Term 4, Week 6 - 7th November, 2024
From the Principal
Dear parents & carers,
Attendance Improvements
I want to congratulate our community on the efforts being made to get students to school every day. We have had significant growth in our whole school attendance data from Term 3 to Term 4.
| Term 3, 2024 | Term 4, 2024 |
| 82.90% | 93.43% |
A report from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) reinforces the strong correlation between school attendance and student achievement and highlights the importance of forming good attendance habits early. The Attendance Matters Spotlight report also reinforces how crucial it is to ensure students feel welcome, safe and supported at school, and encouraged to attend each day.
Highlighting that “every day counts” when it comes to attendance, the report reinforces the importance of early learning experiences on academic and social achievement, the report recommends that school attendance should be prioritised in the formative years and that strategies for addressing chronic absenteeism need a holistic approach. Both families and the school have an important role to play in the complex task of addressing student absenteeism and enabling students to reach their potential in the classroom.
Because the school would really like to maintain our average attendance rate up above 95%, we ask all families to see what they can do to minimise non-attendance. When students miss a considerable amount of school this can lead to gaps in learning which compound over time.
When overall attendance for a student falls below 85%, the school will try to work with families in the first instance to improve attendance.
It is important to keep in mind that aspirations for high attendance figures are about helping each student to achieve their potential.
SMG Cent Sale
I extend a huge thank you to our Parent Engagement Network, the families who donated, and members & friends of our school community who planned, prepared and delivered another very successful Cent Sale.
Thank you to the many generous businesses and individuals who donated prizes and other items towards our annual event.
This year we raised over $5500.00 towards a chilled bubbler for the students.
Learning Dispositions
2025 Annual Action Plan Target -
By the end of 2025, all students, staff and community members will share a common learning language and understanding about how learners learn at St Maria Goretti using the words Collaborative, Engaged, Curious, Reflective and Persistent.
WHAT are Learning Dispositions and WHY do we have them?
Learning Dispositions are the skills and processes that children develop to be confident and involved learners. The presence or absence of specific dispositions in a learner will:
- enhance or impede their capacity to learn
- determine their willingness to grapple and persevere with, and make sense of knowledge and content
- determine their willingness to persist with developing skills and capabilities that are experienced as difficult, elusive or challenging.
Our Learning Dispositions have been written through a collaborative process with teaching staff using the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities.
Next year we will be reviewing and consolidating the Learning Dispositions at St Maria Goretti school.
- Teachers will unpack the Learning Dispositions with their class (What does a curious cockatoo/learner look like/sound like/feel like?)
- We will be collecting data throughout the year through student voice (What does it mean to be a persistent platypus/learner?)
- Students will be recognised for demonstrating the learning dispositions at school assembly more frequently.
- Our new Learning Disposition posters will be displayed in every classroom.
We're looking forward to working with our community to ensure there is a common understanding of the Learning Dispositions at St Maria Goretti.
Important Supervision & Parking Information
Yours in education,
Casey Robinson
Principal
Overdue School Fees
A reminder that school fees are now overdue. Please settle your account as soon as possible.
Some families will be receiving follow up correspondence in the coming weeks to double check their current situation or change of circumstances. Chasing up overdue fees is a very time-consuming task. Your prompt payment allows us to successfully pay for class resources and extra-curricular activities, such as school camp. It also enables us to confidently enter into the new year in a good financial position to continue to offer quality teaching and learning experience, updated facilities and desired staffing levels.
We expect some kind of regular payment commitment from all families and for debts not to be ever increasing.
If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please contact the office to make an appointment with Casey.
LIBRARY NEWS
LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY
P-Year 1 are exploring books and ClickView videos to learn about places in Australia. We are currently reading "Are We There Yet" by Alison Lester as a class. This fabulous picture book takes children around Australia with a family based on Alison's experience when her family were young.
Years 2-4 are testing their library search skills, using our database, AccessIT to locate specific books.
Year 5-6 are continuing to learn about and practise strategies for successful online searches when faced with complex research questions.
IMPORTANT END OF YEAR DATES FOR LOANS!
LAST BORROWING WEEK FOR STUDENT LOANS IS WEEK 7; 14th November
ALL STUDENT LOANS DUE BY END OF WEEK 8; 21st November
PLEASE NOTE:
GOING FORWARD OVERDUE NOTICES WILL BE EMAILED TWICE, WHEN ITEMS ARE 2 WEEKS AND 4 WEEKS OVERDUE.
OVERDUE LOANS FROM SEMESTER 1 2024 WILL BE INVOICED SEPARATELY FROM WEEK 8.
LIFE IN THE LIBRARY
Happy Reading Everyone!
Anne Anderson
Teacher Librarian
Students of the Week - Week 5
Students of the Week - Week 6
Learning Disposition Certificates
Sight Word Certificates
Enrol Now for 2025
Please visit our school website for information about enrolment https://www.inglewood.catholic.edu.au/enrol or call the office on 4652 1109.
Parent Engagement Network (PEN)
Parent Engagement Network
2024 Parent Engagement Network Executive -
| Chairperson | Melissa Callaghan |
| Secretary | Gabe Groves |
| Fundraising Coordinator | Michelle Walker |
Our next PEN meeting will be on:
Wednesday the 20th of November in the
school library at 3:30pm (Christmas Break Up)
Please contact Casey, Melissa, Gabe or Mandy to add an item to the agenda.
All parents are very welcome to attend the PEN meeting as a rewarding way to get involved with the school community and keep up to date with school events, policies and projects.
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Strategic Plan 2023-2026
Notices
