NEWSLETTER 15 - 24th May 2022

Paul Burnett (Queensland University of Technology) and Valerie Mandel (University of Western Australia) conducted a small-scale qualitative study in which they investigated teachers’ and students’ perceptions of praise and feedback in the classroom using structured interviews and classroom observation. The findings suggested that several factors need to be considered when using praise and feedback in the primary classroom and careful deliberation should be given to the type of praise and feedback used by teachers in their classrooms and when and how it should be used. Younger students prefer ‘ability’ feedback, and as they grow older their preference for ‘effort’ feedback increases. Most importantly, general, non-targeted praise was most commonly used in the classroom, but this type of praise is not effective because it is not linked to a specific behaviour or targeted to the successful completion of a task. The results of this study suggest that teachers should use less general, non-targeted praise, more effort and ability feedback, and give more ability than effort feedback to younger students (grades 1-4) and more effort than ability feedback to older students (grades 5-7). Over the past two weeks parents have been receiving information on our school Student Online Feedback and Reporting Guidelines – a school-created initiative that reflects a system-wide proposal to provide the opportunity for more meaningful home-school discussions relating to student engagement and outcomes. Today, parents will receive login details for the Seesaw Student Online Folio resource, work samples of which will be loaded by teachers once assessments are completed and should contribute to parents gaining a stronger insight in their child’s learning engagement and outcomes, and which should complement the mid-year and end-of-year reports.

Apparently the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef (and ‘k’) is… ‘Feedback’! US businessman, Elon Musk, stated, “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, 'No, what's wrong with a horse?' That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” Although not a keen advocate of the inter-personal business philosophies of Henry Ford or Elon Musk, the notion of improvement has kept researchers, economists and philosophers busy for generations. Whilst ‘death and taxes’ are two certainties, the need to improve is also an axiom for the vast majority (if not all) of us. The important characteristics of effective improvement can arguably be reflected in two characteristics:

• Goal-driven.
• Feedback loop - constant reflection on goals.

Underpinning these characteristics are key organisational qualities such as the culture of the community, and how, when, where, what and why information is communicated amongst the community.

In my experience and from various readings, improvement is ultimately reliant on one ingredient for its fundamental success - the right people being in the right place for the right reasons at the right time. As a school community, improvement is an important aspect of our discussions - staff are constantly communicating with colleagues, families and consultants about raising our own and students’ attainments. I believe a school our size and with our existing culture of greeting, meeting and treating each other with mutual respect is constantly providing a flow of useful information that should allow each of us to reflect and improve.

Regards,

Rod Linhart

(Principal)

Term 1 - Thursday 3rd February - Thursday 14th April

Term 2 - Monday 2nd May - *Friday 8th July

Term 3 - Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September

Term 4 - Monday 17th October - Thursday 15th December

*Student Free Day Friday 8th July 2022

May

June

July 

Today parents will receive their login details for the Student Online Feedback and Reporting Guidelines, details of which have been included in the previous two weeks’ Newsletters, and available on our school website via the Curriculum tab. From today Tuesday 31^st May, parents will be able to access some of their child’s work samples that provide students with focused, constructive feedback against the learning intentions and success criteria. A reminder that each class will not be loading the same number of feedback items at the same time – parents will need to appreciate that class teachers have until Monday 4^th July to have made available via Seesaw 2 Religion; 3 English; 3 Mathematics. Due to the nature of some assessments, some classes will not have all eight items online until 4^th July, whilst other classes may have all or most of the eight items available online earlier.

These guidelines provide parents with information regarding our school Student Online Feedback and Reporting Guidelines, an important document that staff have been collaborating on for much of the past 18 months and has been scrutinised by the School Board. In summary:

1. Teachers will use Seesaw to communicate samples of student work to families through the compilation of online folios that will be accessible to both students and parents.
   • Compass, student diaries and school newsletters will remain the primary communication sources related to school routines, events, policies, protocols, and procedures.
2. The Online Feedback Folio contains samples of work that reflects your child’s performance under certain conditions and at key stages of the year and are examples of a wider body of work produced by your child.
   • Online feedback to parents will offer parents an insight and is not meant to provide the entire student body of work.
3. Online folios are examples of student work (work samples) and performance that reflect the student’s level of proficiency against grade-level criteria and support a teacher’s appraisal of a student’s grades in key learning areas.
   • Teachers will still provide other examples of student work to parents throughout the year, including student workbooks and weekly tests.
4. Class teachers are best positioned to determine the frequency and timing of feedback provided and there may be variation in frequency between learning areas and between different grades as appropriate during terms 1 and 2 for mid-year reporting, and during terms 3 and 4 for end of year reporting, however, all classes will provide families with the same number of examples:
   
   • Mid-Year online folios are to contain the following examples of feedback for reporting: 2 Religion; 3 English; 3 Mathematics.
   • End-of-Year online folios are to contain the following examples of feedback for reporting: 3 Religion; 6 English; 6 Maths, 2 HPE (1 Health, 1 Physical Education), 2 HASS (History and Geography), 1 Science, 2 Music, 2 Languages, 2 Arts, 1 Technologies.

Literacy-The Big 6

 VOCABULARY

Research has shown that there are six key components that contribute to successful reading and because of the importance of these components, they have become known as the 'Big Six’: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. The reading components of our school reading program focus on the Big Six.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the knowledge or words, including their structure (morphology), use (grammar) and meanings (semantics). It is fundamental to being an independent and successful reader and writer and is comprised of the words that are heard or read.

How does vocabulary contribute to reading success?

It is suggested that there is a significant correlation between early vocabulary development and later academic success and the link between vocabulary and comprehension also has an important impact on reading success.

Vocabulary at school

There are three Tiers of words that children come to know. Tier 1 words are basic to the English language and are learned by interacting to others. Tier 2 words are used by mature speakers and writers and can be used in a range of contexts and may have multiple meanings. Tier 3 words are those related to specific topics or technical words specific to areas such as Science, Mathematics and History. Instructional approaches to develop vocabulary at school include the following:

• Speaking and listening opportunities.
• Reading a variety of texts.
• Teaching multiple word meanings.
• Teaching vocabulary in word families.
• Focus words of the week.
• Word parts and origins.
• Word sorts.
• Word maps.
• Synonyms and antonyms.

What can parents and caregivers do at home to encourage vocabulary development?

Children's vocabulary and concept development is dependent on consistent, nurturing and interacting learning experiences with adults and peers.

Here are some ways parents and caregivers can encourage phonics:

• Practise reading to and with children to expose them to new words.
• Talk with children.
• Give simple, child friendly definitions to words.
• Say words several times. A child needs to hear a new word 4-12 times before it is added to their vocabulary.
• Encourage children to respond.
• Play word play games.

Students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 participated in the school's annual cross country yesterday. This event is used as a team selection event for a school representative squad to participate in the NW Catholic Schools Cross Country that is proposed for Thursday 9^th June at Stella Maris Catholic School Burnie, and the Tasmanian All schools Cross Country proposed for Tuesday 21^st June at Symmons Plains. Congratulations to all students who participated in this event, especially to the following students who will form part of the school representative cross-country team:

• Year 6: Tyla O’Toole, Ruby Anthony, Ekam Gill, Sophie Mulcahy, Lincoln McQueen, Cameron Reeves, Jack Chapman, Harrison Fawkner.
• Year 5: Melia Sesara, Amaja Scott, Zarna Bakes, Sophie Franklin, Jovi Rand, William Brazendale, Charlie Jones, Oliver Parry, Livai Sesara.
• Year 4: Emilia Ling, Lucy Chapman, Sophia Simmonds, Amelia Willis, Chloe Anthony, James Sullivan, William Hawkins, Hamish Crawford, Taylor Goss
• Year 3: Aleks O’Toole, Miami Bronson, Violet Furley, Meg Kelly, Henry Jones, Zander Bloomfield, Owen Christie, Alexander Fawkner.

Students in Prep, Years 1 & 2 will participate in their class cross country on Friday 27^th May. This event covers 500 metres and is ‘low-key’ with students receiving participation ribbons for their efforts and will be run immediately after lunch – parents are welcome to attend.

The start and finish of these races will be at the school should parents wish to spectate. Race times for these classes are:

Should this events be cancelled due to inclement weather, parents will be notified via Compass by 12.30pm on the day.

Congratulations to the following students who have received Student of the Week.

Prep: Hudson Brebner on his presentation of his 'Talk for Writing' story featuring the fish, pavlova and fire coloured nose snake. 

Year 1: Lily Nichols for the outstanding work she has done in learning her sight words. 

Year 2: Tom Anthony for demonstrating an improved positive attitude toward his homework and class tasks. 

Year 3: Emmy Radich for her effort and application with the completion of her tasks and for her initiative in helping others.

Year 4: Hamish Crawford for his positive attitude and application when working on fractions.

Year 5: Mushtaq Kahn for bringing a positive attitude and great application to his tasks each day. 

Year 6: Harrison Fawkner for his positive contributions in Mathematics and his willingness to help others in our school community.

Congratulations to our House Raffle winners this week: 

Dooley - Ekam Gill   Martyn - Rose Evans   Byrne - Dawson Furley 

• We would like to introduce a new member of our school community, Sully; Sully will be here on Thursdays and Fridays as a therapy dog who works with our school counsellor, Karlie Lawson.
• Sully enjoys meeting children and especially listening to them read stories, or being outside with children.
• The value of pet ‘therapy’ is widely accepted as an aid to stimulation and communication. The presence of companion animals can also improve the well-being of children and lower the rate of anxiety.
• Animals are not generally allowed on school premises. Appropriate consideration and consultation was undertaken for this activity.
• Whilst inherent risks will remain, and some people will choose not to participate, our school supports this activity occurring. Sully is a well-behaved friend, has passed required temperament testing, and has all the expected vaccinations and routinely visits the vet for normal check-ups.
• Sully will spend his day with Karlie as she goes about her student support duties. Children, at times, will have a chance to interact with Sully either with Karlie and, as they grow, independently. Please also note children will not be allowed to feed Sully.
• If you do not want your child to interact with Sully, please email Mr Linhart no later than 20/5/22 via stpatslat@catholic.tas.edu.au We will assume that no reply by the given date, allows interaction with Sully.
• If you have any questions, please contact Mr Linhart.

Students took home a Mathematics book or work sample last week to share with parents in our ongoing efforts to communicate feedback to families with the intent of opening discussions regarding student proficiency and our joint efforts between home and school to support student outcomes. Please ensure the resources have now been returned back to school. Thank you.

Our School Canteen is now operating on both Thursdays and Fridays.

Providing support for the school canteen is one way parents can be involved in one aspect of the school, and we are looking for family support on either of these days please – the school has committed staffing to ensure the School Canteen can operate on both days, however, we would dearly love some assistance from families such as:

• Assisting with putting stickers on lunch bags for 30 minutes on Thursday and/or Friday mornings, preparing sandwiches and/or some meals, assisting from 11.30 to 1.00pm in heating and packing lunch orders.

Nominations are called for the St Patrick’s Catholic School Board. A brief outline of the role and structure of the school Board is available from the school office and via our school website. The school Board usually meets for approximately two hours on a Monday evening six or seven times a year and discusses a range of topics including school policies, finances, buildings and facilities, promotion of the Catholic ethos and future directions. The role of the Board is viewed as being integral in sharing the responsibility of the overall wellbeing of the school. Our current school Board membership consists of the Parish Priest, Father Jaison and the principal, Rod Linhart, and Deputy Principal, Kurt Atkins, as ex-officio members, Felicity Derin-Reeves (Chair), Carl Garrad (Treasurer), Julie Fawkner (Secretary), Bev Sullivan (Deputy Chair), Belinda Kelly and Nicholas O’Toole. If you are interested in becoming a member of the school Board, we invite you to contact one of the School Board members or the school office staff as soon as possible. Please feel welcome to sit in on any School Board member as an observer if you wish to.

Thank you to the many students (and their families) who have a commitment to participate in school representative sport – representing St Patrick’s in soccer and basketball school teams allow for character development, a physical outlet and an appreciation of what it means to be a team player. Parents are asked to contact their child’s coach or Mr Linhart (6426 1626) if their child is unable to play on the day – this action shows respect for the generosity of time exhibited by our many volunteer coaches and helps support positive team dynamics.

Whole school assemblies have commenced again each morning – parents are welcome; please follow the COVID Safety Plan protocols – sanitize and face masks indoors.

Karlie offers discrete counselling services to students upon both parent's signed request. Request forms are available from the school office or can be downloaded from the school website.

‘Inquiring Minds’ Birth to 5 program - a ‘Set-Up for Success’ Catholic Education Tasmania initiative.

our ‘Inquiring Minds’ birth to 5 program operates each Friday during school term time from 9.00am to 10.30am;This program involves a considerable focus on communicating to parents the learning intentions of important activities that are associated with early years learning. Mrs Klug will be working to engage parents in early years learning experiences that will ensure children who are enrolling in Kindergarten, will be informed in regards to developing key social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills and understandings.