Willunga Primary School Newsletter

NAPLAN online was a bit of a 'trial' this year (pun intended), with issues around connection for nearly all online assessments at our site. This is in spite of three previous years of success with NAPLAN online, and fantastic ICT infrastructure throughout our school.  However, we still support the use of the online testing as it provides faster and more interactive data for schools to use to track students and trends, so we hope (much like the initial rollout of the Australia Wide census...) that issues are ironed out and we can move ahead with the online forum again in 2020.

Within the online testing, our students were quite relaxed in this familiar forum.   They are used to doing online assessments and appreciated that the test moved with them to either increase in difficulty or remain at a consistent level, depending on their responses.  Throughout the testing period, even with the connection issues, our students showed a high level of resilience, an ability to stick with the testing and remained unfazed.  For this, I think they, and our teachers, should be congratulated. 

So what about the results... it really is too soon to say what, if any, impact there will be on our results.  But this we already know...

• We have had three years of improvement data and have continued to move forward with our focus on learning as a site
• Learning data is already available for our teachers through PAT Math & Reading, Running Records & AR STAR testing as well as class based assessments.  These are the data sets we use as a site to track, monitor and respond for students
• Our  site data shows consistent levels of High Band data for our students in both literacy and numeracy
• Our writing data is unpacked for all students (not only years 3, 5 & 7) twice a year through Brightpath, which also shows us the next steps of learning for each child

All in all, NAPLAN is a useful assessment (definitely not worthy of the amount of stress portrayed through the media) but it is only one piece of data and not the most useful data for individual student learning.  We track data continually, we wouldn't want to wait two years to see if we are making an impact on learning!

We know that at Willunga, 'Learning Happens Everyday' !

Ali Colbeck

Principal

In week 5 the school enjoyed a performance that supports a strong message about anti bullying:

The Human Race is an anti bullying and resilience program for primary schools that reinforces positive relationships, and provides resources to help reduce the incidence of bullying at school and online. It encourages tolerance, kindness, respect and empathy.

Tayte - year 3 - You have to be 13 or over to be on Instagram or snapchat

Bejay - year 3 - Never give up - keep trying really hard

Mila - year 1 - being good and being nice

Zac - year 5 - you can tell someone who is picking on someone to stop

Dion - year 5 - Don't post funny pictures of people on Instagram unless you have their permission

Mala - year 3 - You need to respect people even if you don't know them

Ivy - year 3 - If you are kind to someone you should get kindness back

Ella - year 6 - Don't bully people because it is mean

Jack - year 5 - you don't always have to be the cool person, you can be the nice person

A number of our students competed on Tuesday May 21 as part of the Onkaparinga South District Team. Their results are included here:

ISHTAH T LONG JMP 12 GIRL 11th 3.74m, 200M 12 GIRL 7th 29.60m and 100M 12 GIRL 

JACK B LONG JMP 11 BOY SILVER 4.43m, 200M 11 BOY BRONZE 28.62sec and SHOTPUT 11 BOY 12th 7.67m

JACK C LONG JMP 10 BOY BRONZE 1.69m and HIGH JMP 10 BOY 8th 1.15m

JORJA A SHOTPUT 11 GIRL 16th 15.06m

LORI H HIGH JMP 10 GIRL 8th 1.10m

NIC C SHOTPUT 12 BOY NQ

SAM O LONG JMP 12 BOY 10th 4.11m

Great performances for the 45 athletes in our SAPSASA Onkaparinga South District Team!

A special thanks to the Mid-Coast Little Athletics Centre, for the work put in to prepare our athletes. School physical education staff are acknowledged for the encouragement and mentoring, which supported our team.

Our athletes had a “haul” of 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals, with 26 “top-10” results across the events.

The support of enthusiastic families and friends was appreciated.

 District Teams

Congratulations Jackson C for your selection in the Onkaparinga South Football team who will be playing at the State Carnival in mid-June.

Also to Erika A and Charli L who will both play in the Onkaparinga South Netball team at the State Carnival.

 Knockout Soccer

On Tuesday  we competed in knockout soccer at Seaford. In our 1st match we played McLaren Vale Primary School. The final score was 1-2. The goal scorer was Alex G. Our team played better in the first game. We scored in the 1st half. McLaren Vale got in front by scoring 2 goals in the second half.

Then our second match was against Encounter Bay Lutheran. The final score was 5-0. They were a very organised team and had trained a lot for the knockout games.

All of our games were played on the artificial turf pitch at Seaford, which was very slippery as it was a very rainy day. This was the first time some of our players have played on an artificial pitch and some of our players played soccer for the first time. Thank you to Mr Nair for coaching.

Alex G

 

We value volunteers at Willunga Primary and if you would like to volunteer you just need to drop in to see Carmen in the front office for a volunteer booklet.  This booklet clearly shows the process and online courses that need to be undertaken.  Carmen will also arrange a meeting with Karen Matthews at a convenient time for an induction. 

CURRENT VACANCIES IN THE CANTEEN!!!

A reminder that anyone on site after 9.00am, must be signed in through the front office and have completed the volunteer process (this also makes it easier for us to track volunteers for certificates!!) 

Stronger, more effective and transparent screening laws for people working or volunteering with children have been introduced in South Australia. The new screening laws were recommended as part of Federal and South Australian Royal Commissions, to help keep children safe in our communities. The new laws mean that from 1 July 2019 everyone working or volunteering with children must have a valid child-related check.

 Also changing from 1 July 2019 is the state’s current system for child-related employment screenings, which will be replaced with a Working with Children Check (WWCC). This new check is coming in to better protect your children and make sure that people working or volunteering with children are suitable. It does this through a monitored and more robust assessment of a person’s eligibility to work or volunteer with children. Because the check is monitored, immediate action can be taken if a person is charged with a concerning offence. The new check covers off on a person’s national criminal history including all spent convictions, pending and non-conviction charges, and other disciplinary and child protection information.

 A WWCC is valid for five years and is portable across roles and organisations throughout South Australia.

 Current, valid child-related employment screening checks done by DHS/DCSI will be recognised as a WWCC until they expire. There is also a 12 month transition period for anyone with a National Police Certificate assessed by their organisation, with the certificate valid till 1 July 2020.

 For most people, this means they don’t need to do anything to be ready for the new law starting on 1 July 2019.

 For more information about the new check visit the DHS website.

 You may have noticed our plants growing in our garden beds. We have researched different types of plants that we can grow for this time of year. The OSHC children have been keen in helping with planting and caring for our garden. We currently have strawberries, snow peas, cauliflower and broccoli as well as pansies, polyanthus and a variety of other flowering plants. Over the last few weeks, we have been watching the flowers form and plants grow.

OSHC has also purchased an outdoor table and seating for under the verandah. This is great for our larger groups and extra activity space.

Belinda Filkin - Director

At Governing Council we  approved all Student Free Days and the School Closure Day for this year.  By being this organised we can support you to arrange care for your children on these days.  They will also appear in the term planners and in the diary dates of the newsletter.  I have communicated these dates to the high school, but am aware that they will need to manage their own priorities that at times cannot help but conflict with ours.

Student Free Days - OSHC AVAILABLE 

• WEDNESDAY 5th of June -  Sheena Cameron Oral Langauge focus 
• MONDAY 22nd July - Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Peer Observation Training (feedback focus) - first day of term 3
• MONDAY 2nd of September - Words their Way - literacy focus 

School Closure day - NO OSHC AVAILABLE 

• FRIDAY 29th of November - following the Family Twilight Christmas Evening (yes we will get a sound system this year!)

Ali 

All schools are required to collect information about the numbers of students that they provide adjustments to under the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) and Disability Standards of Education (2005). Since 2018, this data has been used as the basis for national funding.

The NCCD involves the collection of:

·         the number of students receiving adjustments to enable them to participate in education on the same basis as other students

·         the level of adjustment provided to students

·         student’s type of disability if known

Under the model the definition of disability is broad and includes learning difficulties, health and mental health conditions.

A student is eligible to be counted in the national data collection where there is evidence at school that the student is being provided with an educational adjustment to meet ongoing, long-term specific needs associated with disability and that decisions have been made with the student and their parents or carers.

If your child is identified for inclusion in the Collection, the required information will be included in this year’s data collection. The data is confidential.

If you have any questions about the data collection, please contact Jessica Mason on 85562234 or Jessica.mason247@schools.sa.edu.au.  Further information can be found at: http://www.education.gov.au/nationally-consistent-collection-data-school-students-disability.

Adelaide Paediatrics at Bedford Park are performing FREE diagnosis assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder for holders of a health care card– (thanks to a grant/funding); for people living within the Southern Region (this includes Sellicks Beach, Kangarilla, Camden Park and everything in between).

 A GP/Doctors Referral is needed. Your GP will address the referral to PHN ASD assessment team (a form can be downloaded from Adelaide Paediatrics Web Page ‘PHN Paediatric Partnership’)

 For further information or to make a booking, please contact – ‘Adelaide Paediatrics’ @ Bedford Park Office on 08 7123 0820.

       

The digital world is constantly evolving with new social media platforms, apps, and devices, and children and teens are often the first to use them. Some negative things that may occur include cyberbullying, sexting, posting hateful messages or content, and participating in negative group conversations. If your child posts harmful or negative comments or images online, it may not only harm other children; it can affect their online reputation, which can have negative implications for their employment or further education admission.

While you may not be able to monitor all of your child’s activities, there are things you can do to prevent cyberbullying and protect your child from harmful digital behavior:

• Monitor a teen’s social media sites, apps, and browsing history, if you have concerns that cyberbullying may be occurring.
• Review or re-set your child’s phone location and privacy settings.
• Follow or friend your teen on social media sites or have another trusted adult do so.
• Stay up-to-date on the latest apps, social media platforms, and digital slang used by children and teens.
• Know your child’s user names and passwords for email and social media.
• Establish rules about appropriate digital behavior, content, and apps.

For more information or advice please go to:

www.bullyingnoway.gov.au

The term 2 forum for parents or carers of children and young people with disability is themed around ‘Parents as Drivers of Change’ for their children or young person with disability.

This is an opportunity for families to hear about the services, policies and support available for children and students with disability regardless of their setting.

They will be engaged in discussions, given the opportunity to select a workshop to attend, have their voices heard and be able to visit and borrow resources from the Special Education Resource Unit.

When: Friday 21 June 2019, 9.30am to 2.00pm

Where: Special Education Resource Unit and Fulham Gardens Primary School Performing Arts and Media Centre. 72A Marlborough Street, Henley Beach.

Contact: Liz Barber, Project Manager, phone 8226 1063

The Willunga Almond Blossom Festival is celebrating 50 years this year. The festival is on again from the 27th - 28th July. 

After learning about Reconciliation Week and what it means to each of us, 21A wrote their own free verse poems to express this. We had to use the techniques learnt previously in our poetry unit and choose our own structure that our poems would have! Have a look at some examples from Sahara, Cerys, Sienna, Kapri, Shanika and Maddie.