Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome
Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. Last week we celebrated Teacher Aide Week and this week we celebrate School Support Staff Week. This gives me the opportunity to acknowledge these wonderful people and the work they do to make our school the beautiful engaging environment it is. Our teacher aides work tirelessly with our teachers to improve the learning of our students and invest themselves in their welfare. Every day they go above and beyond to build positive productive relationships with students and this care and attention assists our students to not only access the curriculum but grow as individuals and become confident young adults. Our administration officers are the backbone of our school and carry out a variety of essential services such as administering first aid to our students, managing our budgets, communicating to our community and welcoming our visitors. Our grounds staff are next to none when it comes to creating a calm and beautiful learning environment for our community and many visitors comment on our lush surroundings. They also ensure our equipment is safe, repairing and replacing when required as well as rescuing the odd shoe from a roof or a ball from under a building. Our cleaners are also a valuable part of our Banksia community that work undercover as they clean largely before and after our students’ school day. They are here before dawn to ensure our school is clean and hygienic for our community and return during the day and after school to do the same. While our teachers consistently demonstrate their commitment to improving student learning, our engaging and supportive learning environments would not be as effective without these wonderful people. Thank you for all you do to make Banksia great.
Student Learning
This week our 2021 NAPLAN results were published and students from Years three and five will bring their individual results home. As a school, our students performed very well and have exceeded many benchmarks. This is testament to the rigorous improvement agenda our teachers maintain and the sharp focus on teaching and learning in every class, every day. Our mean scale score data tells the story of our implementation of successful evidence based programs in reading and writing since 2018 (Year 3 pictured above and Year 5 below) and the alignment of our NAPLAN results with our A-E data is confirmation that our students engage in the right work at the right time. Congratulations to our students for their successful results and our teachers for their continued vigilance in creating the most effective learning experiences for our students.
Excellence Programs
Over the past two weeks we have been able to showcase our Excellence Programs in Sport and Performing Arts as the easing of some restrictions has allowed some events to be rescheduled. This week our AFL girls competed at the semi-finals of the State Titles. This team of Year 5 and 6 girls competed very well and should be proud of their results. As this team features predominantly year 5 students, the prediction is that they will be a formidable force in 2022. We are also sending a team to a rugby league competition and we wish the boys all the best. Early in Term 4 our girls rugby sevens team will have their debut competition also. This Friday, our instrumental music program are presenting a small performance. This group have had limited opportunities this year due to lockdowns and restrictions and it is wonderful to have created a platform on which to perform. Thank you to our coaches and teachers for enabling our students to perform on stage and on the sporting field at the high levels they do.
End of Term
As Term three draws to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our teachers, students, staff and our community for their commitment to our school over the past ten weeks. We have definitely had some interesting and at times challenging moments, however throughout it all, the Banksia spirit shone through. Our students achieve because of the value we all place on learning and the care we have for each individual. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to seeing everybody recharged and ready for Term Four.