Term 2 WELCOME BACK

Welcome back to school for Term 2.

Last week we held two school development days. On the first day our teaching staff explored elements of the new Australian Curriculum and developed a collaborative team plan to address specific elements of the writing curriculum. The second day focussed on the use of information, communication technology (ICT) within the Australian Curriculum. This day involved staff from a number of local schools exploring the use of things like iPads, wikis and Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. We are excited by the opportunities that ICT resources bring to our classrooms and look forward to learning how to better use them to enhance our teaching and learning programs. Our educational assistants were also involved in training programs over the two days including sessions on classroom management strategies as well as general induction and information on their role within the school.

In Week 4 of this term we have two major activities occurring at our school. The first is NAPLAN testing which will involve students in Years 3, 5 and 7. You may have seen some media reports discussing the positive and negative aspects of NAPLAN testing. The main things you need to remember about these tests include:

• they are important for providing our school with a snapshot of where our students are at in key areas of literacy and numeracy compared to students of a similar age and background
• they provide us with comparative information i.e. we can compare previous tests to see how well our students are developing (the ‘value’ that has been added to their learning)
• you will receive a report which shows how your child went on each test. The school also receives test results which we can use to analyse the effectiveness of our programs and plan for improvement

The second big event in Week 4 is the Greenfingers television program which will be filmed throughout the week and involve the establishment of a fully functioning sustainable and waterwise garden on the school grounds. You should have received an information letter as well as a ‘Talent Release’ form which you need to sign and return to school by Wednesday May 9. We are very excited about this program and the opportunities it offers our school and our students.