Thursday, January 28, 2010

My School website.

"THE My School website profiles almost 10,000 Australian schools - government, independent and catholic - which can be found by location, sector or name.
The site, compiled by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, gives basic information such as enrolments, teacher numbers and Year 12 completion rates. Visitors can compare numeracy and literacy results for each school with up to 60 schools nationwide with similar socioeconomic profiles." from: My School site an eyeful.

Teacher unions and some parents are worried myschool.edu.au will be used to create simplistic league tables that could stigmatise poor-performing schools.

In this video Michael Coutts-Trotter, the Director- General of the NSW Department of Education, explains how the My School website gives parents a snapshot of each school's performance, in comparison to similar schools.

For further information and interviews about this website:

VIDEO: My School website interviews

Julia Gillard answers questions about the new My School website. - Herald Sun

My School Website: Will it portray accurate information about schools? 18/01/2010

NSW

Media Release my school website will it portray accurate information about schools

Advanced Glossary

This glossary provides an advanced explanation of some of the terms used on this website.

Click on the link for info about: My School website

"Government schools urgently need not just more teachers, but more support staff.
Given the comparisons above, even if we doubled the number of support staff in most public schools tomorrow, they still would not come within cooee of many of their large private school neighbours."

"The MySchool website provides a clear and transparent direction about what needs to be done to maintain, support and improve Australia's education performance, particularly for the 70 per cent of students who attend public schools." fromThe great divide in school staff numbers JANE CARO AND CHRIS BONNOR 1 Feb 2010

2010 school year

Information about the return to school for N.S.W. students is now available

@ back to school NSW DET .

Kids' who read, succeed!!!

Cheers

:-)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Feed your kid's brain-increase their learning speed

Image by cloois via Flickr

The brain is a part of the body that requires plenty of fuel and oxygen in order to work efficiently.
In the task of learning,everyone needs to be feeding and treating their body well to maximise this process.

Your children should:

Eat every few hours to keep their blood sugar levels up.
Exercise daily
Try to relax a few minutes each day.
Sleep at least nine hours each night.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat a light lunch.

adapted from How to boost your brain power.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Parents need not fear the new technologies in the classroom

"It's not just high-school kids who are making good use of the fast-moving technology; Australia's primary school students are now being equipped with the skills needed for the digital age." says KEELI CAMBOURNE
Learn the language
"Parents need not fear the new technologies", NSW Parents and Citizen Association president Dianne Giblin says.
“These technologies also offer greater opportunities for families to learn together. I urge parents to learn the technology as well so they can teach their kids the appropriate use of them including mobile phone and social networking sites," she says.

“The new technologies offer a more engaging way to learn and it's important to remember that it doesn't take away from learning. Kids are still going to learn the basics, but textbooks stagnate.”

To read the rest of the article click here

Saturday, January 16, 2010

We would love you to post a message on our wishwall.

Our first wishwall is up and running.
Wishwall is a new way to communicate.
It is an online Notice Board Maker.
View a demo wall @ Wallwisher demo

Please check it out and post a message. You could post your own message or work with your kids to post a family message @ Latest Happenings at Sandy Beach

Sunday, January 10, 2010

WordTalk

What is WordTalk?

WordTalk is a free utility developed by Rod Macaulay from TASSCC in Aberdeen to add speech output to text in Microsoft Word documents. It can also be used to listen to different suggestions offered by the spellchecker.

WordTalk is a free text-to-speech plugin developed for use with all versions of Microsoft Word (from Word 97 upwards). It will speak the text of the document and will highlight it as it goes.

Children with Reading and writing difficulties often benefit from having text read aloud to them.
This could be a valuable resource for kids at home or at school.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Take care with your cables

"Here's a sad reminder that USB cables belong plugged into peripherals, not children. Toddler Trinity Anderson was playing with a USB cable plugged into a laptop and put it in her mouth, which shocked her and knocked her out."

Image via Wikipedia

"This was clearly a freak accident, but it's a good reminder
that while these cables and gadgets we use are now commonplace, everyday items, they still carry a current and should be treated with care." [Colorado Daily] Adam Frucci

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A big thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers during 2009.

To all of the parents and carers who volunteered their time

over the 2009 school year we say a big "THANK YOU!!"

We wish you a very happy holiday. Enjoy!!

Monday, December 14, 2009

SMH article looks at videos as part of game plan for happy kids.

Have video games a place in your child's life?
Are you unsure of the value of video games?

This blog post at Bright Ideas is a good starting point for thinking about this issue.

Monday, December 7, 2009

We need your help....please

Please go to the link below and sign the petition:

Our children deserve no less than a qualified TL in every school library.

Christmas Interactives for Kids

You will find a great range of Christmas activities

to interest and engage your kids over the holidays.

Enjoy!!

Cheers :-)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Smartpreschooler

- A FREE Mathematics site

for Preschool Children

Smart Preschoolers helps preschool-aged children
begin learning the early concepts in mathematics.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Our children deserve no less than a qualified TL in every school library.

"Teacher librarians support and implement the vision of their school communities through advocating and building effective library and information services and programs that contribute to the development of lifelong learners."

The Teacher Librarian:

understanding learners and their needs;
collaborating with teachers to plan and implement information literacy and literature programs;
ensuring the school library collection supports the school curriculum and community;
using technologies as teaching and learning tools;
creating effective learning environments;
participating in the school and wider learning community.

Our first 1000 signatures! at the Hub

Help make it more.

Please sign this petition

and urge any other people you know

who would be interested in

ensuring that every school has a qualified TL to do so.

Friday, November 6, 2009

NSW DET video on head lice show you how to get rid of head lice.

HEAD LICE have unfortunately reared their ugly head again and are on the move.

Bites of head lice.

Image via Wikipedia

Recently we have had a number of children having to be sent home because of this.

Please check your child’s hair and if necessary apply a suitable product to remove the lice.

Sometimes you may need to reapply the lotion two or even three times.

All eggs must be removed to successfully eradicate the lice.

We understand that it is a difficult and tiresome job to do but unless all the eggs are removed they can re-hatch over night.

Many thanks for your co-operation.

Are you interested in introducing your child to the sport of cricket.

Milo In2 Cricket

is a fun introduction for both boys and girls into the brilliant world of cricket.

Image by Glamhag via Flickr

Milo In2 Cricket is suitable for children aged 5-8.

The 10 week course costs $50.

For further information please contact Steve Meakins on 0419 977 980.

Your P&C needs you.

SBPS

Parents & Citizens Association meets
4th Monday of every month.

The next P&C meeting (the A.G.M.) is on

Monday 23rd November

at 7pm in the Staffroom.

Immediately following the A.G.M. (say 7.30pm), there will be an Ordinary Meeting. At this meeting will be discussion around significant changes to the operation of the P&C run school canteen.

Our school canteen may no longer be able to operate with a paid canteen supervisor. If so, the options will be to either (1) operate the canteen with volunteers, OR (2) close the canteen.

So if you and your friends are interested in giving the canteen a new start and are able to run it on a volunteer basis, come along to our next P&C meeting and talk about what you can or can’t do.

Any options (days/hours of operation, staffing, menu) will be considered because the alternative may have to be closure of the school canteen.

Interested in Cubs or Scouts?

1st Woolgoolga Scout Troop is looking for new members.

Image via Wikipedia

Cubs (aged 7yrs & 6 months to 10yrs & 6 months)

meet from 6.30pm to 8pm on Tuesdays

Scouts (aged from 10yrs & 6 months to 15 yrs)

meet from 5.30 to 7pm on Wednesdays

If you are interested please phone Kate on 6654 7687 or Dianne on 6656 0728.

HOOK IN2 HOCKEY

If any child is interested in learning

the basic skills of hockey

there is a fun six week program to be held from

10th November to 15th December

from 5.00 – 6.00pm

at Marshall Fields, Coffs Harbour

(opposite Southern Cross Uni).

Suitable for children aged from 5 – 12 years.

Cost $30 and all participants will receive a stick, ball and shinpads or a t-shirt, bucket hat and a bag of hockey goodies.

For further information please contact Rhonda on 66 55 5142 or 0458 271 071

Parenting Workshops

Woolgoolga Neighbourhood Centre with Community Programs will host

FREE parenting workshops

at the centre in Woolgoolga.

ABCD Parenting - mornings 9.30 -12
Listening to our children, boundaries and communication

Dads on their own – afternoons 12.30 – 2.30
Support & parenting information.

Connecting with other Dads

Reflecting on the experience of being a Dad

Valuing your abilities to survive and thrive

November 9, 16, 23 & 30

Please register early as these workshops are very popular.

You can either call into the centre 35 Beach St between 9 & 3pm or phone 6654 1598 to book your place.

Monday, November 2, 2009

8 Steps to Success.

:-)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

“Talk About Art” at the regional Gallery on Saturday, 31 October.

A message from Judy Atkinson:

I hope that you might find the following event at the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (next door to Coffs Harbour City Library) of interest.

At 10.00 am Saturday 31 October John McDonald author, historian and art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald will be presenting “Talk About Art” in the Regional Gallery. John is an erudite and at times controversial speaker but he is always entertaining. Cost $5, payable at the door and this includes refreshments.

For further information, please contact the Art Gallery on 6648 4863.

Regards

Judy Atkinson

Library Programs Officer

Coffs Harbour City Library & Information Service