Newsletter Term 4 Week 2

In the last newsletter I shared the results of our Year 3 & 5 children who sat NAPLAN earlier in the year.  The results of this cohort of children are outstanding.  It is extremely rare to see such an increase in results from one testing year to another.  In fact, in my last 20 years of being a Principal, I only know of one other school that has done this.

Over the last two years we have been gathering data and adjusting our teaching practices according to this data.  Overall, our in-school data has suggested that we were going to have a vastly improved NAPLAN result.  While there is a lot left to be desired about NAPLAN, the one thing that it does do, is that it provides an outside validation for your school.

When looking at populations, often an area that is being measured, typically falls within a bell curve.  Roughly 25% are low performers and 25% high performers.  The majority, of course, fall in the middle.  Much effort then goes into helping people move from the lower end into the next category and so on.

The real dream is to pick up the whole bell curve, which in our case is the whole school population, and to move everyone to a new level of performance. This would look something like the diagram below.  Generally, this is quite challenging and rarely seen. Star of the Sea’s NAPLAN results are so outstanding because we have evidence that we have done this!  What is also great is that we have been seeing data collected in our school that is suggesting the same, particularly over the last year.

NAPLAN evidence of moving the bell curve comes from these box and whisker graphs. 

Here is one example, our Year 3 reading results.  The box in the middle, where the star

Is, shows where 50% of our students are (the line in the middle is the median). The whisker (or line) to the left shows the range over which 25% of students lie.  The whisker to the right (notice it goes way off the page) shows where 25% of our students, who are working well beyond the curriculum.

When you compare this to the 2019 box and whisker charts, the box and whiskers have all moved to the right.

Further evidence of the bell curve moving to the right comes from tracking students from Year 3 to Year 5 and looking at the growth that they have achieved.  Again, a typical bell curve would show 25% of students experience low growth, 50% medium growth and 25% high growth.  Our students achieved well beyond this:

Again, I would like to congratulate the students and teachers who have all worked hard to make this happen.

Regards
Damian Weeks

“Let the little children come to me …for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. Mk 10:11 

Our Mission Day Market was a resounding success.Even the downpour couldn’t dampen our spirits. The Year 4 to 6 students loved planning 32 stalls with their friends. Here is just a sample of what was on offer:  jewellery, scrunchies, key rings, macrame, balloon art, lucky dips, toys, tattoos, nail painting, face painting, water bombs, pluck a duck, darts, soccer, basketball, hot chips, toffee apples, bakery goods galore, spiders, lolly jars and raffles. The Haunted House was also such scary fun. It’s amazing what you can do with hurdles and black tablecloths!

We raised an astonishing $4,000 for our local charities: St Patrick’s Special School and Our Lady of La Vang School, supporting students with significant disabilities, and our MSC Missions.

Thank you, parents, staff and friends for your wonderful support and making this day one to remember.

Stella Foley
APRIM

Below is an article all parents should read regarding the Netflix series "Squid Games:

“A huge congratulations to Alyssa Stevens, Liam Donovan, Ryan Donovan and Fabian Palmato, who recently completed AMEB exams on their instruments. All of these students received a High Distinction for their wonderful playing. What an amazing achievement by all of these talented students!”

School Fees 2021

School fee statements were sent home earlier this week via your child/ren. If you are making regular payments from either a bank account or credit card, please ensure your payments are sufficient to cover any additional fees. Otherwise you will need to make additional payments to cover these fees via Bpay, QKR or payment to the School Office as they become due. This will ensure your school fee account is cleared by the end of the year.

Just a reminder: Parents/Caregivers who contribute at least $300 to the Planned Giving Programme of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Henley Beach for the 2021 calendar year may apply for a full rebate of the School Capital Levy. Application forms are available from the School Office. You will need to take the form to the Parish Office for approval.

All school fees are now due unless there is a prior arrangement in place.

If at any time you are having difficulty with the payment of your school fees, or have any queries, please contact or email janeleonard@star.catholic.edu.au to confidentially discuss the matter.

Jane Leonard
Finance Manager