Nudl Street
STUART PARK NT 0820
Telephone: (08) 89816260
Facsimile: (08) 89411854
Email: stuartpark.school@ntschools.net
23 March 2011
(Term 1 week 9)
The season is Bangkerreng - The Knock’em Down Season. The wind begins to blow from the
South-East. This is the season when green turns to gold as the rains ease and the spear grass
turns to gold before being knocked to the ground by the last storms and heavy rains – the Wet’s
last hurrah!
The preschool is quite hopeful and they have decided that the seasons are changing
and so, as you can see above, we are predicting the last gasp of the Wet is with us,
and what a Wet it was.
Bangkerreng is still part of the Wet Season cycle, but it is the grand finale. This is when the
last big storms sweep across the Top End, knocking down the now gloriously tall spear grass,
sending their seeds spiralling deep into the earth safe from the fires yet to come.
As the land starts to dry out, grasses start to form seed heads. This in turn brings out the seed
eaters like the little finches to feast and grow fat. Dragonflies and butterflies are now starting
to appear, announcing the coming of the Dry. Billygoat plums are starting to fruit and yams are
ready to dig up while the ground is still soft.
If you are a gardener, now is the time to get your garden beds mulched and fertilised ready for
planting. Be careful of any seedlings. Don’t plant them out just yet or they will get flattened by
the heavy rains. Keep them in a protected place until Yegge, which is a good time to start
planting things out.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL …
STUDENT DATA
Last week I tried to explain about the place of NAPLAN in judging school and student
performance. I also mentioned several other data sources that this school keeps and
a few people have asked me about them so here is a brief explanation. I’m happy to
go deeper into this if you contact me.
Assessment of Student Competencies – This is a checklist of skills that a child
should have mastered at certain points in their development. We first go through this
checklist at the end of preschool then again during the Transition year. Points not
achieved by the end of Transition alert us to possible future areas of risk.
Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test – Students in Year One are given this test
to identify any areas in their reading skills development that may be at risk. Some
children are also given the test again in Year Two to check that any previously
identified delayed development is progressing.
South Australian Spelling Test (SAST) – All students from Year Two to Year Six take
this test twice a year so that we can track their spelling age.
PM Benchmark – Students from Transition (Semester Two) up to Year Three are
tested one to one by their teacher twice a year to gauge a PM Reading Level.
Count Me In Too – This maths test is also done one to one by the teacher and
identifies maths number skills that a student has or has not mastered therefore giving
the teacher a good idea of what needs to be taught.
Progressive Assessment Tests – These are national tests that this school bought
several years ago when we saw a need to be able to gauge our success against
national expectations. We did this pre-NALAN. Students first take one of these tests
at the end of Year Two and then each year until Year Six.
There are many other methods that teachers use to track student development.
These may be class tests, year level tests or common writing tasks. Observation and
keeping of notes are also two important aspects of knowing and understanding how a
student is learning
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEW
Parent Teacher Interviews will be held next Tuesday. Tomorrow your child will bring
home a time slip with your allotted time. Every effort has been made to give you the
time you requested. If the time does not suit you, please ring the office and we will
endeavour to change it. Interviews are for 10 minutes and every effort will be made
to stay on time. If you find you need more time then another time can be made.
BACK TO SCHOOL VOUCHERS
Just a reminder to all parents that the Governments $75 Back to School vouchers are
required to be used by NEXT THURSDAY 31 March, or they will be forfeited. We
have several unused, or part used, still in the school office.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
School Council will be holding a fundraising event at the Deckchair Cinema on
Thursday 28 April 2011 – this is the short week following the Easter long weekend.
The film will be: Gnomeo & Juliet, an animated adventure comedy. Please put this
date in your diaries and tell your friends. A BBQ meal, desserts and cold drinks will
be available for sale. A colouring-in competition will be distributed shortly with prizes
presented on the night.
In other news, there had been some individual requests to introduce a skort
(skirt/short) to the school uniform. To make this part of the uniform, we needed a
commitment from the school community. A survey was distributed last year to
determine numbers who might be interested. Unfortunately, the response was not
over-whelming and on this basis, School Council has decided not to go ahead with
the skort option at this time.
PRINCIPALS AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who received
Principal’s awards at last week’s assembly:
Sally O’Brien, Madison Lei, Felix Brasher, Lauchlan Fox,
Leo Whiteside, Thomas Bennett, Charlotte Hoyes,
Brandon Feasey, Cheyanne Pusparajan, Lachlan Barker,
Henry Grove, Charlie Brasher, Bella Lo.
CALENDAR
Date
29th March
1st April
11th April
22nd April
25th / 26th April
28th April
– 13th May
24th June
10th
Day
Event
Tuesday
Parent Teacher Meetings
Friday
Last day of term one
Monday
First day of term two
Friday
Good Friday
Monday,
Easter Monday and Anzac Day holidays
Tuesday
Thursday
Deckchair Cinema fundraiser
Tues-Fri
NAPLAN
Friday
Last day of Term Two
School website: www.schools.nt.edu.au/stuartpk/
HARMONY DAY
Congratulations to the following winners of the Upper Primary Harmony Day PosterPersuasive Text Writing Competition. These students were presented with a $25 gift
voucher to Casuarina Shopping Square at our school assembly. Winning entries are
on display outside the school library.
Eliza Stafford, Isabella Collins, Jessica Jong, Madison Lei, Tye Edgcombe,
Jema Fredricks, Lachlan Barker, Ruby Cramer, Edward Alexander, Staffanie Bowling.
After recess on Harmony Day, each student in Early Childhood used their school
passport to visit a different country in every classroom. The students excitedly
collected their stamps and visas as they travelled the world participating in fun
activities particular to each country. Congratulations to all the students for the orderly,
constructive way they participated in this event.
Thank you to St Johns College for helping our school to celebrate the day by bringing
their Indigenous rock band, Desert Rattlers to perform at lunchtime. The band
performance was a highlight of the day.
We would like to acknowledge the support of the Office of Multicultural Affairs,
Department of the Chief Minister for their sponsorship of our school’s Harmony Day
activities.
DEFENCE NEWS
The final Morning Tea for Term 1 will be held this Friday 25th March 8:20am – 10am
in the Sandfly Room. This is or usual venue, previously known as the GP Room.
Friends of Defence are always welcome.
See you there.
Phillipa Cosgrove DSTA
The following advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by the school.
DARWIN DRAGONS RUGBY UNION CLUB
Attention Junior Rugby Players. Competition starts Friday 25th March at 6 pm
AUSTAR PARK MARRARA. Teams in U5’s, U7’s, U9’s, U11’s, U13’s, U15’s & U17’s
Training at Anula Oval, Yanyula Drive Anula, 5 pm to 6 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Registration Fee $100 (Includes Insurance, Bag, Hat, Training Singlet, Game Shorts
and socks ) Discounts apply for families with 2 or more children
Contact: Olivia Barlow on 0401633130 email: niknliv@bigpond.com
ASSISTANT MANAGER required for Market stall. Appros 20 hours per week with
option for more. Hours are flexible but must be able to work Thursday 12 to 8 pm.
Duties include food preparation, setting up stall & customer service. Licence
essential. Phone Di on 0408855937 for more information.
FOR SALE Dark Gray Metallic Drum Set with stool . One year old. $850
Also Yamaha organ $80. Phone Susan on 0412331030.