What’s Been Happening!

The first six weeks of Term One have been bustling with activity at our school. I’d like to extend my gratitude to everyone who attended our first Open Classroom of 2025 during Week Four. We've been emphasising the value of ‘connection,’ and this event provided a wonderful opportunity for our school community to connect with parents, carers, and the wider Sheffield community. Families had the chance to chat with staff, explore their child’s classroom, and discuss the learning that has been taking place. Everyone also enjoyed a sausage or two. A big thank you to the staff for their preparation, ensuring the afternoon was well-organised.

During Week Four, we also had our External School Review. This four-day process involved three panel members speaking with numerous staff, families, and students, as well as visiting classrooms and afterschool meetings. The purpose of school reviews is to support schools in raising student achievement and sustaining high performance. At the end of the review, the panel provided us with independent feedback to verify our current school improvement plan and offered recommendations to ensure we continue to improve.

The panel gave several commendations, including:

• A high level of staff morale and wellbeing, founded on a strong collegial school culture based on personal and professional trust, where staff have a voice and are supported.
• A calm and orderly school-wide learning environment with high expectations for behaviour, providing a foundation for positive student learning.
• A comprehensive focus on curriculum development, ensuring staff know what to teach, aligned with the Australian Curriculum and DECYP priorities in Literacy.
• Mutually beneficial partnerships with parents and the broader school community to support learning and create clear parallel pathways for students.
• An attractive and well-maintained physical learning environment that provides a welcoming space for all members of the Sheffield School community.
• Families, students, and community members speak highly of the school, highlighting the caring staff and the range of opportunities provided. They describe a strong sense of belonging and pride in the school, which fosters a sense of community.

Our two recommendations for the next four years are:

1. Co-construct a vision of high expectations for all students' deep learning and clearly communicate these across the school.
2. Broaden the professional learning culture by establishing explicit feedback processes, with clear governance structures, to support a positive feedback culture that promotes intellectual rigor and ongoing growth and capability building.

Thank you to the families and community members who took the time to speak with the panel members. We feel very positive after the review and look forward to continuing our improvement journey.

Last week, we had our first staff vs. student match, playing bench ball. This game was new to me, and I found it challenging to play against so many taller (and younger) students. All participants had an enjoyable time, with the students winning the first of these competitions. I was amazed at the talent of the junior SRC, who displayed excellent coordination skills! Next up is basketball! I can honestly say it’s not a sport I excel at, but I will give it my best shot.

This week saw the start of NAPLAN testing. Most students involved in the testing have been giving their best effort, which is all we ask for. The testing runs over two weeks, including catch-up days for students who may have missed testing due to absence.

Just a friendly reminder: if your child is away, we would really appreciate a text or phone call to our office so that our attendance can be correctly marked. We use this data and would like it to be as accurate as possible. Attendance is importance to us. Did you know that if your child misses just one day a fortnight that equals twenty days per year, which is four weeks per year? This equates to a lot of learning time lost. If you need some support with getting your child to school, please contact us so we may offer you some support.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold our swimming carnival this year due to unforeseen maintenance issues with the pool at Splash. At this time, we will not be holding the carnival.

Next Wednesday night, we will be holding our annual School Association AGM, where we will be voting in the positions. Please feel free to come along to the meeting, which will be held at 6 pm at the school in the meeting room.

A lot of work has been done by Mrs. Katharine Bransden and her team in preparing for the mainland trip. Thank you, Mrs. Bransden, for the many hours and phone calls made to ensure the students have a wonderful itinerary and learning experience. I wish I could attend with the group, but I have two weeks of long service leave at the end of the term, which I had organised before starting my appointment at Sheffield School. During my absence, Catrina Davies will be filling in for me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the term. Remember to be kind to others and my door is always open.

Wendy Leonard
Acting Principal