Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Term 4 is now well underway and it has been great to visit classrooms and see the wonderful learning that is happening across the school. Next week, we are starting our Little Learners Program. It will be exciting to see our 2021 kindergarten students as they engage in this important transition to school program. A big thank you to, Mrs. Inzitari, Mrs. Gordon, Miss Wilson, and Mrs. Seymour for organising this program. It makes a big difference for these children when they start school in January.
Technology Purchases
I thought it was important that I highlight the fact that the school has made a significant $200,000 purchase in the area of technology in recent weeks. The associated hardware is currently being rolled out to teachers and classrooms. These purchases support our teachers to ensure that technology is expertly integrated into lessons. It will support our students to engage with their learning through access to cutting edge interactive panel technology that allows them to be immersed in the most effective, evidence-based teaching strategies that our teachers use to deliver the curriculum.
This purchase included Microsoft Surface Pros for every classroom teacher. These devices will allow our teachers to develop collaborative, cloud-based teaching and learning programs, and to record adjustments made to lessons in real-time to optimise student learning. These devices will also support teachers to engage in assessment practices flexibly and responsively as an integral part of classroom instruction. The flexibility of these devices to be used as either a tablet or powerful computer will allow us to use the Seesaw application more effectively as an assessment tool and to communicate both pre- and post-assessment tasks to parents and caregivers in real-time.
This purchase also included 15 new 75 inch interactive panels in addition to the 5 already in the school. Most of the existing interactive whiteboards are now more than 10 years old and needed to be upgraded. These new panels are state-of-the-art and ensure that students have access to the best interactive panels to support teaching and learning programs.
I’m sure that our parents will greatly value this investment in high-quality technology that puts Lithgow Public School at the forefront of technology use in teaching and learning.
What Works best in Practice – Survey
As communicated in previous newsletters, we are in the process of conducting a Situational Analysis in preparation for writing the school’s 2021 – 2024 Strategic Improvement Plan. To ensure that we capture the voices of students, teachers and the community, we will be utilising a variety of surveys, tools and other forums to seek information to inform our future directions. In the initial phase, staff, students, and parents will be surveyed using questions that are reflective of the What Works Best in Practice document. Please follow the Survey Monkey link below to access this survey. It is a short survey and should take 5 minutes at maximum to complete. Also, community members may be contacted directly by phone to participate in this survey. If you receive a call and don’t wish to participate, please let the staff member making the call know. As always, all responses are anonymous and cannot be attributed to individual respondents. We appreciate any feedback that our community provides so that our school can be focused on continual improvement over the next 4 years.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N7KGYJC
Skoolbag
It has come to my attention that there have been some people experiencing difficulties with Skoolbag. This seems to be particularly the case whenever a device does an automatic update. The best way to remedy this seems to be to remove the application and reinstall it.
Letterbox Drop
There have been significant changes to school zones in the Lithgow area in 2020. These have been published on the school’s Facebook page. As a school, we think it’s important that we explain the great things that Lithgow Public School does to the parts of Lithgow that have been added to our intake area. We would like to seek expressions of interest from members of our community who might be willing to help us letterbox drop new school brochures that have been developed for this purpose. If you would be happy to assist us in this, it would greatly be appreciated. Any time that you could spare would be valued. If you would be interested in helping in this way, please email the school and Mr. Peard will be in contact with you to coordinate an area.
An exciting opportunity for Mrs. Heidi Inwood
Following an expression of interest, Heidi has agreed to take up the School Administrative Manager (SAM) position at Cullen Bullen Public School for the remainder of 2020. Heidi will remain as Community Liaison Officer at Lithgow Public School 2 days per week on a Tuesday and Friday. The experience that Heidi will gain in this position will ultimately be of great benefit to Lithgow Public School as Heidi builds her skillset in a SAM’s role. We wish Heidi all the best as she undertakes this opportunity and we will miss her greatly on the days she is not here.
Mark Davies | Principal | Lithgow Public School
