Parent Teacher interviews

At this stage, our Parent Teacher interviews for Semester 1 are planned for Week 10.

The use of Zoom for Parent Teacher interviews in 2020 was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents and so we are considering its use again in 2021. Please complete this short poll to indicate your views so that we may plan accordingly for our school: Strawpoll

Finally, we would like to invite students to participate in Parent Teacher interviews this year. Of course, it is entirely up to parents to make that decision, but from a school perspective, the students are more than welcome to join the discussions.

More information will be sent in coming weeks about dates and how to book your interviews.

Enrichment opportunities for 2021

Our students will be told this week of their acceptance into our Enrichment program. Classes have recently completed their assessments (including AGAT, PAT Maths and PAT Reading), and we have also taken into account the additional reports from health professionals, parent nominations and teacher nominations. We have endeavoured to accept students performing in the top 20th percentile of our standardised assessments.

We will repeat the process for 2022 at the end of the year, and will base selections for Enrichment in 2022 using the above data and assessment results from the end of 2021. Those students who were not selected this round may just not be ready at the moment, but the process will occur again to ensure opportunity, fairness and equity.

We definitely want to assure parents that there is quality differentiation occurring across the curriculum for all students in all grades so that we can best meet the needs of students across the school.

Tell Them From Me survey

Tell Them From Me is a survey organised by Sydney Catholic Schools used to identify areas of success and challenge within schools, and identify areas for growth in coming years. I believe that an email was sent to all within our community about the survey last week, but it can inevitably be caught up in the myriad of emails that you will all receive each day.

We would like as many responses as possible for our school survey. If you would like to complete the survey, you are more than welcome. All responses are confidential and anonymous. For more information, please head to tellthemfromme.com/shmosman2021.

Carline

The school has been given some feedback regarding carline both before and after school. We have more staff allocated to carline than ever before and all staff are trained on what to do to ensure its effectiveness, but we still have issues from time to time.

Some things to be mindful of:

• Stay in your car at all times. This will keep carline moving, particularly in the mornings when there are no teachers available to supervise.
• When waiting to move through the crossing, be mindful of looking ahead to see when there is room to move forward. Avoid your mobile phone or chatting with other parents on the footpath.
• Be aware of ‘no standing’ zones. Rangers from Mosman Council are vigilant with their monitoring.
• Wait until the road is clear to move through the crossing. If there are cars or buses on the other side of the crossing, it is best to stay put until it is clear. This keeps our crossing safe and clear for students and teachers.

The safety of our students, teachers and parents is paramount.

ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools)

Each year, we offer the opportunity for parents to book their child into an ICAS assessment. This year, parents will have the opportunity to purchase an assessment for their child to participate in Science, English and Mathematics and Spelling Bee for Years 2-6. There are no assessments for Kindergarten and Year 1.

To book an ICAS assessment for your child, please head to bit.ly/icasparent and use our school code WZQ733.

Dance Fever

Week 10 of this term is shaping up to be a very busy week for our community. The Interschool Dance Fever Challenge is scheduled for Wednesday, 23rd June and will be held at Ken Rosewall Tennis Centre in Homebush Bay. We have been told that it is alongside the State Sports Centre where it has been held previously.

A Compass Event has been created and will be shared with parents today. Online consent required via Compass and your account will automatically be billed.  While tickets for parents, family or friends can be purchased via Trybooking. Please see the Compass Event for more information.

Uniform

Winter made quite the entrance this year, with temperatures dropping in recent weeks. It was great to see so many students wearing school jackets and jumpers (and of course, Year 6 in their new jerseys with thanks to the Year 6 class parents). We are reminding students to ensure that their name is on all clothing brought to school.

It is also a good time to remind all students about the best way to wear their uniform. In particular, we are reminding boys about their ties being worn, and being worn properly as well as their shirts tucked. We are reminding the girls about their ties too. We are trying to reinforce how positive it is to be known for your tidiness and being well presented.

School Disco

As the great Billy Joel once said, Oh! What a night! The school disco was a fantastic night for students to gather together in our School Hall for a night of dancing, activities, challenges and of course, some pizza and other culinary delights. Nights like this don’t just happen. We had a great team of parents who were on site from 11.30am led by Mrs Golshan Cowan among others. Mrs Alison Ramadge was also excellent in communicating with the school as to how it might be organised. Thanks to all the parents who gave of their time and effort! An additional thank you to all of our teachers who gave their Saturday so that students could enjoy their night. Thanks to all!

Mr Nick Brierley

Assistant Principal