As we draw closer to the end of another busy term, we take a look back on the term that was and celebrate our staff and students hard work to have a strong start, strong finish! And what a finish it is with our annual Art Show officially opened by Mayor Toppin on Monday. The exhibition is a 'feast for the eyes' and showcases student art work created in visual art lessons and lunch time art club with Ms Torisi, in class with classroom teachers as well as art pieces created at home. Like any event hosted by our school, it takes time and effort by our dedicated staff and this year I would like to thank our 2021 art show coordinator Ms Barbara Robinson and our specialist visual arts teacher Ms Rosie Torisi for creating this colourful, creative display, particularly our unique 'glow in the dark' display – definitely a sight to see. For more information about our Art Show click here
Thank you to all of you who came along to the parent-teacher-student interviews on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Our school working hand-in-hand with you, our parents and carers, is what will make a significant difference to the outcomes of our students. Your involvement and interest in your child's education means a great deal to them, but also to our teachers and school staff who appreciate the opportunity to discuss your child's learning progress with you. Our target for MSS is to have 80% students achieve C or above on the Australian Curriculum and whist we are always working on different ways to engage and develop our learners, we were pleased to hear of the amazing student successes at our recent moderation afternoons.
Tomorrow we celebrate Under 8's Day and on the last day of term, celebrate student attendance with our 95%+ Pizza Party. These events are hugely popular with Under 8's Day attracting families and visitors from across the community to join in the huge variety of fun-filled activities on offer and over 250 students currently on the list for the attendance party. I would like to recognise the staff of Mareeba SS who consistently put in a huge effort to ensure events such as these that have occurred this week can take place. Much of the preparation for these events occurs after hours and would not happen without the enthusiasm and support of staff for the children of our community.
NAPLAN results were released last week and our school celebrated a number of strong achievements. Due to COVID, all schools did not complete NAPLAN in 2020 so comparable results are now 2 years old. This year, Mareeba SS took the chance to participate in NAPLAN online. This change in test type is something we are supporting our students with including introducing touch typing and other ICT skills into classroom curriculum. A big congratulations to our Year 5 students who saw an incredible 3% improvement in students achieving in the Upper 2 Bands for Reading and to those students who have shown greater improvement (relative gain) from Year 3 to Year 5 in both Reading and Numeracy. If you haven't already, check out my sizzling spotlight on NAPLAN . Click here
Looking forward to term 4, we will continue to promote our high expectations for all staff and students as we begin our swimming program in weeks 2-8 inclusive and begin to prepare for end of year events including our transition day, senior awards night and year 6 graduation. Just a reminder that next term we will continue our focus on correct school uniform for all students and remain our rigid stance on the importance of attending school every day as we know “Everyday Counts".
Finally, I finish with a farewell to Mrs Karen May who this week will begin her maternity leave. We wish her and Mr Brent May all the very best as they await the arrival of their newest family member. We also bid farewell to Mrs Erin Raso who has decided to pursue a business opportunity with her family. With this said, we welcome Ms Moy Carra to the Mareeba SS community. You can find her teaching Family A on a Monday and Tuesday in Term 4. I wish our families a happy and safe spring break. Don't forget Monday 4th October is a Public Holiday so school will resume Tuesday 5th October.