12 September 2018

Newsletter Articles

Calendar of Key Events

From the Principal………

Together We Inspire Awards

During the past few weeks we have hosted several film crews from the DoE who have visited our school to take photos and film footage of our approach to teaching mathematics. We are thrilled to have been nominated then shortlisted for a Together We Inspire Award in the department’s yearly awards in the numeracy champions section. In 2016 we gained a grant which became known as MAT.X. This grant has been the springboard for our new way of working, based on helping students to gain deep understandings in the key areas of mathematics. This forms a strong foundation for problem solving which is an advanced skill in mathematics. I am incredibly proud of the work achieved so far in assisting students to improve their understandings rather than merely learning processes by heart. The change in student engagement is clear, with students now motivated and excited by their maths work. Changing teaching practice takes courage and support. Teachers and teacher assistants are also embracing the change to support learners so that their learning potential is enhanced.

Fortnite – Fun or Frightening Phenomenon?

Last week I watched a current affairs program that many parents might find alarming. It detailed the addiction many young adolescents are now developing to online games. In some countries this addiction is recognised as an actual medical condition. Game developers have developed such advanced techniques to make games so appealing to children, adolescents and even adults that some find them hard to resist and can’t stop themselves playing. Some children and adolescents play for hours on end, without leaving the screen for any reason. Fortnite is the latest game craze to sweep the world, with millions of players online in many countries. Further information about the addiction to online games can be found at:

Some ideas for parents include the following:

• Set limits
• Take it away
• Hide it
• Make him/her earn it
• Talk about it

For other tips for parents:

Congratulations to our School Association Fundraising Group

Many thanks to our School Association members who co-ordinated and held a successful Fathers’ Day stall which provides a wonderful service to children and the dads in our school community each year. The number of gifts donated was less than previous years. These events cannot happen without support from our school community. Despite this children certainly enjoyed visiting the stall and making their selections for Dad from the wonderful range of gifts the stall organisers had presented for sale. Many thanks again to those families who did support the stall with gifts for sale and to all children and parents who bought gifts for the special dads in your lives. Hoping all dads had a special day on Fathers’ Day.

NAPLAN ONLINE – School Readiness Test

This week students in grades 2, 4 and 6 will be involved in the School Readiness Test (SRT) to test our systems and structures in place for NAPLAN to progress to an online platform in 2019. Students will be assessed using a combined test rather than tests in each of the areas normally targeted in NAPLAN. Individual results will not be available for parents from this test, however each school involved will learn about how their structures and bandwidth managed the number of devices connected to the internet. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday our Grade 2, 4 and 6 students will be taking part in the SRT. This is being treated as a full dress rehearsal for NAPLAN going online in 2019 across the state and other parts of Australia.

The two main aims of the SRT is to:

• check if the school has the technical capabilities (devices, bandwidth and locations)
• familiarise students with the new assessment format

Planning for 2019

Soon we will be starting some tentative planning for 2019 in terms of possible class models and other organisational details. Class placements will form part of the complex mix which is taken into consideration. Teachers know their students very well as learners and we take the placement of every child very seriously. Children are placed with suitable learning buddies, not necessarily best friends. Sometimes good friends are not helpful in supporting each other to be good learners. If you have information of an educational basis which you believe is not known to your child’s teacher, please contact me in writing. This information will then be added to the class placement information when placing children in next year’s class groupings. Requests for particular class teachers cannot be accepted.

Excursions

Excursions add quality to classroom programs and provide depth and experience to enrich learning for students. They also add a complexity for teachers with added responsibility and levels of planning involved in every outing outside the school gate. Parents and extra helpers are sometimes welcome and required to make these extra demands manageable. All volunteers accompanying any excursion must have a current Working With Vulnerable People card. This is Department of Education policy and applies to every DoE school.

Welcomes and Farewells

Farewell to Jack who heads to CDHS on Friday. We wish you every success in your new school.

Lee Craw
Principal

3/4/5 Excursion

Naplan Information

Perth Primary School Attendance Data

Assembly Class Awards

Happy Birthday

MILOS

Premiers Reading Challenge

Duty of Care Reminder To Parents

School Association Fundraising Committee

Term 3 5/6 Winter Sports Roster

2019 Planning

Canteen News…..

Parent Communication

Permission Forms

Launching into Learning

School Association Fundraising Committee

School Association Fundraising Committee

Tissues

Uniform Shop Hours

Outside School Care Hours (OSHC)

Community News……

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