Week 6, Term 1 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

NAPLAN

Next week will see our Year 3 and Year 5 students participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). These online tests will occur between Wednesday 13 March and Monday 18 March.

NAPLAN assists parents, carers and schools to ensure that children are meeting important numeracy and literacy standards. In addition to other assessment tools, NAPLAN is used to support school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor their students’ progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.

The National Assessment Program highlights for families that NAPLAN tests the skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress.

Each day over the testing period, students in Year 3 and 5 will complete the different online tests.  The Online NAPLAN tests are designed to provide precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive) which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students to remain engaged with the assessment.

If your child is absent for a particular test, where possible we may arrange for individual students to complete missed tests at another time during the testing period.

ST JOSEPH’S DAY  (Week 8)

Tuesday 19^th March is the Feast of St Joseph. This is a special day for our community.

This will be a casual day and the children can bring a donation for the class Project Compassion Box. Nb please ensure that the casual clothes are sunsafe and practical.

We will be having a liturgy and doing buddy activities in the afternoon.

There will be a sausage sizzle at lunch  and each child will receive one sausage in bread. The sausages are gluten free beef sausages. If this type of sausage is not suitable for dietary reasons please let your class teacher know asap.

We are now in our third week of the Lenten Season and we are preparing our hearts and minds for the most important event in the Chrisitian Calendar – Easter.

Here is some information for families for the seasons events.

HOLY WEEK (Week 9)

We will start the week with our Reception Team showing us what happened on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This will be in Community Prayer and our community will be able to wave palms and shout ‘Hosanna’ just as people did so long ago. Over the week, the Year 1 – Year 4 teams will lead us in some daily reflections. On Holy Thursday, the stations of the cross will be led by our senior leaders and families are welcome to join in to the stations when they arrive. (nb as we return after Easter Sunday we will not be exchanging eggs this week)

EASTER (Week 10)

When we return on Tuesday 2^nd April Fr Roy will lead us in a Whole School Mass at 10 am. All are welcome as we celebrate our theme – We are Easter People.

We will be exchanging eggs this week.

Last week, our Year 1 learners had an exciting excursion to the Art Gallery of South Australia. The students viewed a variety of works of art from the Gallery’s collection to explore the different ways artists represent others and themselves, linking with their learning this term in Art and Health. The students then enjoyed taking part in the My Portrait, My Story: self-portraiture workshop and were invited to reflect on the portrait and self-portraiture as a form of artistic expression using Reggio Emilia’s pedagogic approach. Our Year 1’s enjoyed learning through discovery and expressing their own identity through the multisensory self-portraits that they created.

Students in the junior years have enjoyed learning a new Benvenuto - welcome song with actions.  And of course, they love singing the many “old” songs they have learnt in the past.

Listening and singing songs in the Italian language can help students memorise new words, patterns and phrases more easily. It’s also a great way to learn better pronunciation.

Students in Year 5 and Year 6 were given the task to research the benefits of learning another language.  The students were surprised by their findings.

We are currently looking at 2025 enrolments. If you have a child that you are yet to enrol please visit us in the office to get an application form or download and print an application from our website to secure your child’s enrolment. https://www.stjotran.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/enrolment-prospectus

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year.

As students progress through their school years, it is 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.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment. 

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. 

All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.

The link for the Public Demonstration site is as follows:

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site

Tanya Barrett

Assistant Principal

Curriculum and Inclusion

Our family playgroup is back for another exciting year in 2024.  

It’s a new year and we’re bouncing back with excitement as we reintroduce our playgroup name ~ Joey’s Playgroup.  Our family playgroup is facilitated by SPiCE (Supported Playgroup in Catholic Education) and is suitable for you and your child (birth to 5 years).  Our playgroup focuses on actively involving parents, grandparents, and carers by proving you with opportunities to play, talk, sing and explore with your child and other families in a relaxed, fun and supported environment. 

Joey’s Playgroup is FREE and runs during the school term on a Wednesday morning from 9am-11am in the small Parish Hall (entrance via Birkinshaw Ave).

If you are new and would like to join us, please register your interest via our website Playgroup Registration Form.  Jacqui our Playgroup Coordinator will then be in touch.

Come and discover the magic of play!  We hope to see you there!

Information for Volunteering - Due to changes in the Child Protection Act

At St Joseph’s School Tranmere, we are always grateful for the support given by our volunteers.  Volunteering applies to a wide range of activities in the school including attending excursions, coaching sports teams, reading in the classroom, helping in the many committees and many other school-related activities. 

If you would like to act as a volunteer in the school, you are required to have a 6-point check.  Please provide the school with copies of the following:

• Completed CESA Volunteer Registration pack - available from the school office
• A Catholic Police Check Clearance or Working With Children Check (WWCC from the Department of Human Services  (if you need to obtain this clearance please come to the school office)
• A RRHAN-EC (Responding to Harm, Abuse and Neglect in Education and Care) training Certificate
• Work Health and Safety on-line Induction for Volunteers Certificate
• Work Health and Safety signed form
• COVID Status Certification

Please note: that all these processes are mandatory and must be completed in order to volunteer/continue to volunteer.  This requirement is designed to ensure our children are protected and safe at school.

If you are missing any documentation above I can send you links to complete the paperwork once I receive your Completed  CESA Registration Pack

Angela Girolamo, WHS Administrator