Welcome back for term three which kicks off with a month of planned events. This term offers a great opportunity for solid work and learning opportunities across all teams.

NAPLAN Report for parents: This week we expect to receive a hard copy of Student Individual Results.  This document will be placed in an envelope and sent home asap. There are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in 2023.

NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing,spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels: These are:

·       exceeding

·       strong

·       developing

·       needs additional support.

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels.

Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling.This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.

When we provide you with your child’s results, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean.

Prep Enrolment Intake for 2024: At the end of July we will be able to inform all parents who have submitted applications to our school as to whether we can accept their enrolment.  We hope to accept as many applications as possible to be approved but this is dependent on the applications meeting theset criteria.

Would any existing families who have a Prep child for 2024 please enrol now so that we can define our sibling enrolment intake and we would accept it if parents could please pass on information to friends at Kinders and Child Care Centres that we are commencing the enrolment process. Tours are still being arranged online using our school website. The section to find is ‘enrolments’ and click on ‘Trybookings’.

Year 3 Bring Your Own Device program:  Commencing 2024 we plan to introduce a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program into Year 3. This will involve iPads being brought from home to be used in the classroom. We have produced an information booklet that is very detailed which explains the program and how it will be implemented. (see recent Compass News Feeds or click on this link to download the information booklet and / or respond with feedback).  

As a summary, the BYOD program is a replacement program to address our aging stock of iPads across the school. We cannot afford to fund our current program. We have determined the best entry point for parents to purchase and/or supply an iPad is at year 3. The logic is that the children will be able to use their own device for year 3 through to end of year 6, meaning the iPad will be used for four years.  The value of students using iPads and the utilisation of the device in the teaching and learning program is valid.  The introduction of this initiative does not mean that children will be using their iPad for a greatly increased amount oftime.

To reiterate and further explain the BYOD initiative we will run an Information Night around the start of August, but we wish to wait until we gain more feedback from parents. We will respond to those questions. Please read the Information Book because answers to the questions being raised are already explained in the booklet.

Survey of parents in year 4, 5 + 6 regarding our Outdoor Education program. As we aim to continuously improve our programs, we would appreciate your feedback (insights, suggestions and thoughts) about our school camp programs. We invite you to share your feedback on the Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 camps that have taken place this year.  See latest Compass Newsfeed to respond to this survey.

PFA: Our PFA meet yesterday with some new faces attending which was great! We had a brainstorming session on many topics but much time was spent brainstorming waysto celebrate our 100^th Birthday in 2024. We will continue to publicise our gatherings so that you can pop in and join us any time.

Staffing issues and illness: Student and staff illness and absence continue to challenge us. We have found it necessary to temporarily close programs and sometimes combine class groups within the level team as it continues to be hard to find replacement teachers (crt’s). We understand that this situation is not ideal for the students who want theirregular teacher and consistency of routines. We will be splitting classes attimes but our plan is to minimise the impact for a year level by sharing those splits across the whole school.

Out of School Hours Care program: Our vacation program ran successfully over the break. Well done to the team involved.

Great moments this term:

Pottery: We have Jess and Mary Lou Pittard starting this term in week two. They run a high quality pottery program in the art craft room and the continued frequency of maintaining the program each year is testament to the confidence and skill the children exhibit and high levels of motivation and passion for the creative subjects.

Book Week: featuring our Book Parade is coming up in August.  ENPS students thrive on reading books from our library and we notice lots of children are borrowing and taking home books to enjoy. Andrea Couper is running the teaching sessions for classes and the children are gaining valuable library skills.   Great job !  

Tree Planting: As part of National Tree Day on Friday 28July, our Enviro Club students have been invited to join the Eltham Men’s Shed staff to plant trees locally down by the creek.

Sport: We have a number of sporting events underway this term. Last week was the State Cross County and this week we have Division Netball and District Athletics.

School Web site: Our web site has lots of photos of events that have been held over the term. This communication tool is valuable and friendly to use and navigate and includes the latest features in IT innovation.

Highlights in August:

^ Wednesday 2^nd  and Thursday 3^rdAugust is our 2^nd Hand Uniform Shop sale

^ Thursday 3^rd August is 100 days of Preps celebration

^ Thursday 10 August is School Council meeting in the evening

^ Monday 21 August is the start of Book Week

^ Monday 28 August is our Father’s Day Stall.

Cheers David Foley

‍