It is hard to believe that we are already at the midpoint of the school year. I hope everyone has recovered from the recent heavy rain and storm activity and the clean-up hasn’t been too significant.

Congratulations

Huge congratulations to Sarah Todd for being selected as a worthy recipient of the 2023 Credit Union SA Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of Science Award. This Award recognises contributions to the education of students in science, association with SASTA and dedication to professional learning to improve personal skills and student outcomes.

As the recipient of the 2023 Credit Union SA Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of Science Award, Sarah will be presented the award by the Chief Scientist, Caroline McMillen, on Tuesday, 11^th July 2023, in the Braggs Lecture Theatre at the University of Adelaide.

Mobile Device Policy Update

In line with the Department for Education policy regarding personal mobile device use in schools, we have recently updated our Mobile Device Policy. Very little has changed from the previous update approximately 18 months ago, with the new updated policy ratified at Governing Council this term. To view our Mobile Device Policy, please visit our school website.  

Student Reports

Mid-year reports will be sent home next week. Over recent weeks, teachers have been busy preparing students’ reports based on assessments and evidence of learning over the first semester.

Students in Years 1-6 will receive a written report (individual comments in Maths, English & General) with A-E grades, whilst Reception students will receive a written report referenced against the Foundation achievement standard.

When receiving and reading your child’s report, please take time to acknowledge their efforts and achievements as well as how they are progressing with their approaches to learning (e.g. attitude, effort, work habits, etc.)

Please take time to read through your child/ren’s report, and you may wish to use these conversation starters:

• What is something you have achieved of which you are proud?
• What are three things you did to help your classmates?
• What are the three most important things you learned?
• What is something that was hard for you at the start of the year but is easy now?
• In what area do you feel you have improved?
• What is something you taught your teacher or classmates?
• What is something you’d like to improve?
• Of the books you read, which was your favourite? Why?

Student Free Day – Brightpath

Our second Student Free Day fell on Friday, 9^th June and provided classroom teachers with the timely opportunity to dig deeper into writing and moderation.

Ali Newbold, project officer from Brightpath, facilitated the day. Teachers had already collected an initial persuasive writing sample from their classes, which had been marked and uploaded to the Brighpath platform. Ali guided staff through the process of whole staff moderation, using the exemplars and annotations from the Guide to Making Judgments.

Staff then engaged in a session designed to deepen understanding of sentence structure, using students' own writing. Teachers appreciated the opportunity to explore some helpful resources and plan the next steps for their classes. This professional development day aligned closely with our SIP literacy goal around building teacher capacity and improving student writing skills.

Specialist teachers engaged in professional learning with Laura Polley (Behaviour Coach) around supporting students with additional needs. They then engaged in collaborative planning time with Kate O'Driscoll to ensure consistency of approach across classes. SSOs also engaged in a separate but related session with Laura Polley as well as an online Sue Larkey course about autism.