Every term you may see in the newsletter that I remind some parents to book in for a PSG. But what exactly are they and why do some children have them and others do not?
PSG stands for Parent Support Group this means that your child has a medical, physical or has been identified with a learning difficulty they have in the classroom or even before they came to school.
These meetings are done termly with the exception of children with anaphylaxis they have meetings only twice a year. The importance of these meetings is to provide goals that allow the child to be supported specifically to their individual needs. These goals are listed on the PLP known as Personalized Learning Plan here at St Matthews.
The teachers base the goals on the child’s abilities and design and monitor their progress over the term to see if they are able to achieve the goals that are set.
It is important to have parents involved as these goals allow parents to help their children at home too!
These days, we provide the opportunity to have the meeting ONLINE and now in person. These meetings are signed off by the parents, the teachers and myself the Learning Diversity Leader. By doing this regularly every term, it allows us to provide evidence to the Government who then can allocate funding through NCCD for Learning Support Officers (LSO) in the classroom.
Without the funding it becomes very difficult for teachers to provide all the support all the time on their own.
Remember to check your child’s school bag, check your email (even in SPAM) or Seesaw for the PSG invitation!
Mrs Helen Howden
Learning Diversity and Religious Education Leader hhowden@smfawknernth.catholic.edu.au
There are many things happening at lunchtime at St Matthew’s.
This year we have our wonderful library open on Mondays and Tuesdays where the children can choose to play a variety of games such as UNO, Connect 4, they are able to work on a jigsaw puzzle or even read a book (the library is full of them) Mrs Pengelly is very welcoming to all those who come and join in on those days.
On Wednesdays and Friday, we have the Gardening Club that works in the garden behind the grade 4 classrooms and the staff room, where the children learn under the guidance of our Super Gardner Mrs Mazzone. It is a very fluid group and they learn some very simple skills and have assisted in selling the abundance of lemons we currently have on our lemon trees.
On Thursday, we have the Chess Club which is run by Mrs White, where skills are taught and many of the children try to beat Mrs White (none have succeeded so far!)
These clubs are run by teachers who give up their precious lunch breaks to assist and provide the children with something extra or a safe place to be.
On Wet Days which are held in the classroom, the children are provided with a variety of activities that they can take part in such as some board games, computer games (monitored) and of course, they can play good old-fashioned paper games such as ‘connect the dots’ ‘battleships’ ‘naughts and crosses’.
Parents I am sure you would be able to teach your child some paper games you used to play in the classroom too and then they can share them with their classmates.
When joining the Ritchies Card program you are given the option to nominate your favourite club school or charity (known as Recipients). Each time you scan your card (either physical card or electronic card in the App) when making a purchase at any of our participating stores, the total is recorded to your chosen club, school or charity. At the end of each month, Ritchies will pay your chosen club, school or charity .5% of the total accrued directly into the Recipient’s nominated bank account*.
