EPS Staff Memo
Week Beginning Monday 21 March
Congratulations to our Grade 6 students who were overall winners at last week's Science and Technology Discovery Day
Quote of the Week
Hello everyone,
Thank you to all the teachers who attended the Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey PL last Wednesday. The feedback from those who attended has been overwhelmingly positive and teachers that I spoke with had been inspired and already thinking about how to implement some of the strategies and philosophies shared. Thank you to Amy for preparing the support materials and making them available to everyone in the staffroom. Just to recap on some of the key messages:
- keep things simple and don't over complicate things - e.g. group as and when needed
- whole school practices, where the language and strategies are consistent from year to year make a significant difference
- the importance of teaching sentence structure especially in the lead up to NAPLAN for us - the difference between compound and complex and the simple graphic used
- building a whole school approach to self-checking and teaching students how to do this effectively
- making learning intentions/goals clear e.g. 3 complex sentence 5 wow words in each piece of writing
- How to 'bump up' using the champion sticker
- I loved the fluency phone
- Jane loves the Tiara of Magnificence
If you were not at the PL can you please make a point of catching up with someone who was and get yourself up to speed as we will be implementing many of the strategies shared. I look forward to seeing some whole school practices emerge in the very near future.
Well done Peter on the excellent Early Childhood Athletics Carnival held last Thursday. It was a fabulous day with children and parents obviously enjoying themselves. Feedback from families was excellent. Thanks to Ben for all the great work done to prepare the grounds and mark the course.
Shame about the weather on Friday but Monday is looking wonderful so the 3-6 Carnival is sure to be a success.
This week our Grade 6 students will be on camp in Hobart from Tuesday to Thursday. Staff attending are Alison, Jill, Peter and Carolyn. Helen will advice of any time table changes.
Enjoy this last week before Easter, it has been a busy start to the year but I feel we have made a good start with students mostly engaged and settled into the learning program.
Enjoy your Easter Break!
Alison
Monday
Brixihibition Entries close today
LIL B4 School Playgroup 9-00 am to 10-30 am
Sallyann Geale - AEU - Tony Hastings
Alison and Cindy Dunn at Civic Reception PM
Tuesday
Grade 6 Camp to Hobart and Port Arthur
LEGO Entries on display in Jen Radford's old classroom from 1-05 pm until 1-45 pm
Photos of students who were absent last Wednesday will be taken today at approximately 2-30 pm. A list is on the whiteboard
SM - Juanita Blade and Problem Solving in the PAC
Wednesday
Grade 6 Camp to Hobart and Port Arthur
LIL - Book Fun 9-05 am to 10-00 am
School Performance - Stig (Andy Griffiths voice) grades 1-5 in the PAC 9-30 am until 10-30 am
Flutter Girls Group - Heritage Block 1-45 pm to 2-45 pm (this week only due to the Stig Performance) Teachers please remember to sent students on time
Arrow Boys Group - Heritage Block 11-35 am to 12-35 am Teachers please remember to sent students on time
Thursday
Grade 6 Camp to Hobart and Port Arthur
Jessica Walker - PL - NR
Primary Progress Reports sent home - Grade 6 reports will be posted home.
SM - Individual time to work on IEP's
Friday
Good Friday
Brixhibition Competition
Entries in the Brixhibition Competition will be on display in Jen Radford's old classroom for students to view on Tuesday 22 March during lunch time.
Eating Time in the Courtyard
Just a reminder to the 2-6 teachers that grade teachers are to share an eating duty, one teacher per grade to ensure adequate duty of care. Please ensure children "eat on a seat" I appreciate some classes for finding alternative places to sit to support eat on a seat. Also can you please remind students that equipment needs to remain at the classroom door to collect after eating time. Thanks for your efforts in ensuring to make this duty easier on everyone, with clear standards and expectations for all students.
Exeter's Got Talent
This year EGT will run during Term one. Entry forms are available from the office and posters for classes can be collected at briefing on Monday. Grade 2 to 6 students. Please talk with your students about options for acts, there are more things then just dancing and singing. Entry forms due the week before eEster holidays. Auditions after Easter and final performance the last week of term.
Primary Progress Report
Thanks to the staff who have already had their reports printed. Reports are to be sent home on Thursday.
Morning Duty
Please remind students the climbing equipment is out of bounds before school for safety reasons, as we do not have staff who are able to stay and ensure their safety. If children are playing on equipment please sit them on the seats until the bell rings.
FOCUS Page
K-2 Athletics Carnival
Flu Vaccinations
Flu Vaccinations will be carried out again this year. Please let Sheryl know if you are interested in being vaccinated here at school.
Student Behaviour
Just a remind of the process for supporting student behaviour. If you have exhausted all strategies and require senior staff support with a student, you are to contact the office and the office staff will locate a member of the leadership team to support you. The same goes for the playground. Should you be unable to sort an issue please send a student to the office for a senior staff member and the office will send whoever is available.