No Images? Click here Dear Regent families, Welcome to this first edition of the Regent Digest for Term 1 2017. You will have received several other communications during the last fortnight, but the Regent Digest tends to reserve a special focus for Regent Learning and Regent Together. Last evening, I had the privilege of joining together with a group of school families, here at the College, for the first of 6 sessions associated with the topic of Parenting. Facilitated by Graeme and Gai Irvine (former Regent staff), the session was engaging, informative and enjoyable! Whilst listening, I was reminded that parenting does not happen overnight and that I don't have to tackle every aspect of raising my children in one sitting; it really is the long race. That was a comforting reminder and encouraging take-away, for me. Thank you to families (and our wonderful staff) for a terrific commencement to the school year. There are many terrific opportunities during the year ahead, so ensure you take time to read all communications and occasionally view the College Calendar (link below). As a College, we pray that your children experience a wonderful year of learning. Yours sincerely, Derek Nicholls. Principal.
ENJOYING THE SHADE Some of the Early Learning Centre students enjoying a new shaded space, this morning. This area will undergo some further development over the coming weeks - including a sandpit with a lid that can be used as a stage, a rustic kitchen and also some greenery.
STUDENT FREE DAY - COLLEGE CLOSED As previously advertised, there is a student free day scheduled for TUESDAY 7th March, following the Monday long weekend. Staff will be participating in a Mathematics Professional Learning session on the Tuesday. School resumes on Wednesday 8th March. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Please be advised that positions for KINDERGARTEN 2018 are now filling! Children who were born between the following dates are scheduled to commence Kindergarten 2018 (next year). 1 July 2013 - 30 June 2014 Importantly, we would like to ensure that we can accommodate current Regent College families. Please, collect an application from administration ASAP, if required. Thank you. ON ENTRY (Pre-primary to Year 2) This week the 2017 On-Entry assessment will commence for students in Pre-primary to Year 2. Parents with students in the above year levels should have received an information letter regarding On Entry; however, if you didn’t receive one, please don’t hesitate to contact class teachers for a copy. On Entry is a diagnostic assessment tool that will assist teachers in developing teaching and learning programs that will address the needs of all students early in their schooling. The assessment will identify students at risk in critical aspects of literacy and numeracy, and as a result, action can be taken early in the school year. BRIGHTPATH (Kindergarten to Year 6) Over the next few weeks, all students, including our Kindergarten students, will participate in the Brightpath writing assessment. Brightpath is an assessment tool that allows teachers to make reliable assessment of student achievement in writing. The results provide an informed basis for developing teaching programs that target the needs of individual students. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) of Western Australia provide free access to Brightpath basic reports; however, at the cost of $5.50 per student, the College has access to more advanced reporting which will enable teachers to evaluate their teaching programs as well as generate comprehensive reports on each student as well as individual classes. This cost has been invoiced in your tuition accounts as Brightpath levy. NAPLAN (Year 3 and 5) The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual national assessment of all students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9. All students are expected to participate in the testing and will be assessed in language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation), writing, reading and numeracy. The tests are scheduled for the mornings of 9th, 10th and 11th May, with all schools across Australia assessing the same subject areas on the same day. Parents who have concerns regarding the suitability of the NAPLAN assessments for their child, are invited to contact the College by 4pm this coming Friday (17th February). For more information regarding NAPLAN, please click on the following link: http://www.nap.edu.au ABC READING EGGS. 2017 Subscription. 'ABC Reading Eggs is Australia's leading online resource for literacy and comprehension. Also voted one of the best literacy programs in the world!' (ABC Reading Eggs) If you would like to submit an application for a discounted ABC Reading Eggs registration 2017, you will find the form HERE. Please submit by Friday this 17th February 2017. MATHEMATICS BOOKS You may have noticed that there were no mathematical workbooks in the stationery pack this year. (Years 3-6. Although not listed on the booklist requirements for 2017, students in Years 3-6 will still require the Australian Signpost Maths Mentals Book for their specific year group. The College has ordered this book and parents are asked to pay the $13.95, upon receipt. No money required at this point.) The absence of the books reflects a shift in teaching method increasingly common in many schools across the independent, public and private school sectors. Mathematics at Regent will align with the Western Australian Curriculum (the WA Curriculum is the authority on what students should be learning). Essentially, the plan is that the Mathematics teaching will be contextually based, to evoke enthusiasm and greater understanding in Mathematics. Students will be required to have repeated practice and demonstrate their understanding in written tasks. The move away from Mathematics work books also allows for greater individualisation of complexity, so that students can be better supported or extended within the classroom. Parents are encouraged to read the following article HERE. Thank you Mrs Jacqueline Quinlivan. Deputy Principal. KINDERGARTEN 1&2 The Kindergarten students have been very excited, commencing school. We have all been getting to know each other and have had fun exploring the different learning areas in our class. What an adventure this year is going to be! Mrs Huxley.
Families, you may not be aware that for the first time, we have 3 Kindergarten classes at Regent College in 2017! KINDERGARTEN 3 What an amazing start to Kindergarten we have had. The students have all settled well into the class and are learning the daily routines. The students have engaged in many different learning activities and have appreciated opportunity to explore the classroom. We have been working on recognising numbers up to 5 and we enjoyed playing a game on the interactive whiteboard. We have also been engaging in several fine motor activities to strengthen our fingers including playdough and sorting using tweezers. Mrs Stein PRE-PRIMARY. In the first weeks of Pre-Primary, the students have been learning the classroom routines, meeting and making new friends, and learning to play and work together. Students have enjoying exploring new activities, especially water play on hot days in the playground! CLASS 1.1. Class 1.1 has enjoyed a fantastic start to the year, settling in well to the routines and expectations in their new classroom. We’ve had lots of fun with hands-on maths, spelling and literacy stations, as well as creating some lovely self-portraits and a class “Family Tree” out of green handprints! Miss Masters CLASS 1/2. Class 1/2 have been busy exploring our new classroom and all the resources available. We had lots of fun making things out of our wooden shapes including some tessellating patterns. Some other mathematical manipulatives we used were unifix blocks and geo-boards. Miss Jongeling was very impressed with our marvellous creations! Miss Jongeling CLASS 2.1. Students in Year 2.1 enjoyed making their 'Math's tool box' which will be used in the classroom to assist the development of number and Place Value. Some of the items included in their boxes are number lines, number cards, dot cards, mix and match number cards, beads counting frame, 100's chart, pop sticks, graph booklet and exercise book. Mrs Jenkins CLASS 3.1. The Year 3 students have begun the Measurement component of their Mathematics and will be working on length, area and perimeter, as well as telling the time, this term. In this session they were measuring a partner both horizontally and vertically and comparing and discussing the results. Mrs Johnston and Mrs Ellis CLASS 4.1. In Science, we are learning about life cycles and have planted bean seeds. We are looking forward to watching them grow! We have been reviewing our 2x tables and our groups used dominoes to show groups of 2. During news, Ishaan taught us how to make a lava lamp, using items we can all find in our kitchens. Mrs Innes
CLASS 5/6 This week in Science, as part of our topic “Desert Surviviors”, we conducted an experiment to explore whether the surface area of leaves affects water retention in plants. To ensure it was a fair test we used the same size cloth, the same type of material and the same amount of water. The one variable we changed was the size of the surface area. We will discuss our result and compare the findings with our predictions. Mrs Wilkinson Also, this Thursday the 5/6 class are off to Kennedy Baptist for a fun session of Science! TECHNOLOGIES. The year 5’s and 6’s are working on spreadsheets; sourcing and recording data. They are collecting data on their class mates and will transfer this to excel to create charts and graphs. This compliments and reinforces their current maths topic of statistics and graphing. The students learned that they have a lot of information that is personal to them, as well as a lot of information that they are free to reveal. This also ties in the ideas behind cyber-safety. Mrs Saxton BADMINTON Students from various grades are pictured enjoying some badminton workshop sessions with coach Lily from Badminton WA. A real hit with the students! Mrs French CHESS CLUB YRS 3-6 This week included the commencement of an after school chess club, from interested students Yrs 3-6. If families would like further information, they should follow the link HERE.
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AN INTIVITATION Parents are invited to participate in a prayer time for the College (including families and staff), each Tuesday morning, in the After School Care room. Young (non-school aged) children can attend with a parent. If attending, parents are required to sign in at the office following the morning bell and head directly to the After School Care room (old music room, under hall). Mrs Nelia Farquharson (Year 6 parent) is the contact, via administration. REGENT COLLEGE BUSH DANCE The annual Regent College Bush Dance is scheduled for Saturday 25th March. The event is open to all Regent College families, with more details to follow soon. Organised by the P&F, you are encouraged to please SAVE THE DATE. Yeehaa! DADS - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FREE! A limited number of tickets are available for free (sponsored by Regent College P&F) to attend the following event. The Fathering Project aims to inspire and assist fathers and father-figures to effectively engage with their kids and to make better Dads for the benefit of the children. Dr Bruce Robinson, founder of The Fathering Project, will be our guest speaker with a panel discussion to follow. KEEPING SAFE AT SCHOOL On Monday morning this week, all students participated in a lockdown rehearsal, as part of our ongoing commitment to school community safety. The rehearsal went very well. In addition, we now have our own Emergency Assembly Area sign (on the oval), to assist when we rehearse for evacuations, or in the case of a genuine situation. P&F MEETING Thank you to the parents pictured, for attending the first P&F Meeting, last Thursday evening. It was a terrific time together, with opportunity to share and discuss matters associated with College Community. PARKING NEWS. Hopefully parents enjoyed the additional parking spaces today, as part of a two week trial. If you missed the initial communication, you can read further, HERE. Thanks to everyone for making the first session (this morning), a success! |