Learning and Teaching
Book Week Parade
Book Week is just around the corner, and we’re excited to celebrate a love of reading with our school community. As part of our SMCM tradition, we will enjoy daily storytime over the speaker as a whole school, as well as special visits from authors.
On Monday 18th August, we invite all students to come dressed as their favourite book character for our annual Book Parade, which will take place on the synthetic soccer pitch at 9.00am. Parents are warmly welcome to attend and join us in celebrating the joy of books and storytelling.
We look forward to a magical week of reading adventures!
Rafael
Learning and Teaching & Digital Technologies Leader
Rafael.Fernandez@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au
Foundation's 100 Days of School Celebration!
What a fabulous milestone our Foundation students reached – 100 days of school! To celebrate, students came dressed as 100-year-olds, setting the scene for a joyful day full of fun and learning centred around the number 100.
The theme continued across the day with a variety of engaging activities. Students proudly counted to 100, wrote 100 words, constructed 100-year-old self-portraits, and built towers using 100 materials. It was a fantastic way to showcase their growing numeracy and literacy skills in a playful and memorable way.
The celebrations didn’t stop there! The students put their chef hats on and cooked up a storm – spreading fairy bread and decorating biscuits with '100' in all sorts of creative ways.
To top off the day, we were visited by the amazing Steve the Magician, who had us laughing, gasping, and scratching our heads with his impressive bag of tricks.
It was a day filled with laughter, learning, and celebration – one that our Foundation students will remember for years to come!
I wonder what we will remember most about our 100th Day of School celebration…
I wonder how it felt to dress up as a 100-year-old and imagine life at that age…
I wonder what amazing things we will achieve in the next 100 days of learning…
Year 2 Incursion: Author Visit
On Wednesday, our year 2 students had the pleasure of meeting local author Amaria Stark, who visited to talk about her book The Silent Sentinel and share some fascinating stories about the history of Epping.
Amaria spoke about how she became interested in writing and how the places we see every day, such as the nature and buildings around Epping, have stories to tell. The students were especially curious to hear how she turned real events from the past into a story that connects to our local history.
Her book The Silent Sentinel helped the children think about Epping in a new way, and many walked away wondering what other stories might be hidden in their local neighbourhood. Amaria also answered lots of questions about being an author and gave some great tips to students who are keen writers themselves.
It was a lovely visit and we’re so grateful to Amaria for taking the time to share her work and love of history with us.
If you’d like to purchase a copy of The Silent Sentinel, you can find it here:
“I enjoyed the activity of putting the history events from our local area in order.” - Jacob B
“I enjoyed Amaria Stark sharing about her book and how the history of our area has changed.” - Noelia S
“I learned that the thicker the tree is, the older the tree is.” - Amelia G
“I enjoyed looking at her paintings.” - Leah L
Cassandra, Natasha and Jesslyn
Year 2 Teachers
Matific Maths Olympiad
We’re excited to announce that Matific, the digital maths learning platform we use with all our students, is running an annual Maths Olympiad from Monday 11 to Friday 15 August – and SMCM is taking part!
All of our students are automatically registered and will participate by completing maths activities and collecting stars on Matific throughout the week. It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to practise the maths skills they’ve been learning – while also helping their homegroup and our school compete for trophies and recognition!
Every student will receive a certificate, and there’s even a chance to win a Samsung tablet – with three tablets up for grabs in the prize draw!
See how many stars you can earn by completing maths activities.
Happy Maths learning! Thank you!
Sawako
Maths Coach Years 3 - 6 & Mathematics Intervention Specialist
Golden Children
Three more Golden Children - Congratulations Johan from Year 3 Peace
It is Johan's first time being a Golden Child. He worked hard and showed perseverance and determination to share his knowledge in all Stem Masters.
Congratulations on such a wonderful achievement.
(To earn the title of Golden Child, students must earn masters in and be able to name facts about: The planets, rainbows, bones, the solar system, clouds, the mouth, birds, towers, lightning and thunder and all 118 elements
of the Periodic Table)
STEM Masters - Term 3, Week 1-2
***
| Year Level | Students |
|---|---|
F: Walert | Liam: Thunder & Lightning |
1: Eucalyptus | Samaira: Towers, Clouds Kriwin: Mouth, Towers, Thunder & Lightning, Birds Aaron: Mouth, Birds Hriday: Birds, Towers, Thunder & Lightning, Rainbows Leora: Mouth Isabel: Clouds Javin: Planets, Rainbows Riley: Birds, Periodic Table (25) Indiana: Periodic Table (25 - 50) |
1: Jacaranda | Christian: Birds (Gold), Rainbows (Gold) Milania: Birds Romeo: Birds Kai: Periodic Table (25) Yuvan: Planets Louis: Birds |
1: Peppercorn | Raphael: Rainbows (Gold), Clouds Angad: Rainbows, Mouth Konstantin: Bones, Birds (Gold) Luca: First 25 letters of the elements of the Periodic Table, Mouth (Gold) Archie: Thunder & Lightning Paarth: Mouth Seyon: Rainbows |
1: Rose | Rose: Solar System, Periodic Table (All 118) Julian: Towers, Bones Elaine: Thunder & Lightning, Bones Isaac: Birds Cleo: Mouth Saina: Bones |
2: Creeds | Charlie Sud’: Mouth, Rainbows |
2: Dairy | Leah: Rainbows (Gold) |
2: Greenfields | Nidishh: Birds, Clouds Eric: Rainbows Aleena: Rainbows (Gold) Kiara: Rainbows (Gold) Jason: Birds (Gold) |
3: Courage | Johaan: Periodic Table (50 - 75) Evan: Periodic Table (50 - 75), Periodic Table (All 118) Johnny: First 25 letters of the elements of the Periodic Table |
3: Peace | Johan: Rainbows +, Mouth + Jason: Rainbows + |
3: Trust | Charlie: Towers |
4: Inspire | Nathaniel: Clouds Olivia: Towers |
4: Optimism | Ellie: Rainbows + Leon: Periodic Table (All 118), Mouth, Solar System Janica: Thunder & Lightning Jim: Birds |
4: Respect | Cleo: Clouds |
5: Samaritans | Daniel: Periodic Table (All 118), Thunder & Lightning |
5: Disciples | Lilla: Periodic Table (All 118), Birds Anabel: Thunder & Lightning, Towers Audrey: Birds Ana: Towers Daniel: Mouth |
6: Tenison-Woods | Scarlett: Clouds Mason: Towers |
6: Dalton | Zara: Periodic Table (25 - 50) Amrit: Clouds |
(Please excuse any accidental omissions or errors)
To view the Youtube video of the Masters, just type in: SMCM Stem Masters 2025 (in Youtube)
Keep up the great learning and I will endeavour to continue to post fortnightly progression in Masters in the newsletter.
Michael
STEM Teacher