Berwick Campus – 2 May 2019

Traffic

Over the holiday break there was an unfortunate accident at St Catherine’s Primary School that led to significant damage to a number of their classrooms. As a consequence, they have had to bring in a number of portables to house the students until the repairs are completed. These portables have been placed on their basketball courts, which has removed any onsite parking they had available to their parents. This will have significant impact on the traffic congestion on and around the Berwick Campus. Can we please remind families that:

• Limited parking will be available around both school sites at drop off and pick up times. Could parents please refrain from parking in reserved car spaces.
• There may be some delays – please allow extra time for pick up and drop off.
• Children must not get out of cars unless you are safely parked in a parking bay, or at a designated pick up/drop off zone.
• Entry to the school is opposite Sunflower Place. Stay in the left lane to continue around St Francis Xavier. The right lane is for St   Catherine’s.
• An alternative option for those wanting some gentle exercise is to leave the car at home, or park nearby, and walk, ride or scoot to school. Some parking is available at the recreation reserve off Grice’s Road.
• Traffic controllers will be on hand to guide you.

NAPLAN 2019

The NAPLAN testing period for 2019 commences on Tuesday 14 May and commences Friday 24 May. As with last year, the Berwick Campus will be conducting the NAPLAN testing online. The testing program is as follows:

• Tuesday 14^th – Year 9 Writing
• Wednesday 15^th – Year 7 Writing
• Thursday 16^th – Year 9 Reading
• Friday 17^th – Year 7 Reading
• Monday 20^th – Year 7 Language Conventions
• Tuesday 21^st – Year 9 Language Conventions
• Wednesday 22^nd – Year 7 Numeracy
• Thursday 23^rd – Year 9 Numeracy
• Friday 24^th – Mop Up tests

Students will complete one test on each of their testing days. Students who are absent for a test will be able to catch up the next day. It is important that students come to school each day with a fully charged device and bring headphones for some components of the testing. Year 9 students will conduct all of their testing in our computer labs where they will be able to plug their devices into a power source for the testing period.

It’s a good time to remember that NAPLAN is just a snapshot of each student’s abilities at a single point in time. NAPLAN results provide families with useful feedback of their child’s progress and provides the College with an understanding of our student learning growth. NAPLAN is not something that students need to prepare for and families are encouraged to keep discussion about testing low key.

If you would like to explore the NAPLAN online platform for yourself, you can access the public demonstration site here.

If you have any queries about NAPLAN, please contact the Director of Learning Culture for the Berwick Campus, Kelly Ryan.

ANZAC Day

In what has become a tradition at the Berwick Campus, a contingent of teachers, students and their families attended the dawn service at Bunjil Place this past ANZAC Day. Four staff members and over 70 students were present for this important occasion of remembrance. Our students wore their uniforms with pride and presented a solemn and respectful acknowledgement of the sacrifice of our servicemen and women. The group placed a wreath at the memorial on behalf of our College. A big thank you to the staff, students and families who attended.

Benefit Mindset Challenge

For news about Wellbeing and the Benefit Mindset Challenge, please see the Wellbeing News.

Year 7 Sewing

Here is some of the fantastic work created by our Year 7 students from their Textiles taster course. Staff have emphasized how proud of their skill development, persistence and great design ideas.

Kelly Ryan – Acting Head of Campus