Well done to all students in Year 3, 5, 7, and 9 who have completed their NAPLAN tests in the past two weeks.  Here at the College, we strive to instil in our students our College Learning Dispositions and there was an amazing amount of persistence, independence, motivation and creativity shown by these students throughout these tests.  All students should feel proud of their efforts in NAPLAN. 

NAPLAN – what now?  

One of the main reasons that NAPLAN was completed in March rather than May was so that schools could receive the results earlier in the year.  This access to results earlier for schools will better inform our College and our system to enhance the teaching and learning programs we deliver to our students.  One of the benefits of NAPLAN for our College is that it gives us data to inform our practice and allows us to identify trends so that we can target our teaching to cater for all levels and abilities.  ACARA CEO stated “It is the intention that this valuable data will be available earlier to inform teaching and learning programs, and to identify professional development needs.  It also means parents will receive results earlier in the year, helping to inform the conversations they have with teachers.” 

In February of this year, ACARA the governing body for our Curriculum and the administration of NAPLAN, announced changes to the way NAPLAN is reported from 2023 and I encourage all parents to read this media release in NAP news linked below to be better informed about these changes. 

Excerpt from the ACARA Media Release 10 February 2023 

“From this year, parents and carers will get earlier, simpler and clearer information about their child’s NAPLAN achievement based on new, more rigorous national standards.   

New proficiency standards with 4 levels of achievement for each year level will replace the previous 10-band structure that covered all 4 levels tested and the old national minimum standard set in 2008 when tests were on paper. The new proficiency standards include a baseline benchmark to identify students who are likely to need additional support.   

NAPLAN INDIVIDUAL STUDENT REPORT  

The numerical NAPLAN bands and the national minimum standard will be replaced by the following 4 levels of achievement:  

• Exceeding 
• Strong 
• Developing
• Needs additional support. 

The descriptors for each category will make it clear to parents what their child’s literacy and numeracy skills are at the time of NAPLAN testing, and support discussions with their school on their child’s progress.”  

EASTER 

Easter is an important time in the liturgical calendar.  To mark this important time in our Church we will gather on Friday 31 March at 1:00pm for our Easter Prayer Celebration.  Everyone is welcome to join us for this occasion.  The focus of this prayer celebration will be Palm Sunday which is marked in the Church on 2 April.  To symbolise this occasion, we would like each class to create a bunch of leaves and small branches that students bring from their home (local) environment.  These leaves would be bound together into bunches and these bunches will be used to begin our Prayer Celebration to symbolise the palms.  It is requested that each student from Prep to Year 12 bring a small twig of leaves or a very small branch (no more than 20cm in length) into their core class teacher (Prep to Year 4) or their Religion teacher (Year 5-12) by Thursday 30 March. This time frame will allow teachers time to prepare these bunches for Friday’s prayer celebration.  It is symbolic that we gather these leaves from ‘our homes’ and combine them as class bunches rather than just grab these from our College grounds.  These do not need to be palm leaves and we love the idea that each student may bring in a different leaf.  More detail about the leaf request has been emailed home to every family. 

Easter Egg Raffle

We are in the last few days of selling tickets and gathering easter eggs. Tickets are 50c each and sold each day in lunch areas around the College including the MPC and Senior Plaza.  We can’t wait to see how much we can raise for our local St Vincent de Paul (and also who wins all the yummy chocolate)!  Winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Easter Prayer Celebration. 

Year 10 Science Trial Test 

We have been randomly selected to take part in the National Assessment Program – Science Literacy (NAP-SL).  A sample of 20 students from Year 10 will be randomly selected by Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to complete this test.  The assessment session will last approximately 2 hours and will be conducted in early May.  We are still waiting on final details for who will complete this assessment and on which date. Once these details are available, students and parents will be notified.   

DATE CLAIMERS FOR LYF 

31 March – Nolan Day 

24 April – 2:30pm – OLSCC ANZAC Day Service 

26 April – all day – Year 10 Retreat Day  

5 May – Rice Day  

12 May – Prep Mother’s Day High Tea  

2 June – 9:00am - Ecumenical Service  

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education