Learning and Teaching

Magnify was launched at St Mary’s Echuca in January and the programs are well implemented in all our classrooms. Teachers are becoming more and more confident with the programs and our learners are engaged in a calm and rich learning environment. 

Below are some of the programs that have been implemented in Literacy and Mathematics.  

MultiLit in Foundation to Year 2 focuses on the importance of phonemic awareness and decoding to support learners in developing strong literacy skills. 

Ochre English and Ochre Mathematics deliver a knowledge-rich, low-variance curriculum aligned with the Victorian 2.0 curriculum. Each lesson begins with a review of prior learning before introducing new concepts and skills. Ongoing assessments provide teachers with evidence of learners' points of need and guide their next steps.

Super Sentences

As part of our InitiaLit program, we have been learning to write ‘Super Sentences’. Our learners know a super sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. It also must provide information and make sense.

Counting and Place Value

 We have been learning how to bundle items into groups of ten and using tens frames to help us to count more efficiently.

Different ways to Pray

Our focus in Religion has been about how we can pray in different ways. Students have learnt formal prayers such as the Hail Mary and the Our Father. They have also experienced praying through meditation, through art and prayer through walking along a 

 labyrinth.

Good sentences = Good writers

As part of our Magnify program in Year 5, we have focused on expanding our understanding of language and literature.

 We are currently reading War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, using the novel to enhance our vocabulary and comprehension. Inspired by the text, we have learned how to write complex sentences, allowing us to explore grammatical rules and improve our writing skills. We discovered that a complex sentence must include a subordinating conjunction, a dependent clause, and an independent clause. Through spending time on understanding how and why good sentences are constructed, we can understand the power of language and make our writing more precise, interesting and engaging. 

Here are some examples, it has been great to see all learners achieving success!