Wow! Another busy term has flown by!

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge the staff at Woodend for a productive and enjoyable time of learning for our students throughout the term. There have been a few staff changes this term. Jude Gabriel-Smith has taken leave for the remainder of the year and Room 20 have welcomed Laura Smith who is now sharing the class with Hayley Boys. Lesley MacFarlane in Room 19 has reduced her fraction of time and Jess Ottewell is sharing this class with Lesley for the remainder of the year. Sue Thomson in Performing Arts will also be on leave for the first 7 weeks of term and we welcome Anna Majewska and Trent Harris in Performing Arts.

Staff have continued their work implementing strategies based on recent research of the brain and how the brain learns to read, in the classroom. Goal 1 of our site improvement plan is to increase the number of students achieving in the higher bands of NAPLAN in reading. Our recent NAPLAN results show that we have achieved this goal and we will continue to work to build on this in the coming years.

was a highlight for our year 5 classes, with some very excited students having learnt to ride a bike for the first time. It was rewarding for all to see how all students confidence

The Partnership Student Voice in Learning project continues to be an exciting journey for all schools in our partnership. Students in the Partnership team have continued to learn about effective feedback and started to look at the Critical and Creative Capability in the Australian Curriculum and consider how this could be helpful in providing more useful feedback to help students to stretch their thinking further.

As mentioned earlier, our NAPLAN results are starting to show the impact of the work staff and students have been doing to improve reading, writing and maths skills. Next year we move to NAPLAN online and it will be interesting to see how this impacts students and their test results. Many classes were involved in a NAPLAN online trial this term and we were relieved to find our network is now capable of managing a whole year level accessing NAPLAN at one time.

Your child may have been privileged to have had a university student completing a placement in their class this term. We thank our teachers for their generosity in hosting pre-service teachers as this requires a significant workload for teachers. University students contribute positively to the life of the classroom and our students love to work with them.

As part of our continuous school improvement, next term both our partnership and school will be involved in external school reviews with a review panel. The purpose of external school reviews is to support schools to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build public confidence in government schools. All government schools will be externally reviewed every four years against the question: ‘how well does this school support student achievement, growth, challenge and equity?’ Our partnership review will be in week 1 and our school review in week 4 next term. More information will be shared with you about this early next term.

Term Events
This term has been very busy with

  • Henny Penny Hatching Program for Reception classes
  • Whole school anti-bullying week
  • SAPSASA basketball, netball, volleyball
  • Pedal Prix
  • Year 3/4/5 camps to Aldinga
  • Year 3/4 swimming
  • SSO Week
  • Year 1 phonics screening tests
  • School soccer, football, basketball
  • Dental for Schools
  • Book Week
  • Fathers Day Stall
  • Class and year level excursions
  • Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading and Maths (PAT)
  • SVIL sessions and participation in Literacy and Numeracy Festival Student Action Forum
  • NAPLAN Online trial
  • Nude Food Tuesdays
  • Preparation for Myojo 2020 trip
  • Year 5 Readers Cup
  • Preparation for STEAM week
  • Preparation for School and Partnership Reviews
  • …and of course, full classroom programs based on the Australian Curriculum aimed at developing successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens.

No wonder your children and teachers are ready for a well-earned break!

 

We trust you and your family enjoy the 2 weeks break and are able to find time to work together on a STEAM challenge, ready for presentation at the STEAM Expo in Week 1 next term.

We look forward to seeing families return refreshed and ready for another full and productive term on Monday 14 October.

Kind regards,

Steve Freeman    Jane-Ann Natar        Jarrod Lamshed        Cathie Luke
Principal               Deputy Principal        Senior Leader          Senior Leader