MS Readathon 

August is over and I am so proud of how much money our Benny’s community raised and how many books we read for our first ever Readathon!

• 21 students registered!
• $2341 out of the $1000 goal raised 
• 560 Books read so far 

Thank you to everyone who participated! 

Pupil Free Day - Reflective Practice Day

You know it as a Pupil Free Day, and our staff know it as Reflective Practice Day! Last Friday our teachers participated in professional learning and spent time reflecting on their practice to ensure we are always providing the best teaching and learning possible. Firstly, we viewed a zoom session with QCAA (the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) as an introduction to the new version of the Australian Curriculum. For the rest of the day, we focused on writing. Rebecca (Y4) and Anne (Y2) have been involved in a 2 year writing project with me and others from Townsville Catholic Education, and Year 3 and 5 were also involved in a NAPLAN Writing Project earlier this year. During the Pupil Free Day we shared what we have learnt with the rest of the teachers, and writing will continue to be a major focus during 2023. Some of the main takeaways have been: 

• Planning for students to write more throughout the week
• A standardised way for teachers to analyse writing data and set goals (goals will be shared with students and parents too!)
• Building a positive culture of writing 
• Consistency of writing vocabulary across P-6 (eg. A good writer uses the following traits….. Voice, Conventions, Sentence Fluency, Ideas, Word Choice, Organisation)

Already this year we have heard that students are feeling more confident and eager to write in the classroom. This is certainly shown when we see smiling little faces coming into our office and showing off their wonderful creations!

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha Rockemer

(Learning and Teaching Adviser)