We are now in the last stages of Term 1 but the pace on the Primary Campus continues to one which means that the days fly by very quickly! The students are continuing to engage positively in the learning process and the introduction of the new reading strategy is being met with much enthusiasm.  Last week, the teachers in P-2 continued their professional learning around this initiative, working with one of our experienced Education Officers from Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and teachers in Year 3 - 6 will have that opportunity next week. We are committed to ensuring that our teachers are fully supported so that they are best placed to maximise the learning of the students. As a Visible Learning school, we are familiar with the need to respond to significant bodies of research about what constitutes effective teaching and learning. The support from parents at the information sessions for the new approach to reading was lovely to see and I encourage all to keep abreast of the information that is made available via the various newsletters and social media platforms. Whilst some aspects remain the same, there are some significant changes and it is important for the children that we all have clarity so that they do not become confused.

This week, we have seen the commencement of the national assessment period for 2024 for students in Years 3 and 5 (and Years 7 and 9 in Secondary). NAPLAN measures each student’s ability across a range of literacy and numeracy tools. These tests are ‘point in time’ and we will add the data gained to that which we already collect so that we can plan for future teaching and learning interventions. Any student who is absent for a test will have the opportunity to catch up before the end of the ‘testing window’ in Week 9. 

Over the past two weeks we have held parent teacher consultations across the Primary Campus.  I hope that parents have found them to be useful in terms of providing an insight into their child's progress to date.  Of course, should concerns arise, we do encourage parents to contact us either by email or telephone so that matters can be discussed and appropriate action taken.

Finally, thank you to all those students who joined us in the Apple and Grape parade.  It was wonderful to see the support for our school.

With God's blessings

Sarah Yates
Assistant to the Principal Primary & Teaching & Learning