CONGRATULATIONS 

Congratulations to all of our students who represented our school at the recent CHSSSA carnival.  It was fantastic to see our students competing, having fun and trying their best!  I wish all of our students, who have been selected to represent Circular Head at the Northwest Carnival in Penguin, all the very best and I look forward to accompanying the 3/4 team next Wednesday. A special shout out to Ryan Nibbs and Smithton Primary School for organising and coordinating a wonderful event for our students to be involved in. 

PARENTS’ CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SPORTING EVENTS

• Encourage participation by your child
• Provide a model of good sportsmanship for your child to copy
• Be respectful in your communication
• Encourage honest effort, skilled performance and team loyalty
• Make any new parents feel welcome on all occasions
• Do not interfere with the conduct of any championships
• Adhere to School Sport Australia’s policy of a smoke and alcohol free environment

Rationale:  

1. Safeguarding: Prohibiting parent photography and videography ensures the safety and privacy of all students and prevents unauthorised circulation of images. 
2. Respect for Privacy: We respect the privacy of students, families and staff, creating a comfortable and inclusive space for learning. 
3. Equal Opportunities: Staff members will capture photos and videos, ensuring reasonable opportunities for all students to have their achievements documented and shared. 

Policy Guidelines:  

1. Parental Consent: Parents/guardians provide consent for staff to capture and share visual content of their child. 
2. Staff Training: Staff members receive appropriate training on photography/videography techniques, privacy considerations, and secure handling of visual content. 
3. Secure Storage and Sharing: Visual content is securely stored and shared through approved platforms. 
4. Parental Access: Parents/guardians have access to their child's visual content through secure online platforms or designated sharing sessions. 
5. Exceptions: Parental photography may be allowed with prior approval for specific activities, but not for public sharing without consent. 

School Improvement 2025 – We need your feedback!

On Monday 3^rd of March at 9am Mrs Hills has provided an opportunity for any parents/care givers to join her in the library for a ‘cuppa’ and cake as she would like to seek feedback on Forest PS school improvement journey for 2025.

THANKYOU

A huge thank you to each and everyone who attended our welcome back BBQ and meet the teacher classroom meetings last night.  It was a wonderful opportunity for you to familiarise yourselves with the ‘way we do things’ at Forest Primary School. A special shout out again to William Payne for helping out with the BBQ.

Communicating Learning Progress with Families 

Parent Teacher communication has been happening this term.  It has been lovely to see so many of you come into our school and engage in conversations regarding your child’s learning journey at school. Teaching staff have been, and will be, making phone calls to discuss how your child has settled into the new school year.  This is a good opportunity to discuss any questions, concerns or positive feedback you may have to share with us. 

NAPLAN

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 12 and 24 March 2025.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

NAPLAN has been held in March since 2023, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year. These results can then be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper.

Parent information brochures and other resources

Your questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child:

NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.

Literacy

We are thrilled to share the fantastic progress in our Literacy space as we advance our Lifting Literacy - Reading Priority initiative. In the first four weeks of this term, many of our staff have participated in professional learning to ensure we are employing the best practices and techniques in Word Recognition to support all learners in our classrooms.

This commitment has led to the introduction of a focused 30-minute session at the start of each literacy block, dedicated to reading and spelling. Our Prep to Year 2 students are continuing their explicit phonics lessons, while our Year 3 to 6 students are exploring the fascinating realms of morphology and etymology.

In 2025, we are excited to expand our collective knowledge and practices with the latest research on building students' reading fluency. Fluency is the crucial bridge between recognizing words and comprehending text. You can support this effort at home with nightly reading, and it's wonderful to see so many students already started. We look forward to celebrating our nights of reading milestones together soon!

WHOLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY 

Please come along on 10^th of April for our whole school assembly that will be held in our Multipurpose room.  We encourage all of our Forest community to attend.  Your child will be creating a personalised invitation – inviting you to come along.  

Student Leadership at Forest Primary School

Congratulations to the below students who have been elected onto the Student Council for Term 1 and 2. Last Frieday they received their badges during morning assembly. Congratulations also to our Daily PE Leaders.

House Captains

Our 2025 house captains will be voted in by their house team on Friday the 28^th of February. The captains will be announced once all votes are counted.

Thank you,

Megan Hills.

There are lots of things you can do to set your child up for success:
Make sure your child goes to school, every day.
Going to school every day gives your child every chance to learn and grow, and connect with their mates and teachers. It’s where bright futures start and where they’ll benefit the most.
Get them excited for school
If you show a positive attitude and excitement towards school, your child will pick up on that. The most common thing we hear from students, of all ages, is that school is where they can:
» spend time with their friends and teachers
» create new and fun experiences
» find their interests
» learn new things
» open up their options – for whatever future they want (whether that’s their dream job or to travel around the world).
Share these positives with your child. Talk to your child about school. Open up a conversation with your child about what’s happening at school. It will help you to better support their interests and confidence in learning. If you show an interest in school, they’ll know that getting an education is important and valued.
Celebrate the milestones
Big and small! Celebrate milestones such as making it through the first day or week of school. And remember: all milestones look different. If it’s a big achievement for your child, it’s important to recognise it.
Set up a time to talk to your child’s teacher or principal if you’re struggling to get your child to school, help is available. Please talk to us at school about your situation. We’ll support you, in whatever way we can.
Know when to seek help
There is no weakness in admitting you need help. If your child has completely disengaged with school, and not attending at all, there is support to help you. In the first instance, talk to us at school. For more helpful tips, please check out the Anything can happen website.

I am excited to introduce myself as your child’s Grade 5 teacher this year! My name is Ms Meldrum, and I’m looking forward to getting to know both your children and you over the coming months.

In Grade 5 we’ve had another fantastic month of learning in the classroom. Here's a look at what we've been up to:

English:
We’ve been exploring the works of author Jackie French, diving into her engaging stories and examining how she creates such vivid and imaginative worlds. Students have started their own imaginative writing pieces, inspired by the ideas and themes we’ve discussed in class. We can’t wait to see how their creativity unfolds!

Maths:
In maths, we've been focusing on place value and decimal places. Students have been working hard to strengthen their understanding of how numbers are structured and how decimals fit into the number system.

Science:
Our science unit is all about living things. Students have been learning about the characteristics of living organisms, and we’ve had some great discussions on how we can classify different living things based on their traits and needs.

HASS (History and Social Science):
In HASS, we’ve been diving into the Gold Rush. Students have been learning about this significant period in Australian history, exploring the impacts it had on the people, economy, and society at the time. It’s been fascinating to see how the Gold Rush shaped the nation!

Looking forward to another month of exciting learning ahead!

What an Incredible Start to the Year in Prep!

We are thrilled to share that our Prep students have had an amazing start to the year! They are settling into their five-day school routine beautifully, and we are enjoying countless fun and engaging learning experiences together.

In the past two weeks, we have enthusiastically dived into our phonics lessons. We began by setting up our phoneme (speech sound) wall, discovering the differences between consonant and vowel phonemes, and learning how we use our mouth and voice to create them. This week, we excitedly learned our first two phoneme-grapheme (sound-letter) correspondences: /a/ and /m/.

Our favourite focus this term has been our rhyming investigations through the delightful stories “Where is Green Sheep” by Mem Fox and “Fox in Socks” by Dr. Seuss. We have discussed what we know about sheep and foxes, identified rhyming words in the stories, and created our own rhyming pairs. Additionally, we have combined this unit with fine motor skill-building through book themed crafts.

In Math, we have eagerly explored the number five and all the ways we can break up collections through songs and stories such as “Monkeys on the Bed” and “Ducks Away” by Mem Fox. Students have loved sharing their discoveries that 4 and 1 make 5, and 3 and 2 also make 5, through drawings and hands-on materials.

We are all incredibly excited about the new learning adventures that await us before the end of Term 1 and can't wait to continue sharing our journey with you!