Primary News

Seeing all the smiling faces on the first day back at school was an excellent start to the year! The infectious laughter and chatter of the children is once again filling the playground and classrooms, and the 2024 school year has begun!

I have enjoyed hearing about how our families spent the summer holidays. Myself and my family didn’t go far but have enjoyed the warm summer weather at both the beach and farm, swimming in both dam and sea and picking apricots, peaches and nectarines.

The most memorable experience was kayaking on the Kalgan at 9pm on a still warm summer night. We experienced the magical experience of bio luminous algae. Everything that moved in the water showed up as fluorescent light. This phenomenon happens on the Kalgan every year for a few weeks and is well worth the late night. As we paddled along we saw shrimp and fish dart in the water. It made me ponder at the awesome world that God created and that we as humans understand only a little of his creation.

Across the school, I have noticed children settle in well to the new school year. At our assembly on Monday I introduced the bible verse of the month that we are memorising. This verse supports our Week 1 value of compassion. 

Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.” In this sentence, Paul has summarised the biblical message: that we are to be kind, compassionate and forgiving.

The primary staff have returned rested and ready for a new year. They have planned interesting and inspiring learning experiences for your child. The teaching staff for 2024 is as follows;

Kindy and Pre Primary	Mrs Marli Smit & Mrs Rachel Bresanello
Year 1 and 2	Mrs Angela Van der Snoek & Mrs Lousie Shenfield
Year 3	Mrs Anoushka Jensen
Year 4	Mrs Deidre Kohrs
Year 5	Mrs Natasha White
Year 6	Mr Lewis Sinclair
Music	Mr Peter Findlay & Mrs Tammy Goetz
Mandarin	Mrs Christina Wonnings
Physical Education	Mrs Rachel Bresanello

Lifelong Learners

Improving teaching and learning is a team effort, and at ACC, we value a lifelong love of learning. Several of the primary school staff are completing their Masters in Education, while two of our education assistants are working their way through the Alphacrucis, Teacher Training Program. We hope this positive attitude to learning at any age is a role model for our students. 

Improving students' learning also requires a team effort - it's more than just one teacher and one class. In 2024 we continue to use data driven practices to ensure our programs are achieving for all students. Our writing improvement program and numeracy instruction are our main focus for this year. Cold tasks were completed by staff with their 2024 year group in the last week of term, allowing for moderation with brightpath and the allocation of grow points for each child. New students will complete a cold task in Week One of the term. These Grow Points become the child’s aim for improvement during the term and assessed with a hot task in late March. I love how the child takes ownership of their learning through this process.

A few staff will attend a seminar in Perth in March to learn about the science of reading, the cognitive development needed for reading fluency 

IT

The beginning of the year is when our students complete their ACER tests so we can measure their comprehension and numeracy growth throughout the year. The ipads and Macbooks are used for the testing. The beginning of the year is when we set up IT devices and teach the fundamentals of document creation. Please ensure your child either leaves their ipad at school or brings it charged and ready for use daily. For more information please refer to the Technology support page on the Parent Portal on the ACC Southlands website. Student Technology Requirements

Kindergarten and Pre Primary

The Kindergarten students had a lot of fun in their first week and had some special photos taken of their first day at big school. The Preprimary received a special t-shirt that says they will graduate in 2036! That seems like a long way off.

In Year 6 we intentionally provide experiences for students to develop a heart for serving the community. The outdoor education program on a Friday challenges Year 6 students with a theme of hungry, humble and healed. Through pushing themselves in the outdoors through surf life saving, biking and hiking the program leaders had three main cultural goals.

Cultural Goals:

1. Establish a culture of HUNGRY - striving and thankfulness, not apathetic or lazy.

2. Establish a culture of HUMILITY - serving and encouragement, not arrogant or self-centered.

3. Establish a culture of HEALED - repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ.

This term the Year 6 will develop their surf life saving skills in readiness for the Surf Life Saving Carnival later in the term.

Loose Parts Play

We are very excited with the development of a loose parts box for the Early Childhood children. The school is grateful to receive a grant from the Australian Independent Schools Association. The grant helped us buy a fantastic large outdoor box and fill it with real materials such as poly-pipes, bamboo, planks of wood, wheels of various sizes and fittings. Loose parts play involves materials that can be moved, manipulated, constructed, rearranged, taken apart, put together, carried, combined, lined up, used alone and given a destiny that is determined by a child – rather than an adult, or manufacturer.

We created a fine motor skill box of materials that the year 1 and 2 students have enjoyed exploring.

Al Curnow Hydraulics have kindly donated plastic cable spools that the children have put to good use. We are always on the lookout for material to add to our loose parts play, from cardboard boxes to carpet tubing. Please contact rachelpower@acc.edu.au if you have something in mind.

In the Garden

The Kindy and Pre Primary students replanted their little beds in the playground with herbs and flowers as part of a sensory unit in Science with Mrs Burns. They are busy watering and caring for their herbs. The Pre primary were delighted that they could eat the tomatoes. Cucumbers and zucchini that were planted in Term 4 last year.

As one can see, a lot is happening across the primary school but most importantly we are setting firm foundations on which to build the year. Firstly we implement a Behaviour Pedagogy which are just big words for explicitly teaching children the behaviour needed to create a learning environment. From lining up rules to attention signals, we endeavour to keep as much as possible school wide to assist children with a consistent routine. To reward and give consequences for behaviour, we use the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down system frequently. 

I have been extremely impressed with the manner in which children have listened and followed instructions from very early on in the year. More impressive is the values our children who have been with us for a while have displayed continuing the great culture we have developed. The children have shared the love of God and the joy we have as a school, truly being lighthouses to the community we live in. I am confident that the firm foundation is setting up 2024 to be a fantastic year for many.