Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School Fairy Meadow eNewsletter

From the Principal’s Desk

Semester 2 Reports:

On Friday, you will receive your child’s Semester 2 Report. This Diocesan Report provides you with ‘a picture in time’ of your child’s overall achievement in all of the Key Learning Areas. The report is the teacher’s professional judgement and is based on evidence gathered through assessment activities, anecdotal information and observations of classroom tasks completed by your child throughout the semester.

It is important to note that, due to Covid-19, the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has permitted schools to select the content that will form the basis of educational programs for Kindergarten to Year 10 students during 2020. As a result, not all syllabus content will be reported upon in Semester 2.

I encourage you to talk to your child about their Effort and their Positive Behaviour for Learning. Some children try very hard and find learning difficult. They deserve praise and encouragement. Some children find learning easy and often don’t try as hard as they could. Your encouragement and high expectations here are critical as well.

I would like to thank the teachers for their commitment and hard work in producing professional and accurate reporting of student learning within their classroom.

Thank you for allowing us to be partners with you in your child’s learning. Below are some key features of the Semester 2 Reports.

Features of the Semester 2 Report:	Why
Omission of an overall grade for each Key Learning Area (KLA)	In line with the flexible curriculum requirements as outlined by NESA, schools addressed all Key Learning Areas, however, not all outcomes and content were taught, assessed and reported upon. Therefore, the overall grades in each KLA have been omitted from this Semester 2 Report for 2020.
5 Point scale for Effort Descriptors	Previous Academic Reports contained Commitment to Learning Descriptors, these have been replaced with a 5 point scale outlining the effort demonstrated by the student during learning activities.
Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L) Description	The format used to report on PB4L has been modified to reflect a more comprehensive range of students’ social skills and behaviours.
Inclusion of descriptions for each Key Learning Area (KLA) and Content Strands	Additional detail has been added to describe the knowledge and skills taught in each KLA. The purpose of this information is to provide parents with a clearer understanding of the teaching and learning taking place

Organising School Uniforms for 2021:

The wearing of the school uniform is an outward sign of the respect that a student has for themselves and the Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School community. The Good Samaritan uniform serves as an outward sign of what the school stands for, and the correct wearing of uniform is an indication of students’ pride in being members of the school community. At Good Samaritan, we believe that the wearing of a school uniform reduces the social inequities that may be evident in a community that does not enforce a standard uniform. This assists in respecting the dignity of each individual by reducing social class barriers.

Joggers that are predominantly white are to be worn for sport and fitness. They must be predominantly white and may be lace up or velcro. No slip on ‘Raben’ type shoes, indoor soccer boots or coloured joggers are to be worn. Pictorial examples of appropriate joggers are shown here.

The students have been reminded of this at our school assemblies. They have been encouraged to remind parents of this when purchasing joggers and school shoes for 2021. Parents are asked to continually support the uniform policy of the school.

HAIR

Students are required to wear their hair in a neat and tidy manner. Hair should be well brushed and combed and it is assumed that hair will not be in such a condition as to invite comment.

BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Extreme styles, bleaching, colouring or dyeing of hair are not permitted.
Gel, mousse and hair spray or other substances should not be used.
There will be no undercuts, steps or shaved lines within the hair.
Nothing shorter than a Number 3 comb is acceptable.
Hair should not extend to cover the eyes.
Students who do not abide by the haircut requirements will be asked to fix the identified problem.
Long hair is to be tied back or plaited.
Ribbons and bands of school colour are to be worn.

Screens Down!

As the school year starts to wind down, iPads are not needed as greatly for learning. Therefore, all student iPads are to remain at home from Wednesday 9 December until the end of the school year. The last week of school will have limited screen time allowing the students the opportunity to enjoy the end of the year with one another face to face.

Years 5 & 6 2021: iPad Management

It’s not too late to let us know!

Parents of students in Years 5&6 next year are invited to have their child’s 1:1 iPad join the school managed fleet of devices. By joining the school’s managed fleet students, parents and families will:

have more control of the screen time access of the device
know the apps that students are using
not have access to inappropriate social media or gaming
learn that the iPad is a tool for learning at school
have access to special education 200GB iCloud accounts
continue to learn about how to be a responsible digital citizen

If you have a child in Years 5 and/or Year 6 next year and you want your child’s device to be school managed, follow this link to complete the form.

Good Samaritan Band in 2021:

Yule Music will be taking a break from teaching band in 2021 at Good Samaritan. Whilst we are most grateful for the work of Andy and his team, it is exciting to be able to advise that the Good Samaritan Band is able to continue under the tuition of The Academy - Music Dance Drama. Expressions of Interest are now open and you are able to follow this link for more details.