Respect, Responsibility, Resilience. Dear Parents and Carers, At Oakhill Drive Public School We believe: • Students are at the centre of all decisions • Learning goes beyond the classroom • Relationships are central We value: • Lifelong learning • A collaborative, respectful and supportive environment • A positive approach How will my child learn at Oakhill Drive Public School? At Oakhill Drive Public School (ODPS) we believe that your child’s learning is the responsibility of the student, parent and teacher. We activate your child’s mind to regulate their learning. To do this our students set themselves goals. Teachers communicate the learning intention for every lesson. Students are shown success criteria at various levels to show them the goal they are trying to achieve. Students are given many opportunities to discuss and share their understanding of the learning and show their learning through purposefully designed activities. The teacher and peers provide feedback to students to help them move their learning forward. Teachers gather data from students, minute by minute every day and plan their lessons according to this. How will we get to know your child as a learner? At ODPS our teachers take the time to get to know your child. The first few weeks of school are spent building the relationship between the children and between the teacher. All lessons are curriculum based and designed by the teachers from the data they have gathered about your child. Each teacher inherits data about their students from the previous teacher and time is made for teachers to share information about the students they know. As teachers begin to teach their lessons, they are constantly looking for evidence of learning to indicate where the students are at, based on the learning intention. This informs the next lesson plan. How will we make learning relevant for your child? Every class has a mixer of ability groups within them. Whilst the key learning of each lesson is the same for all learners in the class, teachers differentiate the learning for groups of students. They differentiate the content by determining where on the learning trajectory the learner is in this area. They differentiate the process for each group by the supports they offer e.g. concrete material, scaffolds, learning partner, and finally they differentiate the product. That is how the student is expected to show or represent their learning. Term 1 Week 4 Monday 15 February 2021 Dates for your Diary Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 16 February Trash Free Tuesday Wednesday 17 February Restorative Practices Parent Session via Zoom Friday 19 February Summer PSSA Week 5 Tuesday 23 February Trash Free Tuesday Thursday 25 February Swimming Carnival Friday 19 February Summer PSSA Week 6 Tuesday 23 February Trash Free Tuesday Thursday 25 February Year 6 & 5/6M Photos Friday 26 February Summer PSSA
Transcript
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience.
Dear Parents and Carers, At Oakhill Drive Public School We believe:
• Students are at the centre of all decisions
• Learning goes beyond the classroom
• Relationships are central
We value:
• Lifelong learning
• A collaborative, respectful and supportive environment
• A positive approach
How will my child learn at Oakhill Drive Public School? At Oakhill Drive Public School (ODPS) we believe that your child’s learning is the responsibility of the student, parent and teacher. We activate your child’s mind to regulate their learning. To do this our students set themselves goals. Teachers communicate the learning intention for every lesson. Students are shown success criteria at various levels to show them the goal they are trying to achieve. Students are given many opportunities to discuss and share their understanding of the learning and show their learning through purposefully designed activities. The teacher and peers provide feedback to students to help them move their learning forward. Teachers gather data from students, minute by minute every day and plan their lessons according to this. How will we get to know your child as a learner? At ODPS our teachers take the time to get to know your child. The first few weeks of school are spent building the relationship between the children and between the teacher. All lessons are curriculum based and designed by the teachers from the data they have gathered about your child. Each teacher inherits data about their students from the previous teacher and time is made for teachers to share information about the students they know. As teachers begin to teach their lessons, they are constantly looking for evidence of learning to indicate where the students are at, based on the learning intention. This informs the next lesson plan. How will we make learning relevant for your child? Every class has a mixer of ability groups within them. Whilst the key learning of each lesson is the same for all learners in the class, teachers differentiate the learning for groups of students. They differentiate the content by determining where on the learning trajectory the learner is in this area. They differentiate the process for each group by the supports they offer e.g. concrete material, scaffolds, learning partner, and finally they differentiate the product. That is how the student is expected to show or represent their learning.
Term 1 Week 4 Monday 15 February 2021
Dates for your Diary
Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 16 February Trash Free Tuesday Wednesday 17 February Restorative Practices Parent Session via Zoom Friday 19 February Summer PSSA Week 5 Tuesday 23 February Trash Free Tuesday Thursday 25 February Swimming Carnival Friday 19 February Summer PSSA Week 6 Tuesday 23 February Trash Free Tuesday Thursday 25 February Year 6 & 5/6M Photos Friday 26 February Summer PSSA
OAKHILL DRIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
What does the learning environment look like? At ODPS we believe that relationships are key. Our teachers build an environment of trust in their classrooms, where students feel comfortable to take a risk and are not afraid of failure. Teachers employ a solution focused approach to all challenges and adversities, in areas of learning, relationships and wellbeing. Our students are immersed in their learning. Exemplars of learning give students a clear aim for what they are trying to achieve. How do we measure success in learning? The curriculum outcomes describe what learning should look like. On a day to day basis, teachers are looking for evidence of learning in every lesson. This is evident by what students say and what they do, how they action the feedback they have received, the questions they ask and the skills they have applied. This evidence is called formative assessment. This accumulates and builds a picture about your child. Summative assessment occurs at the end of a series of lessons or at the end of a unit of learning. Teachers across a grade meet several times each term to compare student data to ensure consistency and plan for further learning. Betty Ploeg Principal
Minimising Risk of Covid-19 Transmission - Still Current Schools should continue to exclude students and staff with mild cold and flu symptoms (such as sore throat, sneezing, coughing and/or temperature). These are mild symptoms of COVID-19 and are asked to seek testing immediately.
• IT IS IMPORTANT that Parents of symptomatic children provide evidence of a negative test
result and have NO SYMPTOMS before their child’s return to school.
• In the case of seasonal allergic rhinitis or other condition that presents similarly to COVID-19 and in the presence of continuing symptoms, the child will need a negative COVID-19 test result and a letter from their GP confirming that the child should be permitted to return to school. If the child’s symptoms change from their usual symptoms, repeat COVID-19 testing should be performed.
• Non-essential adults should continue to be excluded from school unless involved directly in delivery of curriculum activities or health services. All teachers, coaches and volunteers should continue to ensure they maintain physical distancing during, before and after school or sporting activities.
• Good hand hygiene practices should continue to be supported along with the other measures outlined in the school and community COVID-19 Safety Plan.
OAKHILL DRIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
Kindergarten News Our new ODPS Kindergarten students have settled very well into their school routine. Below are some of our students in the library and class at the start of their journey to learn fundamental literacy skills, learning how to listen actively, representing words and enjoying reading. Meet the Teacher Our teachers will meet parents/carers virtually next week. Please look out later this week for a paper note and link via Skoolbag for information on how to join the session using MS Teams. The sessions will be held at the following times: Monday 22 February: 4:30pm - Year 5 (including 5/6M) 5:15pm - Year 6 Tuesday 23 February 4:30pm - Year 3 5:15pm - Year 4 Wednesday 24 February 4:30pm - Year 1 5:15pm - Year 2
Julie Torney Deputy Principal
OAKHILL DRIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
Wellbeing – LEARN IT, LIVE IT, TEACH IT! Quality Relationships and Wellbeing
Notes Due
English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) ASAP
Swimming Carnival ASAP
Summer PSSA Teams Permission Thursday 18 February
Permission to Publish School Photo Preference Monday 1 March
WELLBEING: Restorative Practices At Oakhill Drive, we teach and model the philosophies and practices of Positive Education. Positive Education has been defined as “the development of educational environments that enable the learner to engage in established curricula, in addition to the knowledge and skills to develop their own and others’ wellbeing.” (Positive Education Institute). During PDH lessons, students are explicitly taught self-regulation skills to assist them in managing their wellbeing and relationships. Restorative Practices is implemented at Oakhill Drive to assist teachers, students and parents to build, maintain and restore relationships. Restorative Practices helps build capacity to enable students to self-regulate behaviour and contributes to the improvement of learning outcomes. This Wednesday evening, parents are invited to attend a Zoom presentation which will explain more about Restorative Practices. It is being presented for our school by Restorative Practices Australia. Please see details of the meeting below. A brochure and Parent Booklet are attached to this newsletter. Please note the start time of 7:30pm. A Skoolbag message will be sent as a reminder on Wednesday. I look forward to seeing many of you at the presentation. Helen Paris Deputy Principal
You are being invited to a Zoom Restorative Practices Parent session.
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Play is an important part of a child’s development and at Oakhill Drive we are fortunate to have a large and varied playground. Each playground area has its own purpose, features and expectations of behaviour, developed to ensure that safety is of the highest priority. During last week, our teachers took their classes on a tour of the playground to reinforce with them the expectations of behaviour in each area. Colourful, child friendly signage around the school displays these expectations. For your information, a copy of our Playground Expectations is attached to this newsletter. It would be greatly appreciated if you could find an opportunity to talk with your child/ren about the playground, including where and what they like to play, who they like to play with and ways to play safely in each area. Federal Member Visit On Friday, Mr Julian Leeser MP, Federal Member for Berowra, visited Oakhill Drive to present our school with two new flags. The school leaders met with Mr Leeser and received a new Australian and Aboriginal flag. They responded confidently to his questions about the flags and then proudly raised them, which they will do each school day. We thank Mr Leeser for his time given and interest in our school.
Helen Paris Deputy Principal
OAKHILL DRIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
ODPS Swimming Carnival On Thursday 25 February, Oakhill Drive Public School’s annual swimming carnival will be held at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre. Students will follow a program of events, including carnival races or novelty events, with an anticipated start time of 9:15am. Please ensure your child can confidently swim the races they enter and can perform the stroke correctly. This will ensure all students have an enjoyable time at the carnival. All students are encouraged to demonstrate enthusiasm and house spirit throughout the duration of the day. Due to COVID restrictions unfortunately parents will be unable to attend this year. Please return notes to the class teacher as soon as possible to assist with planning. Rebecca Cameron Organising Teacher 2021 Representative Sporting Trials Each year there are trials for students to be part of a zone or area team in a variety of sports. As a school we are able to select a few students to send to each trial. To attend trials, students are expected to participate in the sport outside of school in either Division 1 or Representative level in U11/12 age group or above. Most sports are only open to Year 5 and 6 students. When trials are announced, the Sport Coordinator and PSSA coach of the sport will consider any suitable students, looking at the level they play out of school and skills shown in weekly PSSA. Most of the zone trials are held after school within the local area. It is the parents’ responsibility to transport their child/ren to the various venues. Nominated students can then progress along the PSSA pathway for selection in representative sport: from school to zone to area to state and in some sports to national competitions. The following is a list of the sports:
➢ Girls and Boys: basketball, cricket, diving, golf, hockey, netball, orienteering, soccer, softball, tennis, touch football, water polo
➢ Boys only: AFL, rugby league, rugby union If your child meets the criteria to be nominated as a possible school representative at a trial, please send in the following details to Miss Lord:
• Child’s name, class / 2021 grade, age, date of birth
• Chosen representative sport
• Local club and representative teams – name of club/s, current competing age group, division, number of years played
• Positions played. For 2021, NSW PSSA and Sydney North PSSA are currently planning a return to representative sport, trials and carnivals. However, with Covid, this could change with short notice and possible variation to arrangements would occur. Summer PSSA Congratulations to all the students who have gained a placement in a Summer PSSA Team. Notes were given out on Friday and need to be returned to the appropriate coach for their sport by Thursday 18 February. On Friday 19 February all teams except basketball will be travelling to Dural Park for a training session. There is no training prior to school this day. Castle Hill PSSA have delayed the start of competition until Friday 26 February. Janelle Lord Sport Coordinator
OAKHILL DRIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Respect, Responsibility, Resilience
Rescheduled Year 6 and 5/6M Photo Day Due to a clash with the school photo day and the Year 6 Selective High School test date, Year 6 photos have been rescheduled. All Year 6 classes (including 5/6M), Year 6 individual photos and the whole grade photo, will be taken a week earlier on Thursday 4th of March. If parents of Year 6 students are wanting their children to have a sibling photo, those photos will also be taken on the 4th of March. Any questions, please contact Mrs Koller via the school email address. Mrs Koller Photo Day Coordinator
Skoolbag App IMPORTANT: I urge all parents to load the Skoolbag App onto your device/s and update the grade and activities your child/ren will be in this year. We use this app daily as a means of updating and reminding parents of events and important information.
Community News DISCLAIMER We sincerely thank our advertisers for their support of our school. While Oakhill Drive Public School is selective in the advertisements it runs, parents are advised to use their own discretion in supporting these services.
Supervision of Students Our teachers supervise children at the following times in the playground:
8:30am-9:00am - Before school 10:55am-11:20am - Recess
1:10pm-2:00pm - Lunch 3:00pm-3:30pm - Bus children only
No child should be at school before 8:30am No child should remain playing on site in the afternoon
Attention Parents Please remember we do not encourage parents onto the school grounds. If you need to visit for any reason – please call ahead first. Once on grounds please ensure to sign in each time you enter for COVID-19 Tracking.
