Incredibly it’s Week 8 already and what a term packed full of different learning experiences it has been. Enjoy reading more about Harmony Week further on – thanks to Mrs You and Mrs Beresford for their amazing efforts to embrace and celebrate the diversity of our school and the Inaburra community (parents, alumni, friends) more broadly. You’ll also enjoy an update and some images of Stage 3’s learning adventures over the past several weeks.
Mission Week is nearly upon us (Week 10) and the theme this year is ‘Special Offer’ based around the memory verse Romans 3:23-24. Watch out for further information from the Junior School Chaplain Mrs Hubbard.
On a daily basis we are beset by a wide variety of lost property – some labelled, some not! Please could you label with permanent marker / non-soluble labels all items of clothing, lunchboxes, drink bottles etc. Encourage your child to be responsible for their belongings – it is a really important life lesson and some simple consequences will help to reinforce this.
NAPLAN
We are currently in the midst of the two week NAPLAN assessment window for 2023. It is important for parents (as well as teachers) to be aware of some significant changes to NAPLAN processes in 2023:
- NAPLAN is now scheduled to take place in mid March – Wednesday 15 to Friday 24 March
- All assessments (except Year 3 writing) are now completed online via a locked down browser
- All assessments (except for writing) are adaptive – questions presented will be adjusted depending on the accuracy of student responses (a method of differentiating)
- NAPLAN results will be published to schools and parents in July of each year from 2023 onwards
- NAPLAN assessments will no longer be scaled across 10 proficiency bands from Year 3 (first year of NAPLAN) to Year 9 (last year of NAPLAN)
- NAPLAN assessments will now be scored within 4 levels of achievement:
Exceeding
Strong
Developing
Needs additional support - A school average will no longer be provided for any subject / topic
- The results diagram will indicate (via shading) the median performance of 60% of the national candidature, a black dot for the student’s performance and a black triangle indicating the national average in that subject
- Students receiving an ‘exceeding’ or ‘strong’ will be deemed to be proficient in that subject
- Students receiving a ‘developing’ or ‘needs additional support’ result will be deemed not to be proficient in that subject (a significant change)
- The NAPLAN data from previous years (2008 – 2022) can no longer be used as a point of comparison for individual student or school growth as the marking scale has completely changed from 2023.
Below are links to a number of articles which may help to flesh out your understanding of the key changes to NAPLAN in 2023:
NAPLAN Proficiency Standards Media Release
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/what-this-year-s-naplan-changes-mean-for-students-and-parents-20230308-p5cqgn.html https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/measuring-what-is-valuable-how-meaningful-will-the-changes-to-naplan-be/282161?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=250154065&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_GHPJ9acCZ-T7RjWsefL5lJhjndhCRuUiMexxPDvZ0lw4shnzgNT_0T8StGAITevawlgml4_TjtOIegDWSoobBWTx8Em3ol-m2g4emVKgsHxcrhHw&utm_content=250154065&utm_source=hs_email
https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/understanding-online-assessment#:~:text=NAPLAN%20online%20tests%20are%20tailored,to%20demonstrate%20what%20they%20know
Online Safety
A very significant number of our students participate in online games such as Roblox, Fortnite etc. Is your child one of them? There has been a recent spate of reports to school from Police of children as young as 7 being groomed online through the chatroom features of these games and subsequently being sent pornographic material or being lured into unsafe offline activity. This is real and it happens within our community, not just to someone else, somewhere else. Please be wise and check in regularly with your child about what they are doing and who they are meeting online. Look at their browsing history, sit with them when they’re online occasionally and let them know you’re interested in what they are doing and who they are doing it with. Keep them safe!
Stage 3 visit Symbio Wildlife Park
Stage 3 students enjoyed an excursion to Symbio Wildlife Park in Week 7 as part of their Science study this term, investigating how plants and animals make structural and behavioural adaptations so they can survive in the changing environment. We asked our students for their feedback on the visit and here’s a sample of what they said:
Celine – Year 6
The Zoo was awesome! We had so much fun feeding different animals like kangaroos and goats. It was an amazing experience to be able to touch snakes and other reptiles. There were many different species of animals, there was even a cheetah! It was incredible to be able to witness so many different types of animals and learn so many different facts. It was a wonderful day and I loved being able to spend that day with my classmates.
Brooke – Year 6
On Friday the 17th of March, Year 6 ventured to Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh. This term we have been learning about Amazing Adaptations in Science and visiting the park gave the students a real life experience observing animals and their adaptations.
Some of the activities included a reptile show including petting a crocodile and other cold-blooded animals, feeding the goats and kangaroos, having a conversation with a talking cockatoo and observing snakes and amphibians in their natural habitats.
All of the students had a great time and it was so much fun spending the day with all of the amazing animals, our friends and teachers.
My personal favourite part of the zoo trip was feeding the animals and observing all of the amphibians. I also very much enjoyed playing at the park and hanging out with my friends.
The wonderful day could not have been possible without our incredible teachers and the friendly zoo staff and tour guides.
Mr Andrew Coote
Head of Junior School