22 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Reporting

This year we will see changes to our Prep- Grade 10 reports that are being distributed to our families at the end of this term. Whilst this is still some weeks away I would like to give parents prior information about these changes. Reports for Prep to Grade 10 students include feedback and information on student growth, progress and personal and social capability. They will be in the form of written comments and assessment against the Australian Curriculum and we also provide a rubric which will provide further information about student's work habit attributes. This year the Department of Education has issued a guide around word limits and students in Prep to Year 6 will have a written report of "Up to a total of 300 words personal and relevant to the student" and students in Years 7-10 will have a written report of " Up to 40 words per learning area, personal and relevant to the student". This is a significant change to what we normally write.

Taking this guide into account at St Marys District School we have developed a 2 step process for our mid-year reporting to ensure we are providing the most timely and useful feedback to students and parents about student learning.

• In week 8 of this term, parents will receive a report similar in structure to the progress report that was sent home in Term 1. This report will include:
  • A work habits rubric for Prep to 10 students
  • Assessment ratings for Years 1-6 in English Maths and Science
  • Assessment ratings for Years 7-10 for each learning area/subject taught
• In the last 2 weeks of this term Three Way Interviews will be held for parents, students and teachers. During these interviews:
  • Written comments will be shared and discussed with students and parents
  • Work habit rubrics and assessment ratings will be discussed in more detail
  • Future learning goals will be set.

Further information about the Three Way Interview process will be shared in the near future. Our goal is to meet with or talk with 100% of our families during this interview process as we believe these discussions are crucial in supporting students achievement and success.

Simultaneous Story Time

This morning students from Kindergarten to Grade eight participated in Simultaneous Story Time. Our guest storyteller was Mr Wardlaw and he captivated his audience with his wonderful reading of the Alpacas with Maracas.

GRADE 9-10A SCIENCE

Grade 9/10A have been studying Biology in Science. During week two of this term, the focus was on the skeletal and muscular systems. A chicken wing is a fantastic model of a human arm, so the class did some dissecting. This enabled the students to explore the way that joints, ligaments, tendons, bones, muscles and cartilage work together in order to move the arm.

KINDER - GRADE 2 HPE - What makes us feel good?

Kinder – Grade 2 students are learning about how their physical body and emotions work closely together. They are learning that when they move their whole body and breathe deeply they feel GOOD. They are understanding that their body needs to move every day and this can affect the way they interact with others. Kinder – Grade 2 students are learning about ways to identify problems and conflicts and to solve them in positive ways. Our students are learning about how to move their body in small and large spaces, including playing games such as “Stealing Tails” and navigating around their Fun Run course to prepare for our Kinder – Grade 6 Cross Country Day on Tuesday 4th June.

KINDER - GRADE 2 MUSIC - Where do we hear music and how can we make music?

Our Kinder – Grade 2 students are developing their understanding of music in the outdoors. They are listening to the sounds of nature – the wind, the trees and bird calls. They are using their voice to imitate sounds they hear. They are composing music using hard and soft sounds with rocks, sticks and play equipment. Our Kinder – Grade 2 students are learning about percussion skills and how to read music using ‘cup music’. They are also learning to develop their listening skills by identifying different rhythm patterns and repetition of sounds through music clapping and singing games.

ST.MARYS DISTRICT SCHOOL FARM

One of the enterprises on the school farm is growing pigs for their meat.

The piggery had not been used for many years. It was upgraded using a grant. Water was put onto the piggery and automatic water outlets were installed to allow the pigs to drink whenever they are thirsty. The effluent system had to be upgraded. The bottom of the old tank was cleaned out and concreted. We bought a macerating pump to pump the effluent out of the tank and to transfer it to sprinklers that now irrigate one of the paddocks. It grows very good grass for the sheep and cows to eat.

We also bought a set of stock scales so that we can monitor the pigs’ growth. This is done by weighing them and recording their weights.

We have saddleback pigs and buy them at about four to six weeks of age. They are grown in the piggery and adjoining pasture area. The pasture is divided into two areas so that wheat or oats can be grown on one side while the pigs are eating the crop on the other side. The pigs are kept in the pasture area using an electric fence that runs inside the usual fence.

We grow the pigs to be approximately six to eight months old before they are sent to the Fingal Meatworks. The meat is sold in the school community with the money going towards buying more pigs and feed. We also use some of the pork for our Winterfeast which is held in Term 2.

Please listen to our students telling us all about the pigs. This is a sound file only (no pictures).

GRADE 6 MATHS - LOOKING SHIP SHAPE

Students in Grade 6 Williams have been learning about different 3D shapes. We have been exploring the number of faces, edges and vertices each shape has, distinguishing between pyramids and prisms and using nets to build shapes. As our culminating project, we developed a house plan and built a 3D model of our houses with each room an individual shape that connected as a whole. Students made their own nets to develop these shapes.

FINGAL CAMPUS - EC1

Exploring child development through the art of weaving:

Students enjoyed an afternoon of weaving. They found sticks from the garden and used wool to create individually crafted totems.

Weaving is also great for learning about patterns. Patterns help us see order in chaos. They help us understand the way the world works and helps us to predict what comes next. There are patterns you may use at home like a bedtime routine. Patterns can help us understand people and how to interact with each other, like using manners. We can find patterns in nature to understand the world, the changes of seasons, understanding time, moving through a space and finding animals or plants. Working together with patterns and weaving is a great way to introduce a vocabulary that helps us understand how we move our bodies and objects through a space. Weaving also requires coordination. When children wind their hands and arms across their midline repeatedly when weaving, it helps the two hemispheres of their brain work together. This winding activity also crosses the centre of the stick, which requires children to think about where the stick is, where the wool is, where their hands are and where their bodies are. This requires bilateral organisation and needs both sides of the brain to communicate with each other. This link between the two hemispheres of our brain helps both sides of our body move in coordination together. It helps us crawl, walk, ride a bike and even read when our eyes look from the left to the right. It helps to synchronise fine and gross motor skills.

Weaving, threading and sewing requires strong finger muscles and good coordination. In support of their fine motor development, children first need to strengthen their gross motor systems, building core muscles and shoulder girdles to be able to keep their arms stable. For example, climbing, crawling and even madly shaking the egg shakers helps build the muscles children need to pinch a needle in their fingers and hold it still while they thread a needle. Practising using our finger muscles like this helps children to pick up and move small objects, take things apart and put things together, and later it will help them grip and move a pencil well when they write.

(Extract from Weaving Growth in Children by Trudi Bennett)

GRADE 9-10C SCIENCE

Grade 9/10C have been busy in Science this term as we explore the systems within living things that enable them to function in a healthy and productive manner. We are currently doing a range of investigations with plants to observe how they respond when normal living conditions are altered. Some of the variables being explored include changing the colour and intensity of light, altering the PH and salinity of the soil and altering the normal gravitational pull on the plants.

Students have also been working in groups to prepare a lesson on a particular body system such as respiratory, circulatory, digestive etc. and presenting the lesson to the class. Dissections of a chicken wing accompanied the muscular/skeletal system lesson given by Tae and Leo.

FEED MY FAMILY – GRADE 1-2 CROMB

LIFT

As part of our LIFT initiative, Grade 1/2 Cromb spent Monday afternoon exploring healthy foods. They had lots of fun interacting with the resources, and finished the afternoon as Food Scientists, investigating some healthy snacks. Some students chose to investigate using their sense of smell, sight, and touch, while others used their sense of taste too.

MOTHERS DAY CELEBRATION

Learning in Families Together Kinder – Grade 2

On Tuesday 7th of May, many mothers, grandmothers (including two great grandmothers!) and carers, came to our Mother’s Day celebration in the Performing Arts area. All students in Kinder –Grade 2 were involved in the celebrations. Visitors and students tasted a variety of foods, drank fruit smoothies, made Mother’s Day cards, role played in our camping and picnic areas, played games, completed puzzles, and demonstrated helpful skills at home, such as sorting cutlery, folding towels and pegging out the washing. Grade 6 Student Leaders helped run the activities and took photos of the afternoon. They were also whizzes in the canteen, serving fruit smoothies.

We hope all the Mums in our community and beyond had a lovely Mother’s Day!

“GODS EYES” GRADE PREP AND 1-2

Prep/One/Two tutoring by Grade 6 students

Grade 6 students taught the P/1/2 students to make Gods Eyes about of sticks and wool. We all watched a step by step clip show how to make Gods Eyes. The Grade 6 children tutored their group showing clear and helpful steps in making the textile with their buddies.

FINGAL CAMPUS EC1 – MY ROBOTIC FRIENDS

Who said algorithms are complicated?!

EC1 had a go in programming using cup stack pack and symbol keys. The aim was to highlight programming techniques and illustrate the need for functions.

Students used a predefined “Robot Vocabulary” to figure out how to guide one another to accomplish specific tasks without discussing them first. This segment taught students the connection between symbols and actions, as well as the valuable skill of debugging (finding and fixing issues in code).

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

Our Kindergarten students have been busy having fun and engaging in learning through a play based program. Students have been writing, counting, creating patterns, learning about their names, and improving their fine motor skills. Developing social skills is a large part of our program. We are learning to problem solve, share, turn take and work alongside others while developing friendships and becoming confident to express ourselves.

LAUNCHING INTO LEARNING

Launching into Learning (LiL) is a play based program for children aged birth to four years of age and their parents or carers. It runs every Thursday from 9:15am to 10:45am, at Fingal or St Marys. So far this year, LiL has offered a range of fun and engaging sessions both on school grounds and out and about, enjoying the many fabulous spaces our community offers. Sessions have included water awareness, park play, bounce (gross and perceptual motor program), bike riding, Easter, Mother’s Day and autumn celebrations. This Term we will be introducing a “Mums and Bubs” session – more information to come!

Check out some of the photos from our sessions. We would really love to see some new faces, so if you know of someone with children aged birth to four years, encourage them to call Bec Hibberd at the school or check out our Facebook page for more information.

SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS

These notices have been sent home to parents in the last fortnight. If you did not receive one and would like to receive a copy of the notice, please contact the school office on 63 723 900.

PRIMARY

Bless Up Day – Fingal Campus
Fingal Campus Assembly

SECONDARY

Winter Sports – selected students
Science & Engineering Challenge – selected students.
Grade 10 Events Committee – Grade 10 hoodies

WHOLE SCHOOL

World Greatest Shave – 29th May

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS