Dear Parents, Carers, Boys & Girls,

What a St Patrick's Day!
We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our families last week as we turned St Mary’s green for St Patrick’s Day. A huge thank you to the Year 4 and Year 5 families who baked the most delicious treats for us. The boys and girls across the school (and staff) had such a great time buying….and eating them! Due to your generosity we were able to raise an incredible $776 which will be donated to those affected by the floods in Lismore.

Gurubangamba Mentoring and Transition Program
The first session of the Carroll College Gurubangamba Mentoring and Transition Program for Indigenous students in Year 5 and Year 6 will be held next Friday,1  April. This program is delivered over four sessions, during the school year. The purpose of this program is for students to develop a connection to the College and form relationships with staff and other ATSI students. These important connections can provide guidance and support to help students as they transition from Primary school to Secondary school.

Students participate in a variety of activities that focus on the following themes:

• Building Relationships
• Fostering Resilience
• Respecting Yourself & Others 

These days not only help prepare students for the high school environment, they provide opportunities for students to make friends through positive social activities and join a community of students to share Aboriginal culture. 

Personalised Plans (PPs)
If your child has a Personalised Plan (PP), a note went home this week inviting you to attend a meeting with your child’s class teacher and members of the Learning Support Team in Week 9. At this meeting we will discuss your child’s learning goals and the current Personalised Plan we have in place for your child. Confirmation of the time for your meeting next week was sent home with your child today. If you haven’t made an appointment and would like to, please call the school office.

Personalised Learning Pathways (PLP)
The meetings to develop the Personalised Learning Pathways for our Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students have been postponed and will now be held early in Term 2. If your child also has a Personalised Plan, their PLP will be part of that plan and will be developed at those PP meetings scheduled for next week.

NAPLAN News 
This year students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in NAPLAN online. Year 3 complete Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. Year 3 complete writing with pen and paper. Year 5 complete Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. All students use headphones during the conventions of language test, the numeracy test and the Year 5 writing test so they can hear audio instructions. 

NAPLAN tests are in Term 2, and occur between the 10 May - 20 May.

NAPLAN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

What will be tested? 

• NAPLAN tests the important skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. The content of each test is informed by the Australian Curriculum. 
• The Literacy tests are based on content in the English learning area, and the numeracy tests draw content from the mathematics learning area. 

For more information on the types of skills and understandings that students are generally expected to demonstrate at their particular year of schooling, refer to the information provided for each domain in the NAPLAN Section.

What types of questions are in the tests? 

• Questions are multiple choice, technology-enhanced (such as drag and drop), or require a short written response for all tests except the writing test. In the writing test, students are expected to write a continuous text.

For more information about the writing test, see the relevant FAQs at

The links below take you to demonstration tests for conventions of language (grammar, punctuation, and spelling), numeracy, reading and writing for each NAPLAN test year level: 3, 5, 7 and 9. As all Year 3 students will complete the writing test on paper, there is no Year 3 demonstration test for writing. 

K-12 Catholic Schools Pathway hitting the Radio Waves
Last week our school leaders Taylah and Lincon joined the school leaders from St Bernards and Carroll College to record a radio advertisement for our K-12 schools. It was such a great opportunity to visit the 2EC Office in Batemans Bay and be part of the process of recording an advertisement for radio. We learnt that speaking clearly and pronouncing words correctly is important…and it's not easy to get it right first go! Be sure to tune into Power FM to hear our latest radio ad!

Sue Heffernan
Assistant Principal