Teacher Absences – You may be aware that a number of schools in our local area have had to revert to remote learning for a week due to prolonged teacher absence. In this case, generally students from Years 4-6 will work from home, whilst their classroom teachers will be deployed to cover absences in other areas of the school. Daily work will be set on Google Classroom for students at home to access, as well as a daily check-in to account for student wellbeing.

Whilst we are not yet in this situation, there is a distinct possibility that this could happen at Neville Bonner Primary. We have continued to have to split classes and on Thursday employed minimum supervision for our Year 2 cohort due to absence. Should our levels of staff absence continue, we may at quite short notice, go to remote learning for years 4-6 .

Cross Country Carnival – We had a very enjoyable cross-country carnival on Monday, where thanks to the excellent organisation of the carnival by Richard Hudson and the beautiful weather, overall it ran very smoothly. Our students enthusiastically supported one another and showed great team spirit where, under the loud instructions of their Year 6 leaders joined in war cries and cheering. Students who placed in the top six will have qualified for the district carnival where they will compete against students from the North Canberra and Gungahlin region. Congratulation to all for this accomplishment.

Junior Assembly – We held our first Junior School assembly of the year on Wednesday where Jenny’s Year 2 class shared some fascinating facts about sea life with the audience. I spoke to students about the importance of dressing appropriately in the colder weather where despite a cool start a number of them had already removed jumpers. As a parent I am acutely aware that now is the time that a large number of jumpers will not make it home at the end of the school day. It is very important that you label your child’s jumpers to ensure they can easily make their way back home. In other assembly news, from next week we will be restarting our assembly awards where Learner awards and respectful relationship awards will be handed out. Teachers will be asked to communicate this in advance to our families so they can attend if they wish.

Reporting –

With the middle of the school year fast approaching our teachers will soon be preparing student reports for semester 1. This semester we will be providing students with an overall A-E grade, and an assessment of achievement standard statements on a 5-point scale.

While semester 1 reports won’t include detailed teacher comments, parents are encouraged to speak directly with their child’s teacher(s) if they have any questions or concerns about their progress. Our teachers will also continue to communicate directly with you when there are any concerns about student learning or other classroom updates

Reminder of Teacher Planning Days –

You will have received communication last week surrounding teacher planning days on Monday 23^rd May and Friday 24^th June. If you will be sending your child to school on these days, please contact the front office on 6142 1201 so we have a record of who we are expecting.

NAPLAN 2022 Week 3 - 4

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit in May each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students do.

NAPLAN commences Tuesday 10th May and continues through to Friday 20th May.

Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. Four papers in total. Questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum: English and Mathematics.

At Neville Bonner Primary School Year 3 students have completed the four papers this week. Catch ups for Year 3 students will be completed during week 4. The NAPLAN platform closes at the end of week 4 for all students.

Year 5 students will complete the Conventions of Language Monday 16th May and Numeracy 17th of May.

All papers will be completed by the end of Week 4.

NAPLAN assessment will commence at 9:30am, it is important that students arrive at school before this time.

Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN.

You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best.

ACARA does not recommend excessive preparation for NAPLAN or the use of services by coaching providers.

To see the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments you can visit nap.edu.au/onlineassessment/public-demonstration-site.

Please contact Kerry or Janet by direct email or via the Front Office if you have any questions.