Message from the Deputy Principal

Dear Parents & Friends,

I hope all our families have had a positive experience this term, adapting to new teachers, higher expectations, challenges, learning and making /sustaining friendships. I hope also as parents, you are adjusting to our online environments and tools now that teaching, learning and administrative tasks are almost entirely online. We believe our community is ready for this. We have had some families share thoughts about eagerly awaiting the SEQTA parent portal launch. The transition from Coolsis to SEQTA has been a huge learning curve for staff. Thank you to our families for their understanding and patience during this phase.

Every age and year level is a defining moment for a young person and their families. Our teachers aim to provide learning opportunities not only based on content but also critical skills – listening, questioning, reasoning and problem solving. Our approach is not simply to rescue children but rather enable them to make better choices.

Thank you to the staff and families working together with the Primary Parents Club and Fundraising Committee. This term we have much success bringing the community together during the Twilight Cinema night and in addition, the Snow Cones were a treat during the hot weather.

Next week, we have our Parent-Teacher Interviews (PTIs). This will provide parents protected time to talk to staff. Please take the recommendations by staff and continue learning activities during the school break.

Congratulations to Mrs Anna, whose smile just got bigger because she is now Mrs Anna Gallo! Also, congratulations to Mrs Busra Baykan at Dallas campus who also recently tied the knot. Finally, we wish good health & a speedy recovery to Ms Eser Sozer’s father. We all know life is full of surprises!

School Uniform –

Sirius College uniform applies to ALL students. By wearing the uniform there are many benefits. Students develop a sense of pride and identification with the College. Please visit the Lost Property if your child is missing uniform. We expect that students provide a NOTE to the class teacher if they cannot attend school in full uniform.

School Goals –

The next inter-campus curriculum (ICC) day is on Monday 11th April. These days allow staff across campuses to design collaborative teaching and learning programs. Please remember, it is a student free day.

Early Childhood Research –

A census of more than 300,000 Australian children has found that more than one in five are behind in at least one area of their development by the time they reach school. The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a nationwide measure the College participates in which looks at how young children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school. AEDC data, collected triennially since 2009, measures a child's development across five domains:

• Physical health and wellbeing
• Social competence
• Emotional maturity
• Language and cognitive skills (school-based)
• Communication skills and general knowledge.

In 2015, the AEDC found that 22 per cent of children were ‘developmentally vulnerable’ in one of these domains, and that 10 percent were vulnerable in at least two. Other findings include:

• More boys were considered developmentally vulnerable in at least one domain (28.5 per cent) than girls (15.5 per cent).
• The proportion of students found to be on track in the language and cognitive skills (school based) domain increased (from 77.1 per cent in 2009 to 84.6 per cent in 2015).
• There has been an increase in the proportion of students considered to be developmentally vulnerable in both the social competence and the physical health and wellbeing domains.
• Indigenous children (42.1 per cent) were twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable.

The Discipline Committee-

Our school coordinators along with the Management team, including Pastoral Care leaders and principals are all members of the Discipline Committee. We meet every week and review major issues. Teachers and coordinators investigate these issues and a decision is made collectively at a meeting. Parents will receive details about their children and will always be notified in the process. The process might take some time, however we believe a fair approach is far better than a hurried one, considering that staff continue to teacher and have regular duties during the day too.