Tuesday was a very big day for us at Karonga. As a Public School, Karonga went through an External Validation process to explain to representatives from the Department of Education how we were going. There were lots of ‘w’ questions asked of the school executive: What are we doing at Karonga? Why are you doing these projects? How are you improving your facilities? Who is involved in these programs? What adjustments are made for the abilities of the students who attend the school? For two and a half hours the executive answered questions about the school, and we identified 5 topics to talk about:

Communication

Communication is identified as a key component of the Teaching and Learning programs at Karonga School (Strategic Direction 2 of the current School Plan). How does Karonga navigate ‘communication’ between key stake holders?

Health and wellbeing

Wellbeing is considered an important domain in the School Excellence Framework. How are students at Karonga School known, valued and cared for to support improved learning outcomes?

Partnerships

Learning, Independence and Partnership are 3 key messages evident at Karonga and stated as valuable on school buses and printed material. What does partnership look like at Karonga, and why is it important? 

School planning and reporting

School Planning and Reporting is the first link on the school website: what changes have been effected at Karonga, what has driven those changes and where to next?

Pennant Parade Tutorial Centre

Pennant Parade Tutorial Centre is charged with re-engaging mainstream students in years 5-8 with learning. What effective strategies do you employ, and how do you know if the PPTC intervention has been successful?

At the next opportunity of a P&C meeting (potentially over zoom- so no need for babysitters) I will share with you the submission and the way in which we responded to these questions.

Warm Regards, Ruth Rogers

Room 3 students have had a busy term. Although some of our classmates have been unable to attend school due to ill health, we have been using technology to stay in touch with them; we recently joined Matilda’s 9^th birthday party via Facebook Live. It was so lovely to see our friend’s face and especially on her birthday.

We have also been spending some time with our Room 4 friends and are really enjoying performing science experiments with them. Amy, Brendan, and Lachlan particularly enjoyed participating in water cycle learning activities, making “clouds” in water, and making rainbows using different materials (Skittles and lemonade – yum!).

Amy and Brendan have been using eye-gaze devices to play games and read books, with Brendan also using his device to communicate with staff. Elijah has been interacting more with the iPad, which is wonderful to see. He is starting to carefully use his pointer finger to activate the device.

The class has also been enjoying lots of hands-on mathematics lessons. Elijah and Brendan helped measure the weight of different objects using blocks in balance scales.

Until next time,

Lowenna, Mel, Rupak and Foozieh