St Matthew’s Primary School

Principal Talk with Mrs Lowe

'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey

The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey is a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of your perceptions of your children's experiences at home and school. It is based primarily on Joyce Epstein's framework for fostering positive school and community relations. Successful schools foster greater communication with parents, encourage parental involvement in their child's schoolwork, and enlist parents to volunteer at the school and participate in school life. The survey also provides feedback to schools about how parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment.

The survey includes seven separate measures, scored on a ten-point scale. A score of 0 indicates strong disagreement; 10 indicates strong agreement; 5 is a neutral position (neither agree nor disagree).

The data gathered from this survey helps us form our Annual Improvement and Strategic Plans. Of course, we welcome a conversation at any point in time about concerns so that we can address these immediately.

The data is also provided to the Catholic Education Office, and we would love them to hear about the wonderful things happening at St Matthew's. Hence, we encourage all parents and carers to participate. The more responses we receive, the more accurate our data is.

Please click on the following link to complete the survey: http://tellthemfromme.com/stmatthewspage

Your survey response is encouraged by Monday, 16 August 2024, at 4.30 pm.

The graph below shows an overview of our 2023 results. Out of approximately 230 families, 88 parents responded.

Invitation Parent Breakfast 30 August

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We invite you to join us for breakfast on the K-1 Playground from 8 a.m. on Friday, August 30th. This celebration marks two special events: Mother's Day and Father's Day.

We invite you to spend the morning with us from 8.00 to 8.45 a.m., having a light breakfast and playing with your children.

The parents and carers will have breakfast near the canteen window, which will consist of pastries and fruit.

The students will be provided with a morning snack of fruit, a mini-muffin or muesli bar.

Juice or water will also be available for parents, carers and students.

After breakfast and our morning play, you are invited to join us for our Year 6 Prayer Celebration and Awards Ceremony in the School Hall.

Thanks to our School Community Council organising committee, the students will also have the opportunity to purchase a Father's Day gift later in the day.

K-2 Parent Workshop - DIBELS Assessments

Thank you to the parents who attended the K-2 Parent Workshops yesterday. if you missed the opportunity and would like to learn more about DIBELS and how you can support your child with their early literacy development, please contact Mrs Cole or your child's classroom teacher.

AFL Championships Success

A huge congratulations to Elsie Hamilton on her recent success at the Australian Schools Australian Football Championships held in Geelong.

Although the ACT team did not place in this competition, Elsie was named as the Player's Player Award recipient for the week.

Sue Whiting- Author Visit

Today, we had Australian Author Sue Whiting visit St Matthew's.

Sue is an award-winning children’s author, editor, and former teacher who has worked in publishing for more than twenty years.

Sue has written numerous books for a variety of age groups, from picture books to Young Adult Fiction, including the bestselling Missing, the acclaimed The Book of Chance and a number of CBCA Notable Books.

Sue’s latest books are Tilda, a historical novel for readers 10+ and Pearly and Pig and the Lost City of Mu Savan, the second book in her new junior fiction series.

Sue is a wonderful storyteller and performer. Today, she had our students fully engaged with her entertaining and passionate storytelling.

She is passionate about the power of stories and is an advocate for reading and writing for pleasure.

I would like to thank Miss Judd for organising Sue Whiting's visit to St Matthew's.

Attendance

We know that every day of school attendance adds to your child's chances of success and achievement from kindergarten to high school. You play a key role in making sure your child attends school every day, and you do this because you understand that attendance leads to success, not just at school but later in life. Every day at school counts towards your child’s learning.

We realise some absences are unavoidable due to health issues or other circumstances. However, we also know that when students miss too much school, no matter the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically. The more absences your child has, the harder it is for them to catch up on missed work and stay connected to their school community. Absences add up quickly. If your child is absent just one day every two weeks over a school year, this will add up to 20 days of lost learning. This is almost half a school term.

Along with many other schools across Australia, we have noticed a significant increase in absenteeism since COVID-19. We understand that this is partly due to parents being vigilant about keeping sick children at home, and we appreciate this; however, some absences can be avoided.

The following table indicates the levels of attendance.

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn has asked each school to aim to achieve an attendance rating of 90% or above. Below is the attendance breakdown per grade for Term 2 at St Matthew's.

Kindergarten	92%
Year One	90%
Year Two	89%
Year Three	89%
Year Four	90%
Year Five	87%
Year Six	91%
School	90%

Unfortunately, we currently have 26% of students with an attendance rate of less than 90%; 4% of these fall into the Chronic Absenteeism category.

Part of my job is to respond to all emerging and chronic absenteeism (less than 90% attendance) with support to improve attendance. This may involve an initial letter or phone call, subsequent letters, and creating a Student Attendance Plan.

We want your child to succeed at school and know that you do as well. Please let us know if you require support in ensuring your child attends school on time each day.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Yours in truth, peace and love,

Mrs Sarah Lowe