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Welcome to the Year 2008 school year. Your child’s teachers are Kathy Lavender and Lisa Holroyd and we both look forward to working with your child this year. We hope it will be a rewarding and memorable one for them.
Kathy will be teaching each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Lisa will teach each Thursday and Friday.
Kathy has taught for 17 years and has enjoyed a wide variety of grade levels from Preschool to Year 7. Geography and History and Art are her favourite subjects to teach. Lisa has had 4 years teaching experience in New South Wales and in Queensland schools and her special interest lies in Physical Education. She especially loves soccer and has also taught many year levels.
We endeavour to work closely together, collaborating our diverse experiences to ensure your child receives the highest quality of education. Our goals and philosophies are very similar which enables us to work closely to achieve our desired outcomes.
The concept of part-time teaching may be new to some parents and you may have queries or concerns regarding our partnership and how it operates. During a Parent/Teacher afternoon that is to be held this week, our programming will be discussed in detail. If you cannot attend this afternoon session, Kathy or Lisa will be happy to arrange a time that suits you to discuss any topic.
We both encourage strong communication with our parents and we view your role in your child’s education as a vital one. There will be many opportunities for your meaningful involvement in classroom activities, excursions and home tasks.
Homework begins Week 2, and our procedures regarding our homework policy are explained in detail below.
Homework is currently a hot discussion topic. Many parents don’t have the luxury of being able to spend hours after school helping children complete work. Our changing lifestyles, including working parens, extra-curricular activities such as sport and music, have squeezed the time available to do homework. Some parents and children question the necessity of having it in the first place.
We believe that homework can be a worthwhile activity when managed effectively. (Information from “Kids on the Coast” Publication March/April 2005.) The most important aspect of homework according to a Melbourne education consultant, Dr Caroline Walta, is that it be a quiet, contemplative, reflective time, where a student escapes from computers, mobile phones, friends, music and sits quietly, doing work which is “self-directed”. Basically, it is learning without having to have someone constantly teaching.
She says it is this aspect of homework which is beneficial to students in late life, as they develop skills at their own pace and take responsibility for their own tasks. Self management and organization skills are also developed as students learn to manage their time in order to submit homework when required.
We also believe homework shouldn’t be an overwhelming struggle and children should not be doing new work which hasn’t been attempted before. If your child does have some difficulty completing a set task, they may need more assistance at school to gain a better understanding of that concept. Simply ask your child to circle the areas that they find most difficult so we can help.
The following is an outline of our guidelines and expectations relating to homework.
Your child will receive one A3 homework sheet that is to be completed at their leisure throughout the week. It has revision Maths, English and Handwriting activities that should not take too long to complete. It is important that you sign this sheet and have it returned to school before Friday morning.
Spelling words will be given on a weekly basis (usually Mondays). These are to be learned during the week and will be tested on Fridays. Children will do a pre-test on Monday and depending upon their weekly result, they will be allocated a quota of words in alignment with their ability. Results of weekly spelling results are recorded on a chart in our classroom and students who work very hard to improve their results are rewarded.
Lastly, your child will be required to give an oral presentation once a week on their rostered day. Rosters outlining the particular items to be presented will be sent home twice a term. Morning Session items will be negotiated with the class and will change each term.
If you have a query regarding our homework guidelines, please don’t hesitate to come and see us.
Regards,
Kathy Lavender and Lisa Holroyd
Year 6/7 Teachers
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