PRIMARY COORDINATOR
Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students for putting in their very best effort for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing which was held over 3 days on Tuesday 15th May, Wednesday 16th May and Thursday 17th May. NAPLAN tests are just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. They do not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performances.
The tests covered skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy. Schools will be given the results of these NAPLAN tests later this year around September.
Technology at Home
At Sirius College, we value the use of technology including laptops and iPads, and the engagement that these devices promote within the classroom but we do not use it all the time. We believe in offering a well-rounded educational experience that includes handwritten and digital opportunities. It is important that students learn to write properly and accurately.
At home, we encourage you to implement boundaries regarding screen time (TV, ipad, PC) allowing your child time to ‘play’. Please talk to your child about what they believe is a responsible amount of screen time at home, and stick to these rules.
Online Safety for Your Children
As a parent, do you know who your child is connecting with on-line? Do you know what sites they are accessing? This is a reminder that Cyber Safety is a very important issue for our children.
The PC and games consoles(PlayStation) have the ability to do multiplayer games over the internet and recently it has come to our notice that students are playing games (and chatting) with friends or maybe strangers, thus being exposed to bad language, and cyber bullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that’s done by means of technology - for example, using the internet or a mobile phone to hurt, harass or embarrass someone. All of this is then filtering into our classrooms and school yard and causing behavioural issues. Strict disciplinary action will be taken against students involved in any instances of cyberbullying.
I would encourage all parents to ensure you know what games, apps, websites and social media your children are being exposed to. As we are sure you are aware, there is a lot of material available online that is inappropriate for Primary School children. To help protect your child’s device, you should be checking to see that both the Google and Youtube settings are set to restrict.
Google Safe Settings:
YouTube Safe Settings:
Please be aware that these are precautionary measures and cannot guarantee complete filtering. As such, it is important that you monitor your child’s internet use.
We will make every effort to educate students about online safety and cyber bullying at school. I will look forward to your support in implementing these rules and safety measures at home too.
Regards,