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Dear Families,
It has been pleasing to see our staff and students return to school settled and ready for another dynamic term of learning. Our Term 4 integrated curriculum which focuses on The Arts – Dance, Drama and Music is in full swing and our students are engaged, energised and eager to learn more. There are various weekly dance and drama incursions happening across the school which aim to develop the student’s skills as both artist and audience. Alongside of this, a number of excursions to locations near and far have also been planned to enhance and support curriculum delivery.
NAPLAN Results
The 2022 NAPLAN results were recently released to schools across the nation. It is important to highlight that the quality of the education occurring in our school can’t be solely judged on NAPLAN results; similarly, the results cannot and should not be used as the only measure of a child’s education. NAPLAN is a valuable tool, albeit only one data set, and it must be put into a wider context of other evidence, for it to be most useful to any school setting.
Administering these assessments to students online provides data sets at various levels, including the individual responses that students gave or the sample of writing that students completed. Therefore, we can explore whole group, small group and an individual’s data to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. Our staff have begun this analysis with the intent to use the evidence to inform their teaching for the remainder of the term. As always, we are committed to every student receiving explicit teaching at their point of need.
Please note: Families who have a student in Years 3 or 5 should now have received their child’s individual results for NAPLAN. If you have not received this information please contact your child’s teacher.
Learning Expos
It has been wonderful to welcome families into classrooms over the past weeks to share in their child’s learning. Observing the children’s sense of pride in being able to share their learning in the areas of science and mathematics has been so pleasing and justifies the need to continue to offer these opportunities. As a school we know that the best educational outcomes can be achieved for our students when there is a strong partnership between school and home. Thank-you to all of our staff for facilitating the sessions and to the parents and guardians who were able to attend.
Wishing you all a safe and relaxing weekend,
Peta Overbury
Deputy Principal – Teaching and Learning
Mission Month - What’s the deal with Socktober?
You may have seen the recent posts on Facebook or seen in our newsletters this thing called ‘Socktober’… What is this Socktober thing?
Socktober is a fundraising program that invites students to gain a better understanding of what mission and charity mean. Simply throwing money at a charity does not teach children about why we would help people in need. Socktober has some great teaching and learning resources, and through Catholic Mission, is able to get to the heart of why we support the dignity of others. Jesus’ message was to love God, your neighbour, and yourself. This is one way to the elusive ‘happiness’ that everyone seems to be looking for!
St Thomas the Apostle PS was very successful with the Socktober drive last year and we’d love to be successful again. Please consider supporting the student’s efforts with fundraising by jumping on the Socktober website and donating some money. Having said this, the Foundation classes in the Galilee community have begun a drive by asking for a gold coin. This is to make the donations visible for this age group. It would be great if everyone else stuck to the online donation, as this can be a very time consuming task that is already done during the Caritas (Lent) period of the year.
Here’s the school Socktober website:
https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/stthomastheapostlepscranbourneeast
Grade 6 - Tool Time Activities
‘Online Safety for Every Family’ helps parents begin a conversation with their children about online safety and build the confidence to support more positive experiences online. The package of animated videos and advice sheets addresses a range of common online parenting challenges including, social media, gaming, online bullying and general online safety, and can be accessed on the eSafety’s website here. The videos have been subtitled, and the accompanying advice sheets have been translated into: Arabic, Dari, Simplified Chinese, Tamil and Vietnamese.
Please click on the above Links to access the website.
Please note that Village OSCH is open for onsite student supervision during the school term and school holidays .
If you would like to enrol and register your child visit villageoshc.com.au
Operating Hours and Fees
Before School Care:
6:45am - 8:30am
Session fee: $18.95*
After School Care:
3:15pm - 6:15pm
Session fee: $29.95*
Vacation Care:
6:45am - 6:15pm
Session fee: $69.95*
Book early! Book 24 hours or more in advance to pay the lowest rate!
*Fees listed above are per child per session before CCS is applied.
For a full list of fees and charges including late notice and walk-ins, see Terms and Condditions at villageoshc.com.au
For more information visit our website at villageoshc.com.au
For all enquiries contact VillageOSHC on 1300 366 437 or email support@villageoshc.com.au
No Hat, No Play
A reminder that the No Hat, No Play rule will be effective immediately. Students will be required to wear hats when outside (e.g recess, play breaks, lunch, sport and excursions). If a student is not wearing a hat they will be required to stay in an undercover area during these times.
Please note that due to government health regulations the school cannot provide spare hats to the students.