Learning-A Shared Responsibility

We know from decades of international research that what parents do at home with their children has a profound effect on children’s learning outcomes. Children who experience enriched, cognitively stimulating home environments are at an advantage in the learning process because they have had exposure to many more words.

In our school community it is encouraging that parents understand the importance of reading at home with your child/children each day. The message ‘read early and read often’ is one that research confirms the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read. In the busyness of life this can be difficult to achieve each day. So it’s reassuring to know that literacy, numeracy, any learning, is not the sole responsibility of parents. This highlights the importance of positive partnerships between home and school.

Communication between home and school is important to us at City Beach Primary School. Class teachers send weekly Connect notices to parents to let them in on the learning that is happening each week. Two way communication is encouraged as both teachers and parents can request meetings to discuss progress and individual needs. Progress Interviews are also held early in Term 2 to provide a progress snapshot of your child; and formal reports are sent home at the end of each semester.

Our Term 2 parent interviews will be held on Wednesday 28 April 2021. The interviews are 10 minutes long and will provide you with a point in time snap shot of your child’s progress.  Students will attend for a half day, finishing school at 12:20pm. Please think about how your child will be getting home on that day. Limited supervision will be available in the library for families who are unable to pick up their child/children.

Interview times will be offered between 1:00pm – 6:00pm, and various other times throughout the week to accommodate parents. An email with a link to an online booking system through Sign Up Genius will be sent home via Connect next week.

Please note this date in your busy calendars as it is a great opportunity for parents to touch base with their child’s class teacher before reports are sent home, at the end of Term 2.

We are always looking for ways to improve the work that we do, and learning for our students. One of the focus areas identified in our business plan development is A Valued and Informed Community. Over the year we would like to run parent information sessions or workshops covering a range of topics : areas of interest, how parents can support their children at home; whole school approaches to learning aligned with future school directions; contemporary educational practice; or topics that target an identified community need. We value your ideas and input, so please feel free to talk to me, or send me your ideas about workshops or information sessions you would find helpful.

Finally, I can’t wait to visit the school this Saturday night, to be met by the fabulous sight of tent land on our top oval! Details of the Sleep Oval can be found on flyers around the school and in this issue of the newsletter.  I’m constantly amazed at the genuine commitment of our parents in supporting the school by running events for the benefit of all our students – a huge thank you to our super supportive P&C.

For those of you who can make it – I’ll see you on Saturday night!