A walk in the Bossley Park

Blog of Kip McGrath Bossley Park

April 2012 Newsletter

June 18
by lauri.teo 18. June 2012 09:53

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our new families to Kip McGrath Bossley Park for 2012. I have been overwhelmed by the number of assessments that I have done since the start of the year, but I am delighted to say that a lot of the new business is due to our existing parents telling their friends and family.

It has been a very busy and exciting start to 2012 for us, and I apologise that it has taken me so long to get a newsletter out to you. With the introduction of a number of new systems, it has taken a lot of time to prepare lessons and set up our new administration procedures. I am thrilled to say that with streamlining our processes, it means that we are able to provide a better administration service, and that we are also able to utilise Emma as a teaching assistant to help with the younger students who are on reading programs.

If you have not completed a 2012 enrolment form, could you please drop in and see Emma as there has been many changes to the terms and conditions of enrolment, as outlined in a number of the 2011 newsletters, and we want to make sure that everyone understands them, and that we have the most current details for all students.

Warmest Wishes,
Karen

Make-Up Lessons

As we move into the winter months, I wanted to remind everyone of the procedures concerning make-up lessons. It is essential for your child to make the desired improvement in their studies by attending ALL lessons.

Should your child be sick or unable to attend, then you must call the office with as much notice as possible. This allows us the opportunity to add another student to the session. The terms and conditions of enrolment state that 24 hour notice must be given, however we understand that children get sick and that short notice can be unavoidable. Recently, we have had a number of people not contact us at all. Unfortunately, in future if this happens, we will forfeit the missed lesson at full charge as the teachers still need to be paid. If you miss a lesson, and you pay weekly in the centre, that lesson must be paid for the next time your child attends.

Make-up lessons can be organised by talking to Emma. We now have the opportunity to schedule make-up lessons at home via our brilliant online computer system. This is particularly useful if your child does a number of after school activities and you find it difficult to bring them to another session. Alternatively, you can book a different time and day to complete the lesson in the centre. Please note, you only have 10 weeks from the missed lesson to do a catch-up.

Insight Computer Program

Mark, Emma and I would like to to thank all our families for being so supportive of the new computer system that has been launched throughout Term 4 last year and Term 1 this year. We are very excited that head office has chosen our centre to be a pilot of their new technology.

As with any new system, there are always bugs, and without having willing and patient people to assist us in the process, it would be impossible for companies to release such innovative products to their clients.

  • INSIGHT
    Insight has been such a huge hit with the students. They love it when they discover new items which have been added to the program...and there are plenty more coming.

    It has given the teachers the capability to program the students' needs better, provide a more engaging curriculum for students, to see the students' progress on a weekly basis and will assist in providing more comprehensive information to parents.

  • HOMEWORK
    Being able to allocate homework online ensures that students are being given a variety of tasks specifically catering to their needs. It may be something that has been identified by the teacher as needing more reinforcement, or it may be the ability to consolidate skills already taught. The teachers all get a report which outlines what a student completed for homework, their score, what questions were incorrect and the time it took to complete. This information was simply not available using the old "pen and paper" method.

  • NEW PILOT
    We are one of three centres worldwide that are trialing the new make-up lessons at home, and also a new system of "FLEXI LESSONS." The at home, make-up lessons have been mentioned in the Make-Up Lessons section of the newsletter. When you are calling to say your child is going to be away, Emma will discuss this as an option for your child. We would love to use this as a standard method of make-up to ensure that students are being delivered a lesson every week and to ensure that make-up lessons are not lost.

  • FLEXI LESSONS
    These are lessons that are booked to be completed at home. We already have a number of students who are requiring two lessons a week, but due to time constraints could not attend a centre, are taking part in our flexi lessons. The flexi lessons work using the students' homework interface. In the future, this option will allow more flexibility as far as ratio to centre and at home lessons. Of course this option will not suit all students and discussion around suitability will need to take place before a students would be recommended for this program.

'When I Grow Up' Competition

BOSSLEY PARK WINNERS

Last term, the Australian Kip McGrath network ran a competition to find out what students wanted to be when they grew up. The students could enter the competition in the Draw, Write and Look categories. We had a number of entrants in the Draw and Write category. It was fantastic to see our students' work displayed, and to see such an overwhelming response on our Facebook page.

We are very excited to announce that Biljana B. won the National Prize in the Draw category. She is now the proud owner of an iPad, which I am sure she is going to love.

 

Congratulations also goes to Michael I. for being the winner of the Centre Prize in the Write category. We have attached his story to the newsletter for all of you to read.



A big thank you goes to all the students who entered the competition and to all the people who voted for our wonderful entrants!


Supporting the Local Community

Where possible, Mark, Emma and I, try to offer support in the local community. This year, we have become naming right sponsors for the Holroyd Parramatta Goannas Under 13's AFL team. We have a number of Goanna's players from different teams attending tuition at our centre, and with Mark heavily involved with the Club, we thought it would be great to help them out. We are very excited that the Under 13's have been recruiting hard and are currently sitting 3rd on the table.

 

Later in the year, we will also be holding the MS Readathon. We have chosen to do this as it is the Year of Literacy, and also because we know many families that are affected by this disease. More details will be issued later.

Tags:

None

None

About the author

Something about the author

Month List

Page List