Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It has been a big start to Term 3 here at St. Joseph’s Kingswood.  New timetables, new literacy programs, cross country, STEM MAD presentations, Mary MacKillop Day and it is only week 3! We are SO proud of the students and their ability to adapt to change so quickly but as always, good things take time so we cannot wait to see how it all unfolds.

NAPLAN

Earlier in the year our Year 3 and 5 sat their NAPLAN testing.  NAPLAN is a nationwide measure of developing Literacy and Numeracy skills.  NAPLAN results allow parents/carers and educators to see how students are progressing over time – individually, as part of their school community, and against national standards.   We are extremely proud to announce that the average achievement (school mean score) for each year level (Year 3, 5) at St. Joseph’s Kingswood against the new proficiency standards of achievement is strong for all assessment components. We would like to take this opportunity to commend all students who undertook the assessments and to thank our teachers for their dedication to teaching and learning as we continue to strive for excellence.

Literacy Roll Out

As you are aware, we have begun the roll out of our new phonics program, Laser Literacy. At the end of last term, thorough testing occurred across the school to determine which phase each year level will begin with.  It is important to note that at the beginning of each phase there is some overlap.  This is to ensure that there are no stones left unturned and that all students have the background knowledge to be able to transfer these to more difficult phonology, morphology and vocabulary work. The parent handout provides more information about the program, please click here.

In addition, parents and caregivers are encouraged to join us for our Parent Information session.  This will be presented by Linda Clune from Laser Literacy on Tuesday 20th August at 6pm in the Multipurpose Room.  Please register by clicking here. 

Inclusive Education:

Recently our staff were lucky enough to have a professional learning session with Occupational Therapist: Alexandra Nuzzo.  We have been working in partnership with Alex to develop some school wide strategies for students who may require some extra support when it comes to sensory needs.  She provided valuable insight in to how difficult some students find it to regulate their day both at school and at home.  Regulation is our ability to manage our thoughts, feelings and alertness levels which influences how we respond to match the demands of a task. This develops over time and with age however until our little people can develop the skills to self-regulate, they will need us to help them with this, this is referred to as co-regulation. Alex also explained our sensory system in relation to our internal and external senses.  These can be impacted by our environment, relationships and experiences.  It is hard work being a little person with so much sensory input occurring added to the demands of learning.  It is important for us to remember that each child is different and therefore will perceive and require different levels of sensory input and output to meet their needs.  What a blessing it is that we are able to help support our little people to build their very own tool kit with strategies and love to help them when it all seems too much.   (See the diagram for an overview of our external and internal senses)

Leaving with a Literacy Tip:  Helping your child read at home with Decodable Texts

You may have seen your child bring home a decodable text over the course of the year.  It is important to remember that these are used as a teaching tool to reinforce the specific sounds that have been taught in class.  These books are NOT to replace all the exciting picture books and other literature your child will be exposed to. Instead, these are used as a tool for students to independently practise their reading.

We realise that at times, it may seem easy for your child however these books will review important sound spelling patterns that your child will use when spelling or sounding out more difficult words. These sounds are individualised to your child and determined through ongoing assessments. Our aim is for our students to read these texts with fluency and automaticity before moving on to practise new sounds. Below are some tips that will assist your child when reading decodables text.

1. Listen to your child read: These books are specifically designed to allow your child to learn how to read independently, by helping children apply their phonic skills – sounding out the words on the page. Be patient and be impressed!

2. Use letter sounds when reading: Your child is learning letter sounds at school when reading. A letter sound is the sound a letter makes, rather than its name, this helps them to form words using the sounds that the letters make. It’s important they sound the words out rather than guess or try to use the pictures.  Make sure you encourage your child to always use letter sounds when reading.  Please ensure your child points to each word as they read.

3. Heart Words: There are some words in these books where sounding out the letters does not help, such as: I, my, the.  In the books, these are called Heart words. Your child is being taught these words at school. You may need to tell your child how to say these words if they are unsure.

4. Once your child has finished reading...Please ensure they read the words and Heart words at the back of the book. There may also be some comprehension questions provided. You could also play letter-spotting and word games like these with your child: Can you find Sam’s name on this page? Can you find the word ‘am’ on this page? How many words can you find on this page that begin with ‘t’? Get your child to ask you too!

As always, my door is always open.

Until next time…

Vanessa Saccardo

Assistant Principal