When families, schools and community groups work together to support learning children tend to do better in school, stay at school longer, and like school more.
Anne Henderson & Karen Mapp
The start of the school year brings new classrooms, classes, teachers and routines, and now here we are in the middle of Week 4. Hopefully you have had time to draw breath and settle into the rhythm of school life. As we move into the second half of the term it’s the perfect opportunity for us, teachers, and families to continue to build positive family-school partnerships and establish ways to work together to support student learning.
Informal ongoing contact with class teachers is central to positive partnerships at City Beach Primary School. When students require adjustments to teaching and learning, the teacher documents these adjustments. Parents are invited to meet and discuss their child’s individual plan around Week 6 each term, or as required for monitoring progress and updating. In addition to formal reports at the end of first and second semester teachers report informally on children’s achievement and progress over the year in a variety of ways:
- Class information sessions about the teaching and learning program at the start of the year;
- Parent interviews early Term 2 (Wednesday 3 May – half day school attendance);
- Parent teacher discussions, that may include your child;
- Email or phone discussions between teacher and parent;
- Annotations in school diary;
- Awards; and
- Connect Notices.
Where there is a need to discuss a student’s achievement and progress, staff or parents can email or call to arrange a suitable meeting time. Please don’t hesitate to contact staff to discuss concerns.
Our parent satisfaction survey last year highlighted ‘incredible community spirit’ as one of the unique elements that captures what’s at the heart of our great school. Thank you to all the current P&C and School Board members, and class representatives for giving something back to our school community, please know that what you do makes a difference to your child and the school community. When you dedicate time in a school, you help children see and learn about important soft skills like leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and creativity, which are essential in our world and their future.
At our first P&C meeting last week it was great to see new and familiar faces putting their names forward to fill vacant positions on the P&C. Sharing your skills and expertise while making new friends is a wonderful way to spread your wings and become a part of the heart of our school community.
Keep your eyes out for an email from me calling for nominations for new parent representatives the School Board as a couple of current parent representatives complete their term this year. If you want to support and maintain positive partnerships between the school and families and contribute to additional resources, ideas and programs that the school can provide for student learning at the same time…the P&C or the School Board is for you!
There has been lots happening over the past two weeks. It was lovely to see so many families at the P&C Welcome Sundowner on Friday last week, where our Year 6 students were overwhelmed by the success of the Sweet Treats sale which raised over $600 for their graduation fund. The energy at the first of a series of Sculpture @ City Beach PS workshops yesterday afternoon was palpable! I can’t wait to see all the creative entries in our Backyard Adventures exhibition on Wednesday 8 March – let your imagination run wild and book it into your calendars!
Be Safe Be Kind Be Fair
