Recently I had the pleasure of attending this year’s Festival of Music choir performance held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Our school choir, under the guidance of Performing Arts teacher Elena Sourbis, is composed of 32 students. Since the beginning of the year the choir has been rehearsing a number of songs provided by the festival organisers. On the night, our choir joined other school choirs (over 1000 students in total) to perform these songs to a large audience at the Entertainment Centre. Along with the choir we had two other students contribute to the performance; Nelly R. as a soloist and Amelia W. as a member of the dance troupe. Well done to all students involved. Thanks also to Ms Disotto and Ms Vidov for assisting with supervising the students on the day of the performance.
Student participation in other recent extra-curricular opportunities has also been noteworthy, including the school’s Chess Team, Year 6 and 7 Tournament of the Minds, out of hours school sport and SAPSASA (hockey, soccer and athletics). Auskick concluded this week and was a great success.
All of these opportunities cannot occur without parent volunteers and staff assistance; this support and willingness to help out is greatly appreciated.
We are looking forward to next term with much excitement as there are many significant activities and events to look forward to, including: Year 6 camp, transition visits for our year 6 and 7 students and our 2022 intake of Receptions, swimming lessons and our end of year celebrations (graduation and concert). Further details about these activities will be provided next term.
2021 NAPLAN
Tomorrow 2021 NAPLAN information will be sent home to families of our Yr 3, 5 and 7 students. At a school level, NAPLAN achievement reports provide useful feedback for teachers, as they indicate the strengths and areas for improvement that can be worked on with students. It is important to acknowledge that NAPLAN results are a snapshot of one type of assessment and that overall student achievement is measured by a variety of assessment types, of which NAPLAN is a part. As well as looking at individual student achievement, NAPLAN results allow our school to compare each cohort of students over time, and to examine trends. This year the overall average for all cohorts was either at or above the National Average with the initial analysis of the results indicating a number of positive outcomes, including:
Reading
· 63% of Yr 3 students achieving in the higher achievement bands in Reading.
· 96% of Yr 5 students achieving the department’s Reading benchmark.
Writing
· 97% of Yr 3 students achieving the department’s Writing benchmark.
· 3 years of sustained growth in the number of Yr 5 students achieving the department’s Writing benchmark.
Numeracy
· 93% of Yr 5 students and 91% of Yr 7 students achieving the department’s benchmark.
· An increase in the number of Yr 5 and Yr 7 students in the higher bands of achievement from the most previous assessment.
Whilst this is a pleasing outcome, our challenge is to consistently aim high and work towards achieving sustained positive performance and growth for all students. If you have any queries regarding your child’s NAPLAN achievement, please contact their teacher.
Facilities News
There has been some facilities projects recently completed within our school grounds. An outdoor shelter has been constructed in the grub club and the long jump pit has been relocated closer to the grub club also. As a part of this work, in the upcoming school holidays, volleyball goal posts will be installed on the oval which will be a great addition to play time options for our students. Also, in the holiday break, a number of upgrades will be occurring in the OSHC and Performing Arts rooms including upgraded lighting, painting of walls and the installation of new carpeting and blinds. This work will certainly enhance the presentation of these areas and due to it occurring during the holiday break, the Italian Room and Gym will be used by OSHC during this time.
Kiwanis Award
Congratulations to the following students who were presented with a Kiwanis Terrific Kids Award at our last assembly for displaying a positive effort toward their learning and interacting with others in a respectful manner:
Mimi B. and Sam H.