Principal News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I trust you all enjoyed the lucky last of our trio of public holiday Mondays. These short weeks have done little to impede an action-packed start to Term 2. The long anticipated move into our new administration and staff facilities has finally come and the staff could not be happier. Enormous thanks to the school community for your patience with this building project, particularly our staff who have had no real staff facilities for months and continued to remain on task throughout. Sincere thanks to Liza Ringdahl, Hayball Architects, Mr Paul Bryant, Toowoomba Catholic Schools and members of our school board, your contribution and support was most appreciated. I could not have done it without you.
This week I gathered with my colleagues at the Leadership Forum which was hosted by St Mary’s School, Warwick. The theme for the conference was: Staying on Mission: teaching, learning and getting better at it. Various topics were discussed: Toowoomba Catholic Schools Strategic Plan; The Principal as Strategic Leader; Parent engagement models, hybrid learning, critical incident training to name a few. These days are always jammed packed and this forum was no different. We had the opportunity late one afternoon to walk and view Queen Mary Falls which was a highlight for both Ms Collins (Principal, St Saviour's College) and myself as well as an opportunity to discuss our continued support of each other's strategic directions for our schools.
NAPLAN
In Weeks 4 and 5 of this term, our Years 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN. In doing so, they will join students around the country in a series of tests that assess the literacy and numeracy skills of our young Australians. NAPLAN is a nationally mandated set of four tests: Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. It provides schools and government authorities with information about how education programs are working and what areas need to be prioritised for improvement. The data derived from NAPLAN serves to ensure all Australian students receive an education that provides them with the skills they need to meaningfully and productively participate in the community.
Notably, NAPLAN is only one aspect of how St Saviour’s Primary School measures our students’ literacy and numeracy skills. It does not serve to replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance but it does complement internal assessment items in identifying opportunities for growth for each individual student.
It is worth noting that our Year 5 students have never participated in NAPLAN due to the cancellation of NAPLAN in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this will be the sixth year that St Saviour’s Primary School participates in online testing as we successfully facilitated online testing for NAPLAN in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Year 3 and 5 students will be fully prepared for this year’s testing.
Students in Year 5 will use their personal device to participate in NAPLAN Online via the NAP Lockdown Browser, which has been downloaded last week. Year 3 will use the school iPADS to complete their tests. They will also require a set of headphones (earpods cannot be used in order to maintain the integrity of the tests). To see a sample of what your child’s NAPLAN tests will look like, please visit the NAPLAN Public Demonstration Site and view this online brochure for more information.
A key benefit of NAPLAN Online is ‘tailored testing’ which gives students questions that are suited to their ability, enabling more precise results. Our experience in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 also suggests that it improves the engagement of our students. Refer to the NAPLAN test schedule outlined by Mr Sam Hannant in this newsletter.
Mother’s Day Stall
I know many of our children are eagerly anticipating buying an appreciation gift for their mum’s this Friday at the Mother’s Day stall. Thanks to our parent helpers for making this happen for the children.
Finally, in honour of Mother’s Day this coming Sunday and in recognition of the important role mothers and mother figures play in all our lives, I’ll end this week with a beautiful prayer from the Wodonga Catholic Parish.
We pray for all mothers, may they cherish their child with tender care and unconditional love.
We pray for the mothers who are separated from their children especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because of war, poverty, conflict, violence and for any other reasons.
Comfort them, strengthen their hope, let them feel your loving embrace that wipes every tear away.
We pray for all mother-figures, those who have loved,
surrounded and shaped us with motherly care and compassion.
We especially pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us,
their sacrifices and care gave us a glimpse of the extent of your love for us.
Thank you for them.
Grant health, blessings, and well-being for those of our mothers who are still alive.
We also remember those mothers who are no longer with us.
While they live forever in our hearts and memory, grant them eternal rest. Amen.
In May, the month of Mary, we ask for our Blessed Mother’s blessing on all mothers and mother-figures in our St Saviour’s Primary School community.
Many blessings
Madonna Sleba
Principal
