9 March 2023

Principals Report

Dear Families,

We continue to see students meeting high standards of behaviour through showing our school values of safety, care and fairness. Our third whole school meeting on Monday saw classes share learning agreements, with the newly elected SRC doing a fantastic job running this meeting for the first time. Whole school meetings serve to build a shared understanding in students of how to be at Illawarra Primary and what we value in our interactions with others. They are an important mechanism in supporting cohesion and consistency as a whole school in enacting our values.

Illawarra Primary School Association – Last night our School Association met formally for the first time to discuss upcoming events and give feedback on the Welcome BBQ. I would like to take the opportunity again to thank the many volunteers who gave up their time to support the school in coming together as a community and also to the school community for such a great turn out. The funds raised from the night look very promising and will go towards the long awaited upgrade of our sandpit due for completion in the April school holidays. Further information on the work of  IPSA will be featured in the next newsletter.

The AGM is on Wednesday 5^th of April at 7pm in the staff room. Nomination forms are attached if you would like to become a member or take on an Executive position or you can pick one up from the office. Many hands make light work!

There are a few events coming up over the next few weeks:

Harmony Day – Harmony Day and Week is celebrated 20-26 March (March 21 is Australia's Harmony Day, which celebrates the country's cultural diversity. It coincides with the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.)

Harmony Day celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity, with the motto Everyone Belongs. It’s about inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for everyone. https://www.harmony.gov.au/

A way in which we as a school can celebrate this idea and communicate this visually to our community is by creating together a collaborative art installation. This has been an ongoing tradition at IPS. It is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. We thank Mrs. Petersen, Mrs. Nanna and Mrs. Hunn for always working hard to make this day a fun and meaningful one for our students.

NAPLAN testing - This is just around the corner starting next week for our Grade 3 and 5 students. Teachers have been working to integrate familiarity with the test into their class time and Mr. Hayen and Mr. Waugh put a lot of effort into making this process work smoothly and as stress free as possible for everyone involved.

Safeguarding Leads in Tasmanian Schools - Safeguarding Leads have been appointed in all Tasmanian state schools to help ensure all children and young people in Tasmania are known, safe, well and learning.
This role has been absorbed into the Principal’s role for this year and serves to support the wellbeing of all our students and help us as a community understand that keeping children and young people safe is everyone’s responsibility.

Primarily, the duties of the role for this year are to:

• Facilitate safeguarding risk assessments and management, policies and procedures.
• Point of contact for staff
• Support all staff to complete necessary training

• Support staff to make mandatory reports but not do this for them
• Facilitate and coordinate PL sessions
• Ensure children are aware of their right to feel safe and be listened to and have a voice
• Ensuring school policies align with Office of Safeguarding framework

For further information on Safeguarding in Schools please click the following link:

Safeguarding Children and Young People - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Please see the following information regarding Early Learning for 3 year olds.

In August 2022 the Premier of Tasmania announced the intention to provide universal access to learning, in the year before kindergarten, for every 3-year-old. Research supports this as a vital time in a child’s physical, social emotional, language and cognitive development.

Our approach to designing and implementing access for all 3-year-olds is through co-design with families, local communities and early learning providers. A Co-Design Planning Group, consisting of early learning representatives, was established in early 2023 to provide guidance and advice on engaging with stakeholders.

Workshops are occurring in March and April to engage with families, local communities and early learning providers. The workshops are an opportunity to have a say on how to improve access to early learning to achieve the aspiration of access for all 3-year-olds.

Details of the workshops are available at Working with our Communities.

Kind regards,

Cathryn

Calendar Of Events

NAPLAN

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2023

Information for Grade 3 and 5 Parents and Guardians

This year, NAPLAN will be conducted from 15 March – 27 March.

At our school, Grade 3 and 5 students will complete the Writing task on Wednesday, 15 March and the Reading task on Thursday, 16 March.  Grade 3 will undertake the Language Convention and Spelling tasks on Friday, 17 March and the Numeracy task on Wednesday, 22 March.   Grade 5 will undertake the Language Convention and Spelling tasks on Monday, 20 March and the Numeracy task on Tuesday, 21 March.

There will also be catch up sessions run until Monday, 27 March for any student who misses a scheduled task. 

The Grade 3 Writing task is done using pencil and paper, and will be undertaken in classrooms.  All other tasks will be completed online in the GP room so that we can best ensure devices are properly set up and working correctly.

NAPLAN provides valuable information on how your child is progressing against national minimum standards of literacy and numeracy skills expected for each year level.  Later in the year you will receive an individual report that shows your child’s results and a comparison of your child’s performance against all other Australian students in their year level. 

Our teachers use the NAPLAN results to inform class and school planning and to allocate resources and support, including informing decisions around targeted programs and initiatives for individuals and groups.

The best preparation for the tests is a high-quality learning program based on the Australian Curriculum, and this is what we focus on at Illawarra Primary School.  We also recognise that students need to develop familiarity with the testing format and conditions as these are quite different to the way in which our students commonly work.  In line with this, we are helping our students to develop strategies so they are able to perform to the best of their ability on the day.  These include: understanding how to approach the types of questions that may be asked; managing time effectively and checking answers; using effective problem-solving strategies, including working out paper; and leaving a question that is too hard and coming back to it later.

The best way you can assist your child is by helping them to feel comfortable about the nature and purpose of the tests, and assure them that the tests will give them an opportunity to show what they have learned in class.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at michael.hayen@decyp.tas.gov.au or on 6229 6295.

Michael Hayen

Assistant Principal

Parent Teacher Conversations

Book Club Issue #2

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB ISSUE 2

Scholastic Book Club catalogue #2 for the term will be coming home with students this week, with another wonderful array of award-winning books offered for all ages, from old favourites to new exciting volumes!

Orders can be placed by returning the completed order form and money to school, or by using the online Book Club LOOP platform (scholastic.com.au/loop) for parents which allows you to pay by credit card. 

Your child’s order is submitted directly to school and the books will be delivered to class. 

Each order also helps earn free books and teaching materials for our school.

Orders are due by the Monday 20 March.

Woollen Rugby Jumpers

World Hearing Day

Launch into Learning

Road Safety

Community Notices