Learning & Teaching 

LEARNING & TEACHING - Vira Pirrotta

Angelina and Ava represent our school at the Merri-bek Children’s Reference Group!

We are thrilled to share that two of our students, Angelina and Ava, have been selected to represent our school in the Merri-bek Children’s Reference Group!

This fantastic initiative gives young people a voice in local government decision-making and empowers them to contribute to projects that impact their community. The program aims to increase children’s participation in council decisions,  promote civic engagement among young people and develop leadership skills in future changemakers.

Angelina, Ava, and 10 other students across Merri-bek will participate in four 90-minute meetings throughout the year. They will provide input on key projects, including the Merribek Child Safety Initiative, and share ideas to help shape local policies and strategies.

At their first meeting in Term 1, Angelina and Ava enthusiastically engaged in discussions, collaborated with fellow representatives, and made insightful contributions - a fantastic reflection of their leadership and commitment!

Let’s hear from Angelina and Ava…

A couple of weeks ago, Angelina and I had the privilege of representing St. Fidelis and attended the first student council meeting of the year at Merribek Council office. We gathered with many other students from different schools who had some amazing ideas. We were asked heaps of questions regarding child safety and sports facilities within the area which included filling out worksheets and different surveys. By including student voice, they believe they will gain a better understanding of what our community wants and needs to make it a better place. 

Ava Year 6NT

This term, the Merri-Bek Children's Reference group was informed about how expensive it is to build and maintain sporting facilities. For example, a leisure centre can cost more than $200 million to build. The more people who use the sports facilities, the more likely we will be able to secure funding for upgrading them, and the healthier our community will be! We all discussed ways to encourage more people to join the sporting community.

It was great to share and hear different ideas. 

Angelina Year 6ZK

We are incredibly proud of their efforts and can’t wait to hear about their next meeting. 

LITERACY NEWS - Bernadette Parnis

Take Home Readers

Students in Foundation, Years 1, and 2 bring home a reader each day. They are given the responsibility to choose a text from boxes organised specifically for them by their classroom teacher. Sometimes, your child may bring home the same book or one they have read previously. This is perfectly fine, as the intention is not to learn something new at home, but rather to allow students to practice and rehearse skills taught at school.

Texts are levelled. Levelled texts are designed to support reading growth, and teachers match texts to students' abilities. Students choose their text from within the provided range. Allowing them to make this choice gives them the opportunity to select a book based on their interests. The teachers have organised texts by level, typically providing books that are two levels lower than what the students are reading in class. This ensures that students can read these texts easily at home. 

Our intention is that readers are easy. Reading involves more than just decoding words and reading with 100% accuracy. While a text may seem easy to parents, it helps students work on fluency, phrasing, and comprehension.

Comprehension is a vital component of learning to read. Getting into the habit of asking some questions at the end will help your child with their comprehension skills. They don’t have to be difficult questions. For example: 

• What was your favourite part of the book and why? 

• How did you feel when you read that story? 

• What did you learn from this story? 

• What was the problem in the story? 

• Which character did you like and why?

Make reading at home a routine. Find a quiet, comfortable spot that is the go-to reading spot with your child. Whether it be before dinner, just before they go to bed, or first thing in the morning, do what works for you.

What’s happening in Literacy at St Fidelis?

InitiaLit is up and running in Foundation. MiniLit Sage intervention will commence this week. The SMART Spelling approach is well established across Years 1 to 6. Last week, teachers intentionally dedicated time for a review week, providing students with the opportunity to revisit learned patterns and, if necessary, relearn key concepts. As your child continues to develop their spelling skills, they may be using the following terminology:

• digraph: two letters that make one sound (e.g., ch, th, sh, ea, oa, oe, ie, er).
• trigraph: three letters that make one sound (e.g., dge, igh, ear, eer, tch). These are just a few examples.

In Years 1 and 2, students have been using sound circles as a strategy to analyse sounds and match them to the correct letters. In Years 3 to 6, students utilise a spelling grid to identify and record the sounds to spell the words correctly.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Bernadette Parnis 

Literacy Leader

bparnis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au 

SPORT & PE NEWS - Michael Jennings

SSV COBURG DISTRICT

SWIMMING

The Inner North/Merri-Bek Swimming Championships were held at the Oak Park Aquatic Centre on Thursday 13 March 2025

Congratulations to the following students for qualifying and competing at this event: 

They did a marvellous job! 

Alexander Hansen  Backstroke

Jeevan Joson Backstroke

Clara Perri Freestyle & Backstroke

Skyler Fitzgerald Butterfly

Also a big thank you to the parents of these students for taking their children to this event and supporting their endeavours.

SUMMER SPORT COMPETITIONS

Congratulations to the members of the St Fidelis Summer Sport Teams who competed in the SSV Coburg District 3rd & 4th rounds of competition against Merri-bek PS & Pascoe Vale South in games of Bat Tennis, Basketball & Softball on Friday 7 & 14 March. Once again, our students should feel extremely proud of their efforts.

ROUND 3

BOYS/MIXED BASKETBALL         

St Fidelis 67 points defeated Merri-bek 0 points                                                                 

GIRLS BASKETBALL                 

St Fidelis 50 points defeated Merri-bek 6 points                                                                         

BOYS/MIXED BAT TENNIS        

St Fidelis 24 games defeated Merri-bek 20 games

GIRLS BAT TENNIS

St Fidelis 25 games defeated Merri-bek 22 games                                                                                 

BOYS/MIXED SOFTBALL

St Fidelis 16 runs defeated Merr-bek 15 runs  

ROUND 4

BOYS/MIXED BASKETBALL 

St Fidelis 29 points defeated Pascoe Vale South 25  points                                                     

GIRLS BASKETBALL 

St Fidelis 46 points defeated Pascoe Vale South 10 points                                                          BOYS/MIXED BAT TENNIS

St Fidelis 30 games defeated Pascoe Vale South 21 games

GIRLS BAT TENNIS

St Fidelis 30 games defeated Pascoe Vale South 19 games                                            

BOYS/MIXED SOFTBALL

St Fidelis 13 runs was defeated by Pascoe Vale South 15 runs  

PLEASE NOTE:

Round 5 matches against Coburg PS scheduled for Friday 21 March have been postponed until Friday 2 May (Term 2 Week 2)