Once again thanks to all who helped with the disco & working bee. The disco raised just over $1100!! The clearing at the back of the school is much better and the area has been added to our Cross-Country track for 2023 and students have already been practising in this area. The new recycling bin has arrived so hopefully we can keep our rubbish more contained and that whole back area much neater.

A reminder to all families that children should be bringing only water to school in their drink bottle.  Energy drinks should not be brought to school in place of water.

Fathering Project

We are excited to announce SPP are participating in The Fathering Project School Program in 2023. This is the first program to be implemented in Australia which focuses on Fathers. It recognises that fathers and father figures play a vital role in children’s lives and can positively influence their children’s health and mental health, social success and academic achievements. SPP will be running some ‘Fathering Project’ events throughout the year.

The first event we are hosting a pizza and paper plane making night for all SPP Dads and Father Figures on Wednesday 29th March. There will be awards for the best made plane and longest flight!

This is an opportunity to spend some time with your kids, whilst giving you time to connect with other dads in a relaxed social environment.

More details to come!

FORMAL REPORTING IN 2023

Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn (CECG) has communicated to schools regarding reporting to parents/guardians. CECG has advised schools that general comments will not be required on Semester 1 2023 reports, but to prioritise Parent/Teacher Conferences for every family. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, their strengths, challenges and future areas of focus. A Semester Report will still be sent home as in previous Semesters providing A-E grading and attendance information. CECG has advised schools that Semester 2 2023 reports will require a general comment for all children. This general comment will provide a summative comment for the year, areas of achievement and areas to focus on for the following year. A-E grading and attendance information will remain as normal. We would encourage all parents/guardians to engage regularly with their child/ren’s learning, connecting with their class teacher/s regularly to discuss learning progress.

At Ss Peter & Paul’s, we are holding formal Parent/Teacher interviews this term that can be booked through Compass. In term 2 we will also give parents an opportunity to check in with their child’s teacher before a formal report goes home at the end of the term.

THE IMPORTANCE OF READING

The article below again reinforces how much reading can help your child’s learning.

Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found.

This “million word gap” could be one key in explaining differences in vocabulary and reading development, said Jessica Logan, lead author of the study and assistant professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University.

Even kids who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don’t regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.

“Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school,”

“They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily.”

Here is how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old: Never read to, 4,662 words; 1-2 times per week, 63,570 words; 3-5 times per week, 169,520 words; daily, 296,660 words; and five books a day, 1,483,300 words.

“The word gap of more than 1 million words between children raised in a literacy-rich environment and those who were never read to is striking..

The words kids hear in books are going to be much more complex, difficult words than they hear just talking to their parents and others in the home,”

For instance, a children’s book may be about penguins in Antarctica – introducing words and concepts that are unlikely to come up in everyday conversation.

The words kids hear from books may have special importance in learning to read.