News from the APA - Karina Brady
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we embark on the halfway mark of this term, we eagerly look ahead to the exciting events we have coming up at Our lady Help of Christians, beginning with our Feast Day celebrations this Friday.
Our classroom teachers are beginning the process of piecing together a formal report for the children in their class. This involves assessing students, marking assessments, moderating assessment pieces as a team to arrive at a consistent judgement, making judgements on our Affective Reporting Domain (ARDs) that are linked to our school values and expectations, as well as writing a general comment. All of this is completed for each student, on top of the everyday work our incredible teachers do. So, I would like to acknowledge the significant time, care, and professionalism our teachers are investing in creating these reports. They are an important, but demanding, task that reflects their deep commitment to each child’s learning.
Staff Car Park – Safety Reminder
We continue to see a high number of families using the staff car park during drop-off and pick-up times. Please remember:
- The staff car park is for staff only.
- Entering or exiting during peak times disrupts traffic on Balaclava Road.
- We’ve observed unsafe driving behaviours, including speeding and reversing without checking surroundings.
This is a serious safety concern. Let’s work together to keep our students safe by using designated drop-off zones and parking areas.
Contact Information
Please ensure your emergency and additional contact details are up to date with Madonna or Lindy at Reception. This includes listing grandparents or other carers/friends who may be picking up your child/ren. We’ve recently seen an increase in families having an additional person picking up their child/ren from school and they are not on the contacts list.
Thank you for your understanding and support in this safety process.
Student Protection Contacts
We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of every student. Please see below the Student Protection Contacts Poster for Our Lady Help of Christians.
These posters are displayed around the school and within each classroom. It is important for children to know they have a person, or people, available to talk with if a situation concerns them.
On our current school website, you can also find information surrounding safeguarding policies and processes. Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on ‘Policies’ or ‘Student Protection’ to find out more.
By clicking Safeguarding Children Statement, you can also read our Safeguarding Children Commitment
The Learning Dashboard (TLD)
One key difference in TLD is the move to an overall judgement for English and Mathematics. For those families with children in Year 1 and above, you may remember that each year when reporting a child was given a judgement for the different strand areas within English and Mathematics, as well as an overall judgement.
From these visuals, you can see the different strands that fall under English and Mathematics for version 9 of the Australian Curriculum that we teach and assess to. The English curriculum is built around three interrelated strands whilst the Mathematics curriculum is built around six interrelated strands.
From 2025 moving forwards, students will receive an overall judgement for English and an overall judgement for Mathematics.
- Overall judgements are given for each subject.
- These judgements are based on a body of evidence from classroom work and assessments.
- Not all strands (like Measurement or Space in Mathematics) may have been covered in every year level yet.
- Therefore, appropriate comments will accompany the overall judgement to explain which strands were taught and assessed.
Another great feature of TLD, is the ability to view your child’s previous report judgements. This is available for students in Year 1-6, who have attended a Catholic Primary School in the Cairns Diocese. On Wednesday May 21, the My Learning configuration will be activated. This will allow you to login to TLD, via the Parent Portal or MYCE app, and view your child’s previous report results. You will also be able to view your child’s current attendance rate.
On Thursday May 22, an EdSmart slip will be going out to families to gather RSVPs for our upcoming TLD Parent Information Sessions. We ask that you please RSVP so we can have enough materials prepared.
Seesaw: Stay Connected with Your Child’s Learning
Did you know you can leave a voice note or comment on your child’s work in Seesaw? It’s a great way to encourage and engage with their learning!
Here’s how:
- Open the Seesaw app.
- Tap on your child’s post.
- Click the speech bubble
- Choose to type a comment or record a voice message (the microphone icon).
You can also tap the heart button to like your child’s work.
With these features turned on, you will also be able to comment on posts the teacher adds to the class journal. Just a reminder, the comments are a way of engaging in student learning. If for some reason you need to contact the teacher, or have a question about something you see on Seesaw, please email the teacher.
Seesaw is a great way to have parents engaging with their child/ren’s learning.
As always, if you require any support in the Seesaw space, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher or myself.
As we celebrate the milestones and moments that shape each child’s growth, we’re reminded of the powerful role families play in nurturing a love of learning. Education is the seed, and community is the soil, together we’re growing something extraordinary. Thank you for walking alongside us in your child’s school journey, your support helps their potential blossom every day.
Karina Brady
Assistant Principal - Administration