Forrest Primary School eNewsletter

Message from the principal

IB Evaluation reminder

The evaluation team would like to meet with parents to discuss the implementation of the IB program at Forrest. They will be in the library from 8.30am to 9.00am on Wednesday 3^rd September and we would love to see as many parents there as possible to let them know your views.

Hats

As we approach September, please remember that from August children needed to wear sun-smart hats at school. Caps and hoodies are not an alternative. The rules have changed this year across all ACT schools where children can stay in the shade at break times. However, this does mean children have to stay in the shade, not be constantly moving between different shade spots. Also, where we will have leaves in the coming months to provide shade, those leaves are not there yet. Therefore, it’s still very important that all children have a sun-smart hat every day at school to protect them from the intense Canberra sun. For those of you who do not have an Australian background, please remember the cleanliness of the Canberra air means the ultraviolet (UV) ratings are much higher than you would experience in other parts of the world. It is very easy to get sunburnt in Canberra so your help in this is much appreciated.

Tournament of Minds (TOMs) and Limelight

This weekend we have two teams competing in the Tournament of Minds. Next week, we have a choir and a dance group who are showcasing their skills in the Limelight Festival. I am so proud of our staff - Olivia Low, Nicola Sneddon and Sarah Fleming, along with Nicole Jaggers (Limelight) and Penny Day (TOMs) for supporting these amazing opportunities for our children.

Survey

Please remember to complete the parent survey which our Directorate sent out some weeks ago, and I think they have sent reminders too. We appreciate the time you give to complete these and we value the feedback we receive from all.

Sickness

Please keep sick children at home. It has been a winter with high levels of sickness across the school and sadly we are not over this yet. Therefore, please keep children who are sick at home to firstly enable them to recover and secondly, so the sickness doesn’t spread to other children and staff. Thank you for your support with this.

Strategic plan

I heard a quote this week (I am writing this from the Australian Primary Principal’s Association Conference, apologies I couldn’t be at the Year Four assembly) from Mike Burgess, head of ASIO. He says the best way of reducing extremism is to get boys reading quality literature. Hopefully we don’t need that in our school, but it is an interesting comment from a person who you wouldn’t necessarily equate with reading in schools. However, it is a powerful statement of intent and one that we should be aware of, nonetheless. Reading is such an important skill.

Following the school review last term, consulting with staff and looking at data, we have determined our next school strategic plan will have reading as the focus. Our reading data is a combination of national NAPLAN data, national Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) which are normed to the Australian Curriculum, and our data from the InitiaLit program which is taught from Kindergarten to Year Two. This data, and supported by teachers, points to the need to improve the reading skills and dispositions of our children and it is an area we really want to support. We have also discussed this with the School Board who set the strategic direction of the school, and they are supportive of reading improvements as our goal. Reading skills allow children to access the breadth of the curriculum, to find enjoyment in reading as well as supporting children’s writing and spelling skills. It is vital to support children in this area and that is why we will be emphasising reading in our next plan. The rest of the curriculum elements will still be there, but any additional time and resources will go into this area.

Toys in school

Toys should not be brought into school as they might be lost, taken, or cause other issues with how the game is played. Some children swap or trade toys, sometimes without knowledge or permission of parents and sometimes there are disagreements between children playing with the toys, such as has happened recently with ‘Beyblades’. Therefore, we ask that toys are not brought into school. We understand that a few children might need to play a game quietly with a small group of friends for their socialisation or other need, the teacher is aware of this and there have been no issues so far. In these circumstances, please contact your child’s class teacher and they can check in with the team leader to ascertain if reasonable adjustments need to be made in this instance. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Chris