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Strong learning partnerships are critical to our success at Foxwell State Secondary College. This week we held our first ever Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences. The feedback from all involved was very positive. Parents told me that they were very impressed by the positive relationships between the teacher/s and their child and that the teachers really knew their child, their learning needs, and could identify with the child the next steps for their learning improvement. I was also impressed by our students during this conferences as they took ownership of their learning and their learning behaviours, and they could clearly identify their next learning goals. These conferences will be held twice each year and I encourage all parents to take advantage of this important time, regardless of their child’s academic, effort and behaviour results.
I am aware that some parents have not yet accessed and reviewed their child’s Semester One Report Card, which were sent by email to all parents on the last Friday of Term 2. We ask all parents to ensure that they have reviewed the results and engaged in improvement conversations with their child. Here at school, our teaching staff have spent time this week working with each child to identify their next steps. We recommend that you have a follow-up conversation with your child. Please remember to celebrate the successes and improvements and also encourage ongoing growth and development. Should you wish to discuss your child's progress with our staff, please feel free to communicate with your child’s teacher/s, Head of Students, or Deputy Principal.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Our school also reflects on our progress and regularly sets new goals for improvement. This involves seeking feedback from students, parents, staff, community members and Department of Education executives. This week we met with our Student Leaders and many other students to seek their feedback about their schooling experience at Foxwell State Secondary College so far. This involved some survey questions, small focus groups and individual meetings. The feedback has been very positive overall: however, our mature and insightful students also had some suggestions that may make their learning experience, and that of our 2021 Year 7 students, even better.
We will be seeking the feedback of parents by engaging in an online interactive survey and a focus group at our next P & C meeting. I encourage all parents to get involved in this video-conference meeting to provide your input. Please see the P & C section of this newsletter for meeting details and keep an eye out for our Facebook reminders. We are privileged to have such an engaged P & C committee. Please be assured that our school takes on board the ideas presented during these meetings, so if you have been thinking of getting involved or voicing your opinion, the next meeting would be a great time to engage.
ASSEMBLY
Thank you to the parents who have viewed our school assembly on our Facebook page. It is regrettable that we cannot have parents and community members physically attend at this time, and we hope that by having this available to you, you get to see for yourself the wonderful things that we share. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Rylee, Sidharth, Yoyo, Jai and Ethan for their professional leadership of the assembly. The focus of the assembly this week was Inclusivity, which is one of our school SPIRIT values. It aligns perfectly with our key message that Kindness is the Foxwell Way. You can access the full assembly here:
Until next time
Kym Amor
To be ready for school each day, students at Foxwell SSC should have, in their bag:
- A fully charged iPad,
- A fully charged apple pencil or equivalent,
- A filled water bottle,
- Any book requirements for the day
To be ready for school each day, students at Foxwell should be dressed in their full school uniform ( either sports or formal depending on the day) which includes the correct hat being worn whenever students are outside their classroom.
If your child has lost their hat and have checked everywhere, they will require a new one ASAP. If your child forgets their hat, they will be asked to contact home to see if the hat can be brought to school. Hats are an integral part of our School Dress Code.
Reminder also about shoes, our formal uniform requires black lace up, leather shoes. Shoes that are made of canvas or cloth do not meet our workplace health and safety requirements and students may need to be excluded from certain activities, if these are worn. Students presenting to school in incorrect shoes will be asked to contact home to make arrangements.
What I Need (WIN) Time
WIN Time continues this term in The Learning Hub. The purpose of this time is to provide students with an opportunity to access teachers and teacher assistants for additional literacy and numeracy support, either in general or in relation to specific aspects of studies in English and Mathematics. The Learning Hub is open from 8.00am to 4.00pm daily, with the schedule for WIN Time as follows:
All students are welcome to attend these sessions, bringing with them work they wish to complete or with which they require assistance, such as homework tasks, classwork or assessment. This is a valuable opportunity for learners who are focusing on improvement and the accomplishment of their goals. We look forward to seeing you in The Learning Hub.
In their Enrich lesson this week, students engaged in a personalised approach to reflecting on their learning behaviours, effort and overall progress in Semester 1, accessing feedback and results from across the semester to inform this reflection. We discussed the importance of students taking ownership of their learning, and the value of learning dialogues with our teachers, peers and families. Students examined the format of their Report Card to determine what kind of information is shared by their teachers, as well as the Guide to Making Judgements for Learning Behaviour and Effort, so that they could understand the reasons for the results they achieved. By reflecting in this way, students were then able to identify strategies they would implement to support them in improving their effort, learning behaviour and achievement.
Below are some of the questions that students were asked to consider as they reflected on their Semester 1 Report Card. These questions would make great conversations starters at home, too:
1) In what ways is your rate of attendance impacting, either positively or negatively, on your ability to accomplish your goals?
2) Which of these strategies do you implement to ensure that you are organised for learning?
- Recording homework in an organised way
- Reading notices in SharePoint
- Catching up on work missed due to absence
- Mapping out due dates
- Setting reminders
- Planning for other activities e.g. WIN Time, sport
- Planning for completion of assessment
- Keeping a record of positive experiences
- Planning for other commitments e.g. Meetings; family commitments
3) Identify one key aspect of Effort upon which you will focus this Semester
4) Identify one key aspect of Learning Behaviour upon which you will focus this Semester
5) How will you know if you are making positive progress with these goals? What will be the benefits to you as a learner?
6) Is there anything that your teacher/s need to know about you and how you learn?
In future sessions, students will be asked to reflect on their entire report card, including comments provided by teachers. Please ensure that by 28 July your child has access to a copy of their Semester 1 Report Card, which was emailed to you on June 24, the last day of Term 2. A photo or screen shot will suffice. Any feedback provided by teachers during the Parent-Teacher Conferences is also useful information to record.
Students who would like extra support, particularly in literacy and numeracy generally, and Mathematics and English curriculum, are encouraged to attend WIN Time in the Learning Hub.
ICAS Assessments are online assessments, designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. The assessments provide students an opportunity to have their achievements recognised
The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning.
To ensure an engaging and beneficial experience for all students, new ICAS assessments are developed annually for each subject in every year level.
What are the benefits of participating in ICAS testing?
- Provide objective ranking of performance
- Encourage students to attain greater academic success
- Require students to think beyond the classroom
- Recognise student success through medals and certificates
When will ICAS testing occur?
Students participating in the listed Excellence Program, will participate in ICAS testing and the cost will be deducted from the program fees.
|
ICAS Test |
Date |
Excellence Program Participants |
|
Science |
19th August |
G-STEM students may select between ICAS Science and ICAS Maths as their school purchased test. They will nominate this with Mrs Crowe, next Wednesday. Should they wish to complete any further ICAS tests, it will be at parent/guardian expense. Creative Voices students will complete ICAS English as their school purchased test. Should they wish to complete any further ICAS tests, it will be at parent/guardian expense. ALP students may select any of the tests to complete as their school purchased test. They will nominate this with Mr Kerwin, next Wednesday. Should they wish to complete any further ICAS tests, it will be at parent/guardian expense.
|
|
English |
26th August |
|
|
Maths |
2nd September |
|
|
Digital Technologies |
24th August |
|
|
NB. Testing will occur on the designated dates during the school day. Each test takes approximately 1 hour to complete. |
||
Who can participate?
At Foxwell SSC, students in the Excellence Programs of G-STEM, Creative Voices and Advanced Learner Program [ALP] are expected to participate in ICAS testing, as above. The cost of a single test for these students is accounted for within the Excellence Program fee structure, no additional payment required. In order to access this, payments for Programs of Excellence must be up to date. Should parents of Excellence Program students wish their child to participate in more than one test, it will be at their own expense.
Should students outside the Excellence Programs wish to participate in ICAS testing, the cost is $15.95 /test. Please visit the online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments. The web link is: https://shop.unswglobal.com.au/pages/pps. Next week, you will receive the school access code - please look out for this through Seesaw as you will require this to make payment for the test.
Payments must be made, no later than Sunday 2nd August, payment after this date will not be processed.
NB. Payments cannot be made at the school.
We look forward to seeing just how well our students excel in this international competition.
If you have any further questions, please contact our Head of Department, Teaching and Learning – Danielle Goddaer dgodd2@eq.edu.au
On Thursday 23rd July, Creative Voices and Debating students had the privilege of participating in a Public Speaking workshop run by popular radio host Moyra Major from 102.9 Hot Tomato. Throughout the session, the students learnt about the fundamentals of effective public speaking whilst taking part in a range of fun activities that strengthened their skills on confidence, posture, breath control and delivery. We look forward to another workshop in the coming weeks.
On Friday 24 July, 7M held a business and marketting event to showcase the exciting entrepreneurial ideas they have been working on in Physical World. Guests received tokens to vote on the ideas that 'excited them most'. We look forward to hearing the outcomes shortly!
Join an upcoming e-safety commissioner webinar for parents and carers, at no cost.
These live webinars explore the latest research in to e-safety and are a great way to learn how you can help your child develop the skills to be safer online.
All sessions are delivered by eSafety expert educators.
All webinars are listed in AEST.
eSafety's parent guide to online gaming
This 1 hour webinar is suitable for parents and carers.
Dates
- Tuesday 28 July: 7.30pm
This webinar will cover:
- the benefits of gaming and how to mitigate the risks
- strategies to manage gaming and overuse
- where to find help and support.
NOTICE OF MEETING
Foxwell State Secondary College P&C General Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month during the school term. The next P&C General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 11th August at 6PM via Zoom. If you wish to attend please email your RSVP to PandC@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au by 9am Tuesday 11th August. This will enable us to send you a Zoom link prior to the meeting and answer any questions you may have. If you have an item to add to the agenda for discussion, or to view the current agenda, please email, by 5PM Monday 10th August.
If you would like to know more about the P&C or if you are interested in joining/attending, please do not hesitate to email us for more information.
MEETING SURVEY
Recent COVID19 restrictions have necessitated changes to our usual meeting format with our Term 2 and 3 P&C meetings to date being held via Zoom (online). With restrictions now lifting we would like to explore options for the format moving forward. We would appreciate it if you could please complete this quick 1-2 minute survey. If you have not yet attended any Foxwell SSC P&C meetings we'd also like to hear from you. We will present the results of this survey at our next meeting.
Kind regards,
Karina Waterman Secretary Foxwell SSC P&C
The final day for payments through the finance window for Term 4 will be the 19th of November 2021.
All invoices are now overdue. Please make payment as soon as possible for any outstanding Student Resource Scheme invoices or Excellence Program invoices.
Statements will be sent fortnightly to families.
Do you receive Family Tax Benefit A or B from Centrelink? If so, you can nominate a fixed amount to be paid form your Family Tax Benefit directly to the School to cover your child's education costs. Please see link to a CentrePay Application form. You can submit this form directly to the Finance Department via email at finance@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au
If you have or are currently experiencing financial difficulty please contact our Business Manager, Kimberley Knowles to establish a payment arrangement via email: kknow13@eq.edu.au