School Vision
St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.
Today’s prayer is in recognition of our First Holy Communicants who took part in this sacrament on Sunday:
Lord Jesus,
Bless the children who came forward to receive Holy Communion for the first time.
May this day be an initial step into a life-long love of the Eucharist.
Give them a hunger for this sacred food so that they turn to you for comfort, guidance, and wisdom as they grow into full discipleship.
Thank you for their innocence and goodness.
May their hands, extended in anticipation of your Body and Blood, inspire all of us to cherish this sacred sacrament.
Amen
Dear Parents & Carers,
We hope all of our lovely families enjoyed their extended weekend last week.
Cultural Celebrations
On Thursday, I held the first Cultural Planning Committee meeting. I’d like to thank the parents who have generously given up their time to help us plan inspiring learning activities for our kids.
- Week 1 & 2 Oceania, including NAIDOC
- Wk 4 & 5 Asia
- Wk 6 & 7 Africa
- Wk 8 & 9 India
- Wk 10 Cultural celebration to coincide with St Matthew’s Feast Day
Some of the ideas the committee has come up with are:
- a different focus for each day of the week – art, dance/music, dress, food
- PowerPoint presentation to share with classes
- Labels around the school naming different items in different languages. This will start with Standard Australian English and then be built upon throughout the term as we introduce the different focus cultures.
- Use common greetings from the focus culture during their specified weeks
- Display a collection of different languages on the school map
- Share a cultural lunch where parents are invited to bring a plate to share with the community
If you are interested in joining a planning committee, or would like to share any ideas, please email susan.milton@cewa.edu.au.
Play Cafe
Play Café has proven to be very successful this term with about 14 children attending most sessions. Due to the positive response, we will continue this next term from Week 4 to Week 8.
Parent Library
As a result of parent feedback, we are starting a parent library. Books on various parenting topics will be available for parents to sign out from the Uniform Shop. We will happily accept any donations of books that parents feel will be beneficial for our community.
Dental Screening
On Thursday the 15th of June, staff from the school dental clinic will be visiting St Matthew’s School to conduct annual dental screening. Dental screening is a quick review of your child’s mouth to assess orthodontic needs and assist staff with prioritizing any students new to the area that may need urgent attention. It is important to note this is NOT a dental check up. Only children enrolled with the school dental service will be screened. If screening shows up any need for an orthodontic referral, staff will send home a referral for orthodontics in following weeks. The referral will include a brochure with contact details to orthodontists in the WA area. If your child receives an orthodontic referral, please contact an orthodontist of your choice for a consultation at your earliest convenience. We look forward to our visit to St Matthews. School Dental Clinic
Jade + Kaz
Ph: 0428 984 100
Winter Carnival
On 22 June, all students in Years 4 – 6 will participate in the 2023 Winter Carnival, together with other local schools. Each child will be playing one of four sports: hockey, soccer, football or netball. The event will be held at the sporting facilities on Clayton Road, Narrogin.
Semester 1 Reports
Semester One reports will be available to parents from 27 June. These reports will be available online through the Seqta Engage Website. It is very important that parents have a password to access this site. Please contact Mark Tenney (mark.tenney@cewa.edu.au) should you require a new password, or if you have any difficulties logging into this site.
WHOOSH!
Arts Narrogin has generously invited 15 of our students on Wednesday, 21 June to their amazing production by Sensorium Theatre- WHOOSH.
Whoosh! is a new interactive multi-sensory adventure that puts children with disabilities in the Captain’s Chair! Created by pioneering theatre-makers Sensorium Theatre, this unique performance is suitable for children with a broad range of access needs, including those with multiple and complex needs and those on the autism spectrum.
More information regarding this excursion will be provided to families by the end of this week.
Year 2 Assembly
Our beautiful Year 2 class will be presenting their assembly item this Friday, June 16 at 9:00am in the Sr Isobel Hall. All parents are welcome to attend.
P&F Quiz Night
Painting Progress
Our hard-working painters have nearly completed all of our classrooms, with only Year 5 and Year 6 to go. We are well on schedule to be completely repainted by the end of the term.
Scholastic Book Fair
Book Fair commences on Monday and is open before and after school for the next three days. The attached clip offers some more information about this event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfHJ98jVAgM&t=39s
My Long Service Leave
I will be taking leave from 21/06 (Wed Week 9) until the end of term . Whilst I am away, Mr Mark Tenney will be Acting Principal.
Principal Focus – Assessing Assessments
It is not long now until the end of the semester and we all know what that means – reports! Whether you love them or hate them, these are an integral part of our reporting process. St Matthew’s Semester One Reports will be uploaded on Tuesday 27 June. However, in order to fully appreciate the information these contain, I feel it is important for parents to understand what our grades mean and what information we use to decide upon these grades..
The following excerpts are taken from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) website:
Assessing against the Achievement standards
Teachers are required to use the Achievement standards to assess student progress.
The Achievement standards describe an expected level that the majority of students are achieving or working toward by the end of that year of schooling. Some students will have progressed beyond the Achievement standard, others will need additional support. The expected standard for each year is described as ‘C’ or ‘Satisfactory’.
What does assessment look like in a classroom?
There are many strategies teachers use to assess students. Some examples of assessments can be found below.
VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS
The demonstration of learning through maps, tables, graphs, diagrams, posters, brochures, photographs and other digital media (e.g. slides, animations, blogs).
CONFERENCES
Discussions or interviews with students that are conducted either face-to-face or via audio and video recordings.
WRITTEN WORK
This includes short and extended written tasks. These may take the form of short responses, such as worksheets and sentence or paragraph answers. Longer responses may include essays, information reports or imaginative texts, such as narratives and journal entries. Students may also conduct inquiry tasks in which they must develop questions; gather, analyse and evaluate information; communicate on findings and reflect upon conclusions.
OBSERVATION
Ongoing and first-hand observations of student learning, documented by the teacher (can be conducted both informally and formally).
PORTFOLIOS
A formal collection of student work, often with a reflective and planning element that is used to ‘showcase’ a student’s learning progress and achievements.
VIDEOS OR AUDIO RECORDINGS
The recording of student achievement in physical and verbal activities such as role-plays, performances, speeches, play-based learning or debates.
PERFORMANCES OR ORAL PRESENTATIONS
The demonstration of learning through practical performance, role-play, speeches, simulations, debates and structured discussions.
GRAPHIC ORGANISERS
The demonstration of learning through making connections, showing relationships and concept mapping of student knowledge.
TESTS AND QUIZZES
These may include verbal questioning, multiple choice, short-answer responses or open-ended questions that require longer, sustained written responses.
GROUP ACTIVITIES
Cooperative activities that provide opportunities for individual and peer-learning. During group work, teachers may stop at key points to check individual student understanding.
Stay warm,
Susan Milton
Principal
