Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

Welcome back to term 2.  We trust that you had a lovely break and enjoyed some time with your family.

Monday 15th April the staff had a very informative day working with St Michael’s staff to learn more about trauma and the impact it can have on the young people in our school. We thank Amy Hunt from Lookout for her time and sharing her expertise. 

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

Along with most schools around Australia, our school will be taking part in the sixth Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). It’s a national census completed every three years that records how children are developing as they begin their first year of full-time school.

The idea behind the census is that it builds a national picture of the development and needs of young children in Australia. It is important that all schools take part in the AEDC – regardless of school size or type – to ensure data is collected on all Australian children enrolled in their first year of full-time school.

Australia is uniquely positioned to use the information collected every three years as part of the AEDC to provide a snapshot of how young children have fared living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

An important aspect of the AEDC is that the results are reported for groups of children, rather than individual children – so information about your child will remain anonymous. When participating in the AEDC, the privacy of children is maintained in accordance with national and state and territory privacy legislation and policies.

The AEDC results are reported at a national, state/territory, community and school level.

AEDC results at community, state/territory, and national levels are available to everyone – communities, parents/carers, schools and governments - via the AEDC website www.aedc.gov.au.

The AEDC has become important for planning and targeting the right kinds of services and support for children and families all over the country.

Children won’t miss any class time and they don’t need to be present when the teacher completes the census; it’s based on Teacher observations.

Parents/carers do not need to provide any information for the census.

The census is important because it helps Teachers get a better idea of children’s needs in the classroom, and helps our community get the services, resources and support they need.

The Foundation Teachers will begin collecting the census data in May. They use a research tool (similar to a questionnaire) to measure children’s development across five key areas, also known as domains.

The AEDC domains are:

• physical health and wellbeing
• social competence
• emotional maturity
• language and cognitive skills (school-based)
• communication skills and general knowledge.

The census is based on the work of internationally renowned child health experts. Australia has led the way internationally, and was the first country in the world to collect this type of data at a national level on the developmental health of all children starting full-time school.

When researchers produce the AEDC reports, they work with ‘de-identified data’ (which is anonymous data). This means that there is no information reported about an individual child. Because the AEDC is a group measure, individual child assessments are not available to parents/carers.

Participation in the census is voluntary, and it is not a test. Parents/carers only have to notify the school if they choose to have their child excluded.

Finally a reminder that we have school closure days on Thursday 25th April and Friday 26th April.

Kind Regards

Michelle