SPOTLIGHT

The Fun In Year One

Year One have had a fun filled start to the term. They have been working hard in Reading Groups using reading strategies such as "stretchy snake" to help us sound out tricky words. 

In Maths they have been learning about time. You might like to ask your child to help you read the time so that they can show off their new skills! 

They have put on their scientist cap in Science and Technology and have been exploring living and non-living things. 

In Art they have enjoyed the element of drawing. Take a look at some of their self-portraits.  

We look forward to a great year ahead in Year One! 

Year 5's Spotlight

Year 5 have made the big transition into ‘The Zone’ and are settling in well to their new learning spaces and routines.  We have much to look forward to throughout the year with Camp already generating much talk and excitement. 

This term Year 5 will sit NAPLAN and as we busily prepare for that in Literacy and Mathematics, we are also learning about Colonisation in Australia in History and positive relationships in Health. We enjoy sport on a Friday and in Science and Technology, students are investigating the impact of natural disasters on people and places. This week we enjoyed creating structures with the goal of withstanding an earthquake!

Our SRC representatives have been elected and we know they will represent us with pride. 

We were very excited to meet our Year 1 buddies last week and we are looking forward to working, playing and helping them throughout the year. 

WHAT IS MaST?

This year St Nicholas School has begun engaging with the MaST program, a mathematics improvement program used across the Armidale Diocese. MaST stands for Mathematics Specialist Teachers and aims to improve the mathematical, curriculum and pedagogical knowledge of teachers. It has proven a great success in achieving student growth in mathematics across the Diocese since it began in 2020. 

At St Nicholas School the program is being implemented from K-2 in conjunction with the new Mathematics syllabus released by the NSW Education Standards Authority this year.

St Nicholas School staff and students have been engaging with the Great Maths Sequence, with some fantastic things happening in all our infants rooms. One of the components of the program is to use a Mathematics Wall, which allows students to refer back to bulletproof definitions of mathematical concepts. This builds on the strategy we use school-wide at St Nicholas School which is to use the Walls as a Third Teacher. 

Have a look at the images of some of the impressive Maths walls in our infants rooms and be sure to keep an eye out for more exciting things happening with Maths in the MaST program this year.