SCA students will continue to be Masters of Spelling!

Spelling Mastery has started again this week at SCA for Year 3 - 6. It is an evidence-based, explicit approach to teaching spelling skills and phonemic awareness. Our students are grouped according to their needs in spelling, and this is based on recommended levels from Spelling Mastery assessments. For example, we have some Year 3s working with Year 4s.

‘Mastery Learning’ is explicit direct instruction for 25 minutes per day in Spelling, 4 times per week. It aims for the students to be ‘masters’ of particular skills/understandings about how word and sounds works before moving on to the next concept and level. The lessons gradually build and the students will definately feel challenged. 

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.

NAPLAN 2024 @ SCA

What is NAPLAN?

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual national assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and is the only nationwide assessment that all Australian children undertake.

It’s a measure to see whether or not young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community.

Why do students sit NAPLAN Tests?

NAPLAN helps governments, education authorities and schools to see whether young Australians are reaching important literacy and numeracy goals. It provides information about how education programs are working, areas for improvement, and which schools need support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy.

It can support school improvement by enabling teachers to monitor their students’ progress against the national measure, to identify strengths and areas to improve in teaching programs. It provides additional information to support teacher judgement about progress in a child’s level of literacy and numeracy attainment.

Literacy and numeracy are core to a well-rounded education and are essential life skills that students develop in every aspect of daily life, no matter what further education or career path they take. Students can’t fail NAPLAN as it’s not that type of test – they should just try their best.

NAPLAN tests are one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process, and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by our SCA teachers about each student’s performance.

When will NAPLAN occur at SCA?

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 13 and 25 March 2024 for students in Years 3 and 5. Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. 

The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment. Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. 

A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway. 

All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper. NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development. 

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Your kids are definitely in safe hands!!

The SCA Staff participated in a CPR course run by ACTWELL. As you can see by our photos, they all passed with flying colours!

The Staff learned and refined their CPR skills, in line with the Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines, including using an automated external defibrillator (AED), how to rotate a person injured with minimal interruptions to compressions, and what to do if the casualty regurgitates or vomits. One of our highlights was learning to use bandages for different situations. The course also covered conveying accurate incident details when handing the casualty over to emergency services. SCA Blue Cards were awarded to our facilitators Melissa, Gary and Danni.

Jo Reed

Assistant Principal