Learning and Teaching
Literacy Learning Across Our School
At our St John's, Literacy is at the heart of all of our learning. Throughout Term 2 students will participate in a range of engaging literacy lessons designed to foster a love of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Each class in the school enjoys regular library sessions, borrowing both fiction and non fiction books to read in the classroom and optional home borrowing. I love to see the lines of children walking with their 'Bookboxes' to the library to find new books. These experiences help build confidence, fluency and a strong reading culture across the school.
In recent weeks, our Year 6 Literacy Leader, Isaac D, supported by Mrs Webb, invited year 5 and 6 students to enter the 'What Matters' writing competition sponsored by the Whitlam Institute. We have had around 6 students take on the task in their own time and submit an entry sharing their personal response to what really matters to them. We wish them all the best in the writing competition.
We are proud of the enthusiasm our students show for literacy and thank our staff and families for continuing to support rich learning experiences that inspire lifelong readers and writers.
Nicole Webb - St John's Literacy Leader
nwebb@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Maths News
It has been wonderful walking around the school and seeing many consistent learning practices embedded across classrooms. Students are actively engaged in their learning through the use of concrete materials, visual supports and explicit teaching strategies that help deepen understanding of important concepts.
Independent practice opportunities allow students to develop fluency and automaticity in their learning, while ongoing review helps strengthen retention and confidence over time. It has been pleasing to see students engaged, focused and proud of their learning growth.
ACADIENCE MATHS PILOT PROGRAM
We are excited to share that our school has recently been accepted into a Mathematics Pilot Program through Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools.
As part of this initiative, a couple of our staff members will participate in professional learning and implementation activities focused on the effective use of Acadience Math as a universal screening and progress monitoring tool. This work will support teachers to further strengthen evidence-informed mathematics practices and enhance student learning outcomes.
We are also fortunate to be working alongside mathematics expert Brad Nguyen, who will provide support in building confidence in assessment administration, data analysis and responsive teaching practices. We look forward to the opportunities this program will provide for both staff and students as we continue to strengthen teaching and learning in Mathematics across the school.
Anna Hendy - ahendy@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Prep Excursion to the Aquarium
Prep Student Discoveries:
At the Aquarium I saw a Swordfish.
At the Aquarium I saw colourful fish, penguins, sawfish, big sharks, huge turtles and sea horses.
At the Aquarium I saw colourful fish, turtles and sea horses.
Year 5/6 Museum Excursion Recounts
My legs ached whilst standing on the train, there were no seats and it's so bumpy! Two more stops… We got off at Parliament Station and grouped up onto the giant, tall, steep escalators. Then we started walking to the museum. It was very cool weather which was good. Once we got to the museum, there were many other schools there ready to go in, we placed our bags on a rack and Mrs Bayliss' class went to their first activity whilst we had 1 hour of free time to look around.
The museum was so pretty and had many fascinating things in it. Our first activity was bugs, looking at the bugs like- spiders, beetles, butterflies. Some were scary but some were SO cool!
My highlight of the bugs was a giant tree with live spiders inside making cobwebs with no glass barriers and we also found some beetles doing some strange things which was disturbing but me Erika, Jaz, and Trent found it very funny.
Our 2nd activity was the wondrous planet rainforest, ice, soil, reef. We got a questions sheet and had to choose one to answer the questions to. Our group got ice, there were many cool things like life sized snow animals. The questions were relatively easy and once we finished we got to go to see all the other environments which were so cool! There was also a life sized elephant that sadly passed but they had it there and it was SOO big.
Then we played a game with cards, we got a number line, animals and cards. You would roll the dice, get a card, go to the number that you rolled and see how many you move up/loose. I personally lost with -5 points.
Lastly we just had free time to enjoy and look around! My favourite part was going to a lifesize olden day house and looking inside, it even had the olden day toilet!😂 I would not want to live there but it looks very different to modern day houses.
On the way home it was so funny, Trent was saying very funny jokes, we would always crack up laughing. But we didn't get a seat again. I loved the museum and it was very fun. I would go there again.
By Evie W
Museum Recount by Maggie
I woke up feeling excited because I was going to the Melbourne Museum today! We went on the train to Parliament station. Although the train was busy, we managed to get a seat at the end of the trip. When we arrived we went to our groups and had a look around the museum.
First, we went to look at the dinosaur bones. They were really interesting but at the same time scary and big. We learnt lots of cool things about dinosaurs. They kept the lights off so the bones didn’t deteriorate.
After we looked at all the dinosaurs, we looked at all the butterflies and other insects. There were heaps of butterflies and other insects on display. There were all types of terrifying [spiders and possums. There was lots of information about them. Like where they came from and facts about their diet and their predators.
Then we went to a little room where a man taught us all about animal habitats and how animals live. We sat on little couches and there was a projector that showed the habitats. On the floor it showed where in Victoria it was located. Afterwards, we had a challenge to do in little rooms. There was ice, rainforest,soil and reef. We chose rainforest because we thought it would be very interesting and fun. We finished quickly so we could have a look around.
Later in the day, we walked back to parliament station then went on the train back to Mitcham. It took a long time but we eventually got a seat near the end. We arrived back at school just before the bell went off. Overall we thought the trip was amazing! We learnt lots of new things including history, animals,habitats, and more!
By Maggie!!
