Parent Engagement 

As parents and carers, you play a primary role in supporting your children’s wellbeing and learning, guiding and supporting them successfully through educational processes. At St Benedict’s we recognise and value the partnerships between parents and carers, the community, and the school to promote student learning and high expectations for student success and personal growth. We foster positive parent engagement through a variety of ways, some of them being: 

Year Level Parent Updates: These are emailed by one of the teachers in your child’s year level on a fortnightly basis. These newsletters have important information, please take the time to read them each fortnight. 

Open Classrooms: Once Assemblies begin, classes will take turns inviting their families to the classroom to showcase work. Students will generally share their learning portfolio and other work they have been doing throughout the term. Open Classrooms are held after assembly each Friday morning, from around 9:20am - 10:00am. 

Library Books: Library books foster parent engagement by bringing learning experiences home and creating opportunities for shared reading. This not only enhances literacy skills but also strengthens the parent-child bond through meaningful conversations. When parents engage with their children’s reading, they show that learning is valued and fun, helping to build a lifelong love of books.

Attend School Events: Participating in school events, assemblies, or volunteering opportunities allows you to connect with teachers, other parents, and the school community.

Celebrate Achievements: Recognising and celebrating your child’s progress, no matter how small, boosts their confidence and motivates them to keep trying their best.

Stay Positive About School: Speaking positively about school and learning helps your child develop a positive attitude towards education, encouraging them to embrace challenges and enjoy their learning experiences.

Open Conversations: Regularly talking with your child about their day at school shows you’re interested and supportive. Asking open-ended questions helps them share their experiences, challenges, and achievements.

10 Questions To Ask That Gets Kids Talking About School

1. Tell me about the best part of your day.
2. What made you laugh?
3. Who did you play with? What did you play?
4. What are you looking forward to about tomorrow? 
5. What did you learn about in PE/Music/Drama/Dance/Spanish/Technologies?
6. What games did you play at lunchtime? 
7. Tell me about what you read in class. 
8. Can you show me something you learned (or did) today?
9. What was the most interesting thing you learned today?
10. What was the hardest/most challenging thing you did today? 

Your involvement, no matter how big or small, makes a world of difference in your child's educational journey!

NAPLAN 

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. Year 3 and Year 5 students complete NAPLAN Online, with the exception of the year 3 writing test which is completed on paper. Coming up to the tests, students will be engaged in learning about the types of questions that will be on the NAPLAN test and how to navigate the site. Students will also participate in a practice test in order to become familiar with the platform. 

If you would like to, you and your child can access the Public Demonstration Site  to familiarise yourselves with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment.

This website ‘NAPLAN For Parents & Carers’ provides further information and resources about NAPLAN for parents and carers.This year, the ‘Queensland Joint Parent Committee’ are also offering a free Parent Webinar. Please see details in the flyer below and register your details through the link. 

Parents or carers may choose to withdraw their child from the tests for religious beliefs, philosophical objections, or your own other reasons. It is recommended that withdrawal be considered in consultation with your child's teacher. If you would like to withdraw your child from NAPLAN please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible and you will need to sign a form along with the Principal by Monday 3rd March (forms can be found at the office). 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding NAPLAN please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. As stated, we appreciate that NAPLAN is a point in time assessment, and we know your children for all their strengths and achievements outside of standardised testing. 

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha Rockemer 

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning (APPL)