3 July 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Reports and Three Way Interviews

Last week you should have received your child's mid-year report and an invitation for you and your child to attend our three way interviews being held at the beginning of Term 3. These interviews provide an important opportunity for you to discuss your child's learning and support them to set their learning goals for the second half of the year. Please take up this opportunity to talk with teachers and to celebrate your child’s achievements and to discuss how we can best support their learning.

Student Free Day - 22 July 2019

The first day back for staff next term is on Monday July 22nd. This is a student free day for children in Grades Kinder -10. On this day, we will be hosting teachers and teacher assistants from Bicheno, St Helens, Campbell Town and Winnaleah, along with teachers and teacher assistants from St Marys for a professional learning day. The focus of the day will be the launch of a common instruction model to support every teacher in our schools to teach using the highest impact and most effective teaching strategies. Shireen Thomas, a School Improvement Leader with The Department of Education, will be leading some of this work on the day.

An Instructional Model for Teaching and Learning

At the beginning of 2019, Bicheno Primary School, St Marys District School and St Helens District High School embarked on a learning journey to build common teaching practice across our schools. A priority of this work has been to develop a cluster instructional model for teaching and learning. An instructional model outlines what happens at the beginning, middle and end of a lesson and includes teaching strategies that are intended to achieve the highest learning impact for students. Teachers use an instructional model when planning and delivering lessons. During the first half of this year staff examined instructional models from a range of schools and identified the high impact teaching strategies that needed to be included in our cluster instructional model. This work is being supported by internationally recognised educational researchers, Pamela Macklin and Vic Zbar, who have worked closely with us, sharing their knowledge and expertise and supporting us with our improvement journey. Pamela visited our schools on May 20th and 21st to work with principals and literacy leaders as part of this work. Our cluster instructional model will be launched on the 22nd of July and further details will be shared with you in future newsletters.

Staffing News

At the end of this term we farewell Mr Patrick Bender from our staff. Patrick has accepted a position at St Helens District High for next term. I would like to thank Patrick for his contribution to our school and wish him well in his new role. To ensure consistency for our students into Term 3, Mr Bender’s Maths and Science classes will be covered by staff already working at our school. Further details will be shared with students before the end of this term and new timetables will be sent home in the first week of Term 3.

Many thanks to all staff at both the St Marys and Fingal campuses for their contributions this term. Our school community is very lucky to have such a dedicated and supportive group of EFA’s, teacher assistants, administration officers and teachers working in our school.

Best wishes to all families for a wonderful term break. I hope you all enjoy some relaxing family time together.

Kind regards,
Carolyn Watson

SCIENCE FUN

Grade 3-6 students at Fingal have been studying how the shape of the earth changes over time, and what causes this.

ERODING THE FINGAL VALLEY

As part of our learning in Science, students from Grade 3-6 at Fingal made a model of the Fingal Valley in the garden beds. We studied how erosion changes the landscape and forms features in the land such as, rivers, creeks, waterfalls, plunge pools, river plains and deltas. We could see erosion speeded up in time using the garden hose to erode the shape of the valley. It was very interesting.

MAKING CLOUDS

As part of learning about how weather affects the landscape, Grade 3-5 Science students from Fingal Campus made clouds during science classes. We used blue dye and hot water in a jar and added spray and a lid. Clouds formed in the jar when we added ice on top of the lid. Then we let the cloud out of the jar and it blew away. Our hypothesis was that clouds form where warm and cool air meet. We also studied different types of clouds and which ones hold rain.

PREP, GRADE 1 AND 2 PROCEDURAL WRITING

HOW TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH

Miss Lisa demonstrated to the students how to clean your teeth.

This is her in action!

Following the demonstration the students wrote their own steps on how to clean their teeth. This is some of our writing.

HIGH SCHOOL ART

Students in Art would like to share their ideas of what they are able to create in class using different techniques and mediums.

Tasharna Pursell

INTER HIGH CROSS COUNTRY 2019

Last Tuesday we sent a team of runners to Kings Meadows to represent the school in Inter High Cross Country. Our team was successful and won ribbons in multiple grades. The day began with the Grade 7 girls and finished with the Grade 10 boys. The course ranged between 2.2kms and 4kms for the different grades. For the first runners, the course was nice and clear but towards the end the course became muddy and slippery which was kind of annoying. Overall the day was fun and filled with good sports.

Students who placed:

Zali Taylor- 2nd Division Two
Caleb Broughan-2nd Division Two and 5th overall
Alice Wolfe- 3rd Division Two
Sofia Agostonelli- 2nd Division Two and 5th Overall
Louis Langoulant- 2nd Division Two

St Marys placed second in the aggregate shield behind Deloraine.

CAMPBELL TOWN SHOW ART WORK

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

Kinder check – Speech pathology
Fingal Campus Assembly – Friday 5th July 2019
Primary Assemby - 4th July 2019

SECONDARY

Grade 10 – Dates and Information regarding Celebration Dinner, Excursion/Picnic and Final Assembly
Grade 10 Transition Statement – Flyer

Grade 7-8C – Henna Ink Workshop
Secondary Assembly - 5th July 2019

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS