School Times
8.50am Classes begin
10.40am First Break Time
11.10am Classes Resume
12.50pm Students Eat Lunch in class
1.00pm Second Break Time
1.20pm Classes Resume
3.00pm End of day
LATE ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL
All students arriving after the music finishes playing at 8:50am need to go to the office for a late slip. All lateness and absences not explained by a parent or guardian will be marked in the roll as ‘unexplained’. All lateness and absences explained by a parent or guardian will be marked in the roll with the reason given. (e.g. illness, family reasons etc)
Staff are not permitted to accept explanations given by students.
If your child is late or absent from school please contact the school as soon as possible to let us know.
LEAVING EARLY
If you wish to collect you child from school early please go to the office to sign them out. You will be provided with a sign out slip to present to the teacher.
STUDENTS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS EARLY
Student gates are opened by student monitors at 8:30am each morning.
This is the time teachers start school Yard Duty. Students on the school grounds prior to this are not supervised.
We ask that students are not on the school grounds before 8:30am unless they are at Before School Care.
These procedures are designed for child safety. If your child needs assistance before 8.30 there may not be anyone available.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Out Of School Hours Care please Phone 82815844
Teaching and Reading
Research shows that well balanced Literacy abilities contribute to the social,
economic and physical wellbeing of children’s lives.
The school’s new Site Improvement plan identifies Literacy as one of the priorities for Whole School Improvement. School data shows 80 – 90 percent of students are improving between one year and the next. Progressive Achievement Testing data also shows larger numbers of children achieving the Standard of Educational Achievement than in previous years. However, within this data we see that many students are having difficulty with more complex reading tasks and others are still not meeting our targets. Teachers have identified the need to significantly improve the teaching of reading in the school so that students can read proficiently, think deeply and problem solve in order to achieve both school learning goals and future work place challenges.
The school staff have begun the year by working with Literacy specialist, Stephen Graham. Staff learned how to use Guided Reading as a strategy to teach children how to become balanced readers. Guided Reading sessions involve a teacher working with a group of children focusing on identified objectives and strategies to be taught through the course of a twenty-minute session.
Through this work the school has formed some new goals:
For every child to become a balanced reader, reading at their chronological age, that is, level 30 by age 12.
- A balanced reader is able to:
- Decode text
- Students read the words, identify letter – sounds, spelling patterns and recognise high frequency (sight) words
- Read with Fluency and Phrasing
Fluent readers recognise words quickly and read with good pace and expression. They do not have to pause to sound out words or hesitate at unknown words. They are able to use grammar cues within the text to read with expression. These skills allow a reader to focus on the content of the text they are reading and support their understanding, or ‘comprehension’ of the text.
Read with Comprehension
Good readers use a range of strategies while reading such as making predictions before reading, making connections to personal experiences and knowledge, and engaging in self-monitoring (on-going checks of their understanding of the text). They are able to understand the text on 3 levels, information that can be directly found in the text (here questions), information that is in the text but cannot be found directly (hidden questions) and information that the student needs to think about and decide based on their thinking (head questions). Teachers at Madison Park will be using this as the basis for their questioning during Guided Reading.
What does this mean in class?
Teachers in Year 1-7 are currently conducting Running Records to assess every child’s Reading Fluency and Comprehension. Many teachers are finding that some children being given levelled readers at a higher level than is effective for teaching purposes, as some students can decode the text very well but do not read with fluency and comprehension as well at this level.
As we are working to produce balanced readers, some children will be directed to read books at a lower level.
If your child tells you that they are being given levelled readers at a lower level than that were last year, don’t be concerned. The teacher is applying world class practice and is working to enhance your child’s abilities as a balanced reader. The lower level will enable your child to build Fluency and Comprehension as well as Decoding skills.
When children bring books home this is for independent reading practice. These books will be several levels lower than those they read with the teacher. This is because we need children to practice reading independently at home. Home reading should not be a struggle; children need to be able to read at home confidently and practice fluency. Most of all reading at home should be fun!
This approach to teaching reading will affect every child in the school from Reception to Year 7.
Our goal is to significantly improve every child’s reading ability, and for every child
to read at their chronological age by the end of primary school.
If you would like to know more about reading at Madison Park please speak to your child’s teacher.
Gratitude
Gratitude is a skill. An attitude of gratitude is a positive way of looking at life. Gratitude can increase our children’s happiness, teach them to be more empathetic and help them to be more thankful for everything they have.
A gratitude journal is, quite simply, a tool to keep track of the good things in life. No matter how difficult and defeating life can sometimes feel, there is always something to feel grateful for.
Below are some ideas to promote gratitude.
Gratitude
Gratitude is a skill. An attitude of gratitude is a positive way of looking at life. Gratitude can increase our children’s happiness, teach them to be more empathetic and help them to be more thankful for everything they have.
A gratitude journal is, quite simply, a tool to keep track of the good things in life. No matter how difficult and defeating life can sometimes feel, there is always something to feel grateful for.
Below are some ideas to promote gratitude.
Second Step, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Program
Skills for Social and Academic Success
This evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum improves the lives of over 14 million students every year world wide. When students are better equipped to manage their own emotions and build positive relationships, they’re better equipped to learn.
Second Step is a program based within social-emotional learning (SEL) that helps transform our school into a supportive, successful learning environment that is uniquely equipped to encourage children to thrive. More than just a classroom curriculum, Second Step’s holistic approach helps create a more empathetic school environment by providing school staff, families, and the larger community with tools to enable them to take an active role in the social-emotional growth and safety of the children in the school community.
All classes Reception to Year 7 teach the Second Step Curriculum on a weekly basis.
For an overview of the program please see the attached document.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is now held in the Daphne building kitchen each morning from 8:30-8:50am. Staff will assist students to prepare toast and cereal. If your child is late to school and require breakfast, staff in the Interoception Room can support your child with preparing something to eat. They will need to go to their class teacher and get an Interoception Pass first. We would like to thank the on-going support of Kickstart and Foodbank who assist in donating food to the breakfast program.
Kimochis
Kimochis are tools for BIG feelings that help manage difficult feelings and challenging behaviours. Kimochis are Toys With Feelings Inside. Kimochi (KEY.MO.CHEE) means “feeling” in Japanese and Kimochis™ are what come inside each character. Kimochis™ are small pillows with a feeling on one side, and a facial expression on the other. Each Kimochis™ character has a special pocket where children can store their “kimochis™” – or feelings. Using the characters and their Kimochis™, kids can get in touch with their emotions through puppetry and play in a fun and comfortable way, building self-esteem and confidence one feeling at a time. At Madison Park we use these Kimochis characters to teach children about feelings and build their emotional language. Below are some helpful posters to promote this learning.
Interoception Program
The school has an interception program available to all students all day, every day. Children may book in, or walk in as needed for sessions.
MORE INFO
Interoception is an internal sensory system in which the internal physical and emotional states of the body are noticed, recognised/identified and responded to. Interoception skills are required for a range of basic and more advanced functions such as knowing when to go to the toilet, being aware that you are becoming angry or upset and being able to manage your emotions proactively.
When children and students have not yet developed interoception skills they will struggle with not only their own emotions but with social interactions and even just being around others may be difficult for them to manage.
Children and students with well-developed interoception are able to use both logic and emotions to respond to their environment, whereas those without tend to rely on logic and have to carefully think through their possible responses to each situation. Thinking through each situation long term can be extremely tiring and can contribute to overload, shutdown, meltdowns, anxiety and depression.
Children are able to visit the interoception room when they need to spend some time to learn to regulate their emotions, so they are then able to return to class and quickly re-join the learning program.
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