Richmond Primary School Newsletter 13th March 2024

Principal's Address

Dear families,

On Friday we held our Athletics Carnival. It was a warm and wonderful day with the students being fully engaged in the event. Congratulations to all students who attended and who engaged in the events and congratulations also to Archer who narrowly won the event. The student’s spirit of competition was lively but what was most impressive was their encouraging support for their teammates. Thank you to our volunteers, as events such as this do not run without additional assistance on the day. Thank you to our staff who also went the extra mile to make the event so successful.

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Open Morning

On Tuesday we held our open morning to welcome our families into classrooms, to enable them to see how their child has settled into their new class, how they are building social connections and to provide an opportunity for the students to share their work. Teachers shared information about the relevant curriculum, the importance of regular attendance and the ways that our school communicates with families through our fortnightly newsletter and class communication through Seesaw.

Application to Learning Progress Report

On Thursday your child (Prep to Year 6) will bring home a copy of their Application to Learning Progress Report. This report is a checklist that gives a quick snapshot of how your child has settled into school this year.

Below I have included a table to outline the ways we will be communicating learning progress with families across the year.

We know that sharing learning progress more regularly will support the development of strong partnerships and help families to feel connected to their child’s learning. Opportunities to meet with your child’s teacher/s about their learning progress will be provided in Week 10 of Term 2.

Be assured if you have concerns or need to discuss your child’s learning or wellbeing outside of this schedule, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher via Seesaw to arrange a suitable time to meet.

NAPLAN 2024

Today our Year 3 and Year 5 students have begun sitting their NAPLAN testing.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the second year NAPLAN has been held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year. These can then be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why is NAPLAN conducted online.

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. The questions a student receives depends on their answers to previous questions. This means that students answer questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging. Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper.

Parent information brochures and other resources

A parent information brochure and questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child can be found at: NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website and covers a variety of topics such as the timing of the tests and how results from the assessments should be understood.

It also allows access to a Public Demonstration Site which shows the types of questions students will answer and the functionalities that are available in NAPLAN tests.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.

Easter Raffle

Thank you to our families who donated Easter eggs and Easter items for our Easter raffle this year. You will have received your raffle books and if you require extra books, please contact Kate in the office.

The raffle will be drawn prior to the Colour Run on Thursday 28^th March.

Regards, 

Clare McVilly

School Association

We are now seeking nominations for parents and carers who wish to join the School Association Committee.

This is an exciting opportunity to participate in the governance arrangements for our school, working closely with the Principal Clare McVilly and elected staff representatives to benefit all learners and our school community.

The Committee meets twice per term and offers flexible attendance options (including online), to ensure our committee can easily balance their School Association commitments with home, children and other priorities.

 Committee members can choose to get involved in aspects of Committee work outside of these meetings, but this is entirely up to you and your schedule! As part of the Committee, you will provide valuable input into:

• input to school policies, school improvement plans and the formulation of school objectives, priorities, strategic directions and values.
• planning the financial arrangements to support these objectives.
• evaluating the school’s performance to achieve those objectives, priorities, strategic directions and values.
• fostering the value and benefits of education
• encouraging connection among teachers, students, parents, carers and the school community by conducting events such as the Lantern Walk, Colour Run etc

To nominate: Please collect a nomination form from the school office or email: richmond.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au for a digital copy.

The form will need to be completed and signed/e-signed by you. Your nomination will also need to be seconded (signed/e-signed) by two parents/carers or staff members – don’t worry if you can’t find other parents/carers, this can be done by our helpful staff in the school office.

The completed nomination form needs to be returned to the office by 3:30pm on Wednesday 27th March 2024.

Next steps: If the nominations exceed the number of available positions, then a ballot (election) will be held. More details will be provided if this is the case.

Other requirements: To participate in the School Association, you will need to have a current Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP) and complete the mandatory safeguarding training module.

Term 1 in 1/2A

In 1/2A we have spent the first few weeks getting to know each other better.  We have created some artwork which contains lots of information about ourselves.

We have been involved in lots of group activities too.  We use the Sticks of Hope or Class Dojo to randomly create pairs or groups so that we have a chance to work with a range of people in our class.

3/4B

3/4B have been busy learning about the artist Andy Warhol. We learnt that Andy Warhol was an American artist who created pop art. He believed that everyone could create art, providing a new outlook on everyday things.

Inspired by Warhol, we created our own art. First, we had our picture taken and printed. Next, we outlined our portraits on a section of foam. We added extra details and ensured that we were happy with the indentations.

Finally, we selected our colours and printed our portraits carefully onto card paper. We think they turned out great!

A special thanks to Hatty Taylor for sharing your knowledge, expertise and for assisting us to create our art!

Assembly Awards

Upcoming dates to remember