19 Oct 2018
The Proof is in the Pudding!
From the moment we first saw, considered and dived into Explicit Instruction (EI) model of teaching under the tutelage of John Fleming and the team from Haileybury College, we were extremely confident we had found what we were looking for. I knew we had outstanding teachers and I knew we had students that were hungry to learn and grow academically. The missing link to greater success?? Could it be the Literacy, Numeracy and Writing Daily Warm Ups we had heard so much about? When we flew our staff to Melbourne in 2015 to visit the highest performing school in Australia, we wanted to see how they were taking information, knowledge and skills from student’s short term memory to long term memory using the above mentioned warm ups and the EI maths lesson format. It took only 5 minutes into our visit before we started smiling at each other with great excitement.
That was 4 years ago. Our ‘test pilot guinea pig’ group was our kinder class of 2015 who have known nothing else but EI. Four years, on our ‘test pilots’ have arrived in Year 3 and have finally been able to sit the 2018 Australia wide NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) Assessment. We were always quite confident that the Pudding had been well ‘prepared and cooked’ and we now just had to see what the taste testing judges had to say. Well …… the proof is in the pudding! The Premier’s Priority and key target for all NSW Schools is to have as many students as possible in the very top 2 Bands of NAPLAN in Reading and Numeracy.
· Across NSW, which is the highest performing state, the percentage of students in the top 2 Bands in Reading is 50% - Charlestown South PS Year 3 – 86%.
· Average student score for Reading across NSW was 429 – Charlestown South PS averages student score for Reading 506.
· NSW percentage of students in the top 2 Bands in Numeracy is 51% - Charlestown South PS
Year 3 – 83%.
· Average student score for Numeracy across NSW was 406 – Charlestown South PS average student score for Numeracy 468.
Overall NAPLAN for 2018 in light of the Premier’s Priority, the NSW State average for students in Years 3 & 5 in the top 2 Bands in Reading and Numeracy was 35% - Charlestown South average for students in Years 3 & 5 in the top 2 Bands in Reading and Numeracy was 70%
Now that was a nice Pudding don’t you think!!!
♫ ♪♫ This Week @ Band Camp…
Glenrock Scout Camp will not be woken this Friday to the sounds of “dib, dib, dib, dob, dob, dob”, but rather the tuneful melodies of CSPS 33 student strong Concert Band. The local birdlife will no doubt gather on the verandah at 2pm along with our instrumentalist’s parents, for a brief performance celebrating all things learnt during the day. When you combine our three terrific tutors with our keen ‘concerters’ and throw them in together for 5 hours, it’s amazing what magical music one can make! Our Concert Band will perform on the Thursday of Week 2 at Bandfest despite many members spending three days in Bathurst on our Stage 3 excursion.
Recorders Rocked
In the final assembly, on the final day, in the final 30 minutes we heard the most amazing thing! All of Year 1 & 2 who have been learning to play the recorder with Mr Isaacs, performed for the entire school. Never before in the history of man have we heard a rendition of Hot Cross Buns like this one! Well done Year 1 & 2 on a rousing performance that also included 7 other musical pieces. No longer will we have new students in Year 3 starting Concert Band not knowing the basics of musical notation and reading and the ability to play a basic instrument. Bandfest 2019 look out! In Term 4 we will send out expressions of interest to Year 2 (as well as Year 3 & 4 who may have reconsidered) for those wanting to join the Concert Band. Our aim is to send students home for Christmas this year already in possession of their probable instrument for 2019. We are looking forward to the challenge of having to purchase a whole lot of new flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets and more to meet the growing demand. Not to mention the rapidly growing research that seems to all sing from the same hymn book when it comes to the extreme benefits in reading and maths for students who play a musical instrument.
If you know of any local businesses eager to sponsor local schools and endeavours in the academic space, we’d be very happy to accept sponsorships for musical instruments and gladly sing their praises and generosity on our school sign, Facebook and Instagram pages as well as our Newsletter, all of which when combined reaches 1000s of local families every single week.
All Aboard the Bathurst Bus!
Going west may have once been a dangerous wilderness discovery adventure but now … well it still is (minus the dangerous of course!). On Monday our intrepid travellers from Years 5 & 6 will board the bus bound for Bathurst as they head out for a 3 day journey through western NSW. Apart from gold digging and panning near the thriving country town of Bathurst, they will cross the 3 Sisters in Katoomba, delve underground into Jenolan Caves, connect with some cattle, rub shoulders with sheep and then venture on to the spectacular Dubbo Zoo. It’s an action packed 3 days! A big thank you to Mr Kelly, Miss McLelland and School Chaplain Mrs Donovan for your willingness to leave your family behind to give our students such an awesome opportunity in the wild west!
A Brilliant Course of Action
Coming up in our local area are some outstanding courses available to kids and parents that I would encourage people to consider. Eastlakes Family Support Centre has three courses coming up for FREE! The Tuning Into Kids course sounds superb as does the Circle of Security Parenting Series. The G*I*R*L sessions for young girls also sounds amazing! For further info check out the Eastlakes Family Support Services website or give them a call on 49439255.
Parenting Course a Huge Hit
The common comment from the collective crowd of 25 parents as they filed out of the library after our recent Navigating Parenting session with School Counsellor, Bec O’Brien was….. “that was brilliant!” We thank Bec for giving her time to convey all manner of parenting tips during our time together. The good news is that Bec also presents a CyberSafety session for parents and I have invited her back in Term 4 to present this to us! Stay tuned for dates and time.
Inspired Individuals – Friendships Fostered
The 2018 Whitebridge Community of Schools Year 6 Leadership Day once again delivered all that was promised! Our crew of kids was challenged and changed by the inspirational guest speakers who came from the digital, technical, University and Law Enforcement space. Alongside of this was the informal friendships forged with students from Kahibah, Redhead, Dudley, Charlestown East and Charlestown public schools, many of whom will attend WHS with our students in 2019. The intertwining nature of the day requires students to work together from all 6 schools as we solve mysteries and undertake mind grappling group tasks that foster fun and friendship. No value can be placed on this important factor. Well done Mr K for organising such a sensational stimulating event.
Anyone Know Where Barooga Is??
I hope so! Because that is where I am headed to for all of next week as I coach the Hunter PSSA Boys’ Cricket Team at the NSW State Carnival. Despite the 9 hour drive there, and the 9 hour drive back, this is an event that I look forward to each year, seeing the young cricketing talent from the Public, Catholic and Independent Private School systems from all parts of our great state. Go Team Hunter! We made the semi-finals in 2018, can we go one better? Mrs Jill Hodson will be acting Principal during my absence.
Everybody Loves Good Neighbours
During the holiday break we had a nasty incident when three youths smashed a number of windows and gained access to a few of our classrooms. Our wonderful neighbours heard the alarms, notified us immediately and were quick enough to snap some photos of the fleeing group. These photos are now in the hands of the police who have identified the intruders. A huge thank you to ‘off duty’ staff Colin Pascoe and Cheryl Hansen, who attended the break in with me to clean up the glass and mess in our classrooms. Fortunately, despite the huge mess created, nothing major was taken or completely destroyed and classrooms were all cleaned up and ready to go this morning.
And the Survey said …
We surveyed the top parents in the nation (CSPS Parents that is) and their responses were ….
Every 2 years CSPS participates in the nation-wide school survey. This online survey takes about 5 minutes to complete and has the same questions for every school across Australia. It generates a great snapshot about each school and the parent’s perception of their local school. We’d love all to participate in this anonymous and confidential survey and you can do so by going to https://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/csps2018. Thumbs up to the 66 parents who have already completed the survey.
Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip
During the holidays Susan, Lily and I managed to see a couple of great little films (Grandad came too but saw about half of each!! zzzzzzzzzzzz J). Being a lifelong fan of A.A.Milne and his clever poetry, I especially enjoyed the movie Christopher Robin. I think I can still quote a few off by heart?? When the adult Christopher asked Winnie the Pooh what day it was, Winnie answered “Today! My favourite day!” This comment may be more profound than you think upon first hearing. As parents with busy lives and schedules, sometimes we can forget to appreciate the moment with our kids and miss the gift of today. Sometimes the chaos of life can simply blur our priorities. Whatever age your child is today, they will never ever be that age again. Being there ‘today’ makes the ‘tomorrow’ more special and all the more rewarding