Writing results on the rise! 

We are now at the end of our two year journey with the ‘Writing Project.’ We are so proud and excited to see our students succeed in writing, be motivated to write, and have our NAPLAN results move upwards in a positive direction. We will continue to analyse data, plan, and teach writing with practices we have learned over the last two years. I look forward to continuing our practices and pedagogy and seeing our results continue in an upwards trend. Most of all, I look forward to continuing to see our students thrive, be motivated, and excited to write! 

School Holidays!

The school holidays are only two weeks away! I hope you all have a wonderful break and enjoy some family time together. 

To encourage continuity of learning, I have listed some fun ideas to encourage children to keep growing their knowledge and skills: 

• Oral language - Talk! Talk! Talk! Whether you are in the car, cooking dinner, or going on an adventure, talk with your children, ask questions, and have meaningful conversations. Children can develop and learn many skills through oral language 
• Drawing/Writing/Art - Bring out the pens, pencils, and writing paper and get creative! Maybe go old school and write a letter to the grandparents? Maybe encourage your child to create their own children’s book (or do it together)!
• Keep a holiday diary/journal
• Real life experiences - cooking, reading recipes, writing shopping lists, estimating money spent while shopping. Whatever you are doing, learning can happen! 
• Go on a nature walk (trail, park, beach), take photos, or draw and record your observations. 
• Go on excursions - whether you are going away, or staying in Townsville, there are plenty of things to do. If you are staying in Townsville, the School Holiday Guide is a great resource for ideas. It will be available on the 24th November on the Council Website. 
• READ! READ! READ! - Daily reading is ESSENTIAL. I totally understand that it might be tricky to read every single day on holidays, but please try to keep up the habit of regular reading (at least every 2 days), as it will make a lot of difference when your child returns to school. 

Have a wonderful and blessed holiday, 

Aleesha Rockemer 

(Learning and Teaching Adviser)