PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
Project Compassion - Lent
Structured Literacy
Over the last week the Grattan Institute has published a report into Literacy acquisition in Australian schools.
The report recommends,
“…all schools should use the ‘structured literacy’ approach right through school, which includes a focus on phonics in the early years.
Students should learn to sound out the letters of each word, and teachers should read aloud rich literature to their class. Once students have mastered decoding new words, they still need explicit teaching to build up their background knowledge and vocabulary, so they can comprehend what they read – the ultimate goal of reading.”
This Thursday during our school closure the staff will be continuing their learning about these exact strategies as we partner with the DOBCEL staff in the Structured Literacy program. This professional development dovetails with our school having embraced the Little Learners Love Literacy program in the junior school. It is reassuring that the research we have done into the best ways to support our staff to continually improve their knowledge and skills has been identified by the Grattan Institute as the most effective method that is research and evidence based.
This initiative is a key priority for us in our School Improvement Plan for 2024 and beyond as we continue to build upon the excellent results that our students currently achieve. Our staff will undertake two full days of professional development supported by 10 online modules to be completed during the year.
House Fire
The Collins family whose house burnt down last week are a part of our school community as their eldest daughter Harper began Foundation this year. Jordan and Tegan also have Finn at home and are expecting their 3rd child in the next few weeks. Our community has offered support and will ask for your help as specific needs become known.
e-Scooter Laws
I draw your attention to the e-Scooter Laws for Victoria which among other things state that e- Scooters can only be ridden legally by people over 16 years of age.
This being the case no children will be able to ride an e-Scooter to school.
See the full suite of laws from the Victorian Police website.
Reconciliation Parent and Student information evening
Congratulations to the children who will commence the Reconciliation Sacramental Program at the Parent and Student information evening tonight at 7pm, Tuesday 20th February.