Head of Junior School

From the 24 to 27 February, the Junior School staff from Pre-Primary through to Year 5 have been meeting with parents as part of Parent-Teacher Interview Week. It has been wonderful to have so many parents come in and talk to the teachers about their son’s start to the 2020 school year. These meetings allow for the sharing of both academic progress and pastoral care information about each of the boys within the Junior School. 

Pastoral Care

The Parent-Teacher Interview Week is one way the Junior School staff offer pastoral care information and also share their goals with parents. Emails, phone calls, diary entries and incidental meetings as things arise are examples of other forms of sharing. I would like to remind parents about the importance of open communication with regards to pastoral care. If something is not sitting right with your son/daughter after 24 hours of an incident, then it may not be resolved. Mentioning this to your child’s classroom teacher is the first stage and from here we will monitor and pay attention to interactions to help assist your child. At Scotch we have a wealth of resources that can be accessed should extra assistance and support be needed. Parents are very perceptive, so please come and talk to us if something doesn’t seem right.

Reading

Academically, parents were informed of their son’s progress and this is a timely reminder to parents about the importance of reading and the significance of the amount of time reading has for long-term language development. The comparisons can be seen when comparing students who read 20 minutes a day against a student reading 5 minutes a day and again to a student reading for 1 minute a day. Below are 2 tables that clearly define the significance of reading showing how many words will be heard depending on the amount of time spent reading.

Key points to remember for reading

• Read each night and read for understanding.
• Please do not get caught up with the level of your son’s book. The boys need to understand what they are reading. With that, fluency will come. 
• Read two levels below their home reader level so boys can enjoy success. Repeated reading is very important, especially in the younger year levels. It assists the boys to learn more sight words and improve their fluency. 
• Importance of nightly reading and focus on all levels of comprehension; literal, inferential and authors purpose. 
• Reading for understanding is the key.
• Bookmarks are available in the front office which share suggestions and ideas for parents when listening or reading to their children.

 

For parents of Pre-Primary and Year 1 boys, if you would like more information about the importance of reading and specifics to the age of your son, please come along to the Parent Engagement Workshop: Developing Literacy Skills at School and Home on Wednesday 4 March at 8.30 am in the Dining Hall Annexe. 

Thank you, parents, for taking the time to meet with your son’s class teacher during the Parent-Teacher Interview week. These interviews are invaluable for parents, teachers and of course the boys.