Dear SCA families,

This Sunday we celebrate in our Church the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. In explaining this story, the emphasis is often placed on Jesus “leaving” the earth. I believe though, this feast is a reminder to us of two things that give us great hope:

• as a human we are like God in many ways, so that we each have the ability to make the world a better, more loving place, and
• Heaven awaits each of us, not as some angelic, otherworldly being, but as who we really are.

May we each live in hope, and dare to do all we can to make our patch of the world a better place.

School Finishes at 3.00, (but some are dismissed at 2.50pm)

To facilitate better traffic flows for our community and neighbours, we try to spread out our afternoon departures. We do this by allowing parents to collect children in Years K – 2 (and their siblings) from 2.50pm.

However, please note, this only applies to children being collected in one of our two pick-up zones (Donut and Heidelberg St). Parents are asked to not ask children to meet them elsewhere (eg. junior playground, top gate), unless it is after 3.00pm. Until 3.00pm, all children must be supervised by a teacher in their classroom or at one of the two designated pick-up zones.

We thank you for your cooperation in this important safety issue. 

Dogs on School Grounds

Since the age of two, I have had a dog as part of my family (Jodie, Winnie, Max, Milly and Patch). It’s fair to say that I am a dog lover. However, under the ACT Domestic Animals Act 2000, domestic animals may not be taken on to school grounds without permission of the principal. In recent weeks we have noticed dog droppings in the school grounds, so we respectfully ask all dog owners to leave their pets at home. Thanks for your cooperation.

Mothers’ Day Celebrations

Special thanks to Anne Scollen and the many volunteers (parents and staff) who assisted with the Mother’s Day Breakfast last Friday. It was another very successful event with over 250 people catered for.

As always, it you would like to share some feedback about an event, please contact us at school via email, telephone or a face-to-face meeting.

2021 Fete

Preparations for this year’s Fete in November are well and truly underway. We have a band of willing volunteers who already make the core of our organising committee. If you would like to get involved please let us know by emailing SCAFete@outlook.com 

End of Semester Reports

Our teaching team has begun the process of creating each child’s Semester 1 report. At SCA, we use the reporting format provided by Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn (CECG).

In Semester 1:

For Kindergarten students:

• Achievement in each subject will be reported using a four-point scale (Well Above Expectations, Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations and Working Towards Expectations).

For Year 1 to Year 6 students:

• Academic grades for each subject using a five-point scale from A-E will be reported using the NSW Common Grade Scale. (More information regarding the common grade scale will be provide din coming weeks.)

For all students:

• Strand Achievement will be reported in English, Mathematics, Human Society and its Environment, PDHPE and Creative Arts using a five-point scale (Excellent, High, Sound, Basic, Elementary).
• Engagement with Learning statements, which are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum, will provide specific information about your child’s Critical and Creative Thinking, and Personal and Social Responsibility, using a three-point scale (Beginning, Developing, Consistently).
• Individual student comments will not be used in the Semester 1 Reports.

Dialogue is an important feature of reporting. The Semester Report in this format encourages parent engagement and conversation about student learning. We want the report to be the entry point for parent-teacher interviews where we can engage in genuine conversation about your child’s strengths, challenges, effort and areas for growth.

Parents will be invited to participate in a Parent – Teacher Interview in the last week of term, at which you will be invited to discuss your child’s report and their particular learning journey. Further details will be provided in coming weeks.

The new approach to Academic Reporting is a developing process for all CECG schools. Further work will be undertaken in the coming months to determine how progress and achievement is best reported based on what we know to be important information about a student’s learning and progress.

2021 Key Improvement Goals

In last week’s newsletter we reminded you of our three Key Goals for school improvement for 2021:

1. Improve student engagement and achievement in English.
2. Improve student engagement and achievement in Mathematics.
3. Build student learning self-efficacy.

Here is a short update on the second of these.

• Teachers reviewed standardised testing data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each Year Group.
• Teachers have planned targeted teaching for each year group based on the above data.
• A third of our teachers are active members of the school’s Mathematics Professional Learning Team (PLT), which meets regularly throughout the term. The Mathematics PLT has been at the forefront of supporting all teachers in the school to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of their English teaching. The PLT has met regularly to review international research and discuss our school’s progress.
• The Mathematics PLT is developing “open” assessment tasks, to allow students to display their full understanding and knowledge of Mathematical concepts.
• Modified teachers’ programming format to allow teachers to evaluate and annotate lesson more easily, allowing them focus more on planning future lessons.

If you would like further details, please speak with your child’s teacher, or our Mathematics Coordinator, Mrs Belinda Breen.

Enrolments – Close on 21^st May

We have a great school, with wonderful kids, dedicated staff and supportive families. Please spread the word amongst family and friends, reminding those with pre-schoolers that enrolments close on Friday 21^st May.

It was once said…

It’s not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings. Ann Landers

Blessings to you and your family.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal