IMPORTANT DATES!
PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
As I walked through the Arts and Writers Festival a few things struck me. Firstly, how amazing our students are and what incredible skills they can display. Secondly, how lucky our community are to have such hard working and dedicated staff. Finally, it is so evident that we have been able, as a school and community to maintain our focus on the academic content for our students through adversity. It was so wonderful to have an opportunity to enjoy a community evening. These have been so missed over the last few years and it is just fantastic to have that opportunity again. I look forward to our next whole school event.
NAPLAN 2022
As you already know, in 2020 we had our school review and developed a strategic plan to be completed in 2024. After days of data analysis, observation and discussion, we were able to develop goals that suited the needs of our students, families and staff whilst instilling our community vision and commitment to excellence and inclusivity in education. Our four year goals included improving student outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy and the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a great opportunity to discuss how we are travelling.
Whilst individual data can give you a snapshot of how your Child is performing on a particular day, these can be altered by the many variables surrounding each child. As a school we use cohort data to measure the effectiveness of our classroom practices because it is a far more reliable measure than individual data. One measure that all schools look at and use in strategic planning is benchmark growth. Unfortunately, the 2022 NAPLAN data has no benchmark growth because students did not complete the assessment in 2020. However, there are other measures that we have access to and I would like to walk you through those now.
In Reading 96% of our Year 5 students performed within the middle 2 or top 2 bands. 64% of students were in the top 2 bands compared to our similar schools where 60% of students had this achievement and the State average of 44%. In Numeracy, 91% of our Year 5 students achieved in the middle 2 or top 2 bands. With 41% performing in the top 2 bands compared to similar school averages of 38% and the State average of 27%. In Writing, 89% of our Year 5 students sat within the middle 2 or top 2 bands. There was significant change to our rolling averages from 2017 in the top 2 band category. Previously, we had never exceeded 31% of students in the top 2 bands. 2022 has brought a whopping 50% of students in the top 2 bands. The state average sits at 29% and the similar schools’ averages sit at 41% in this category.
Similarly, our Year 3 data has shown us outperform State averages in the top 2 bands and we have been able to maintain our rolling averages in these areas as well. With the only exception once again Writing. Over the period from 2017, in Writing we have had a rolling average of 55% of students performing in the top 2 bands. Our 2022 data show us 64% of students in Year 3 performing in the top 2 bands of NAPLAN.
Our students have once again demonstrated incredible persistence to overcome the adversity of the last two years and perform so well during this assessment. I also want to take a moment to reflect on the fabulous work that has been undertaken by our staff during this period. The data sets are trending in the right direction, and it is no doubt due to the time and effort they put in to ensuring our kids have every opportunity to excel at school. Congratulations to the students and staff for such wonderful achievements.
Take care,
Kirrily Lamers
Principal
STUDENT OF THE WEEK
ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
Time Online
As a parent myself of two primary aged children (9 and 11), I understand the challenges of setting and maintaining rules and expectations around computers, tablets and mobile phones. Our children have access to a range of devices and hold strong expectations about they want to be doing. The esaftey commissioner (esafety.gov.au) has a range of great advice and guidance regarding all things cyber. Some of the information coming through the recent BYOD survey indicates that families are struggling with their children/s online/computer time at home and are looking for more ways to develop their own family structures and expectations. We must all acknowledge that each and every family have varying expectations and this is not a one system fits all. Something I am starting to implement at home is device-free zones. The following is taken from the esafety website.
Set boundaries for digital device use in your home
Device-free zones and times can help you manage screen time. For example, your family plan could include rules like this:
- no devices in the bedroom for younger children
- all screens off in bedrooms after a certain time for older children
- all screens off at least one hour before planned bedtime
- all family members switch off at dinner time
- devices charged overnight in a place your child cannot access
Cyber Space
As our society continues to move more and more digital, it is important to ensure we stay up to date with current platforms and how to deal with issues should they arise.
Headspace Greensborough and Austin Health Youth Engagement and Treatment Team Initiative (YETTI) will be delivering an information webinar for parents/carers and members of the community.
Luke Franklin
Assistant Principals
Raising Learners Podcasts for Parents and Carers
For families, the Department has also partnered with the Raising Children Network to develop a podcast series for parents and carers on supporting children’s learning and development, called Raising Learners.
The series features parenting experts from organisations including the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Career Education Association Victoria, as well as the Australian eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant.
Raising Learners gives parents and carers practical advice for supporting children’s health, wellbeing and engagement at school and at home. The series explores topics including:
- how to connect with their child’s school and community
- how to best support their child’s learning
- what to expect for Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students
- how to keep children safe online.
These topics were drawn from common questions that parents have raised in calls to the Department’s coronavirus (COVID-19) hotline and confidential support service Parentline.
The first five episodes are available now and can be accessed from podcast apps and the Raising Children Network website. Additional episodes will be released throughout Term 4.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
'2022 RGLPS Arts and Writing Festival' - A Smash Hit!
What a turn out we had at the ‘RGLPS Arts and Writing Festival’ launch on Monday night! It was fantastic to have so many students, parents and friends come along to view the fabulous student writing and artwork on display. There was a palpable fizz of excitement in the air all week as the school celebrated creativity in writing and art. Thank-you to all members of the RGLPS community who found time to visit and show their support across the week.
I would especially like to acknowledge Lauren Scott, who coordinated all the artwork on display from every class in the school. This was a huge undertaking over many months, and I think we can all agree that the children’s artwork was outstanding! Thank-you also to our classroom teachers and Education Support staff who supported each child to complete their writing pieces and illustrations. This was very challenging at times with many students and teachers having extended absences due to illness.
Our Writing Workshops and Author Talks have been embraced by students this week. Andrew McDonald had our Year 3/4 students creating vivid characters by describing their character’s appearance, personality and having clarity on what each characters wants. Maria La Selva engaged Prep – Year 2 students with a retell of ‘Perky Panda Asks Are You OK?’ and follow up activities around wellbeing, mindfulness and resilience. Sue de Gennaro read her picture book ‘Missing Marvin’ to the Prep – year 2 students and helped them understand that the writing tells part of the story and the illustrations often add to this. Davina Bell worked with Year 5 and 6 classes and helped students create a story and characters based on their own imagination, experiences, and observations. What a treat to learn about the writing process from a published expert in the field!
Here are a few comments from RGLPS students about the author visits and writing workshops this week:
Andrew McDonald:
‘Andrew McDonald taught me how to write funnier stories and expand my writing. – Hugo B (Year 4)
‘Andrew McDonald taught me how to make my writing more interesting and funny.’ – Madison Tay (Year 4)
‘It was great and a bit silly!’ – Pivithi R (Year 4)
‘It was amazing having a real author come to school and give us advice about our writing.’ – Lachie B (Year 4)
Maria La Selva
‘I liked how the book (Perky Panda) was all about kindness, because in your life you have to be kind, or you end up getting told off all the time! I also like how it was about peace.’ – Thomas F (Year 1)
Sue De Gennaro
‘We learned new drawings and I liked when we drew some of the characters.’ – Catia (Year 1)
Davina Bell
‘Davina was a very energetic speaker. We talked about what it is like to be an author and what inspires her writing. I learnt about how to gather and develop ideas for a story from my everyday life.’ – Natalie D (Year 6)
Thank-you to the RGLPS community for supporting the 2022 RGLPS Arts and Writing festival and celebrating the creativity of our students throughout the week!
2022 Maths Olympiad
The final Maths Olympiad for 2022 was held this week. Congratulations to Marshall H who achieved the school’s highest score with a total score of 20 points (out of a possible 25). Hot on Marshall’s tail was Eva L in second position on 19 points, then Kyle S, Ainsley H and Jade D who jointly finished third on 18 points.
The Maths Olympiad is an enrichment challenge where students solve problems pitched at lower secondary level. Students compete across five Olympiads for maximum score of 25 points. By solving a problem successfully, children are generally working two to four years above their year level in maths.
All members of the team are to be congratulated for taking on the Olympiad and persisting throughout the school year. The 2022 Maths Olympiad Team comprised of: Sohum B, Antoni B, Abigail B, Sam B, Suraj G, Ainsley H, Ella M, Isabella M, Avishi R, Quinn R, Kyle S, Ellie V, Jed L, Jade D, Lawson P, Levi H, Marshall H, Madeleine O’R, Eva L, Lachlan P, Lincoln T, Toby W, Sam W and Nehan K.
All 2022 Maths Olympiad students will be presented with a certificate at a school assembly next term.
Tournament of Mind 2022 (ToM)
The ‘2022 RGLPS ToM Team’ are competing in the Victorian State Final this Sunday after winning their Challenge at the Northern Metro Final several weeks back.
RGLPS students progressing through to the Victorian State Final: Ainsley H, Eva L, Jade D, Ella M, Lawson P and Allie G.
Best of luck to the team on their big opportunity this weekend!
I hope everyone has a great week ahead – I look forward to seeing lots of visitors at the 2022 RGLPS Arts and Writing Festival on Monday night and throughout next week!
Kerron Worsdell
Learning Specialist
MATHS NEWS
Maths Riddle
Well done to those who attempted last week’s ‘Triangle Folds’ challenge. The answer to the challenge is: 8 layers.
Here’s this week’s Maths Riddle. I’ll share the answer in the newsletter next week.
Counter Challenge
To which square should I add a counter so that no two rows have the same number of counters and no two columns have the same number of counters?
Hint: Use trial and error to solve.
Extra Challenge: Create your own grid board and see if you can place counters on so that no two columns and no two rows have the same number of counters. You might start with a 5×5 board, 8×8 or even 10×10.
If you’d like to share your response or have your working out featured in our newsletter, please send your solutions to sarah.mclellan@education.vic.gov.au
DEAF FACILITY NEWS
Deaf Facility Camp
On Thursday August 26 and 27, our grades four to six Deaf Facility children went on our first Facility Camp. We were joined by two other primary schools, Mount View Primary School Deaf Facility, and Brighton Primary School Hearing Unit. The camp was aimed at our primary aged children (grades four to six) to form relationships with other Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) primary aged children, further develop their identity as a DHH person, and explore an extended community of people with hearing loss. Each of the three primary settings invited past students, currently in high school, to help share the journey ahead. We had six previous RGLPS Deaf Facility students attend, to support with activities and share the journey ahead for our young DHH children. To round out our community, we also had adults with hearing loss. All together, we had over 60 DHH children, creating our extended community to share the challenges of living with hearing loss, celebration of community and knowing that we’re not alone. We’re excited to hopefully offer this support to our grade four to six Deaf Facility students as an annual camp to know that we’re not alone. For more photos, please see our closed Deaf Facility family Facebook page.
Contact Thom for the link if you would like.
SPORT NEWS
State Teeball
On Wednesday, the RGLPS Girls Teeball Team travelled to Waverley Softball Diamonds to compete at the State Final. Our first match was against the eventual State Champions, Bass Valley Primary School. It was a real arm wrestle between two exceptional teams and even though we were behind in each innings, we never stopped fighting. It was only in the final inning that Bass Valley put the result beyond doubt and I am proud to say that we gave it everything we had right until the very end. Had we happened to be in the other pool, I believe we may well have played Bass Valley in the State Final! But alas we were drawn against them first and that is history.
With the possibility of us reaching the State Final now gone, I rotated the players around so that everyone got to have a go of playing a full game at the State Finals in the two remaining pool matches. After leading in every inning of the second match, we made a few errors and lost the game in the final inning by two runs. In a very tense third match where the other school played a short game to try and score a run at a time rather than going for big home runs, we eventually caught and passed them in the final inning to record a 23-20 win.
It has been an exceptional season and in the end the girls placed 5th in all of Victoria, something they can all be very proud of!
Congratulations to the girls and a big thank you to all of the parents that assisted driving on the day.
Division Athletics
On Wednesday this week, the RGLPS Division Athletics Squad competed at Meadowglen Athletics Stadium. All of our students did an exceptional job and many will be heading through to the Region Final! A big thank you to Mr Norgate and Noelle Darcy who looked after the students and to Ms Critchley who replaced me in my role whilst I was attending the State Teeball Final.
THEIRCARE
CANTEEN
Chicken Nuggets
Unfortunately there will be no gluten free nuggets available until the end of October.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Disclaimer: Rosanna Golf Links Primary School (RGLPS) does not endorse any product or service advertised in this newsletter. RGLPS takes no responsibility for the content of advertisements or the quality and reliability of products or services offered in the advertisements
