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High Notes, Vol 24 No 23, August 04 2023

From the Principal

Update From the Secretary

At last week’s webinar from the Secretary of Education, Murat Dizdar, reassured staff about the DoE commitment to slow down the rate of change. By removing mandated pressures, the policy aim is to give schools space and time to respond to their existing challenges. This term, HR is working with the NSWTF on a new award for teachers to go along with the awards for SAS and Non-SAS already finalised and published. There is time for everyone to respond to the Draft Plan before August 25. This will become the blueprint for our work for the next few years. The Department is working to address the teacher supply challenge. It has a goal to grow its market share in competition with the private sector. NAPLAN results for Years 7 and 9 should have arrived in all affected households. Our focus is on trajectories over time – for individual students, for cohorts and for the school.

There has been a lengthening of the runway for the Curriculum Reform rollout. The NESA timeline has been adjusted to align more closely with the Masters Review Recommendations. Protocols for Suspension and Expulsion of Students are being reviewed to re-calibrate the balance between the need for structured and orderly environments and individual student needs. How should the few apex students be managed within the procedures? The Inclusive Education Policy is still a priority and its implementation remains mandated. Non-school staff will be given a week in schools prior to employment, to experience (in Martin Graham’s words) ‘the rich tapestry of life in schools’. We all have to discuss and prepare for the ban on mobile phones in school which becomes mandatory as from October 9. The policy needs to be worded to ‘best suit’ our school’s circumstances and be ‘context informed’. Our staff have had several discussions about the policy and further work will be done during the term. We feel we have settled on a good compromise position for a GPS 6-day school.

Boggabilla Exchange

It was very pleasing to be able to host students and staff from Boggabilla on their visit to Sydney for four days this week. We have had an exchange program with this Indigenous School in Kamilaroi country since 2004. Just prior to and during COVID, the visits were postponed, so it is great that the visit was reinstated this year and we can accommodate everyone at the Outterside Centre.

Vouchers for Parents

Active Kids vouchers for $50 can be used towards sport and recreational activities but will expire on January 31, 2024. This is true also for the Creative Kids Vouchers. With the program in jeopardy, eligible voucher holders are advised to use them on activities this year. Winter sports and co-curricular activities qualify for voucher use.

Sentence Conscious Pedagogy:
Strategies for Constructing and Recognising Topic Sentences

Use one of the sentence types; include an appositive; or start with a subordinating conjunction. Give students a topic and ask them to write two or three topic sentences about it. Give students details in the form of notes and have them generate a topic sentence. Give them a group of 3-5 sentences and have them underline the topic sentence and cross out the sentence that has the weakest connection to the topic sentence. Present students with a series of sentences and ask them to identify the one that is the topic sentence and the ones that provide supporting details. Provide 10 to 15 details about a topic students already have some knowledge of. Have them write a topic sentence. Present a sentence that puts X in a positive light and another in a negative one. Students have to distinguish between facts that support different points of view about the same topic.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal