NAPLAN
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. As students progress through their school years, it’s important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
Schools have transitioned from paper-based to computer-based assessments. All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper. Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are more engaging for students. One of the main benefits is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test presents questions which may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.
Our School NAPLAN Testing Schedule is outlined below:
Wednesday 15th March - Writing
Thursday 16th March - Reading
Friday 17th March - Conventions of Language
Monday 20th March - Numeracy
Catch up testing will be facilitated on Thursday 23rd March
Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Some familiarisation and explanation of NAPLAN is useful to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance. ACARA does not recommend excessive preparation for NAPLAN or the use of services by coaching providers. See the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at nap.edu.au/onlineassessment/public-demonstration-site
Learning Support Teachers
Our Learning and Support Teachers, Mrs Gripper and Mrs Gorman work together to provide direct and explicit specialist assistance to support student learning across the school. Students who have been identified by their class teacher through ongoing assessment and observations, work in small groups on a specific targeted skill. If your child is currently receiving support, you would have received a letter from us within the last week outlining the specific focus area that your child is working on.
As a small school our Learning and Support Teacher allocation is one day per week, which is currently spread out over two mornings per week. We have received some additional funding this year to extend this program across Wednesday and Thursday. With students receiving targeted intervention four mornings per week, we hope this will lead to greater progress for our students.
If you have any questions about our Learning and Support program, please feel free to contact Mrs Gripper or Mrs Gorman. They also have availability during the parent teacher session if you would like to discuss your child’s progress.
Speech and Language Program
Katie Amor shared her expertise with us during a staff meeting last week as a Speech Pathologist. This was really valuable time spent to gain an understanding as teachers about when students need speech and language intervention. Katie has also offered to volunteer her time to work with identified students who require support with Speech, Language and Phonics. This will occur on Wednesday mornings during the morning session. If your child has been identified, I will be in touch with you via phone or email to let you know. We are so lucky to have Katie offering this to our students. Thank you Katie!
Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge
Bebras is an international initiative aiming to promote Computer Science among school students at all ages. The Bebras challenge is open twice a year to Australian Students in Years 3-12, and engages students' computational thinking and problem solving skills in a fun, interactive environment.
Bebras Challenge 2023 Dates:
Round 1 – 24th April – 14th May
Round 2 – 21st August – 10th September
Permission notes will be handed out to interested students and must be returned before the end of the term in order to participate. Students will need to decide if they would like to work with a partner or individually.
MSP Photography
Parents should have received an email from MSP on Monday 6th March with instructions to order photos online. If you did not receive an email please contact MSP Directly by phone: 02 4261 3009 or email: illawarra@msp.com.au
School Cross Country
The K-6 School Cross Country Carnival is considered a local walking excursion, students are not required to return a permission note for this event. Mrs Robinson will include information in the sports report each week in the lead up to the upcoming Cross Country Carnival.
Newsletter submissions
If you would like to submit items for the newsletter, please email the school by Friday afternoon for publishing the following week. Kerry Townsend, School Administration Officer working in our office on Mondays and Tuesdays will put together the newsletter each week.
Email: kangaroova-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Year 6 to 7 Transition
To enrol your child in Year 7 for 2024, you will need to complete an Expression of Interest online before the 31st March. The Expression of Interest (EOI) lets you indicate which school(s) you would like your child to attend in Year 7.
After you submit an EOI online and it has been assessed, your child will be offered a place at a high school.
If your child will not be attending a NSW Government high school next year, please let us know by completing a Placement Not Required form.
If you are unsure whether they will be attending a NSW Government school (you’ve applied for a private school, or you are moving interstate), we ask that you still complete an EOI and follow up with your school once a decision has been made.
The online process will guide you through your options and collect the information required to make the process as smooth as possible.
For parents/carers who are not able to complete an application online, a paper EOI form can be collected from the school office.
Click on the following link to complete the Year 6 to 7 form.
https://year7.enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/?schoolCode=2256
School Swimming and Water Safety Program
The School Swimming and Water Safety Program continues throughout Week 7 and 8.
We will depart school each day at approximately 1.50pm and return by 3.15pm. This may be important to know if your child attends an appointment and they need to be picked up early. This will mean a slight adjustment to our normal break times, moving lunch forward to commence at 1pm each day.
Students will need to remember to bring their:
swimmers
goggles
towel
rash shirt
warm clothes
a plastic bag for wet clothes.
If students wear their swimmers to school, don't forget underwear to wear for the trip home. We really appreciate you helping your child be organised with all the things they need for the program each day, we know this often means washing and/or drying swimwear and towels each day to ensure they have them for the next day. We really recommend labelling all gear especially towels, swimmers and goggles (as well as shoes, socks & underwear) as these are often left in change rooms.
Please note the program will go ahead if there is light rain, so it is important to pack wet weather gear if it looks like it might rain.
Previously the note that went home advised parents that the cost was $32.00 for pool entry. We have recently obtained a sporting schools grant to cover the cost of pool entry for the duration of the program. The program will now be FREE!
Students have now been placed in a group based on their assessment day freestyle swim and the activities they are given will be specific to their ability demonstrated.
Thank you for supporting this great program! We always really look forward to seeing the results after 10 days of intensive swimming, with students always making great progress from the assessment day.
If you have any questions about the program, please contact me as the Teacher in Charge (TIC) of the School Swimming and Water Safety Program - AUSTSWIM qualified.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/teacher meetings are a great opportunity to have an individual chat with your child's teacher about their progress and ask any questions you may have. Parent/teacher meetings will be held in Week 10 from Monday 27th March to Friday 31st March.
Each teacher has already set their availability to meet with you over the week on the School Interviews Website. We have allowed 15 minutes for each interview.
To book an interview with your child's teacher, please
1. Visit the website https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code
2. Enter Event Code: f83ja
If your child has two teachers, Mrs Page and Miss Arnott or Mrs Robinson and Mrs Delmenico, we have set times that both teachers are available to meet with you.
Our Learning and Support Teachers Mrs Gripper and Mrs Gorman have both set some times that they are available to meet with you if you would like to discuss your child's progress in a learning support program.
For Tips on Parent/Teacher Interviews visit the DoE website:
Assembly
Our next Whole School Assembly will be held on Wednesday 5th April, Week 11 starting at 2.45pm in the KVPS hall.
1/2J will be hosting the assembly and they will perform a class item. We invite parents and grandparents to attend.
Easter Hat Parade
Our Easter Hat parade will be held on the last day of Term, Thursday 6th April at 2.15pm. Parents and Grandparents are welcome to attend for the parade and Easter raffle draw. All students will create their Easter Hat during art lessons with Mrs Delmenico. We look forward to celebrating the last day of Term 1 together.
Have a great week. Just keep swimming…
Jen Arnott
Relieving Principal
