Newsletter Term 3 Week 5

Dear Families

What any exciting day yesterday as book characters came alive through our children.  We were very fortunate that the rain stayed away, and we made most of the opportunity to parade.

Our School Board met this week, and the following were some of the topics discussed…

NAPLAN

Our School has received preliminary results for this year’s NAPLAN test.  While the results are broad in nature, it does seem that we have built on last year’s excellent results, with further improvements this year.  A full package of results is due to be delivered to schools in mid-late September.  These detailed results will also include the parent reports that will be sent home at this time.

SCHOOL TOURS

We hold tours every term in week 3.  As this is Catholic Education Week, we held an extra tour this week. This term we have had nearly 100 people attend our tours.

NCCD

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year.

The NCCD is a collection that counts:

• the number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to learning difficulties (unfortunately the Australia Government uses the word disability)
• the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.

Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive ongoing adjustments at school due to disability. This ‘help’ allows them to access education on the same basis as a child without disability.

Our School receives funding from the Australian Government to support students who qualify for the NCCD and we employ ESO’s to help support these students.  Our staff are doing are marvellous job in this area.  We have upskilled our knowledge and worked very hard to put the evidence together for students to qualify for the NCCD.

Last year, due to the teachers’ hard work, we were able to support nearly twice as many students (90) when compared to the previous year (50).  This year we have been able to achieve another small increase of 30 students, in total for this year we are supporting 120 students.

Our excellent work has resulted in the employment of more Education Support Officers, and we welcome Phi Nguyen, Ella Borlase, and Daniel Leary whom will be providing the extra support to students this term.

ORGANISATION OF THE 2023 SCHOOL YEAR

It is hard to believe that we are now entering the stage of organising next year.  We have begun discussions with staff.  Parents will soon be asked about next year and at the start of term 4, students will be asked for input into the formation of classes.

Damian Weeks
Principal

If this long, wet, and cold winter has taught us anything this year, it has been to respect our ‘humanness’ and to lean into the Fruits of the Holy Spirit to ensure we have the strength to persevere! As a parent of primary school aged children, I live and breathe the day-to-day juggles, just as many of our Star of the Sea School families do. From dentist appointments to dance competitions, soccer and swimming trainings, haircuts and homework; I am guilty of scheduling multiple extra-curricular activities, on top of all of the other necessary appointments for my children! As a society, we are all navigating the challenges of life after a global pandemic. Trying to ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ as the saying goes, is not so straight forward and it is easy to forget that we are living in a time of unprecedented illness. Connecting with our human condition helps us to appreciate that we need rest and recharge regularly. We are not devices that can be plugged into a wall socket for recharging when our batteries go flat. We cannot operate with hundreds of tabs open in our browsers (multi-tasking to the extreme) and we will occasionally need a ‘hard reset’ to ensure we are well and able to live our best lives. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, one of his commandments was to “remember the sabbath day, to keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:8). The word Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘to rest from labour’ and Holy means sacred and dedicated to God. Finding time for rest and recharge, physically and emotionally and placing trust in our Faith is precisely the answer to navigating these challenges. I encourage all families within our community to continue leaning into the Fruits of the Holy Spirit as we strive to reach the end of this long winter season, as we look forward together to the warmer months ahead.

Thanks P&F for the Disco!

The Disco Day was a fabulous success for our community this year! The happy faces and dancing moves said it all, really! Sincere thanks to the members of our Parents and Friends committee for their tireless efforts, ongoing enthusiasm, and energy for this day of celebration. Many thanks also to the Year 6 students that volunteered to DJ, hype up and support our dancers. With four disco’s scheduled, two during the day and two after hours, all children in our school community embraced the dancing, face painting, sugary treats and the fun and frivolity of their photo booth poses with friends. This P&F initiative turned out to be both ‘friend-raiser’ and ‘fund-raiser’ this year and was a beautiful reminder of the immense joy and love we have in our lives. Thank you, Star of the Sea School!

Learning

In this week’s newsletter we shine a light on the visible learning of our junior primary students. Our Junior Primary Teachers provide learner opportunities for metacognition each and every day. That is helping children to think about how they think, know about how new knowledge is acquired and quite simply, learn to learn. When Teachers point out the ‘Learning Intention’ and ‘Success Criteria’ of learning activities, children are given opportunities to understand more about how the learning happens. (insert student work samples here)

ICT User Agreement Reminders

Students and families are reminded of our ICT User Agreement. The devices that children use for learning are provided by Star of the Sea School and therefore belong to the school. Students are reminded that these are to be used as a learning tool only and must be taken care of. In the instance of damage, devices must be repaired or replaced. This becomes a costly exercise, when students are not taking due care of their iPad or Laptop. As Information Communication Technology is the way of the future, devices are ‘almost’ a necessity to contemporary classroom practices. I say ‘almost’ because there is still a place for ‘old school’ pen and paper learning and neuroscience shows that cognitive gains are optimal when learners balance their use of technology with handwriting and written tasks. The ICT User Agreement, states that families will share the cost of device repairs and that devices will be removed for a negotiated time if children are using these for activities other than learning. Many thanks for your continued support of our school policies and practices.

Drop off and Duty of Care Reminders

Active supervision and care for all children in our school community is always a priority for our educators. Teachers are well organized to ensure they arrive to their yard duty supervision areas on time, ensuring the utmost care of children as they play and navigate learning in relationships. It is during these times, that our ‘hidden curriculum’ unfolds for learners. Teachers are on hand to support problem solving in friendships and learning in inclusion and diversity. This support is not in place if children are arriving to school outside of our morning supervised yard time of 8.20am. Children seen in the yard before 8.20am will be directed to our Out of Hours School Care facility and families will receive the invoice for this service accordingly. The front office area, is not an Out of Hours School Care area, thus children are not to use this area if they are dropped to school before 8.20am. Sincere thanks for your continued support of our yard supervision times and drop off procedures.

Regards
Narelle Sandercock

‘Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible’.  Francis of Assisi

Star Outreach. Please come and join with other parents at Mass this Friday at 9:15am, followed by coffee.  The Community Kitchen is starting again. If you know of anyone in need or unwell, please let Stella or Damian know and we can help with meals and more, always with respect and confidentiality.

As you may already know, the Missionary of the Sacred Heart priests (MSCs) who have ministered to our parish for over 100 years are finishing at the end of this year.  Please save the following dates to say goodbye. Early Years are invited to Mass on 13 November @ 9:30 Years 3 – 6 are invited to mass on 4 December at 9:30, where Archbishop O’Reagan and all priests who have served in our parish will return.

Confirmation and First Communion is on 10 September @ 6pm and 11 of September @ 11am and 3:30pm.  You are very welcome to come to one of these masses. Students have chosen saint names because they admire their qualities and achievements and have created keepsake posters. Please pray for our students as they make these sacraments.

May your week be blessed with lots of smiles,

Stella Foley
APRIM

Learning Intention

To identify the place value of each digit in double digit numbers

Success Criteria
I can identify Ones and Tens in double digit numbers.

I can record Ones and Tenis in double digit numbers.

Learning Intention:

To use the 'rule of three' in a persuasive text.

Success Criteria:

I can write persuasively, listing three reasons for why people should eat healthily. 

Learning Intention:

To use poetry techniques of alliteration, repetition, onomatopoeia and rhyme for reader enjoyment.

Success Criteria:

I can use repeated phrases in poetry

I can use like sounding words and phrases in poetry

I can use rhyme

I can use sounds (onomatopoeia) to enhance the imagery of the poem