Big thanks to our P&F for the wonderful disco we all enjoyed last night. It was really great to see so many families come along and get involved. I was particularly excited by the number of kids we had showing off their dancing skills. Who knew we had such a bunch of groovers? I think the P&F are now working on a Mum’s night out for Mother’s Day next term and another State of Origin Night (where we can all come and cheer for the maroons:)) Please remember you don’t have to come to P&F meetings to get involved, we are also very grateful for helpers at events too. We really appreciate those that can put their hands up and it is a great way to get to know each other as a bonus.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Our teachers are looking forward to catching up with parents on Monday and Tuesday afternoon/evening to discuss your child/children’s progress so far this term. It is a valuable time to understand how your child has settled into class routines and how they are engaging in the learning process. By this time in the term, we can certainly identify some progress with learning and we start to implement plans for the specific needs of our students. This meeting with you child’s class teacher/s is a wonderful opportunity to share in the successes your child has experienced this term already.

Learning at St Benny’s

As you know, our classrooms operate as flexible learning spaces where children have the opportunity to work in different ways including (but not limited to) at desks, in groups with others and working with hands on materials. Flexible learning spaces allow students to engage in learning activities at their developmental level as the concepts about small group work enhance the opportunity for teachers to adjust the learning experiences accordingly. There is a misconception that flexible learning spaces can be a bit of a free for all, kids doing what they like, where they like. This could not be further from how our spaces work. We use a framework for learning spaces that sets out learning behaviours for each of the ways of working. You may have heard your children talk about caves, waterholes, mountain tops, campfires, plains and nests. These are the names of a particular way of working rather than a specific space in the classroom and they allow the discussions about expectations to be focussed on learning behaviours rather than just behaviour generally. For example when we work in an activity with the learning behaviour expectation of a ‘Waterhole’, we know that we have independent work to do quietly but may refer to our peers in the group for assistance if needed. Learning behaviours for a ‘Campfire’ experience would include discussion and collaboration with expectations around noise level, participating to the best of your ability and taking turns. Have a chat to your kids about the learning behaviours for our ways of working in other areas and see if they can explain it to you. Our Preppies should be the only ones who won’t be able to articulate it fully yet.

Our staff are starting to discuss ways we can communicate more effectively about the learning in our classrooms and we are already coming up with some ideas I think you will find engaging and informative. We look forward to sharing these with you next term.

Sacramental Program

Thank you to Mrs Ros Baumann and Mr Nick Christie for coordinating the Sacramental Program in collaboration with our parish. It was lovely to be able to host a group here at school throughout the program. Today the group is enjoying a retreat experience with Fr Dave at the parish community centre along with all students who are completing the Sacramental Program. Our prayers are with this group as they journey forward in their faith experiences. This is a very special time where the students are making their own commitments to God and affirming the choice their parents made in their Baptism.

Looking forward to a fabulous final week of term ahead.

Cheers

Penny