It is hard to imagine that we are already at the half way point of the term which, as usual, has been action packed for the boys. We are looking forward to Book Week which commences on Monday. A number of authors will working and talking to Wyvern students. In addition, there will be a Book Fair before after school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the Library. 

CLASS ALLOCATION 2017

The process for allocating students to next year’s classes is thorough and starts in Term 4. As part of this process some parents may feel that they can assist by offering additional information about their son. Should you wish to express a view about the style of classroom management you feel may best suit your son (e.g. particularly nurturing or greater structure, etc.) I invite you to contact me via email before the end of this term. Please note that I cannot consider requests submitted later than this deadline.

Requests for particular teachers or for a teacher based on his or her gender will not be considered in this process. Whilst we do welcome parental input in the process, the school has the final say in decisions regarding class placement for 2017.

NAPLAN 

Tomorrow parents of students in Year 3 and Year 5 will receive their son’s NAPLAN results. The school’s performance in all key areas tested (reading, spelling, writing, grammar and punctuation and numeracy) was very strong with our school average being significantly above the national average as well as for that of similar schools. As a school we have bucked the national trend where results have flat-lined in 2016. By contrast, at Wyvern, we have seen exceptionally positive growth in the areas tested. When interpreting the results I remind parents that the NAPLAN assessments were completed by the boys at the start of Term 2 and, as such, do not reflect subsequent progress over the last 2 terms.

PARENT SURVEY

I thank the many parents who took the time to complete the recent survey about all aspects of the school; we had a very high response rate of 60%. The results are very helpful for gauging how effective we are in teaching and caring for your sons. They also assist greatly with our future planning. The survey profile at Wyvern was overwhelmingly positive with parents expressing strong satisfaction ratings (in excess of 90%) in virtually all areas. In some ways the most important question is if Wyvern parents would recommend the school to another family? On this question 98% of parents answered in the affirmative. I will present a more detailed breakdown of the survey results at the next P & F meeting on Thursday 15 September at 7:00pm.

Ian Holden
Head of Wyvern