You either love it or find it challenging and overwhelming but the Book Week Parade is here! There is a feverish excitement amongst the children when they talk about books and costumes and the joy of a parade. I am not sure this is shared with some parents but there is no doubt that the Book Week Parade is a spectacle and a wonderful memory in the minds of our students. Hopefully the fog will clear and the day will be resplendent with sunshine to make the day special.

Last week the NAPLAN reports were sent home. On a first superficial analysis we are pleased with the results across the school. We have seen significant improvement in writing (which has been a targeted focus for many years) and some classes clearly outstripped the NSW average which is fantastic. There is still room for improvement in some areas, namely spelling but this, we hope, will be addressed by the implementation of the Spelling Mastery program that has only gained traction this year. We will need to wait until next year to understand the impact of the intervention and targeted program. If you have any queries arising from your child/ren’s report, please make contact with the classroom teacher in the first instance. The data that we use to analyse the school wide results and specific year level responses is limited because there is no comparative data to establish trends or specific areas of concern as the new testing system has only been operation al for two years. This means we cannot identify specific student growth and the predictive pathways for questions makes it more challenging to identify strengths and weaknesses. However, the staff will spend time making sense of the data to better inform teaching, support and extension.

Last night was a generally well attended parent/teacher/student interview night. Many parents made the most of the opportunity to enquire about the development, effort and progress of their child/ren. There is a second opportunity next Tuesday and there are plenty of spare time slots to meet with the teacher/s.

The calendar is quite jam-packed until the end of term and we have several Primary Reflection Days, The CECG Athletics in Canberra, more Primary assemblies and other excursion opportunities for our secondary students. Please make sure you stay up-to-date with the different events and complete the necessary permissions on COMPASS to ensure your child/ren doesn’t miss out. A reminder that the final monies are due for the Year 9 Melbourne excursion. This should be a fabulous experience for our Year 9 students and all the bookings are now confirmed and final payments made.

Thank you to the O’Shaughnessy House staff who hosted the Community Breakfast this week. My apologies that I could not share in this community building activity but to all reports there were quite a number of families who shared a breakfast of pancakes and hot chocolate. This is a fabulous way to connect with other families and to make some memories with your children. On Saturday 31 August O’Shaughnessy House will also lead the ministries at the Parish Vigil Mass at 5pm. We hope that many families will join with the parish community to share the Mass. Many of our students will be involved in reading, offertory or as welcomers.

Remember – Kindness is Cool!

God Bless