Dear Duffy Primary School Community,

As we are near the end of Term 2 staff have been impressed with our students continued focus and commitment to their learning. Some highlights that support our engagement from the broader community include:

• ED Planetarium visit for our year 4-6 students.

• Kenny Koala visit for Kinder.

• Preschools are preparing for Fire Brigade.

• P&F Cup A Yum.

• Year 3-6 Rostrum Public Speaking Competition.

• Year 2 engagement in Swim and Survive lessons in Week 9.

• Year 5 and 6 participate in Netball Gala Day.

• Year 3 and 4 Long Day Camp.

• Whole Annual Athletics Carnival.

Participation in experiences such as these are quite often what our students remember about school. We are grateful to the staff that plan and organise such events that enrichen the lives of our students. 

Reports

Our School-based reports will be sent via email on Friday 23rd June.  All reports will be emailed to the person listed as contact 1 for each student. If you have previously informed us that you require an additional report, a second copy will be either sent by email or post to the contact person you have listed. If you are new to Duffy PS or your personal circumstances have changed, please contact the front office if you would like to update your details or if you require an additional report. 

Grounds Upgrade

The new paving near year 2 and 3 area has been completed. This investment has already enhanced our school as the space can now be used as an outside learning space. 

50th Year Commemoration School Mural

As a way of commemorating our 50th anniversary the school and P&C are engaging with Aboriginal artist Eddie Longford to create a mural at the front of school that captures the ‘story of Duffy Primary School’. Eddie will be working with the school community to develop a design that represents our connection to the land and water in and around our school. This work is scheduled to happen during school holidays in September.  We welcome all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and other members of the community to contact the school if they are interested in contributing to this project.

Staffing Update

Our staffing remains stable, however as we are now into the colder months, many of our staff and their families are becoming unwell. We thank you for your patience as we try to cover classes each day. Our decision making is based around attempting to ensure the least amount of disruption for our students. Just a gentle reminder to please keep your children at home if they are unwell. We know that this may be challenging at times as we juggle work and family. Stopping the spread of illness will continue to support our school community and will help us to keep our staff well so that they are able continue the teaching and learning programs for the children.

Wishing you a restful weekend with your beautiful children.

Regards,

Katie, Arilia, Sarah and Katie

Being a lifelong learner plays an important role in the educational process. It helps educators incorporate new tools and strategies into the learning process to boost their students’ learning development.

“Lifelong learning is an essential challenge for inventing the future of our societies; it is a necessity rather than a luxury to be considered … It is a mindset and a habit for people to acquire”. 

We are so grateful for the dedicated staff we have here at Duffy Primary School. As a community of learners, the staff at Duffy have been actively participating in a large amount of professional Learning over the course of the last two terms. 

• Teaching Staff PL has been focused on our 2023 Action plan Priorities including:  

 -  High Frequency Word Project with Fiona Hamilton

-  Writing with Catherine Nash 

-  Numeracy PL with Education Directorate

• Learning Support Staff

- Learning Support Assistant Pilot Program facilitated by Education Directorate 

• Building Services Officer 

- Work Health and Safety 5-day program 

Under the guidance of writing consultant- Catherine Nash from All About Writing we have made some changes to our practice to approach writing through combining three main elements: 

Teaching the writing process, within a writer's workshop, and attending to the qualities of great writing. 

Here at Duffy, we are focussing on:  

• Teaching writers, not just a piece of writing.

• The skills learned in the workshop being transferrable, meaning students can use them every time they write.

• Writing is a skill developed through practice.

• Writing is a process that is explicitly taught and modelled.

• Writers need readers, and students need to write with purpose, for an audience.

• Mentor texts are key teaching tools.

• Writing partnerships and writer's notebooks are essential within writing lessons.

• The most important part of the writing lesson is the writing conference, which happens during independent writing time. 

• We look at qualities such as ideas and content first and attend to conventions later. (They are important, after all.)

Within a writer’s workshop classroom, from Kindergarten to Year 6 we are growing a community of writers who thrive on the routine and predictability of the writing workshop. We gather to hone our craft as writers, students are supported to find their voices as writers,  feedback is offered to others as writers, and we share our writing in meaningful ways. 

Our teachers have learnt that there is so much more to a great piece of writing than following a formula and worrying about secretarial skills of writing.  By building on the qualities of great writing, and breaking them down across a continuum of skills, with support our writers can set goals on what they need to focus on next.  

As our journey continues, we are excited to share with you the growth and development of each of our students.

In the junior school we have been focussing on the explicit instruction of High Frequency Words. The spelling of many high frequency words is typically misunderstood and mistaught.

Teachers are aware of how important it is for students to be able to easily read and write these words, as they are found in almost every sentence. But since their spelling doesn’t generally fit the patterns we expect, the method most often used is rote practice and memorization, often by using flashcards.

For many children the path to automaticity when reading and spelling high frequency words can be tedious at best and seemingly unreachable at worst. Practicing by copying letter by letter or imagining a word as a shape does not help children to know why the word is spelled as it is, and so for many, it is ineffective. Strategies such as memorization that do not explain the ‘why’ of the spelling do not enable the children to anchor their learning in understanding.

Here at Duffy we are explicitly explaining the spelling of each word so our students can develop a comprehensive picture of how the letters function - why these words are spelled the way they are. To do this, the history of the word, the relationship to other words, and spelling conventions must be considered.

The spelling of many of the first hundred HFW is not straightforward, yet it can always be explained. In the explanation lies the growing understanding of English orthography.

These will be presented at Monday Morning WOW.

Principal's Awards

Luke U - 5CN

Merit Awards

Silver and Bronze Awards will be handed out by Exec staff during the week.

Bronze Spirit Awards

National schools reform agreement survey for teachers, students and parents/guardians

Due 23 June 2023

As part of the review to inform the next National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA), a public survey has been launched. This survey provides an opportunity for students, teachers, parents and guardians to contribute their perspectives and help shape the future of education in Australia. The Australian Government Department of Education's national school review survey can be accessed online.

We invite you to participate in the survey which closes 23 June 2023. If you would like more information please read Review to inform a better and fairer education system consultation.

If you have any questions, please contact NSRA.Engagement@education.gov.au.

Contact Denise Ryan on 02 620 70587 or Denise.ryan@act.gov.au

Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative

The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) to provide free home Internet for one year for up to 244 unconnected families with school students in the ACT. To be eligible, families must have a school student at home, not have an NBN connection and live at an address with access to the NBN.

The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative to provide free home Internet for one year for unconnected families with school students in the ACT.

To be eligible, families must:

• have a school student at home

• not have an NBN connection

• live at an address with access to a standard NBN connection

For more information see www.infrastructure.gov.au/SSBI

To nominate, please fill in this form: https://forms.office.com/r/kHUg92YZaR

Learning for Life

The Learning for Life program helps children by supporting their education from primary through to post-school studies, like TAFE or University.

Learning for Life provides:

To be eligible for Learning for Life, you need to:

• Have a child or children in Primary School, at one of the schools The Smith Family work with

• Have a Health Care or Pension Concession Card

• Have a strong commitment to your child/ren’s education and make sure they attend school regularly

To register your interest in Learning for Life, you need to:

1. Click this link https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/campaigns/learning-for-life-expression-of-interest

2. Fill out the relevant details (your name, phone number, child/ren’s details and School Information)

3. You will then receive an email from The Smith Family with information about next steps

If you have any questions about Learning for Life, or need help to apply, you can call The Smith Family on 0481 464 065 or 1800 280 223.

Home Learning Hub

Home Learning - School Wide Subscriptions

Literacy People's Literacy Learning Modules - A guide for engaging parents and carers

Mindfulness Podcast Series - ACT Education Directorate