Welcome to all students and families to the academic year 2021!

Last Thursday it was a delight to welcome the youngest 'joeys' to our community- 17 students who are the Prep cohort of 2021.  They exhibited such confidence to introduce themselves in our assembly and have already started the learning process with earnest and enthusiasm. We have also welcomed three new students to the Primary Campus - Amerly and Zac in Year 2 and Ben in Year 3.  Starting school for the first time in the case of the Prep students or after a long holiday can be a little daunting but it would seem that our students are pleased to be back and involved in the routines.  One indication of this was the speed at which the handball competition was re-established!

The past few days have seen amongst other things the Year 3 students start to learn Japanese, the Year 6 students enjoy social time on the Secondary Campus as well as subjects such as science, home economics and technology, busking practice has started in preparation for the competition weekend in March and P-2 teachers have started to plan a visit to the Empire Theatre in March. 

This year we will have two main academic focus areas, both designed to provide the children with opportunities to develop the skills necessary to be an effective learner, now and in the future. With Visible Learning, we will be building on the successes we have seen in the previous three years and building the capacity of teachers and students further  As a result of how we saw the Year 6 students develop as learners last year, we have extended the 'hub' concept to Year 5 and all classes will continue to implement the evidence-based practices which bring about the effective outcomes for learners. Our other focus area will be Inspire Maths which will encompass all students from Prep - Year 10.  Teachers have already participated in some professional learning around helping students to think more mathematically, to be able to articulate their thinking and also to see connections between what they are learning in class and the 'real world'.  More information about both of these projects will be available for parents in future newsletters this year. 

A reminder to all parents that there is an invitation to have a ‘tour’ of the classrooms next week on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:15 - 3:45pm. Please note that the 1C classroom will be open on Wednesday and Thursday. 

With God’s blessings 

Sarah Yates
Assistant to the Principal Primary