Winter is now upon us and we are expecting that all students will be kitted out in the winter uniform. This includes the correct wearing of the school tie. We encourage all our students to wear it in the way it is intended – done up to the neck with the top button fastened. This also means that the blue shirt is tucked in and looking neat and tidy. We are very proud of our uniform and hope that our community respects and takes pride in how we present ourselves.

Currently our students and staff are busy finalising assessments ready for the reporting period. There are some small tweaks in the ES1 reports and they are now graded against a four-point scale. As a system across the diocese there will be no comments on semester reports this was a practice that we instituted last year that is now widely adopted. If at any time you have questions or concerns about your child’s development then we ask you to make an appointment to see the class teacher rather than wait until the scheduled interviews at the end of the semester. Below are the expectations and protocols for reporting in semester 1.

Reporting - Semester 1 2021

Our teaching team has begun the process of creating each Primary child’s Semester 1 2021 report.

In Semester 1:

For Kindergarten students:

• Achievement in each subject will be reported using a four-point scale (Well Above Expectations, Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations and Working Towards Expectations).

For Year 1 to Year 6 students:

• Academic grades for each subject using a five-point scale from A-E will be reported using the NSW Common Grade Scale.

For all students:

• Strand Achievement will be reported in English, Mathematics, Human Society and its Environment, PDHPE and Creative Arts using a five-point scale (Excellent, High, Sound, Basic, Elementary).
• Engagement with Learning statements, which are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum, will provide specific information about your child’s Critical and Creative Thinking, and Personal and Social Responsibility, using a three-point scale (Beginning, Developing, Consistently).
• Individual student comments will not be used in the Semester 1 Reports.

Dialogue is an important feature of reporting. The Semester Report in this format encourages parent engagement and conversation about student learning. We want the report to be the entry point for parent-teacher interviews where we can engage in genuine conversation about your child’s strengths, challenges, effort and areas for growth.

Further details about Parent-Teacher interviews will be sent home at a later date. Primary teachers will continue to make contact with parents to discuss areas of growth and development. 

The new approach to Academic Reporting is a developing process. Further work will be undertaken in the coming months to determine how progress and achievement is best reported based on what we know to be important information about a student’s learning and progress.

This Wednesday will be our first COMMUNITY BREAKFAST since COVID shut down our program. We look forward to everyone joining us for breakfast in the secondary playground after 8am. All parents and family members will need to sign in using the QR codes.

Next Monday 24 May at 10.30am our Primary students will be attending a performance at Cootamundra Town Hall highlighting issues of the environment, recycling and waste. This is a free presentation and a wonderful opportunity to learn about important issues for sustainability and care for our environment.

In more recent weeks some students have been bringing a range of fidget toys to school and they are now creating a distraction in class and leading to playground issues.  It is encouraged that students leave the “push popits” fidget toys at home otherwise they will be collected by the teacher and returned at a later time.

REMINDER: Please make note that there has been a change of date for the Annual Athletics Carnival. Due to a few extenuating circumstance the carnival has been shifted to TUESDAY 1 June at Albert Park. We will also continue with the K-10 model that was introduced last year but, unlike last year, parents are invited and encouraged to attend. We will still require all spectators to sign in upon arrival at the park and we hope it will be nice weather and a wonderful day. We are seeking parent support in assisting with the carnival. If you are able to help please contact Megan Withers or Wendy Van Kerk Oerle at school.

We continue to push the importance of attendance to improving student outcomes and building lifelong skills. Please contact the classroom teacher/PCA if you have any issues or challenges around attendance.

Remember: If you can be anything…be kind! Kindness is the ability to know the right thing to do and having the courage to do it!  (RAKtivist)

Dream big! Pray bigger!