Kay Bradley

Moderation of Assessment

Next week all our teachers will take part in Cluster Moderation Sessions after school.   These sessions involve nearly 400 teachers, from all across Brisbane, meeting at different venues, in year level groups to moderate samples of student writing.

The aims of moderation, amongst others, will be:

• To cultivate open and rich professional dialogue amongst teachers.
• To foster a better understanding of assessment, and overall judgements.

In addition, New Farm teachers meet every term, in year level teams, to compare assessments and refer to samples provided by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.

We value these moderation opportunities, both at a school and Cluster level, as they ensure the validity of our teacher judgements. 

Parent/Teacher Interviews - Date Claimer

After Covid disrupted our parent teacher interviews in 2020, we are pleased to be able to run face-to-face meetings again.  The format will be the same as 2019, and will involve booked times on two dates only.

• On Wednesday the 28^th of April, available interview times will be available from 3.15 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. and on Thursday the 29^th of April, interview times will be available from 2 p.m. – 8 p.m.
• Interviews will be of 15 minutes duration and will take place in the assembly hall.
• Each student will be allocated one interview time slot. We cannot offer multiple interview times for individual students.
• Using this system, you will be able to book interview times that suit you best, from any internet-connected computer. No interviews can be booked at present.

P&C AGM Update

The P&C held their AGM last night, and received only one nomination for the Executive positions. We would love for the P&C to continue volunteering and providing services such as the Tuckshop, but without a Treasurer our P&C cannot exist.

They are taking steps to relieve the time input required for each of the Executive roles, including the Treasurer and Secretary and need anyone interested to raise their hand before our postponed AGM to be held Tuesday 30 March, 6pm in the Flexible Learning Space next to the Library. 

Melinda Norman

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA) is an important day to mark Australian school communities standing together against bullying and violence. On Friday 19 March, we will hold a special assembly aimed at creating a positive change for students, staff and the school climate

Parents are welcome to attend this special assembly in the hall from 9am and we ask that all parents wishing to attend, follow COVID safe practices - including appropriate hand hygiene, social distancing from all students and should you be unwell, refrain from attending this assembly.

For more information on NDA visit: https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/

NFSS will be celebrating our diversity during Harmony Week 15^th March – 21^st March in classrooms and during a special assembly held on Friday 19^th March, 9am in the hall that will be sure to be a colourful and vibrant affair. Parents please follow Covid safe guidelines which require Adult Audience to physically distance 2 meters from other participants. 

Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity.

It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

Parents are encouraged to watch many students, wearing clothes that represent their cultural identity march behind their flag, during this special event. Parents will not walk behind flags during this special flag parade but will observe students as they march proudly behind the flag that represents their cultural identity. Students who do not identify with a particular cultural group are encouraged to wear orange.

For more information on Harmony Week visit: https://www.harmony.gov.au/

2021 Senior Choir

Senior Choir will begin this week and meet every Friday at 8am in the Music Room. Ms Davis is looking forward to working with our year 3-6 students as they fine-tune their voices over the coming weeks. Children in years 3-6 can express their interest in joining the Senior Choir by adding their name to the poster displayed outside the hall, or by letting Ms Davis know as soon as possible. 

FREE Early Years Community Connections Workshops

The first Early Years Community Connections Workshop held recently at Community Place Newstead was highly successful. The evening was gained lots of positive feedback from those that attended. Thank you to Maria Offermans, our Speech and Language Pathologist for presenting an informative session on Oral Language in the Early Years.

Sonia Moloney, Early Years Education and Engagement Consultant from Pathways will be presenting Raising Resilient Children at our next workshop. Sonia aims to deepen our knowledge of how children's brain's develop we can support children with their emotions and behaviour, building strong relationships and resilience. Look out for the next flyer in our NFSS newsletter for more.

Date:       Thursday 13^th May

Time:       6:30-7:30pm

Where:   Community Place: 17b Skyring Terrace,Newstead

3L: Language & Literacy for Learning

Recently, some members of the leadership team and the year 5 and 6 teachers attended literacy training to become tutors in 3L: Language and Literacy for Learning. We had great fun as we explored the art of meaning-making when comprehending and composing texts as we focus on our English curriculum in 2021. We are looking forward to supporting staff and students this year as we move forward with our Writing Plan 2021 -2023. 

Staff participation Left to Right: Kathleen Hannant, Kellie Fechner, Judy Loudon, Melinda Norman, Fatima Zayn Al-Abidin, Tracy Baker, Eliza Horn, Claire Blackadder, Felicity Stoetzel, Hayden Lawrence and Carmel McGrath. 

Heal Street Drop off Zone: 

Parents please be mindful of our neighbours when using the Heal street drop off and pick up zone. Please do not park across our neighbours drive ways at any time. Queensland Police and Brisbane City Council regularly patrol this area to enforce these parking restrictions.