St Joseph's Primary School Newsletter

Kindergarten has had a fantastic start to the year. Together we have been establishing routines, learning how to talk to God through prayer and have conquered using positional language to place items. We have also identified rhyming words and most excitingly, learnt how to read 5 of our site words (like, a, I, to, am). We ended the fortnight with an M&M STEM challenge. These challenges combine teamwork, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, fine motor and a whole lot of fun. During this particular challenge, students were instructed to move as many M&Ms from a plate to a cup by sucking them through a straw. 

Thanks for the great week Kindergarten!

Miss Brooke Theobald

Stage One have had a wonderful start to the 2019 academic year. They have embraced the stage based learning environment and have enjoyed making new friendships. We welcome Miss Lucy Suttor as our new Leader of Learning, along with Miss Elise Vinson and Mrs Leanne Schwager.

During our English block, Stage One has had yet another productive week preparing to compose a persuasive text called an exposition for this week’s Big Write. The students should be commended for their efforts in using the correct structure and an extensive range of WOW words including persuasive language. This week, we have also been identifying ‘What Worked Well’ (WWW) in their Big Writes and ‘Even Better If’ (EBI). Evidently, the students have been able to recognise their new ‘Fat Pencil Writing Goal’ with support from Leaders of Learning.

During Mathematics, Stage One have been identifying a range of effective strategies to solve one, two and three-digit addition and subtraction problems. The students are continuing to consolidate their understanding through a number of differentiated, hands-on learning experiences. The students also thoroughly enjoyed exploring the mathematic strand of length. Their first learning experience involved finding out how tall they were using a lolly snake as an informal unit of measurement.

Well done Stage One for a magnificent start to 2019!

Miss Elise Vinson and Miss Lucy Suttor

It is with great excitement that we welcome Mr Rottger to the Stage 2 Learning Suite! Our students have enjoyed asking questions and getting to know our new Leader of Learning.

So far this term, learners have been demonstrating their knowledge to complete a range of assessments to ensure the lessons are catered to their learning needs. In Mathematics, Year 3 have begun their first iMaths investigation which involves using area, estimation strategies and rounding to determine the number of words in a newspaper article. We look forward to continuing the investigation this week.

Year 4 have started the year learning multiplication facts up to 10x10. It is vital that students continue to revise these facts at home to help them develop of quick recall of the facts. We will begin their investigation in the new few weeks.

Mrs Karlee Hatton and Mr Mark Rottger

Excited and eager to commence Term 1, Stage 3 have been learning about leaders we admire and their leadership qualities. We have examined how we can best develop these qualities in ourselves to use in our positions as leaders of the school. I have already seen some excellent examples of positive and effective leadership from Stage 3.

Last week, we were lucky enough to be invited to perform at the Wee Waa Senior Citizens lunch at the Bowling Club. We sang two songs and performed enthusiastic actions too. I was impressed at how Stage 3 interacted with our Senior Citizens, and we all had a great time. We even met the Mayor!

It has already been a busy few weeks, perhaps an indication of the year to come? We have completed lots of assessments to inform my teaching practices, and we are forging away with content. 

It has been a fantastic start to the year, and I am privileged to be the Leader of Learning for such a great group of young people. I look forward to the adventures to come this year!

Miss Olivia Robertson