I have been really happy with the first three weeks of school. It’s a busy time for teachers and they have done a brilliant job of settling everyone in quickly. Students seem to be happy and well into their routines. I know many parents are keen to chat to their child’s teacher and I encourage you to make an appointment so that teachers can give you their full attention. Before school is a really busy time to stop to chat as they have a lot to prepare for the day ahead. Thank you to everyone who has written us positive emails about their child’s start to the year. It is very much appreciated.
The School Board met yesterday for their AGM. They revisited the Board Terms of Reference and annual calendar, and inducted new members. Kylie Telfer is the 2020 Board Chair. Thank you to all who nominated, resulting in an at-capacity Board of seven parent and two staff representatives. We are looking forward to a busy year. For more information, please see their page.
Parents have started to ask about how best to prepare their child for upcoming year 3 and 5 NAPLAN testing. This annual testing plots progress in literacy and numeracy against the national standard. The writing test will be on 12 May and the other tests will be spread over the following fortnight, with two tests per week. There is a lot of information here: https://nap.edu.au/naplan
To get a sense of the ‘look and feel’ of the tests and to understand what types of questions are asked, a full set of example Naplan tests is available. There is also a public demonstration site that I encourage parents to walk through with their child.
We have recently updated our website calendar, so if you get chance please do have a look. The main thing to note is that this term ends on a Thursday (9 April) and next term starts on a Wednesday (29 April).
Also, each year, school staff have three student-free days to do professional learning during term time. This year, those days (when students do not attend school) are: 28 April; 20 July; 12 October.
Our main school photo day is 12 March and children will bring their individual code home tomorrow so parents can order here: https://www.kapture.com.au/
Everyone is looking forward to the Dads and Kids camp on our oval on Saturday 21 March. To attend, please register with TFP here: https://thefatheringproject.org Simply type Richmond in the search box and register your details to join.
Finally, a reminder to mark the P&C breakfast, wacky hair day and ride to school day – all on 13 March from 7:30am – in your diary. The Town of East Fremantle will be joining us and giving free juice to those who ride. It will be a lovely start to the day as always. Last year we featured on the Today show. Yes, that really was a year ago!
Lisa Dentith