6 parents who are able to donate a couple of hours of time on the day it would be appreciated. We would also welcome any other helpers or donations to support the BBQ.

Value Certificates

Launching into Learning

Kindergarten Enrolment 2024

Term Dates 2023

Canteen News

Happy Birthday

Mason B, Aubrey J, Lachlan W, Skylar-Rose B, Riley B, Lil W, Olivia S, Charlotte L, Frankie B, Ivy G, Max C, East M-W, Summer C, Zara H, Evie W, Harley Mc, Hamish S, Jacob D, Levi T, Nixon H, Miles L, Amelia W, Ace K, Harper B, Oliver K, Seth B, Harry B, Michael M, Mia S, Cora J, Felix B, Vienna D, Zeke B, Harper S, Willem S, Christopher W, Lilly W, Arliah A, Madison B, Memphis M, Cooper M, Olive D, Oliver P, River B, Mrs Barnett, Mrs Clayton, Ms Doran, Mrs Hodgetts.

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club closed for Term 3 on the 11 August.  Books will be delivered to students when they arrive at School.

Community News

PERTH TENNIS CLUB

2023 Perth Primary School Support Staff