Included this week:-
- Resilience Project
- Winter Uniforms
- SeeSaw
- Tech and Building Committees
Term 3 was once known as the ‘quiet’ term, a chance to reflect on what’s been happening and focus on what is to come. Those days are long behind us, however it is still a valuable time as a school community to pause and celebrate what has gone, as well as make plans for what is to come.
It is a great opportunity for students in particular to set some strong learning goals to work towards for the end of year. Following on from the student led conversations at the end of term 2 students have a clear picture of where they are at in their learning, and what the next steps for them may be. From the feedback I am hearing SeeSaw is also proving to be a useful tool to help families have some of these learning conversations, if you haven’t already I would encourage you to check out some of your child’s work.
This term I have been involved in Annual Review Meetings with staff, this has been a great opportunity to reflect on the incredible things happening in classrooms and across the school, as well as providing a strong picture of where we are headed as a place of learning. We are also about to begin our Foundation 2019 interviews, an opportunity to meet our new and existing families and students. Both these sets of meetings provide a strong picture of who we are as a school and what is valued by the people within it.
Audrey Brown, Director of Catholic Education Ballarat shared a passage this week from Pope Francis’ Gaudete et exsultate. In it he states “We need the Spirit’s prompting, lest we be paralyzed by fear and excessive caution, lest we grow used to keeping within safe bounds. Let us remember that closed spaces grow musty and unhealthy” (#131) Whilst Pope Francis was talking about a call to missionary action and renewal over complacency and bureaucracy when spreading the Word, it is also a valuable reminder for us as educators to challenge our boundaries and beliefs to ensure they do not grow ‘musty and unhealthy’. As we begin planning for 2019 we will be seeking input from our parent community about what you feel is working well, and areas we can continue to develop. This will be done partly through our School Advisory Council and through surveys in upcoming newsletters.
Resilience Project
We are partnering with the Resilience project this term to provide some professional learning opportunities for students, staff and families. With the assistance of Loreto College we will be hosting a parent information evening at 7pm on Monday Sept 10th, be sure to save this date. Students will have a follow up session on the Tuesday so combining these two events is a great opportunity for families to talk about a wide range of issues. We will be working with Martin Heppell and I’ve included part of his Bio below. Tickets will be available shortly so keep an eye on our facebook page and the app for notifications.
Martin Heppell
Partner/Facilitator
Martin’s background is unique. He spent a considerable amount of time growing up in Borneo (whilst his father studied an Iban Dayak headhunting tribe). He was also educated in different parts of South East Asia. He is heavily influenced by the morals and values that he and his family were surrounded by whilst living with the Iban.
After finishing high school in Melbourne, Martin spent 3 years in the AFL system, playing AFL football for St Kilda and Melbourne and then for Norwood in the SANFL. Subsequent years were then spent travelling the world backpacking for nearly 3 years, and upon return to Australia, Martin studied primary teaching.
After completing his degree at Melbourne University, he commenced teaching at Auburn Primary. After 4 years, he was appointed as the Assistant Principal at Auburn Primary where he held that role for another 4 years – focusing on student well-being, educational leadership and cultural change.
He has also coached AFL football at the Box Hill Hawks, and as First XVIII coach at both Carey Grammar and Xavier College. In all environments, he has thrived in situations that have presented challenges and have required optimism. He is passionate about children being given the opportunity to be raised in a positive manner that evokes confidence and a zest for life.
Winter Uniforms
A reminder that winter uniforms are still the expected uniform until the end of term 3, if your child is in need of any new items please contact the uniform shop who can help out with second hand options as well.
SeeSaw
SeeSaw has now been rolled out in all classrooms across the school. This is a handy tool to get a snapshot of what is happening within the classroom. One of our goals for implementing SeeSaw is to allow parents to actively engage in the learning that is taking place for the children. This might be a conversation that you have based on shared work samples or it could be through commenting directly on the app. We would remind parents that work being shared on SeeSaw is not ‘perfect’ or published pieces but a realistic example of what is currently being worked on in class. Conversations are likely to have a greater impact on learning when they focus on what a child can do and has achieved, rather than highlighting spelling mistakes or errors (unless the focus of the task was spelling of course…) We will review the use of SeeSaw later this year and along with conversations with the SAC look at ways we can support parents in making best use of this tool.
Tech and Building & Grounds
This term we are reforming two parent advisory groups. The Tech committee and the Buildings and Grounds.
The tech committee reforms every 3 years as we look at technology use within the school with a particular focus on identifying hardware needs for the coming period. In the past the group has been responsible for the rollout of iPads and Chromebooks within the school. The key function of the group is to look at current trends in technology and then with the support of educators within the group provide advice about the direction the school heads with its technology purchases. There is also an element of best use practices within the discussions. If this is a particular area of interest and you feel you would be able to offer something to these discussions can you please complete the form linked below. This group tends to meet more regularly for a short period of time and is then disbanded, you would be committing to roughly four meetings prior to the end of year.
The buildings and grounds committee is one we haven’t had for awhile and will operate again as an advisory/support group. This will be an ongoing group similar to the School Advisory Council and Parents and Friends. Appointment to the group will be for a 2 year term. We are looking for a group of parents, who, with support from staff can oversee the maintenance/repair schedule of the school as well as looking at initiatives that we can be a part of such as the Kitchen Garden program or working bees. The group is not responsible for running these programs merely monitoring the implementation of them. If this is an area you feel you can contribute please contact me by email. Buildings and Grounds will meet once a term in an official capacity. There may be people who feel that whilst they don’t wish to sit on the committee they could help out with specific projects or at working bees etc.
Thank you to those that have put there name forward so far, we are still looking for some additional members for both committee’s so if you are interested in joining can you please complete the form here or email me at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
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It is a great opportunity for students in particular to set some strong learning goals to work towards for the end of year. Following on from the student led conversations at the end of term 2 students have a clear picture of where they are at in their learning, and what the next steps for them may be. From the feedback I am hearing SeeSaw is also proving to be a useful tool to help families have some of these learning conversations, if you haven’t already I would encourage you to check out some of your child’s work.
This term I have been involved in Annual Review Meetings with staff, this has been a great opportunity to reflect on the incredible things happening in classrooms and across the school, as well as providing a strong picture of where we are headed as a place of learning. We are also about to begin our Foundation 2019 interviews, an opportunity to meet our new and existing families and students. Both these sets of meetings provide a strong picture of who we are as a school and what is valued by the people within it.
Audrey Brown, Director of Catholic Education Ballarat shared a passage this week from Pope Francis’ Gaudete et exsultate. In it he states “We need the Spirit’s prompting, lest we be paralyzed by fear and excessive caution, lest we grow used to keeping within safe bounds. Let us remember that closed spaces grow musty and unhealthy” (#131) Whilst Pope Francis was talking about a call to missionary action and renewal over complacency and bureaucracy when spreading the Word, it is also a valuable reminder for us as educators to challenge our boundaries and beliefs to ensure they do not grow ‘musty and unhealthy’. As we begin planning for 2019 we will be seeking input from our parent community about what you feel is working well, and areas we can continue to develop. This will be done partly through our School Advisory Council and through surveys in upcoming newsletters.
Resilience Project
We are partnering with the Resilience project this term to provide some professional learning opportunities for students, staff and families. With the assistance of Loreto College we will be hosting a parent information evening at 7pm on Monday Sept 10th, be sure to save this date. Students will have a follow up session on the Tuesday so combining these two events is a great opportunity for families to talk about a wide range of issues. We will be working with Martin Heppell and I’ve included part of his Bio below. Tickets will be available shortly so keep an eye on our facebook page and the app for notifications.
Martin Heppell
Partner/Facilitator
Martin’s background is unique. He spent a considerable amount of time growing up in Borneo (whilst his father studied an Iban Dayak headhunting tribe). He was also educated in different parts of South East Asia. He is heavily influenced by the morals and values that he and his family were surrounded by whilst living with the Iban.
After finishing high school in Melbourne, Martin spent 3 years in the AFL system, playing AFL football for St Kilda and Melbourne and then for Norwood in the SANFL. Subsequent years were then spent travelling the world backpacking for nearly 3 years, and upon return to Australia, Martin studied primary teaching.
After completing his degree at Melbourne University, he commenced teaching at Auburn Primary. After 4 years, he was appointed as the Assistant Principal at Auburn Primary where he held that role for another 4 years – focusing on student well-being, educational leadership and cultural change.
He has also coached AFL football at the Box Hill Hawks, and as First XVIII coach at both Carey Grammar and Xavier College. In all environments, he has thrived in situations that have presented challenges and have required optimism. He is passionate about children being given the opportunity to be raised in a positive manner that evokes confidence and a zest for life.
Winter Uniforms
A reminder that winter uniforms are still the expected uniform until the end of term 3, if your child is in need of any new items please contact the uniform shop who can help out with second hand options as well.
SeeSaw
SeeSaw has now been rolled out in all classrooms across the school. This is a handy tool to get a snapshot of what is happening within the classroom. One of our goals for implementing SeeSaw is to allow parents to actively engage in the learning that is taking place for the children. This might be a conversation that you have based on shared work samples or it could be through commenting directly on the app. We would remind parents that work being shared on SeeSaw is not ‘perfect’ or published pieces but a realistic example of what is currently being worked on in class. Conversations are likely to have a greater impact on learning when they focus on what a child can do and has achieved, rather than highlighting spelling mistakes or errors (unless the focus of the task was spelling of course…) We will review the use of SeeSaw later this year and along with conversations with the SAC look at ways we can support parents in making best use of this tool.
Tech and Building & Grounds
This term we are reforming two parent advisory groups. The Tech committee and the Buildings and Grounds.
The tech committee reforms every 3 years as we look at technology use within the school with a particular focus on identifying hardware needs for the coming period. In the past the group has been responsible for the rollout of iPads and Chromebooks within the school. The key function of the group is to look at current trends in technology and then with the support of educators within the group provide advice about the direction the school heads with its technology purchases. There is also an element of best use practices within the discussions. If this is a particular area of interest and you feel you would be able to offer something to these discussions can you please complete the form linked below. This group tends to meet more regularly for a short period of time and is then disbanded, you would be committing to roughly four meetings prior to the end of year.
The buildings and grounds committee is one we haven’t had for awhile and will operate again as an advisory/support group. This will be an ongoing group similar to the School Advisory Council and Parents and Friends. Appointment to the group will be for a 2 year term. We are looking for a group of parents, who, with support from staff can oversee the maintenance/repair schedule of the school as well as looking at initiatives that we can be a part of such as the Kitchen Garden program or working bees. The group is not responsible for running these programs merely monitoring the implementation of them. If this is an area you feel you can contribute please contact me by email. Buildings and Grounds will meet once a term in an official capacity. There may be people who feel that whilst they don’t wish to sit on the committee they could help out with specific projects or at working bees etc.
Thank you to those that have put there name forward so far, we are still looking for some additional members for both committee’s so if you are interested in joining can you please complete the form here or email me at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
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