From the Principal Week 8
Dear Parents and Carers,
Following on from my newsletter piece last week about social media and online gaming below are some helpful hints about downloading apps that may be useful in helping develop your child’s numeracy and literacy skills.
If you have a smart phone, tablet or iPad in your house, chances are your child has expressed an interest in playing with it. Apps can be very useful in helping your child develop numeracy and literacy skills. Below are some tips for downloading educational apps:
- Decide what educational activity you would like your child to learn from an app. There are thousands of apps available. You can choose from many topics, such as phonics, number facts and problem solving.
- Read the app reviews, particularly those written by other parents. These reviews will be a good indication of how effective others have found it.
- Look at the app’s description to see whether it will engage your child.
- If the app costs money to download, search for a ‘lite’ version of it. If your child likes it, you could consider paying for the full version. Be careful of free apps that have in-app purchases.
- Educational apps come from all over the world. Be mindful that with literacy apps, some words may be pronounced or spelt slightly differently, particularly apps from the United States of America
- When you are choosing an educational app, ensure your child will not be asked to share information, such as name and location. Use this opportunity to talk to your child about cybersafety.
- Manage the amount of time spent using the app. You can set a timer and tell your child the mobile device needs to be turned off once the time alarm chimes.
- Sit with your child and help them interact with the app. You will be able to see whether the app is too easy or too difficult for your child’s level of learning.
Thank you for your ongoing care and partnership in your child’s learning.
God bless.
Rachel Smith
Principal
Principal’s Notes
Tell Them From Me Survey
Don’t forget to provide feedback on your experience of our school using the online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process. The survey will close this Friday, 17 June. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community, we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Clare of Assisi. The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You can access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:
School Starting Time
Imagine if, at the end of the year, you were “given” a whole extra day?
A child who is 7 minutes late to class each day (dropped off 5 minutes late, 1 minute walk to the classroom, 1 minute to unpack) will have missed more than 23 hours of schooling in the year!
When late, children miss important announcements, social interactions, and vital learning time. It also disrupts the entire class, as the teacher needs to stop what they are doing to welcome the child and repeat directions.
We know that unexpected delays can happen. A road accident, a sick pet, or even a broken dishwasher can all cause us to be late. Please though, try to do the best by your child, and the others in the class, by having children at school BEFORE 8.45am each day.
Our “warning bell” starts ringing at 8.45am, which allows students and teachers to move to morning assembly, ready to begin at 8.50am. On a practical note, the busiest time in the school car park each morning is at 8.30– 8.45am.
School Reports and Optional Interviews
School reports will be sent home with students next Friday, 24th June. Optional interviews will be available for parents Monday 27th June and Tuesday 28th June. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher to arrange an interview.
Carpark Etiquette
We ask that all parents and carers using our carpark for pick up and drop off please do so with caution. With the increased use of the carpark, we must all work together to ensure the safety of all our students. Please drive slowly through the carpark and park front in into a designated carpark. When reversing please be mindful of those around you and the flow of the traffic. Thank you for your help with this.