'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey

The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey is a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of your perceptions of your children's experiences at home and school. It is based primarily on Joyce Epstein's framework for fostering positive school and community relations. Successful schools foster greater communication with parents, encourage parental involvement in their child's schoolwork, and enlist parents to volunteer at the school and participate in school life. The survey also provides feedback to schools about how parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment.

The survey includes seven separate measures, scored on a ten-point scale. A score of 0 indicates strong disagreement; 10 indicates strong agreement; 5 is a neutral position (neither agree nor disagree).

The data gathered from this survey helps us form our Annual Improvement and Strategic Plans. Of course, we welcome a conversation at any point in time about concerns so that we can address these immediately. 

The data is also provided to the Catholic Education Office, and we would love them to hear about the wonderful things happening at St Matthew's. Hence, we encourage all parents and carers to participate. The more responses we receive, the more accurate our data is.

The graph below shows an overview of our 2023 results. Out of approximately 230 families, 88 parents responded.

Please click on the following link to complete the survey: http://tellthemfromme.com/stmatthewspage

The survey closes on Friday, 23 August 2024, at 4.30 pm.

K-2 Parent Workshop - DIBELS Assessments

On Wednesday, August 14, we will present information sessions to parents of Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students. These sessions will outline our key reading assessment, DIBELS, and ways in which you can support your child’s early literacy skills. 

DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. These measures help teachers and schools determine how students are performing on important reading skills. 

Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are critical skills necessary for successful beginning reading. The DIBELS measures assess students on four of these five critical skills, which are often referred to as the “Big Ideas” of reading.

We have recently completed our mid-year DIBELS assessment. If you attend one of the sessions outlined below, you will receive a DIBELS parent report about your child’s achievement and some practical activities that you can take home to support your child’s reading skills. If you do not attend one of the sessions and would like a copy of the report, you’ll need to book a time to speak with us so that the information can be interpreted with understanding. 

The morning session will take place in the Hall on Wednesday, August 14, from 9:00 a.m. (straight after morning assembly) to approximately 9:45 a.m. 

For parents and carers who cannot attend the morning session, we will hold an evening session from 5.15 to approximately 6.00 p.m. 

Please let us know you are coming by clicking here or by following this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G33SY9C.

RA Spratt - Author Visit

It was wonderful to have R.A. Spratt visit yesterday. Her hilarious stories engaged our students. We loved hearing about Nanny Piggins, a pig who's a nanny, and her brother Boris, a large ballet-dancing bear!

You can still order copies of R.A. Spratt's books through www.lamontauthors.com.au. Orders must be completed by August 18 and will be delivered to the school. Please note that R.A. Spratt will not be able to sign these books.

I would like to thank Miss Judd for organising R.A. Spratt's visit to St Matthew's.

Yours in truth, peace and love,

Mrs Sarah Lowe

School Fees