11 April 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

1. National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2018

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) commenced in Australian schools in 2008. Each year, all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in common national tests which assess:

• Reading
• Writing
• Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
• Numeracy

The scheduled dates for the tests in 2018 are Tuesday 15 May, Wednesday 16 May and Thursday 17 May. Only our Grade 3’s and Grade 5’s will be participating in the tests at Bicheno Primary School. If your child/ren is in Grade 3 or 5, it is very important that they attend school to sit the tests on these days. If they are sick on any of the days we only have one opportunity to catch up the missed test/s on Friday 18 May.

The benefits of participating in NAPLAN testing:

• NAPLAN tests the skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.
• NAPLAN results provide valuable information on how your child is progressing against national minimum standards of literacy and numeracy skills expected for each year level.
• The NAPLAN tests provide you as parents with an individual report that shows your child’s results and a comparison of your child’s performance against all other Australian students in their year level.
• Teachers use the NAPLAN results to determine your child’s areas of strength and where future focus is required and how best to provide support or extension activities.
• School teachers use the online NAPLAN Toolkit to analyse your child’s results. The Toolkit provides detailed information right down to the individual question with links to teaching strategies.
• Principals, senior staff and others use NAPLAN results to inform school planning and to allocate resources and support including informing decisions around targeted programs and initiatives for individuals and groups.

The best way you can assist your child is by helping them to feel comfortable about the nature and purpose of the tests, and assure them that the tests will give them an opportunity to show what they have learned in class.

We are very proud of our NAPLAN test results at Bicheno primary School in the past as we consistently achieve above the Australian average and most importantly we use the data to identify what students know and also what areas we need to focus on to further improve student learning outcomes.

For more information about the national tests, please visit the national NAPLAN website in the link below.

2. Student Leadership Elections

Firstly, I would like to congratulate all Grade 6 students who applied for leadership positions. The standard of written applications, interviews and speeches was very high and everyone who applied should be extremely proud of their efforts. Congratulations to the following students who were elected to the following positions:

School Leaders: Zali Taylor, Maceo Schneiders, Georgie Featherstone and Axel Bannister

House and Community Leaders: Shae Lord, Sunny Tonks, Bayli Casboult, and Isak Oswald

The voting results by staff and students were very close and certainly reflected the high calibre of our Grade 6 students in the eyes of our school community. Well done everyone!

3. East North-East Athletics

Last week students, parents and staff were all extremely proud of our athletes who represented the Miners athletics team at the two ENE carnivals. There were several Bicheno students who brike records in the carnivals. Congratulations to the following students:

4. End-of-Term Assembly

Our assembly starts at 1.30 pm on Thursday 12 April as on the Friday all staff will be attending a moderation of student work session at Cressy.

We wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday and look forward to a productive Term 2!

School Association Update

Easter Egg Raffle

School Association Upcoming dates

BPS Assoc AGM 3/5/2018, 4pm School Library
BPS Assoc meeting 3/5/2018, 4.30pm School Library
BPS Assoc meeting 7/6/2018, 4.30pm School Library
BPS Assoc Students Disco, 28/6/18

HAVE A FUN & SAFE HOLIDAY,
SEE YOU ALL TERM 2!!

Grade 1/2 Easter

STEM in Grade 1/2 – The Egg Drop Challenge

We designed and made a system to protect an Easter egg from breaking from a high fall. Key ideas for protection for the egg included using a parachute to soften the fall and using materials like bubble wrap or foam. This challenge was a lot of fun! Thanks to Scottie for climbing up the high ladder to test our designs. Nearly all of our designs were successful in protecting the Easter eggs.

Bendigo Bank School banking winner

Brixhibition LEGO competition

A total of 36 students went in competition this year and for the first time there was a team category. Congratulations to all who participated this year. Start planning now for the 2019 competition.

What’s happening in our classrooms?

Prep/1

English

G1’s – Checking our writing for punctuation such as full stops and capital letters. Also identifying what words we can use such as ‘wow’ words to make our writing more interesting to the reader.

Preps – Identifying sounds in words and using these in our writing

Maths: Creating and solving number stories such a ‘if there were 7 cows in the paddock and 8 more came in, how many cows would be in the paddock?’

Science: Why do things move and how do push and pull forces help objects move?

Social focus: Solving small problems by ourselves or asking our friends for help.

Grade 5/6

We have been learning about when and how we would see or use place value and decimal place value (tenths, hundredths and thousandths) in the real world.

In English we have been researching and preparing persuasive arguments for our debates and have learnt how to structure our paragraphs using P.E.E.L (purpose, explain, elaborate and link).

During our Novel Study we have been practising our skills in discussion, extending the verbal exchanges we have between each other when talking as a class about the book; The One and Only Ivan.

In HASS we have started to research a North-American or European country (Grade 5) or an Asian country (Grade 6) that is competing in the Commonwealth Games.

In Art we have finalised our art work for the Bay Of Fires Art exhibition.

Our social focus has been value adding to class conversations.

Check your child’s uniform please

Can parents please check jackets to make sure your child has their own jacket? Several families are missing jackets which have been named.

There are some jackets in stock in at the school office if you would like to purchase one for term 2.

Levies for 2018

Levies invoices have been generated and have been posted home from central DoE.

Student Assistance Scheme applications are available from the school office. These are income tested.

The school would appreciate prompt payment of levies for 2018, else instalment payments. Invoices may be paid using Bpay, EFTPOS, cash or cheque.

Music Event for parents

Festival Director Position

School Association Footy tipping margins update

Garry Cruse has come forward as the winner for round 2.

Winner of round 3 was Megan Wynne.

Important dates

School Information

Phone: 63751222
Email: bicheno.primary@education.tas.gov.au
Principal: Robert Presswell
School Business Manager: Sandra Silberberg

Teachers

Kinder and LiL: Eliza Spykers
Prep/One: Emily McCormack and Jen Sliskovic
Grade 1/2: Bron Pierce and Ali Jones
Grade 3/4: Matt Woolley
Grade 5/6: Jill Bosua
Support Teacher: Robert Presswell

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