Helen Maynard Director of Studies K-6

Primary School Home Learning Policy

We are pleased to announce that our Home Learning Policy for implementation 2019 has been approved and is ready to share with you. Here is link to this policy and a Home Learning Parent Resources page (which is embedded in the policy);https://myportal.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Primary-School-Home-Learning-Policy.pdf 

Much consideration and time was put into this venture to ensure that we developed something that was the ‘best fit’ for our school and had educational merit. We looked closely at research, surveyed parents and students and discussed with staff at length. You will note that there is a strong emphasis on regular reading as this is something that we know impacts positively on class learning. It is pertinent to note that we have been embedding our back to basic program in our Mathematics classes so felt that this initiative addressed this aspect of learning. 

I would like to thank the staff, but in particular, Carrie Grieve, Lara Kepitis, Tanya Jeckeln, Stacey Rosenfeld, Emma Hill, Roslynn Pardy, Emma Buzo, Tali Silberstein and Renee Levenson who made up the committee that met regularly to work on this policy. Please contact myself via my email or telephone should you wish to discuss further.

K-2 Home Readers

As I am sure you have realised the school has invested a large amount of money in purchasing new books for the students in Kindergarten and Years 1 and 2 to bring home to read. This is a wonderful addition to our resource bank and has taken a considerable amount of time and effort from the teacher’s aides and class teachers, of which I am very grateful. It has been mentioned to me a number of times that these readers do not always make it back into school. Can I please ask that you ensure they come back to school – even if it is after a clean out. We have clearly labelled them on the front cover as Emanuel School property.

On another note the books that were culled, destined for landfill, are currently in a container ready for a school on the outskirts of Freetown in Sierra Leone. These will be hand delivered by a friend of mine in January.