Every day presents itself with opportunities to learn something new. For the students who have recently returned from their Winter holidays, learning has recommenced in many ways across the Primary Campus.

Visitors to the classrooms on the first day back would have remarked how engaged the students were – but that is what we experience every day. Our students are keen to learn, they are curious about things, they ask great questions, they assist each other to learn and when learning is challenging, they are beginning to show greater resilience.

As a school we have introduced ‘persistence’ as a learning disposition this term. Persistence is defined as the ability to continue with a course of action despite difficulty or opposition. The teachers will be encouraging the students to develop this disposition and I will include resources for parents in the fortnightly Primary Campus Newsletter.

Learning is not only reserved for the students; the teachers are also embarking on a period of learning related to our journey to becoming a 'Visible Learning' school. Each one of us is undertaking an ‘impact cycle’ which involves reflecting on the areas of our practice which can be refined to improve learning outcomes for students, researching and implementing strategies to address this and then determining the impact it has had for the students.

One teacher has commented recently that there are obvious parallels for the teachers and the students as they challenge themselves, encounter problems, seek solutions and reflect on the outcomes. It does us good as adults to experience something which the students in front of us experience.

Particular highlights for this term include Book Week (incorporating the ‘Books, Bears and Blankets’ picnic and the annual book character parade), Catholic Education Week, three Mathematics competitions for older students, the Crisps’ Art Show, a Primary Schools Futsal competition, a Catholic Schools Netball competition and of course the school musical, ‘The Wiz’. Year 5 & 6 students will also be visiting Cobb & Co in Toowoomba and we will be hosting the TSS choir later in the term.

This term we will also have our Prep Open Mornings for prospective students for 2020. These are being held on 1 August (9:00 – 10:15am) and 15 August (11:15am – 12:40pm). On both occasions parents and their children will be able to see the current Prep students engaged in activities as well as talk with Mr Andrew Kendall, Mrs Glenda McNichol and myself.

Sarah Yates
Assistant to the Principal Primary