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Car Park

As you may have noticed, we now have automatic gates for the staff car park. These were installed for the safety of students. Parents walking through the car park with students was an unacceptable risk as people may be coming and going at different times of the day. Small children walking around large cars reversing can result in a tragedy. Unfortunately I still see parents entering the school via the pedestrian gate and then walking through the car park, both with and without their children. I would like to ask parents to pract ise and demonstrate safe behaviour to their children by using the designated path. I promise it won’t take much more time than the unsafe way.

Every school in South Australia is required to have a Site Improvement Plan or SIP as we like to call it. As is common practice our SIP has two main areas – Literacy and Numeracy. The SIP has goals which we are aiming to achieve in a 3 year cycle, targets for each year and a challenge of practice for each of Literacy and Numeracy.

To accomplish our challenges of practice and reach our target for the year, we break these down into actions for staff, when it will be done by, who it will impact and how and which resources we will need.

This year our first goal is to increase year 3-7 student achievement in the number strand of mathematics and to

achieve this the actions are:

· Teachers and Leaders will track and monitor individual student and cohort data to inform teaching practice.

· Teachers wil l develop consistent effective teaching practices based on evidence through a collaborative, shared approach.

· Teachers wi l l ident i fy students who have achieved in the higher bands and i n c o r p o r a t e t e a c h i n g practices that will provide them with intellectual stretch.

· Teachers will undertake the Maths student engagement survey, analyse the results to inform their teaching.

· All staff will document a goal in their PDP that supports the implementation of the SIP and will work towards their goals.

· Teachers wi l l suppor t students to Increase the use of mathematical language in the classroom by staff and students through working collaboratively to problem solve.

Our second goal is to increase student achievement in reading, especially in Reception to year 2 and top achieve this the actions are:

· Staff will explicitly teach Jolly Phonics & Grammar and track and monitor the progress of students every 5 weeks.

· All teachers will design

reading instruction that exp l ic i t l y teaches a l l e l e m e n t s o f r e a d i n g comprehension that effective readers use.

· All teachers and leaders will track and monitor individual student and cohort data to inform teaching practice and identify students requiring intervention.

· All staff will document a goal in their PDP that supports the implementation of the SIP and will work towards their goal.

· Reception/Year 1 teachers to collect phonics data at the end of term 2 and meet with l e a d e r s h i p t o p l a n intervention and tracking for students who don't make the expected benchmark.

· Teachers will screen all Year 2 & 3 students with the PSC to inform programs and intervention

We believe that by using these strategies with fidelity in a consistent way we will be setting our students up for a strong future.

Kind regards ALEC TIBBITTS

Gawler East Primary School

Diary Dates

Friday, 6th March Pupil Free Day

Monday, 9th March

Public Holiday

Wednesday, 11th March Last day for payment for MP Swimming

Tuesday, 17th March

Governing Council AGM 7pm

Friday, 20th March

Wear Orange National Day of Action against Bullying and

Violence

Monday, 23rd March—Friday 27th March School Interview Week

Tuesday, 31st March

Interschool Swimming Carnival (Yr 4-7)

Thursday 9th April Last Day of Term

2:05 dismissal

Inside this issue:

Governing Council AGM

2

Curriculum Corner 3

Student Wellbeing 3

Community News 4

From the Principal

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Respect Honesty Responsibility Fairness

Gawler East Primary School

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School Interviews will be held in week 9. Interview availability times will be sent home next Tuesday.

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Gawler East Primary School

Respect Honesty Responsibility Fairness

Student Wellbeing Leader

Curriculum Corner ...

This Friday is a Pupil Free Day. The aim of this day is to support teachers and SSOs with training in contemporary pedagogy. In the Site Improvement Plan, the teaching community are continuing to provide quality delivery of grammar and phonics to students R-7

What is Jolly Grammar and how does this help our students learn effectively?

Jolly Grammar is a multi-sensory programme that uses colour and actions to help introduce basic grammar concepts and there are many simple, fun lesson plans that are both progressive and well structured.

Jolly Phonics and Grammar are a sequential program which starts at Reception and then through to Year 7. Consistency of this program has delivered an increase in results in other sites.

As a parent of children who have been taught

using the Jolly Phonics and Grammar programs, I have seen how easily they have adjusted their own learning to challenge themselves when reading and writing. Using grammar conventions in all areas of writing is tricky, however with a consistent approach my children have become proficient at reading comprehension and writing in all genres.

These are some parents comments about how they see their children using the program:

“I love the Jolly Phonics songs. The kids google them at home and we all sing them together. I like that Jolly Grammar is aimed at all learning styles and is interactive. Through parent workshops, I have a better understanding of what’s going on in the classrooms and the expectations.” Naomi, with students in pre-Primary and Year 2.

“I have found a positive result in the Jolly

Grammar program. Michael seems to be improving and moving forward with his Grammar. I feel the program is relevant in learning.” Sandy, with a student in Year 6

“My son uses the actions and sounds to learn Jolly Phonics. My older son has a great knowledge of grammar. I think the program is brilliant. I’m so glad I could see the results of research in our school. It’s so impressive. I see great results in sounding and phonics and my older son’s NAPLAN results clearly reflected great spelling and grammar.

Parent workshops have helped me to understand what they are learning so I can ask the right questions to help them progress.” Erica, with sons in Kindy and Year 3.

Leah Searle Senior Leader - Curriculum

Week 7 Morning Daniel Strong Jack Houston Lexi Maitland

Afternoon Seb Vereb Charlotte Butler Kiara MacDonald

Week 8 Morning Caitlin Walker Khloe Claxton Madison Braun

Afternoon Tenielle Clements Jade Rodgers Chloe Rodgers

School Crossing

The National Day of Action against Bul ly ing and Violence is an important day in our school calendar to join with other schools across Australia to say ‘Bullying. No Way!’ We’re joining the nationwide movement with schools across Australia to Take Action Together against bullying on Friday 20 March 2020. We’re proud to be an NDA school! Over the next few weeks, students will be participating in lessons which help them identify exactly what type of behav iour const i tu tes bullying. Some behaviours are rude, some are mean and some are bullying. None of these behaviours are acceptable. We believe that understanding the difference between them

helps students learn strategies of how to address each behaviour. Learning the differences also helps students see if they are displaying these behaviours. Then we can support them to make better choices. Everyone in our school community has a role to play in supporting young people in dealing with bullying and helping to energise positive discussions about the issue. Help our school community deliver a powerful message that bullying and violence are never okay. As we head towards the National Day of Action against Bul ly ing and Violence, all students will be discussing and creating appropriate and relevant strategies to respond to

bullying behaviours. If you’re able to join us for our assembly on Fr iday 20th March, you will be able to see the brand new posters each child will be creating with the message “Take Action Together.” We hope to see you there! Students are invited to wear orange clothes on Friday of week 8 (20th March) to celebrate this very important day. Orange is the colour that signifies peace and harmony. Obviously, clothes must be appropriate for school, and students who don’t have anything orange to wear will still need to wear school uniform.

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Gawler East Primary School

Respect Honesty Responsibility Fairness

Medication at School Any medication required to be given at school must be notified via the Front Office. A Medication Agreement form will be provided and must be completed by a GP or Specialist. Staff are not able to administer medication unless this form is provided to us. Medication must be provided in original pharmacy packaging—clearly labelled. Forms available on our website or Skoolbag.

Asthma Care Plans must be provided even if students keep their Ventolin for use themselves. Asthma medication will be kept in the class room by the Teacher if required (under supervision). School Ventolin is available for students at recess or lunch time if required (an Asthma Care Plan is needed).

If your child has a Non-specific health condition that requires additional care then a time must be made with the Principal to discuss the needs of the student and forms completed.

Gawler East Primary School Finch Road Gawler East

SA 5118

Principal: Alec Tibbitts Phone: 8522 2688

E-mail: Alec.Tibbitts694@schools.sa.edu.au

Jody’s News

Back from Kangaroo Island Last week I had the privilege of serving again as a Disaster and Recovery chaplain with Disaster & Recovery Ministries as an extension of my role as Pastoral Care Worker in the school. It was sad to see all the devastation on Kanga-roo Island, but it was inspiring to talk to many and hear their stories of resilience. One oddi-ty, that I found during my short stay was ‘Water’ in a can! As I have gone around clas-ses already this week, we have had many teachable moments explaining to children why the people on Kangaroo Island would need donations of fresh (bottled or canned) water (even now). Perhaps you can as a family, have a discussion or do a little research as to why that might be???

Lovey Dove makes a return

Lovey Dove, the Kimochis’ character is back in Junior Primary classrooms talking about being kind and friendly to others. Lovey is very concerned that the children in reception learn their ABCs of kind and friendly, and that the Year 1 and 2 children don’t forget. Lovey has been ‘flapping about’ the classrooms quizzing children about their 5 friendly signs and getting them to think of ways that they can be to be kind to others. Here are some pictures of the remembering

with Ms. Harris’ Year 1 class (room 8). Maybe you can test each other at home…. can you remember all the friendly signs?? How many ways can we be kind and friendly to others?? 1:1 Chats and Jody’s hours this term An important part of my role is to make myself available to those who feel they need to talk whether they be young or the ‘young at heart’. If you or a child you look after are in need of a 1:1 chat with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me at school on 8255 0533 or email jody.byerley386@schools.sa.edu.au. Looking forward to seeing you around the school this year,

Jody Chambers, Your PCW