May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.

May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.

(Ephesians 1:17-18)

It is approaching reporting time again and the mid-year reports will be released for Pre-Primary to Year 6 at the end of this term. It is important that, as parents, you understand these reports and their purpose. At St Paul's, you will have been receiving important information about what your child is learning through class weekly notices, as well as how they are achieving through assessments pushed out on Seesaw and communication with teachers, including parent teacher interviews.

Please note the following important points about the reports that you will receive this year:

Parents will receive 2 formal academic reports:

• MID-YEAR REPORT (July) - This report provides parents with a ‘snapshot in time’ of how their child is progressing in relation to the end of year Achievement Standard for each learning area for their year level. The grade provided is taking into account the curriculum which has been taught and assessed to that point in time.
• END OF YEAR REPORT (December) - This report provides parents with an overview of how their child has progressed across the entire year, in relation to the end of year Achievement Standard for each learning area for their year level. The grade provided is taking into account the curriculum which has been taught and assessed across the entire year, not just Semester 2.

Please note the titles ‘Mid-Year’ and ‘End of Year’ which differ from the previous titles of ‘Semester 1’ and Semester 2’. It is a requirement from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority that the report at the end of the year reports on the entire year (not just Semester 2) and it was deemed that the ‘End of Year’ title better reflects this.

Subject descriptors will look different:

Previously at St Paul's, each subject has had a paragraph outlining some of the things that have been covered over the semester. As classroom teachers send out weekly notices about what has been covered, this can be a double-up of information. Instead, a list of the Achievement Standards that have been assessed for the reports will be included so parents are aware of what has been assessed to give the grade that the student receives.

It is important that parents understand the grading system:

• A 'C' grade indicates that your child has progressed to the desired level of understanding for his/her year level. It is not 'just a pass' like it used to be, but an indication that the student is at the expected Achievement Standard.
• An 'A' or 'B' indicates that the child is responding to the content taught at a deeper level. They think more critically about the content, which is a great skill to have. An 'A' or 'B' is not determined by a percentage mark as it depends on whether the student has demonstrated ability on questions and opportunities that allow them to demonstrate a deeper level of understanding.
• Final grades are determined by the numerous samples of work and assessments that teachers collect. The grade is determined with the use of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority's Judging Standards.

More information on how students are assessed can be found at: https://parent.scsa.wa.edu.au/how-will-my-child-be-assessed

Sadly, I need to inform you that we have a few staff members leaving St Paul's this term. Taryn Prior (Pre-Primary teacher) will be leaving us at the end of Week 8. Also, Dom Parkinson (Education Assistant in Year 2 on Wednesdays and Thursdays) and Lisa D'Adamo (Education Assistant in Year 2 on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as Pre-Kindy on Wednesdays and Fridays) will both be leaving us at the end of Week 6. Each of them have been valuable members of our staff, made significant contributions to St Paul's and will be missed by our community. We wish them well in what the future holds. We are currently in the process of appointing new staff to cover these positions and I will let you know once the process is complete.

Our St Paul's Cross Country was run on Friday and we had a fantastic day for it! Seeing so many parents come along and cheer for our students was great. Our students ran well and we were very surprised to see a 3-way tie for the overall House scores! We don't remember this ever happening before! Congratulations to our champions and runners-up from each year level. Our Interschool Cross Country team will now be selected from Friday's results.

Have a great week!

Regards,

Mr Pete Merry

Principal

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