Principal : Karyn Prelc Finance Officer : Tanya Frost

Chairperson : Tamara Ploenges

1 Whitford Crs, Nangwarry 5277 Phone : (08) 8739 7241 Fax : (08) 8739 7292 Mobile 0403 606 191 email : dl.0592_info@schools.sa.edu.au Web : www.nangwaryps.sa.edu.au

May……… June……...

25th Governing Council 5th – Proposed Pupil Free Day- Pending GC approval 20th– Partnership Pupil Free Day– Approved

Date: May 23rd Week 4 Term 2, 2017

Dates to Remember:

Hi all,

Celebrating Parents. We hope that you all had a fabulous Mother’s day on Sunday. Parents and carers are so important in the life of every child and in our school. Last week the SRC ran a very successful Mother’s Day School enabling children to pick out something special for mum or their carer at a very affordable price. This service to families also enabled our school student leaders to organise, and run the stall in a responsible and trustworthy way. Parents involvement in school is a topic of highlighted interest at the moment. Feedback from recent interviews indicated that parents and students enjoyed the three way conversation where everyone can think about what they can do to support the learning development of every child. Parents are in a position to really set their children up with skills, confidence and early development milestones as babies and toddlers that can be now built on in the school years. So well done, Mums!!

STUDENT AGENCY In classes now….Growth Mindsets (not fixed )for Improvement. In life or learning, we are often faced with challenges. This puts us in the “challenge pit”. We have two choices...to use fixed mindset comments like, “I give up” or “that’ll do” which either limit improvement or throw us into the bottom of the pit. Instead we are focussing at school for students AND teachers to be learners that want to improve and grow. To do this, when faced with a challenge, they need to use sentences like, “What am I missing?”, “What else could I do?”, “How can I make this better?" As adults if we can model this language when faced with a challenge, or encourage children to do the same and try to think of new ways to approach things, their resilience and problem solving can blossom. At staff TD meeting this week we are unpacking the concepts of “What is a Powerful Learner?” and “What is a Growth Mindset?” We will also do this with students across the school, with some great work being undertaken in the Upper primary Class at present.

Congratulations to all of the middle primary students who competed in the cross country event last

Friday, May 19th. We had some excellent results on the day, and all students who participated showed

great persistence and effort!

In Middle Primary we are currently learning about the importance of having a growth mindset and

understanding how we learn as individuals. This is improving our confidence and persistence in the work

we are doing and allows us to set goals to further improve our learning.

Currently in Maths we are learning about fractions! Students have been using making and games to

form questioning around fractions and problem solve to further

understand fractions. Throughout maths, we like to explore

concepts in a variety of different ways, such as through music,

making, games and problem solving to develop a good understanding

for all students and catering for all learning styles. Here are some

pictures of us working in groups

to use puzzle pieces to problem

solve about equivalent fractions.

In Literacy we have been working in literacy groups which provide

individualised support

in areas where

students most need to develop. In our Literacy groups we

have a theme of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which

is our class text for this term. We have been really

enjoying the adventures in this story, the characters and

the imaginative and descriptive

language used. We are also

focusing on non fiction texts

and understanding the

different features between

non fiction and fiction texts.

Middle Primary News

Preschool ‘Eat a Rainbow’ of fruits and vegetables is a simple, fun and effective concept promoting fruit and vegetables to young children and their families. Eat a Rainbow encourages the exploration of a range of fruits and vegetables of many colours in a child-friendly way. This fun and appealing concept has proven popular with children, families and educators. It is a useful way to encourage children to increase their intake, knowledge and range of fruit and vegetables. It teaches children that a range of different colours of fruits and vegetables are needed for good health. This week we started with orange food using sweet potato, oranges, mandarins and carrots. We made Sweet Potato Chips and Carrot Cupcakes. Orange foods are rich in Vitamin A, antioxidants and Vitamin C which aid in eye health, skin health and boosts the immune system. Wow! See if you can pack an orange fruit or vegetable in your lunchbox this week!

Junior Primary

After speaking with staff and peers from other sites and researching the ‘Best Practice’

series on the Big 6, it was decided that Receptions did not have readers until term 2.

Observations have now been gained by myself and SSO’s and results are showing that

receptions have consolidated concepts, learnt new concepts or have began to

understand other concepts better than in past years. More students are identifying

beginning sounds when playing eye spy and other activities. Some students are sounding

out words when reading earlier. Rhyme and syllable recognition are pointed out during

class reading. Great work JP class

Upper Primary This week I have been so excited to share what I learnt in Adelaide, where I got to visit Morphett

Vale Primary School to see how Student Agency looks in their site. It has given Karyn and myself

a new focus and ideas on how we can implement Student Agency within our school. I have

started with the Upper Primary, as this is going to be an unlearning of past ideas of teaching and

a students roles in their learning. Already I am challenging the way I think about my teaching and

how I can have students voice in what and how I deliver the curriculum.

We have been discussing the Fixed and Growth Mindset you need to develop and grow your

intelligence. To do this we have been looking at the brain, its role in all we do and how we need to

exercise our brain to make it stronger. The brain is a muscle we need to constantly exercise to

improve and challenge the way we think, learn and explore our world.

Where to from here:

We will be comparing what makes a powerful learner and inturn what makes a lead learner.

The Pit—How we use a Growth Mindset to get out of the pit, so we don’t get stuck in a Fixed

Mindset, when we are learning a new concept that challenges our thinking.

News from around the classes…..

Play, discovery, adventure and agency for learning….

The school will be talking a lot more about student agency over the year. “What is the child

interested in? Where is their wondering and curiosity taking them? What can I ask or show

interest in to support their initiative in their learning?” And don’t the

preschool Early Years educators do it well!?!Traditional teaching meant

that the adult prepared content, presented it to the students and they

answered questions or completed a project as set by the teacher. Now,

we are asking children what they know, what they are thinking, what

other ways they could approach a challenge, what they would like to

know next or what opinions do they have and how did they form them.

Children are becoming co-designers of their learning and they are

loving it! At school we are engaging in real discussions with students

about what standard they are at, what outcomes they can strive to

achieve and we assisting them to set their own learning goals. We are handing over control to

enhance learning pace and curriculum knowledge, we are opening learning doors and

opportunities and will use technology to better release students to investigate and scaffold

learning at a faster rate they can set. Yes, we will guide, encourage

and explicitly teach where needed, but we will also insist children are

active and not passive in their learning environment. We will let them

face challenges and build resilience without automatic rescue. We

believe in the students and their engagement and standard of work is

now hitting higher grades and results. Ask your children, “What have

you learnt now? What is your next step? What are you aiming to do

better and how?” Students will also be able to step up, unpack their

data, audit change for the school and help to inform policies that will

impact on their learning.

STAR SPOT……

Principal Awards : Phillip Davis, Alexis Barnes and Mrs Illman Upper Primary: Blade Sealey Middle Primary: Cameron Perry Junior Primary: Jack Barry Preschool: Nevaeh Hales Science : Ryan Tasker Physical Education : Kaylee McNair

Andi did a great job organizing and attending Cross Country with our students last Friday! Highlights were Reese running in the top 6, Skye in 6th/120, Tayte in 11th/120, Archer 30th with Riley and Noah making selection for Mid-South East to Oakbank in June!Blade, Cameron, Ryan, Jesse and Wyatt completed the course with ‘dedication’ and ran over the finishing line with smiles on their faces. Participation is the most important part, the high placings were icing on the cake. Well done, team!!