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Dear Parents and Carers,
What a wonderful celebration of our school on Wednesday at our school OPEN day. We had 17 families of kindergarten 2022 children tour the school and visit the marketplace that we set up in the school hall. It was great to see the younger siblings of many current students preparing for their start to school, and some new families who will soon be part of the St Pat's family.
Our school captains and vice captains and senior students showed their leadership through conducting the classroom and school site tours as well as setting up and facilitating the ‘Ask Me About….’ stations in the marketplace. I am so proud of our Year 6 students who accept new responsibilities as they are presented and show happy diligence to do their best.
Southern Region School Connections
At our staff meeting this week we welcomed Mrs Susan Tighe, principal of St Joseph’s Bombala, as the facilitator. We explored further our thinking and practice of moderation of student learning and making objective curriculum based judgements on samples of student learning.
This year St Joseph’s, St Pat’s Cooma and St Pat’s Bega are planning for deeper teacher collaboration around consistency of teacher judgement.
Year 6 to Year 7 Transition
This week we welcomed a number of Lumen Christi students and Principal Mr Shane Giles. The year 6 students were given a brief presentation and insight into the life of Lumen Christi.
HOME READING (KINDER TO YEAR 2) AT ST PAT’S; TIPS AND TRICKS
Why do we need to do reading at home?
Children need a lot of practice to develop their reading skills to the point of fluency. Ten to fifteen minutes of daily reading at home with a supportive adult can make all the difference. This will enable children to apply their letter-sound knowledge to reading simple text. Reading at home should be a successful and positive experience for your child. If it is turning into a very stressful time, please do consult your child’s class teacher for advice.
What kind of readers will my child bring home and why?
The readers that your child will bring home will contain words that they can ‘sound out’. This will enable children to use their knowledge of letter-sound relationships that they have been taught in class. You will notice that the vocabulary in these books is very controlled. This is because at this early stage of the reading process, words need to follow regular sound symbol patterns (e.g., dog, fan, sheep) so that children are given opportunities to work out the words for themselves, with your support. As children learn more about spelling and the ways different sounds are represented, they will be able to read more words. Over the year, and with practice, your child will begin to read with more fluency. Guessing words from a picture or from context should not be encouraged. Instead, encourage your child to look at the letter and letter combinations and think about the sounds they represent. Some words are irregular or ‘tricky’. These ‘exception’ words cannot be sounded out in the usual way and should be previewed or simply provided.
How should I support my child when reading at home?
When your child gets stuck on a word, encourage him/her to have a go at sounding out the word. If necessary, demonstrate what this looks like first. Remember to praise with abundance when your child is successful at working out a word or when your child goes back to have another go. Never tell your child to ‘guess’ a word or use the picture to help them. Always keep the focus on letters and sounds. Learning to read initially requires a lot of effort for many children and at this early stage much patience is required. It is important to build up confidence and allow them to enjoy success as they work out words with your help. If your child stumbles over a tricky word that can’t be sounded out, simply give him/her the word and ask him/her to repeat it. Once your child is reading more confidently, encourage him/her to think about comprehension and to self-correct if something does not make sense.
How often should my child read with me in a week and for how long?
At least two books are sent home each week and can be read several times to build confidence and fluency. Your child should spend at least ten minutes reading with you, about four times a week. Provide a quiet place at home with no distractions so both you and your child can focus on the task at hand. It is a good idea to provide a rest or snack immediately after school, prior to commencing home reading so that your child is well rested and fresh. Try not to rush the session or leave it too late in the day. Creating a positive reading experience is vital.
Other ways to build reading confidence.
Join a local library and borrow books to read to your child daily. Talk about the stories you read to your child, providing a good model. Restrict screen time and replace it with opportunities to develop oral language. Help develop your child’s curiosity about language and the sounds within words by playing word and sound games, e.g., I spy or reciting nursery rhymes. Revise the sounds for the letters that they are learning and help them work out words using their sounds. As the year progresses, practise the tricky words that they have learned. The most important thing is to keep it light and playful but purposeful.
MATHS AT ST PAT’S; EXPLORING VOLUME
Students in Year 4/5B are exploring volume and capacity and are developing their thinking on how to calculate the volume of a regular shape. Using manipulatives to make, say, write and do, the students are able to work together to demonstrate their thinking.
Upcoming events & dates
Friday 7th May: Mother's Day Breakfast & Liturgy
Confirmation Enrolment Weekend: Across all Parish Masses over the weekends 1st & 2nd May and 8th & 9th May
Confirmation 1st Family Mass & Formation: 4:30pm- 6pm Sunday 23rd May
ANZAC DAY
St Pat's was well represented at the ANZAC March and Service last Sunday. Thank you to the students and families who attended.
EMPOWERED
A new group of students have begun their Empowered journey for term two where the focus will be living their Character Strengths. There are 24 Character Strengths that we will be exploring over the next 8 weeks. If you would like to take the VIA character strength suvey just click on this link. https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register
You just may be surprised at what "Super Powers" you have within you.
PEER MEDIATION
All grade five students have now been trained as Peer Mediators and are now present on the junior playground at recess and lunchtimes on Monday's and Fridays. The students are in pairs walking the playground introducing themslves and giving tokens for students who are being St Pat's kids. Peer Mediators will have at least one or two turns per term.
PASSION CLUBS
Passion Clubs will resume next week. Junior Passion Clubs will take place in the cola on Monday and Senior Passion Clubs will take place on Fridays. The leaders need to be in Grade 2 and above. Ask your child what they are passionate about and would like to teach other students. Please see Ms Spicer with your ideas.. the skies the limit.
Term 2 school fees have been sent to families today. Term 2 fees are due 28 May 2021, except those with direct debit arrangements.
If at any time your family is experiencing financial hardship due to Covid-19 or any other reason or your family is in need of other support, please contact the school to make a time for a confidential meeting with our Principal, Jo Scott-Pegum to discuss how the school can help support your family.
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