Students have been busy finalizing assessment tasks and teachers have been equally busy collating information about your children to present to you as a formal school report which will be sent home as per the information provided elsewhere in this newsletter. Reports can be a time of highs and lows for all involved. Take the time to read through your report with your child and celebrate their achievements. This includes enthusiastically “celebrating the C!”.  Remember that the definition of a C is that the student has shown evidence of demonstrating the targeted knowledge as outlined in the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards, as well as the expected conceptual understandings, expected application of skills and the ability to transfer these to familiar situations.  

It is equally as important though, to identify areas for future growth. At OLSCC, we aim to provide an environment where your child feels safe to take risks with their learning and view mistakes, or missteps, simply as a means to finding better ways to be successful. I hope that this view may help shape our thinking prior to reading reports. We have much to gain by discussing things that have not gone to plan in a manner that looks towards improvement. Additionally, allowing our children to solve their own problems, or fix their own mistakes, builds the necessary skills to develop into happy, productive adults who take responsibility for their actions. Einstein said it best when he stated “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

Our learning opportunities outside the classroom continue this week, as our Year 4’s headed off on their very first overnight school camp to Jondaryan Woolshed, undertaking a program that links directly to their HASS lessons. This is also an excellent opportunity to work on the College Learning Dispositions, especially resilience and independence. It also sets the foundations for future experiences and camps that involve some time away from home. I spoke to the students as they headed off on the bus about the importance of being ambassadors for our College in their time away and was filled with pride as I looked across the group heading off, as well as thanks for the excellent teachers who have facilitated this opportunity for them. Our Year 2 students will also be heading off campus this week as they venture to Pioneer Park on Friday, and next week our Year 1 students head into Toowoomba to attend the Olden Days Festival at Cobb and Co museum. What a great way to consolidate learning across the Early Years!

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years