Kindergarten 2016 Parent Workshop #1 How to help your child, Learning And Support, Best Start Assessment

Welcome to Sherwood Ridge Public School The school’s motto “From Each their Best” underpins all that we do. At Sherwood Ridge Public School our inclusive environment will support staff and parents to work together as a learning community in order to give our students the knowledge, skills and experiences to achieve their personal goals and lead successful lives in the 21st Century. It is a partnership between home and school. Our Core values of Learning, Community and Respect along with our school’s expectations of Be safe, Be respectful and Be a learner are embedded in all that we do.

How can you help your child? Practise and apply new skills and knowledge Play games; card games, I spy, board games Home reading; read every night, can read to different people Embrace Technology; creative and educational apps Integrate their learning into your home activities: shopping, cooking, newspaper, road signs, bus timetables, menu, letters, invitations

Show that you value education – Engage in learning Let your child see you reading Show interest in their school life Engage in school events Give books as presents and show your child how to care for them. Encourage your child to make use of the local and school libraries.

Provide experiences as a base for learning Read to your child Audiobooks Provide experiences to relate new learning to; places, people, events Provide various opportunities for talking; meal times, shared activities, phone

Celebrate learning Encourage curiosity and a love of learning Let your child teach you provide an audience; watch performance, read their work, publish – put it on fridge, have them show family/friends

Best Start: Kindergarten Assessment To provide information that supports teachers in meeting students’ individual learning needs; To provide parents and caregivers with feedback on what their child can do, and how they can best support their child’s learning; and To assist the monitoring of student learning throughout the school years. Providing feedback to parents Best Start written reports will be sent home to parents on Friday12th February 2016. Interviews will be held for parents on Thursday 25th & Friday 26th February 2016 to discuss the report.

Best Start Assessment The Best Start Assessment will assess a student’s school entry skills and understandings in literacy and numeracy. Literacy Reading text Writing Speaking Comprehension Concepts about print Phonics Phonemic Awareness Numeracy Counting (numeral recognition and forward number word sequences) Counting as a problem solving process Pattern recognition

Best Start Assessment Classroom teachers will observe and record student responses. Most tasks will be completed individually, though some may take place within small groups. Teachers will ask a series of questions to gather information about children’s early literacy & numeracy knowledge. For example: To assess a child’s understanding of a text read to them, the teacher may ask the student to retell what happened in the story in their own word and in numeracy, to see how far a child can correctly count, the teacher may ask them to start counting. The child will be asked to stop when the teacher gets a sense of how well they can count.

The students will be involved in four assessments throughout the year Assessment Schedule The students will be involved in four assessments throughout the year Term 1 Thursday 28th, Friday 29th February and Monday 1st February 2016 - Initial assessment Kindergarten students start school Wednesday 3rd February (week 2) Report distributed week 3 Term 2 week 1 Teacher observations Term 3 week 1 Formal assessment. Report distributed week 3 Term 4 week 1

When will the Assessment take place? Students will be provided with assessment times over three days. Thursday 28th, Friday 29th February and Monday 1st February 2016. Appointment letters will be sent home via mail December 4th. ALL Kindergarten students will then start school on Wednesday 3rd February 2016 For more information please contact the school on 8824 3333 or visit the Best Start website: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/beststart/index.htm .