Welcome back
Welcome back for Term 3 to our returning families and a warm welcome to our new students and their families in the Primary Years who joined us on Monday - Vidbodh in 1A, Alex in 1B, Ben and Jing in 3B, Lawrence in 3C, Jackson in 5A, Gabriella in 6B and Tumelo in 6E. We wish our students all the very best as they commence their learning journey in Primary Years.
We also wish to introduce Ms Rebecca Hannan our new 5D classroom teacher and Ms Sonya Quinn who also commenced on Monday in the role of Upper Primary Administrative Assistant. We are sure you will join us in welcoming these staff members to our wonderful college.
Lia Sabri & Cameron Glass
Acting Head of Primary Years
From the 3/4 Coordinator
Over the course of my holidays, I tuned into a webinar run by one of Australia’s leading parenting and educational writers, Michael Grose. The subject of this webinar was ‘Managing Your Child’s Anxiety – From Anxiety to Resilience’. There were a couple of key messages I took away from this webinar.
Firstly, one in seven children aged between 4 and 17 years has a mental disorder. Half of those disorders in Australia have been diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. Statistics like these highlight the fact that we must be proactive about helping children manage their anxiety. We need to equip children with self-regulation tools that will set them up for success not just throughout their school years, but also into their adult life.
Secondly, Michael identified a range of environmental factors which can come together to increase the likelihood of your child experiencing anxiety. Amongst these factors were things such as increased digital devices, protective parenting, and not enough sleep. What really struck a chord with me however, was a reference made towards children being ‘mood detectives’. Michael stated that stressed and/or anxious adults can cause anxiety in children. So many of us live very busy lives and are often juggling many balls at once. Being mindful of the impact that such busyness may be having on ourselves and our children is definitely something worth considering.
If you are interested in learning more about Michael Grose’s approach towards managing anxiety in children, you may wish to visit the Parenting Ideas website at https://www.parentingideas.com.au
I would also like to draw your attention to an online program called BRAVE. BRAVE is a program for the prevention of anxiety for children and teenagers, with complimentary programs for parents. They have also recently introduced a new program designed to help young children aged three to seven years who are experiencing anxiety or who are showing early signs of becoming anxious. http://www.brave-online.com
Donna Edwards
Year 3/4 Coordinator
Reporting in the Primary Years
Over the holiday break, students in the Primary years received a formal written report card. This reflects a student’s learning over the semester in all their academic subjects. In the Primary Years, we believe that assessment is an ongoing practice of gathering, analysing, reflecting and acting on evidence of student learning and this report is one stage in that process.
As teachers, we use this point of reflection to help us understand not only what students know, but also their skills in communication, thinking, self-management, research and social situations. It helps us to frame our teaching going into the next semester and informs our practices to best meet the needs of the students in our classes.
When reading the academic content, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, children do not necessarily maintain the same grade they received in the previous year. As students move from year to year, the work they encounter grows in complexity and difficulty, so what a student was producing at the end of the previous year may not yield the same results in the next year level. It is expected that student grades will vary over the course of the Primary Years.
Secondly, it is important to understand the scale on which your child’s assessment has been graded. At St Peters, we do not use an E-A scale where a C represents a pass; rather our Achievement Indicators are a continuum of achievement ranging from “Emerging" to “Extending”.
Emerging - Developing - Demonstrating - Advancing – Extending
More information about this five-point scale can be found on the “Reporting for Parents” Firefly page.
Finally, student assessment is awarded these grades based on various evidence and observations that teachers gather over the semester. A grade is not simply the result of one test or piece of assessment. This is a point-in-time reflection of your child’s work when measured against the year level expectation for the end of each semester.
As you read through the report with your student, it is important to involve them in discussing their areas of strength and their areas for growth, even setting goals for the coming semester.
Some questions that might guide this conversation are:
- What achievement are you most proud of from this semester?
- What was your personal best?
- What makes you say that?
- Where could you improve?
- What might this look like?
- What will you do differently or more of next semester?
- How can I help?
Reports are available through the community portal.
If you have any further questions about your child’s report, please feel free to ask their class teacher.
Simone Mitchell
Head of P-6 Curriculum
