On Tuesday of this week, I had the pleasure of meeting with the Honourable Blair Boyer, Minister for Education to discuss aspects of our school infrastructure that we believe are well overdue for renewal.

The minister was accompanied by a key adviser, and Catherine Hutchesson, our local state member for Waite.

Working with Ms Hutchesson and members of the Governing Council we are strongly advocating for new buildings to replace the well and truly outdated demountable buildings on the southern side of our school.

The minister was very complimentary of the learning programs operating here at Coro while also acknowledging the poor state of our existing infrastructure. We also spoke about the challenge of school upgrades right across the state, with a large number of other schools in a similar situation.

We realise that any building replacement will be a lengthy process, however, we are also thankful that the minister will speak with Asset Services within the Department to ascertain the condition and needs of our school site.

Book Week 2024

We are excited to be celebrating Book Week from Monday 19th August through to Friday 23rd August.

Book Week officially runs from the 17th of August to the 23rd of August, (Week 5) in conjunction with the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). This year the theme is “Reading is Magic”. Reading is Magic CBCA Shortlist Video

For further details please see the separate article below.

Progressive Achievement Tests

Later this term, students in years 2-6 will be participating in the annual Progressive Achievement Tests – PAT-Reading and PAT-Maths.

The Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) are online reading comprehension and maths assessments aligned to the Australian Curriculum. The tests are administered each year and provide teachers with information about the learning strengths and needs of their students.

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

Again this year all students in Year 1 will participate in a phonics screening check. The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check assesses how students blend sounds together to read a word. The data from these tests will inform our teachers of the teaching of reading for our Early Years students.

What is phonics?

Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds and is vital in learning to read. Some children struggle with learning to read so it is important that these children are identified quickly so teachers can plan for any specific support they may need.

What is the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check?

The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a short, quick assessment that tells teachers how your child is progressing in phonics. Your child will sit with the class teacher and will be asked to read 40 words aloud. These words include 20 real words and 20 nonsense words. The test normally takes a few minutes. If your child is struggling the teacher will stop the check. The check is carefully designed not to be stressful for your child.

Teachers then analyse the results and, if necessary, plan for any additional support that students might require.

Why use nonsense words?

The assessment includes pseudo or nonsense words to see if the student is able to use their knowledge of blending to read a word rather than their memory of having seen that word before.

More information

If you have any further questions, please talk to your child’s class teacher.

Parent Survey

Parents are invited to complete the 2024 annual Public Education Parent Survey. The 2024 parent survey opened mid to late July and closes at midnight on Sunday 8 September. During the survey window, you should receive an email or SMS from the Parent Survey Team with a unique link to participate in the survey.

If you did not receive an email or SMS with your unique survey link by Friday 9 August 2024, please check your spam or junk folders. Otherwise, please contact education.ParentSurvey@sa.gov.au and include our school’s name in your email. A new survey will be sent to you.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes and will help us understand:

• what we’re doing well
• where we can improve
• what’s important to you.

It has been coordinated centrally so that added administration workload isn’t placed on the school. Your answers won’t identify you or your child. Only collated feedback will be provided to our school. Information collected will inform school improvement planning and activities at the school. The survey closes at midnight on Sunday 8 September.

Please be aware that the church carpark will be closed on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd of August due to resurfacing. Parents, if it is not you picking up on these days please pass on the information to those who are.

Book Week 2024

Time is ticking to get those costumes ready!

The excitement is building every day!!

Book Week’s Special person’s Day is fast approaching. Please save the date Friday, 23^rd August to join in CVPS’ celebrations. We will be hosting a magical costume parade in the morning, followed by a concert for all our family and friends to enjoy!

The format for the morning will be:

9.15 – 9.50am Watch the Book Week Parade, with children in their costumes on the green court (weather permitting). All family and friends come and join us for the festivities.

10.00 – 10.40am Enjoy the concert in the gym.

The concert will include performances by:

• the R-2 students
• junior and senior choirs
• some instrumental musicians
• Jump Ropers

We look forward to seeing many of you there!

The theme this year is ‘Reading is Magic’. There will be competitions to enter, activities to enjoy and special events throughout the week. The yr 3 -6s have special sessions with book illustrator Lauren Mullinder and the R-2s have a fabulous Book Week performance on Wednesday afternoon.

Author of the Month Writing Competition

Congratulations to last months author winners. The Literacy Leaders had a very difficult task ahead of them with the judging. There were over 100 entries! With some careful reading and great discussions, these were the lucky winners. Look out for the next writing competition coming soon.

Premiers Reading Challenges

We had 59 entries across the school for the STEM challenge. The entries all looked amazing! We have sent these off to be judged and look forward to hearing the results. Congratulations and good luck to those who entered!

Our school have a huge number of students who have already completed their reading challenge. Well done!  If you haven’t put your form in yet, there is still time to do so. The PRC entries need to be in for data entry by 18^th September.

 Opening Hours

Remember the library is open every morning for borrowing and browsing from 8.20am and after school until 3.30pm. We look forward to seeing you then!

Michelle O’Connell

Teacher Librarian

Please note that our PCW, Jenni Forder, will be on Long Service Leave from weeks 7-10 of Term 3. Murphy will still be on board and working hard, as she has not yet qualified for Long Service Leave!

As part of our Green and Gold Day, Olympian Andrea Chaplin and her daughter, Georgie Barratt spoke to students about her experiences and the Olympic spirit.

‘On Wednesday 31^st August, half of the Junior Choir was honoured to be a part of one of Mitcham Council’s Citizenship Ceremonies as they were invited to sing ‘We are one’ as part of this very special occasion.

The choir sang beautifully and touched the hearts of those there becoming our newest Australian Citizens.

We would like to thank the Mitcham Council for inviting us to be a part of such a special occasion.

The other half of the Junior Choir will sing at the next Micham Council Citizenship Ceremony in September and we wish them the best of luck for their performance.

Mrs Stutterd

On Monday 12^th August, we were lucky enough to have the Primary Schools String Orchestra come and perform to our students. They were serenaded by classical music including music from ‘The Nutcracker’, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘Swan Lake’. Some of our students enjoyed participating in drama and dance roles and everyone enjoyed listening to the beautiful music. As junior primary and middle school students have been learning about instruments of the orchestra and storytelling through music, this was a fantastic link to their learning and meaningful connections were being made.

We thank the PSSO for coming out to provide such a valuable learning opportunity and entertain our community”.

Stacey Stutterd

Term 2 “Educational Explorer Award” was awarded to Zoe, 3/4L with 24.5 hours and Quinn, 2T with 48.5 hours.

Both these students have challenged themselves with a range of new and interesting learning activities. It was very hard to choose as there were a lot of students who had done a lot of variety of learning. Congratulations!

Recently two of the Southern Youth Environment Leaders clusters came together for their second forum of the year.

The second cluster was hosted at Coromandel Valley Primary School, where 50 students from 5 schools explored Frank Smith Park. Students investigated how macro invertebrates in the creek can be used to determine water quality using Green Adelaide’s macro invertebrate ID charts. Another group of students used our bird ID charts and pairs of binoculars to go bird watching, then quietly reflected on their findings in a nature journal. Our final activity involved creating clay scats and tracks after an exploration of the reserve for evidence.

The students from Coro provided visiting school students a rich learning experience, whilst they worked on their leadership skills and shone brightly!

Congratulations to Marnie, Mia, Lila, Mila, Adeline, Freya, Flossie, Sophie, Poppy and Lily.

Sarah Todd

Science Teacher

Going to Mitcham Girls High School to do the STEM challenge was a great experience because it was a great learning opportunity, and to have a chance to get used to the high school environment. We made two types of STEM products, a bionic hand and a balloon powered car. I enjoyed making the balloon powered car because I liked making it and testing/racing the car. Scarlett, Year 6.

The Mitcham Girls High School STEM challenge was really cool and it challenged me to think outside the box and challenge myself. We had some help along the way with the Year 9’s that were supporting us.  We ended up having a tour of the school. In the STEM challenge we made a car powered by a balloon and we raced the car with the other schools that were there and we also made a bionic hand out of toilet roll, cardboard, string and straws. Olivia, Year 6.

Going to MGHS for the STEM challenges was an amazing and exciting experience. My favourite thing was the challenges. We made a bionic hand out of cardboard, straws and string. We also made an air powered car which went super far and was very fast. Before the challenges we got a tour of the school which was really cool and we got a good look at the way the school works. The year 9/10 helpers were really nice and were a big help all throughout the day. Overall I had an amazing day and I’m very thankful for the invite. Macie, Year 6.

Brainstorming and data collection, to see the presence and absence of species at Coro. 

Biological surveys are important, especially as we want to know if the biodiversity at school increases when we’ve provided more native food and habitat for visiting species.

During National Science Week each reception class came to plant a selected native plant.  These students will help care for the plants and watch them grow over their time here at Coro.

We thank Keith, the big buddies and the parent volunteers (Declan, Hayley and Sam), we are very grateful for your help!

Keep an eye on this space over the next few months…

Sarah Todd

Science Teacher

Recently, Mrs Todd, Ms O’Driscoll and two of the Bandicoot Buddies from 2023 YELP were congratulated for being sustainability champions within the City of Onkaparinga (as Frank Smith Park is on Onkaparinga Council land). 

Moira Were AM, the mayor of Onkaparinga Council invited us to a civic reception to celebrate our efforts contributing to the greening of our city. We were acknowledged for recognising the need to nurture our environment and for leaving a positive impact for future generations.

We were presented with a certificate and treated to an evening supper. This event provided an opportunity to strengthen our networks to further improve our collaborative efforts.

Sarah Todd

Science Teacher

SAPSASA Boys Basketball Team at the Sports SA Championships

On Monday of this week, I had the privilege of coaching our Sapsasa boys basketball team at the Sports SA State Championships, held at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium.

It was an exciting day filled with fierce competition and team spirit. Our boys showcased exceptional teamwork and determination throughout all the games they played, narrowly missing out on making it through to the State Finals Day.

The boys played 5 group games, going into the final undefeated, however came up against a very strong Flagstaff Hill team, losing their final game.

I was very proud of how the team represented our school, especially with their positive attitude and respect for opponents, teammates and referees.

A big thank you to all the parents and supporters who transported, scored and cheered us on, and congratulations to the boys for their fantastic effort.

Rob Warncken - Coach