Sunday, March 1, 2015

Swimming faction carnival

Just another quick reminder that everyone will be heading down to the pool this Friday for our Faction Swimming Carnival.

Please, please PLEASE remember to stress the importance of sun protection to your child!

The front office has been a little behind on their data entry because of a tech problem, so I don't have a printout of who has or hasn't paid for this excursion, but rest assured I will be finding out when I can. The cost is $3.50 for those who have forgotten.

Come along and lend a hand to the cheer squad. The more the merrier!

Naplan mock numeracy test

Well, we had our first practice test for Naplan last week, and the results were a little like Keanu Reeves' acting - mostly ordinary and sometimes a little painful :)

But not to worry. My initial evaluation indicates that the results are more about their willingness to bound through the test and get it done as quickly as possible rather than being a true indication of their mathematical ability. I saw many examples where simply slowing down and reading the question twice would have saved a lot of heartbreak in the end, and that will be our initial starting point this week.

The children will be bringing their tests home for you to have a look at and sign before returning them to school for their assessment folders. They will probably come home Wednesday, so look out for them.

Write4fun

Just a quick reminder that the Write4fun Schools Writing Competition is now on, and that there are some fabulous prizes to be won.

I am encouraging ALL students to have a go, with a reminder that for my TAGS group this competition is compulsory!

It would be great if all students had a piece of writing that we could use as the basis for teaching more advanced writing skills in the lead up to Naplan testing next term.

Please remember that the work must be 100% their own, thus if you are asked to read it, by the letter of the law you should not be making suggestions as to how they could improve their writing. Keep comments general and positive please.

New homework format

Tomorrow the children will be assigned their next lot of homework, and you will see that there are some basic changes which have been made to the format.

This format worked well for me in 2013, but for various reasons, last year it didn't. Because this year's group is demonstrating more discipline in getting homework done I have decided to revive the old format of fortnightly homework booklets.

Each child will receive a homework booklet with a range of activities within. Many of them are, at the moment, the same for all of the class (Maths being the exception, as there are at present 4 different ability groups), but I am hoping that eventually there will be more targeted homework assignments focused on your child's area of greatest need.

This booklet (booklet 3) will be due on Friday March 13(!) and booklet 4 will be completed over weeks 7 & 8 of this term. The children can have the last week of term off as far as homework is concerned, though I would hope that they keep up their reading at ALL times!