Faith Life & Learning and Teaching News

Faith Life

Class Masses

Our Class Masses are well underway, and it has been wonderful to see our families and friends join us for these special celebrations. The students have taken an active role in preparing the Masses—choosing the theme, selecting songs, taking on various roles, and even creating invitations for their families. They have truly enjoyed sharing these moments with their families and friends.

We warmly encourage you to take time out of your morning to continue joining us throughout the term. The remaining Masses will be held at 9:15am on the following days 

YEAR 3 - Friday 28th February

YEAR 4 - Friday 14th March

YEAR 6 - Friday 21st March 

BUDDIES: PREP and YEAR 6 - Friday 28th March 

We look forward to celebrating with you!

2025 Sacraments 

Year 5 Camp: PORTSEA

The Year 5 camp to Portsea Camp is fast approaching! It will take place from Tuesday, 22nd April to Thursday, 24th April, 2025.

Please ensure you access and complete the permission form on Operoo as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support—we look forward to a fantastic camp experience!

Cath Palmer

Deputy Principal

Catholic Identity & Pedagogy

English 

SPELLING Prep - Year 2

Students in Prep to Year 2 will continue using InitiaLit which focuses on a structured, systematic approach to teaching phonics. Spelling is explicitly taught with direct instruction and links between reading, writing and spelling are intertwined. By following this structured approach, spelling and reading are developed together, helping children make meaningful connections between spoken and written language.

InitiaLit follows a structured approach to spelling, closely aligned with the way children learn to read. Spelling is taught through:

Phonics-Based Instruction – Students learn to spell words by understanding the relationship between letters and sounds (phonics)

 Daily Explicit Teaching – Teachers introduce new spelling patterns and model how to break words into sounds.

Word Building Activities – Children practise blending (putting sounds together) and segmenting (breaking words apart) to spell words correctly. 

High-Frequency Words – Common words that don’t always follow regular spelling patterns are introduced and practised.

Hands-On Practice – Students engage in writing, word sorting, and interactive spelling games to reinforce their learning.

Cumulative Review – Spelling concepts are revisited and built upon throughout the year to strengthen retention.

Students may bring home words to practise throughout the year when appropriate. Your child's teacher will send home instructions explaining tasks when this happens. 

SPELLING Years 3-6 

Spelling Mastery Program:

This year we have invested in a new spelling program to improve spelling abilities at our school. Students in Years 3-6 will be learning to spell using Spelling Mastery which is a differentiated spelling program. The program uses an explicit, teacher-directed method of teaching called Direct Instruction. Spelling Mastery is an effective, research-proven spelling program that teaches students the strategies they need to become successful, life-long spellers. Students will participate in spelling lessons four times a week for approximately 20 minutes a session. They will each have a workbook to complete lesson tasks. 

Through Spelling Mastery, students learn to spell in three ways:

Spelling Mastery helps students to understand the relationship between sounds, word parts and spelling patterns and encourages them to become proficient writers. Through Spelling Mastery, students learn to spell in three ways: 

1. Students learn words using a phonemic approach. This sound-symbol method teaches students predictable spellings for different sounds. 

2. Students learn using a whole-word approach. This whole-word method teaches students common, irregularly-spelled words. For example, words like friend, answer and people, whose spellings can’t be figured out. 

3. Students learn rules about how to put different word parts together. These word parts are all called morphographs. Morphographs are the smallest units in words that have meaning, such as prefixes, base words and suffixes. Once they have learned to spell a few morphographs, students can mix them up to spell many words. They also learn the rules of putting morphographs together. Examples- ‘re’ as a morphograph has meaning. It means again - (repack, return, rerun).  ‘-est’ means the most - (lightest, happiest, friendliest).

How you can help your child:

Your child will be explicitly taught spelling strategies during lessons at school, so there is no necessity for them to learn spelling words as part of their homework. If you wish to encourage your child to do so however, the spelling lists for each level can be requested from your class teacher.

Sue Burke

English Leader

sburke@shnewport.catholic.edu.au