What an incredible start to Term 3 Primary have had!

In the first five weeks of this term we have:

• celebrated 100 days of Prep
• celebrated NAIDOC week
• celebrated Bastille day
• started training for Gala sports day in years 4-6
• competed in Lytton District Athletics
• captured a moment in time with school photos – one for the archives and memories
• congratulated champions in Sports Aerobics
• visited Parliament House (year 6 leaders)
• raised funds for Motor Neuron Disease by wearing beanies or blue for Big Freeze Day
• broadened our minds during Science Week learning coding and decoding
• made tomato and basil bruschetta from our own vegetable garden (Environment Club students)
• shared all things Prep during our Prep information afternoon
• contributed to environment health by planting trees for National Tree Day (Eco Marine students)
• learnt how to sing and play body percussion in music lessons

We are fortunate to belong to a school community that offers our students such a rich variety of cultural, social, and educational learning experiences. We are equally grateful to our dedicated staff, whose enthusiasm and passion ensure these opportunities are available to all.

Communication and meetings with Leadership

I value the opportunity to meet with you and talk through any concerns. There are times, however, when I’m in pre-scheduled meetings or at events and may not be able to chat if you ‘drop in’. To make sure I can give you my full attention, it’s best to arrange a time through our school administration team. I will always endeavour to return calls or emails within a reasonable time frame.

Alternatively, if you see me walking around the school before or after school, you are welcome to come and say hello and have a conversation.

Calendar of events

From the frequent updates on our Facebook page and in the weekly College Update from Richenda, there is plenty of events happening across the College. All our events are on the school website under Events calendar.

Toys to school

Please remind your children that toys are not permitted at school. This includes items such as soft toys, dolls, cars, and trading cards (e.g., Pokémon). We ask that toys are left at home to prevent loss, damage, or potential disagreements. Students are welcome to borrow school equipment during break times for play.

Prep enrolments

This term, we have warmly welcomed several students for the 2026 Prep intake as we commence our Prep interviews. Each of our new students receives a personalised take-home show bag. If you have prep aged children or know of someone who does, we encourage you to collect an enrolment pack from us. Did you know that our Prep students are writing full sentences and learning to become fluent readers?

Spotlight on Reading (from our Flexi-Space and Literacy Lead, Mrs Buchan)

Reading is not a natural skill (biologically primary) like walking and talking.  It needs to be explicitly and systematically taught so that the correct areas of the brain are activated and to prevent cognitive overload (mental exhaustion resulting in feelings of overwhelm, forgetfulness, and being unable to act).

All words are sight words until they are recognised accurately, automatically and effortlessly.  As a literate adult you have between 30,000 to 70,000 sight words in your memory.  It can take as few as one to five exposures or as many as forty or more before a new word is stored and retrieved (orthographically mapped) in long term memory.

The way we teach Tricky or Heart Words (formerly referred to as Sight Words) has changed.  Not so long ago, children were taught their “sight words” through rote memorisation. We thought that if a student saw a word enough times, it would eventually stick, and they’d know it.  Word lists for students to study and memorise were sent home to study and memorise.  Perhaps you were taught this way? While, this method worked for some students, it didn’t it work for many. 

Extensive reading research over many years tells us that the best way to teach children their “tricky” words is to have them use their sound (phoneme) knowledge to map the regular part of the words e.g. the letters ‘s’ and ‘d’ in the word ‘said’.  They then only have “learn by heart” the sounds that irregular in the word e.g. the letters ‘ai’ making short ‘e’s’ sound in the word ‘said’.

Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 (from our Head of Curriculum, Miss Blackburn)

The Australian Curriculum version 9.0 is a refined version of the previous version 8.4. It is not a new curriculum, but rather an updated curriculum that focuses on improved clarity for teachers, reduced content and better alignment between content that teachers teach and students learn, and the achievement standards, which is what students are assessed against.

The goal for the Australian Curriculum is to develop successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed young people who are ready to take their place in society. To achieve this goal, the Australian Curriculum includes 3 parts:

8 Learning Areas (less in Prep to year 2)

7 general capabilities (ways of knowing, behaving and engaging in the world)

3 cross curriculum priorities

Each State School in Qld is required to implement V9.0 and develop an implementation schedule aligned to the Department expectations. In Primary, we have implemented English in 2025 and are moving towards V9.0 mathematics in 2026.

This schedule allows us time to familiarise, plan and implement the Australian Curriculum v9.0 in all eight learning areas by 2028.  

Parents can find information about the updated curriculum, including how it supports student learning in specific areas like literacy and numeracy, on the v9 Australian Curriculum website:

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/help/parent-information

We will continue to provide you with updates regarding the updated curriculum. At the start of each term, parents have been receiving a term overview that outlines what the learning focus is for each of the learning areas.

Briohny Cuskelly
Head of School - Primary