Learning and Teaching

Term 3 STEAM

The focus for STEAM next term is The Arts.  The link below outlines the curriculum outcomes for all year levels.

The Arts enable students to develop their creative and expressive capacities by learning about the different practices, disciplines and traditions that have shaped the expression of culture locally, nationally and globally. Students are both artist and audience in the Arts. They make and respond and learn to appreciate the specific ways this occurs in different disciplines.

Teachers have been busy planning many exciting learning opportunities for the students to engage  in next term. If you are able to offer any special talents or experiences in the area of The Arts, please let your child's teacher know.  

Science Day

This Friday 23rd June, is Galilee Science Day.  The students are invited to dress like a scientist/mad scientist.  If your child does not wish to dress in the theme of science, they are required to wear their school uniform.  A parade will take place from 9:00am - 9:30am on the basketball court and all parents/guardians are welcome to attend.  The students will participate in science experiments throughout the day, including an incursion facilitated by Supreme Incursions.  Thank you to Miss Hart and her STEAM Team, Mrs Reid, Mrs Burns, Miss Otte and Miss Smith, for organising the activities for the day.

Classroom Helpers 

The classroom helpers have been a wonderful help to students and teachers this term.

We love having you in the classroom and it is a great benefit to the students learning.

Thank you for all your help and support this term and we look forward to seeing you in the classroom next term.

Premier's Reading Challenge

Galilee is progressing very well in the Premier's Reading Challenge.  We have 120 registered students, 752 books are listed as being read or completed and 5 students have completed the challenge.  Keep up the fantastic effort everyone!

Number Intervention

Thank you and Congratulations!

As we come to the end of a fabulous term in Number Intervention, there are many people I would like to mention. Most importantly, I’d like to say thank you to the 24 children who have worked so hard in our Number Intervention sessions. The progress you have made is a credit to you all!  Congratulations! Thank you also to the teachers of Years 3 and 4 for your flexibility and support, and to our wonderful LSOs, who have put so much work into helping our Year 3 and 4 students improve in Maths.

Special mention to Marco and Aleeya (4R), Kaavya (4G), Kiera, Claire and Thomas (3C) and John-Paul and Violet (3R), who have completed their intensive Number Intervention course with me. You have each shown remarkable growth and it’s lovely to know that you feel more confident and capable in Maths in your classrooms. I look forward to seeing your continued progress next term during our weekly lessons.

After completing her assessments this week, Kiera had this to say: ‘Number Intervention has really helped me.  It’s helped me to figure out problems in my head instead of using my fingers; it’s helped me to read and write big numbers and count big numbers.  Now I feel confident in Maths.  Mrs Ferris has helped me to not feel anxious about Maths.  She helps me to calm down and get the right answer.  I’m really glad that I was put into Number Intervention because I’ve learnt a lot more with Mrs Ferris about Maths.’

Mathemagicians of the Week!

Each week, one of our wonderful students is chosen for an award for application and progress in Maths.  The award is presented at Assembly, and the child’s photo is displayed on my door in the main office as well as in the newsletter.  Our ‘Mathemagicians’ are:  Week 9 - Remy (3C) and Week 10 - Kiera (3C).  Congratulations to you both!

How Parents/Carers Can Help at Home

Many parents/carers want to help their children with school work and in particular to help their children with Maths. Often, the most successful way for parents/carers to help is to include Maths as part of everyday activities and just have fun:

Board games and card games usually involve counting and often scoring which the child can be encouraged to keep. 

Pocket money is a great way for parents to help the child to budget and learn how to spend and check change in the local shop. 

Practical activities in the home like cooking, model making, using the washing machine and gardening can all involve Maths in a fun way and help link numeracy to everyday activities. 

Make sure that your child has a watch/clock that has both analogue and digital display. 

Reading with your child increases language awareness and can help in relation to the language of Maths. 

Suggest that your child plays some computer games which encourage reasoning and logical thinking. 

Encourage your child to make use of calendars, visual time-tables and planners at home to improve organisational skills and independence. 

An additional set of Mathematics equipment kept for use at home can reduce anxiety. These may be standard resources e.g. ruler, protractor etc home made e.g. wipable boards, memory cards etc. 

Celebrate successes with your child! 

Liaise with the teacher to ensure that you offer support in the most appropriate way.

In our next newsletter, I will set out examples of how to work with your child specifically with addition and subtraction.

Jane Ferris (Number Intervention Leader)

jferris@gsmelbournesth.catholic.edu.au

eLearning

A big thank you and congratulations to Gypsy in 5F for the winning entry in the Cyber Safety competition. A reminder to everyone that our Galilee Cyber Safety Day will be held on Wednesday August 2nd (Term 3, Week 3).

On this day, students in Years 3 to 6 will be attending a presentation on Cyber Safety from Susan McLean, who is an award winning Cyber Safety specialist. Students will also be completing activities relating to Cyber Safety throughout the day.

We will still be having our regular assembly at 2:40pm to 3:25pm, with a class presentation and student awards. In addition, we will have a short morning assembly in the hall, that parents are also welcome to attend.

We are in the final stages of planning for our Parent Information Session. The session will be hosted by Susan McClean and will begin at 7:00pm in the hall. Tickets will be available shortly using a TryBooking link that will be available to all parents.

I would like to introduce you to Susan McLean with the following information:

Susan was the first Victorian Police Officer appointed to a position regarding Cyber Safety

She has written and conducted extensive research about Cyber Safety in the UK as well as the USA

Susan has presented at a variety of schools, as well as bodies such as AFL, GPS and both Federal and State Parliaments

She is a member of the Australian Cyber Safety Working Group

She has written a book relating to Cyber Safety.

With such an award-winning expert attending our school, we are asking parents to purchase a $10 ticket to attend the event (due to the cost). This subsidy is a small cost for the invaluable information that Susan will present on the evening. The Information Session will be for adults only. To allow parents to attend, we will be offering supervision of school-age children by Galilee teachers, for those who are unable to make other arrangements. 

We strongly recommend all families to attend this Information Session, as Cyber Safety is a big part of our technological lives; particularly families in Years 3-6 who have greater access to devices in our school.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jcoaley@gsmelbournesth.catholic.edu.au.

Joss Coaley

eLearning Leader