Welcome to the Staff Memo

PRINCIPALS PEN

The Quality Teaching Strategy is here!

I’m going to do things a little differently this week because of last Thursday’s announcement. It started with this media release from the Honourable Minister for Education and then all 826 WA public school principals received an email from our Director General, Lisa Rodgers. I’m confident as you read Lisa’s email and explore the links you’ll see many parallels with what my message has been since I arrived here. 

Have a great week, everyone!

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Dear Principal

Today, I am pleased to release two new supports to strengthen the quality of teaching in our classrooms through our Quality Teaching Strategy and to further support our students in the development of essential literacy skills with guidance on the Phonics Initiative.

These are the culmination of extensive consultation, research and collaboration with the profession. Many of you have been involved in their development and I thank you for your contributions.

Our Quality Teaching Strategy, for use by all Western Australian public schools, sets out our commitment, as a system, to delivering a strategy that would establish our shared understanding of what effective teaching is, to advance our efforts to ensure progress and achievement for every student. 

The Quality Teaching Strategy is based on evidence. It will stand at the heart of our work to ensure consistency of practice and learning impact. It is a whole school approach and details the key elements that need to be in place when teaching is at its most effective.

You are responsible for the pedagogical leadership in your school, and every school will be at a different place. I would like you to familiarise yourself with the strategy and consider how best it can inform you, so you can take the next steps that will support your school community of practice.

From today, you can find out more about the range of supports underpinned by the Quality Teaching Strategy –Teaching for Impact, the School Culture Survey, the Leading Cultures of Teaching Excellence professional learning program, and QTS lead schools. More information can be found on Ikon.

The Phonics Initiative, launched by the Minister in May, is one part of an approach to quality teaching and learning. From 2023, you are required to ensure that every Year 1 public school student will be assessed in regard to their proficiency in phonics. As would be your practice, please ensure that students who require targeted literacy intervention are identified early and supported. Schools can access information about professional learning and supports via Ikon from 2023. A range of endorsed assessment tools and programs can be found on page 11 of the Phonics Initiative brochure.

The assessments will need to take place by the end of Term 2 next year. We will not ask for your assessments, however you will be asked in the Semester 2 census if these have been completed.

I acknowledge all our principals across the system, regardless of whether you enrol Year 1 students or not, for your continued work across all schools to support students to read. 

In coming days, you will receive in the mail copies of our Quality Teaching Strategy brochure, Teaching for Impact overview poster and Phonics Initiative brochure for you to consider and share with your staff.

I encourage you to access the Quality Teaching Strategy and Phonics Initiative support materials on Ikon and Connect Discover. Further information and resources will be rolled out from 2023 and beyond. 

I look forward to your engagement with this work. Your contribution to the consultation over the past two years to ensure the fitness for purpose and context of these strategies has been invaluable and I thank you for your support. I also extend this thanks to the leadership of our teams in Statewide Services.
Lisa 


- Leon

COMPASS CORNER

If you are marking the roll, please ensure that you are inputting the correct code. .

• If they are in the room = P
• If they are not in the room = NP (even if you know the reason they are not present)
  • If you know the reason, and there was no input from the parent on Compass - please mark as 'NP' then add an attendance note by clicking this icon  on the roll, NOT the comments box
• If they are late, they should come to the front office to get a pass and the front office staff will enter in. Primary Teachers ideally will not have to use this code.

1. Try another Class News Feed. This is located at the bottom of the class page. Please note that parents who are not currently using Compass will not receive the message unless they are using Compass. Please email your parents who are not on Compass and let them know a news feed has been uploaded and they should login to view it. 
2. How to email parents using Compass. In the tools section on the right hand side there is a tab to send an email. You can email individual, group or whole class parents. 
3. 

- Jaiyden and Jen