WELCOME BBQ – TO GO AHEAD
Thank you to all the people who have volunteered to help at the Welcome BBQ. This is a fantastic event which is a great way to meet the other families in our community. Join us at school on Thursday 16th March from 5 pm. These great events are only possible with the help of the community as volunteers. A huge thank you again to Minh Dang who is coordinating this event.
EVENTS ON COMPASS
School Events – Procedures:
We have made some small adjustments to improve the reminder schedule for upcoming events. School Events that require consent and payment are posted on Compass at least 2 weeks before payment is required.
When an event is created:
- an alert will appear on Compass for an ‘Opt-In Event Invitations’
- an email will be sent via Compass to the primary household
An email reminder will be sent one week before payment and consent is due and again two days before payment and consent is due. After this due date we cannot accept further payments.
We ask that families check that their email is up to date and correct as this will be the only way reminders are sent for upcoming events. Please contact the school before the payment date if you are experiencing any difficulties. We are here to help you however please let us know before payment is due.
To help you navigate and locate upcoming events requiring action we have created ‘Finding Events on Compass’. Please take the time to view Locating Events On Compass
LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY
This a reminder of the upcoming Labour Day holiday. The school will not be open on Monday 13th March, as this is a public holiday. We hope you enjoy this day with your family.
ARRIVAL TIME
We are noticing that a number of students are arriving well before 8:45 am. There is no supervision of children at school prior to 8:45 am. If students arrive before 8:45 am, when the gates open, they must attend Team Kids before school care. As a matter of safety please plan out your morning so your child is dropped off between 8:45 am and 9:00 am.
NAPLAN TEST DATES – YEAR THREE AND YEAR FIVE
NAPLAN testing commences next week for Year Three and Year Five students. NAPLAN testing is online except for Year Three writing, which will remain on paper. No tests will be administered prior to the dates that are assigned below. Catch-up tests will be available for students who are absent. Catch-up dates may change depending on the number of students who need them.
All NAPLAN tests listed below will be completed before recess on their scheduled days. Catch-ups will be completed before lunchtime. Please ensure your child/ren arrive at school on time.
Day 1 – Wednesday 15th March
Writing – 40 minutes (paper)
Catch Up – Friday 17th March
Day 2 – Thursday 16th March
Reading – 45 minutes
Catch Up – Wednesday 22nd March
Day 3 – Tuesday 21st March
Conventions of Language – 45 minutes
Catch Up – Thursday 23rd March
Day 4 – Wednesday 22nd March
Numeracy – 45 minutes
Catch Up – Friday 24th March
SCHOOL REVIEW
Every four years Victorian government schools go through a school review. Thank you to those who have already contributed to this in Term Four last year through a special parent survey. We received well over one hundred responses and have incorporated your feedback into our pre-review documentation. This week we are commencing the onsite components of the review process, with some parents attending a parent forum on Friday morning. Thank you for your support with this process. The feedback from the review panel so far has been fantastic with the reviewers visiting some classrooms this week and commenting on the engagement and respectful behaviours that our students have in their classrooms.
2022 NAPLAN SUCCESS AND CELEBRATION– THE AGE
We recently attended a principal conference for the Bayside Region where the success of our students in the recently published NAPLAN results was commended. This is something that our school community should be extremely proud of. Several members of our parent community may have also seen this success recently published in The Age. As we are all well aware the success of our kids at McKinnon Primary can be attributed to the outstanding quality of teaching and learning that goes on within our community. This is a result that we should all be extremely proud of and celebrate. We are fortunate to have high-quality educators that have worked tirelessly through some tough years recently in collaboration with families to achieve this fantastic success.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Wednesday 8th March was International Women’s Day and this week students and teachers engaged in learning activities both in the classroom and library. The week is another opportunity to highlight and discuss issues around gender equity and celebrate our wonderful female role models. Our fantastic library rich catalogue of picture books, fiction, biographies and non-fiction texts all help teachers and students connect and explore this important discussion.
LEADERSHIP ASSEMBLY
On Thursday 16th March at 2:45 pm, Nick Staikos will be attending our leadership assembly at McKinnon Primary School. This is a great opportunity for our school community to celebrate all the fantastic opportunities the students have to be involved in the leadership and improvement of our school.
Hope you all enjoy your long weekend,
Suzanne, David and Andrew