Dernancourt School R-7 Newsletter

We have had  another busy term full of wonderful learning opportunities - this term has really flown by.  We have had many cases of illness both with students and staff and everyone deserves a well earned break. Just a reminder that school dismisses on Friday at 2.00pm, and Term 4 resumes on Tuesday 15th October 2019 when we will hopefully feel a little warmer and see more of the sunshine.

We hope that you are able to spend time with your child over the break and we look forward to Term 4. 

On Wednesday 18 September  16 of our upper primary students under the guidance of Miss Greenhalgh, performed on stage at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as part of the Public Primary Schools’ Festival of Music. I'm sure all families that attended would agree that they all did an amazing job.

Our school was also represented by Tyler Stephenson as a soloist and Regan Neagle who was part of the orchestra. We are particularly proud of their achievements.

The commissioned work was entitled “Dear Pen Pal” which was a series of songs composed by local musician Robyn Habel about Adelaide’s sister cities and having a pen pal. The concert ended with a spectacular sea of colour.

During the concert there were a number of Guest Artists from public primary and secondary schools, other choir items that presented different musical genre, and two pieces that specifically showcased the talents of the orchestra.

It was a spectacular event that our students enjoyed being a part of, and our staff proudly watched. Congratulations to all involved! 

Our NAPLAN data arrived early this week and while teachers haven't had a lot of time to look over the result we are very pleased with the results and feeling very proud our students for their work and commitment to their learning.

We are particularly pleased with the growth shown in Numeracy. 48% of our year 5s achieved Upper level growth and  56% of our year 7s also achieving upper level growth. These results are both significantly higher than average results.

Our continued growth in reading and numeracy correlates strongly with the increased collaborative work of teachers in PLCs, our rigorous analysis of data and our strong focus on student improvement through a clearly articulated improvement cycle, regular student reviews and goal setting.

Teachers will be closely looking at the results at our PFD  (Monday 14th October). We will analyse this  data and use it to reflect on our Site Improvement Plan and plan forward to 2020.

The families of  Year 3, 5 & 7 students will receive their NAPLAN results at the end of week 10. You will receive an individual student summary and an individual student report.

It is important to remember these results are a snapshot of your child's learning taken earlier in the year. Any families wanting to discuss NAPLAN results can make an appointment with class teachers in Term 4.    Teachers can provide an accurate representation of your child's education based on a range of data and knowledge of your child's learning journey.

We are beginning to plan for 2020 and an important part of our planning is determined by the number of students attending our school.  Enrolment numbers not only determine the number of classes but the configuration of classes. If your child is leaving our school please let the office know or notify us using the form on the skoolbag app.

Over the coming weeks staff spend time making decisions about where children will be placed to best suit their learning. We always give this serious thought and consider learning needs, friendship groups, behaviour, gender balance, special needs, class size, previous placements and other special considerations. Our staff know individual students well and also know how they connect with others to support learning outcomes and social needs. Ultimately the responsibility of class placement rests with the school, but these decisions are based on the shared wisdom between home and school. If your child has any exceptional circumstances that you would like staff to consider in the class placement process please put these in writing  addressed to Kellie  Anderson by 3pm Thursday 24th October 2019.   Requests for teachers will not be considered.

Children's Week is an annual event celebrated in Australia held around the fourth Wednesday in October. Children's Week has a permanent theme: "A Caring World Shares". During Children's Week classes will be participating in a range of learning activities to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. On Wednesday 23rd October Dernancourt School R-7 will be celebrating International Children's Day.

We would like children a bring small plate of finger food representing their cultural background to share with others. Please don't send food containing nuts or nut product and provide a list of ingredients with the food so that we can ensure children with allergies are protected.

Children may also choose to wear traditional cultural dress/costume on this day.

More information will be provided to families in class newsletters and via skoolbag in week 1 next term.

We are looking forward to celebrating our school's diversity.