Wednesday September 21 was the highlight of the school year for all our students at RPS. Our STEM showcase:
Reynella Relief Project was open for all to visit! What an outstanding effort from our students who acted as scientists and engineers to create new and innovative ways to help people and animals under changing climactic conditions. A precis of the showcase can be found further into this newsletter.
Last Friday, September 23 was our Run 4 Fun event – postponed due to COVID – it was great to see all the community come together with staff and students to raise money for our school and most importantly have a lot of ‘fun’. There can be no greater joy for a student than watching their teacher being unceremoniously dunked! Thank you to all the children who raised an astonishing $17,200.00 .
For these great events to happen there is a lot of hard work done behind the scene; much of which is invisible and takes a lot of time outside of school hours. Our staff need to be acknowledged for their continued support of our students and special acknowledgements must go to:
o Elizabeth McDonald for her tireless efforts in enabling and supporting our students to participate in such rich Arts opportunities
o Matt Simmons and the STEM Action Team for their extraordinary efforts and passion in facilitating our Reynella Relief Project.
o Kay Starczak and the Fundraising Team for their efforts in coordinating the Run 4 Fun.
o The brave staff members who volunteered to be dunked!
o Our teaching staff, who continue to go above and beyond to provide our students with learning opportunities that are authentic and challenging for all.
There is much to look forward to in term 4, Sports Day, End of Year Concert and Graduation; as well as the many other excursions and activities our students will be involved in – the time will pass quickly I am sure. But for now, enjoy the holiday break with your friends and families and we look forward to seeing you all again next term.
EXTERNAL REVIEW
As part of our continuous school improvement process, we will be involved in an external school review with a Department for Education review team.
The purpose of external school reviews is to support us to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build confidence in public schools.
All public schools are generally externally reviewed every 3 years.
The focus of the external school review is to evaluate our school’s performance. The review team includes a review officer and one or more review principals. Our school review will occur on 31/10/2022 – 01/11/2022.
The review team will identify aspects of our school’s improvement that have been verified through the review processes, as well as the improvements that we need to make in the future.
During the external school review, some students, parents, governing council members and staff will be asked to provide information to the review team in a number of ways. These include:
• group discussions (with students or staff or parents)
• meetings (governing council, staff meeting)
• visits into classrooms.
We appreciate everyone’s support and time in helping us with this external school review process.
If you do not want your child to participate in this process please let the front office know, in writing.
If you would like more information, please contact Michele Russell, 83811493
CLASS PLACEMENT 2023
The class placement process for 2023 has begun. We aim to arrange class groupings that optimise the learning needs of our students and uses to full advantage the resources, skills and teaching styles of staff members. In order to form classes for 2023 it is important that we estimate our 2023 student enrolment numbers as accurately as possible. If your child will not be attending Reynella Primary School next year, please let the front office know, ASAP. If you have a child due to start school next year who is not yet enrolled, please enrol them now. Alternatively, if you know of someone who is considering sending their child/children to our school could you please encourage them to make contact with us very soon.
Placing students in class groups is a complex process, which takes staff many weeks to work through. It is about creating a group of students with gender balance, a range of learning abilities and behavioural and social needs in each class. Factors such as social dynamics, which children to keep together and who would be better apart, social and emotional maturity, and even physical size are all considered when making class groups.
We have a very strong team of excellent teachers and we expect that wherever your child is placed, there will be learning success. Most parents are happy to leave this process to the class teachers. We anticipate that many classes next year will be composite due to the increasing needs of the students. Research, which has been predominantly conducted in primary schools, suggests there is no discernible difference between composite and straight grade classrooms in terms of academic performance. However, benefits relating to student independence, responsibility, resilience and study habits have been highlighted. Some say composite classrooms are more flexible; allow children to work at their own pace; offer a wider range of friendship opportunities; and encourage more co-operation and tolerance. It is the quality of teaching, combined with student interest and engagement that are considered important factors contributing to student success rather than class structure.
CLASS PLACEMENT PROCESS
Teachers provide information on the social, emotional, behavioural and academic needs of students. Students are asked to give input on their preferred friendship groups. Some parents may wish to draw our attention to their child’s learning needs; academic, social and emotional and any other confidential information which could have an impact on their child’s class placement. We ask that parents do not request specific teachers or make friendship requests unless you believe your child needs to be separated from others to optimize their learning. We will consider all requests but cannot guarantee that they will be fulfilled and ask that parents trust this process.
We are confident that teacher appointments will be finalised before the end of the year. Once classes are finalised, placement changes will not be made except if there are enrolment variations or staff changes. If you would like to submit information for the class placement process please collect a form, available from the Front Office and return it filled in no later than Friday 4 November. Alternatively, you may complete the Skoolbag eForm.
