Published on: 11 May 2023

  • Term 2 Parent Forum
  • Pre-Primary to Year 6 House Athletics Carnivals
  • Managing screen time
  • Year 5 and 6 Open Classrooms

This week I hosted the Term 2 Parent Forum with the focus on Reading Progress. Reading Progress is a tool built into Microsoft Teams that is used to track reading fluency in our boys. Teachers of Years 4 to 6 will assign a weekly task for boys to read at home. As with all other homework tasks, boys are directed to their Reading Progress tasks through the class OneNote. Boys are required to record themselves reading a selected text aloud, using their cameras on the School iPad for submission. Once submitted, teachers can easily track reading accuracy and fluency, as the software identifies word omissions, insertions, mispronunciations, repetition, and self-corrections.

Teachers can assess boys’ comprehension of texts as well as monitor accuracy and fluency over time. By assessing the analytics, teachers are able to provide feedback and guidance for future learning. Boys will continue to be taught reading comprehension and vocabulary during daily Literacy blocks with Reading Progress being used to support boys reading. In accordance with Cyber Safety recommendations, boys should use their device in a visible location. The reading should not take more than 5 minutes.

On Tuesday 16 May our Pre-Primary to Year 2 Athletics Carnival will take place. The boys will have an opportunity to participate in various running races and will join in team games; bean bag race, hoop relay, egg and spoon relay and a sack race with other boys in their house. The morning is about participation and we encourage boys to try their best.

Next Thursday 18 May, all boys from Year 3 to 6 will participate in our House Athletics Carnivals. The younger boys will have an opportunity to participate in various running races and will join in team games with other boys in their house. The older boys will also participate in throws, such as shot put and discus, as we well as high jump, long jump and triple jump during their Physical Education lessons. We look forward to seeing the boys cheer for their house and participate positively in their events. Parents are welcome to attend these carnivals.

Parents often ask me how much time their son should spend on his device. In order to provide some information around this topic, I have provided a link to our school well-being resource, School TV. This site provides information from leading specialists regarding managing screen time and may be of interest to parents.

This week, the Year 5 and 6 cohort took part in their Open Classroom sessions to connect parents with the boys’ learning. The Year 6 boys proudly shared their Migration Suitcase Stories and answered questions about why their family migrated to Australia. The Year 5 parents are invited to join their Open Classroom on Friday to become experts in how to use high modality language in their writing, using persuasive devices from their Talk for Writing toolkit. These Open Classroom opportunities play an important role in the Preparatory School as they provide an opportunity to share learning experiences with parents and provide insights into your son’s learning in class.

Congratulations to the following Building Good Men recipients for this week.

Finally, this Sunday is an important day for all our mother’s as we celebrate Mother’s Day. I would like to wish all our mum’s a happy Mother’s Day with your families.

Dr. Steven Males
Head of Preparatory School