Learning & Teaching 

LEARNING AND TEACHING NEWS- Vira Pirrotta

TERM 4 AT GLANCE 

Welcome to Term 4,

This term, the focus will be on Our Place in Space. Teachers will address the Geography, Design and Technologies domains of the Victorian curriculum. 

Throughout the term, students will engage in numerous authentic learning experiences that will help develop their understanding of the key concepts and understandings related to our shared inquiries. 

This term is going to be a busy and exciting one. Take a look at what we have planned in Inquiry and as a community!

Celebration of Learning - November 20th

Students will showcase their learning and creations from the shared inquiries. 

Colour Fun Run - November 27th

We'll create the biggest smiles you've ever seen and have the best day of the school year by transforming our students into running rainbows of happiness! This fundraiser will help us in our goal towards a new playground.  See Flyer for further details

Athletics Day  - October 31st

Mr Jennings and our sports captains have planned a fun day of sports activities. Students will compete to earn points for their house colours. 

Family Carols Night - December 11th

Each year level will sing a carol and participate in the Christmas performance.

Some other events include

• Foundation - Fire Education Program 
• Year 1/2 Botanical Gardens Excursion 
• URBNSURF - Year 6 program 
• Year 6 Big Day out 
• Maths Games Day - All Year Levels 

For information on each area of the curriculum, please refer to our Term 4 Curriculum Overviews, which will be available to all families by the end of this week via the Nforma Portal.  

For more information on these events, please visit the nForma parent portal, our social media channels, or the newsletter. 

Have a wonderful term,

Vira 

LITERACY NEWS - Bernadette Parnis

Writing Term 4

Writing Focus – Term 4

This term, our students are exploring a variety of writing styles as they continue to grow as confident and creative writers.

• Foundation: narrative writing – learning to create simple stories with characters and events.
• Years 1/2: persuasive writing – expressing opinions and giving reasons to support their ideas.
• Years 3/4: persuasive writing and poetry – developing arguments and experimenting with imaginative language.

• Years 5/6: narrative writing – crafting engaging stories with interesting characters and detailed plots.

   

About our writing focus: 

A narrative tells a story to entertain the reader, usually with characters, settings, and a sequence of events.

A persuasive text aims to convince the reader to agree with a point of view or take a particular action.

I’m excited to see our students’ creativity shine through their writing this term.

Introducing Creative Corner

Each week, I’ll share a fun writing prompt designed to spark imagination and encourage our students to explore words, ideas, and storytelling. This is a great  extension of the writing activities happening in classrooms, offering students an extra opportunity to practice and develop their writing skills at home.

We’ve noticed that creative writing can be challenging for some students. They sometimes get stuck during the process. Writing creatively is a skill that develops with regular practice and sustained time spent brainstorming, drafting, and editing. This opportunity at home can really help children grow their confidence and fluency in writing.

I will be providing more information in upcoming weeks on how families can support their child with drafting, editing, and proofreading. Using a journal for this work is a great idea, giving children a personal space to explore their ideas and track their progress.

Families are warmly encouraged to join in by discussing the prompts at home, supporting their child’s ideas, and inspiring a love of writing.

Please note, participation is entirely optional, but every bit of practice helps build stronger writing skills.

Writing Prompt of the Week A Mysterious Door

One morning, you find a strange door that wasn’t there yesterday. It could lead anywhere!

Write a short story or description about what happens when you decide to open it.

Encourage your child to think about:

• What does the door look, feel, and sound like?
• Where does it lead, somewhere magical, scary, funny, or surprising?

• Who or what might be waiting on the other side?

   

Challenge:

Use three describing words and one simile (for example: “as bright as the sun”) to bring the story to life!

A Note for Parents

I’d love for families to be part of this creative journey. Chatting about the writing prompt at home can help children develop their ideas and confidence. You might ask questions like:

• What do you imagine behind the door?
• How would you describe what you see or hear?

• Can you think of a fun or interesting way to start your story?

   

If your child wants to share their writing, please feel free to send it along. I'd love to celebrate their creativity! 

Scholastic Book Club

Book Club – Issue 7 Out Now

Issue 7 of the Scholastic Book Club is now available, and it’s the bumper holiday issue.

Orders are due by Monday, 27 October.

Special offers from Scholastic:

• Families who spend over $25 on this issue will receive up to three bonus titles from the Free Book List.

• Many families have also earned a $5 promotional code to use on this issue. Please remember to apply your discount before it expires.

   

Every purchase you make through Book Club helps support our school. We receive 15% of the order value in Scholastic Rewards, which we can use to purchase more books and educational resources for our classrooms.

Thank you for your continued support – it really does make a difference.

Have a great week. 

Bernadette Parnis

bparnis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au 

NUMERACY NEWS - Colleen Monaghan

Maths Games Days

These days are fun and challenging for our students and run seamlessly when we have the support of our wonderful parents.  The kids always love having their parents present as do we teachers.

If you are able to come along to one or more sessions please reply to your teacher or to me. 

9:15-11:00  physical games

 11:40-1:30  strategy games 

2:40-3:30 problem solving - scores and winners announced.

Dates to keep in your diary.

Thursday 16th October- Senior levels 

Thursday 23rd October - Junior levels

Wednesday 29th October - Foundation level 

Tuesday 18th November - Middle level 

Hope to see you there !

PE & SPORTS NEWS - Michael Jennings

ST FIDELIS ATHLETICS/SPORTS DAY

The St Fidelis Annual Athletics/Sports Carnival for students from Foundation-Year 6 will be held on Friday 31 October 2025. The venue will be Coburg Athletics Track.

PARENTS & FAMILIES ARE MOST WELCOME TO ATTEND TO SUPPORT THE STUDENTS AND THEIR TEAMS

If possible, the students can wear coloured items to represent their team such as socks, t-shirts, ribbon, bands etc. 

Please note that in the event of extreme weather conditions, the Sports Carnival will be postponed. Back-up Day will be Friday 7 November 2025.

ATHLETICS SPRINT TRIALS

On Friday 17 October, the Foundation- Year 2 students will participate in sprint trials at the Benny Courts. 

This is to organise their sprint heats for the 70m races at the Athletics/Sports Day. 

Students can wear sports uniforms or runners to school on Friday 17 October.

MANCHESTER CITY SOCCER SHIELD

St Fidelis Primary School had the opportunity for a selection of our Year 4 students to participate in the Manchester City Football (Soccer) Primary School Shield on Thursday 9 October 2025.

The event was conducted at Parade Secondary College, Bundoora Campus. 

It was a great opportunity for our students and they are to be congratulated on their efforts at this event.

STUDENTS WHO ATTENDED THE MANCHESTER CITY SHIELD ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Sebastian A, Tommy G, Giorgio I, Thomas K, Sebastian S, Zac H, Roderick P, Isaac S, Carlo T, Ella S, Riley L, Priscilla M, Tess N & Florence M

VISUAL ARTS - Joe Frazzetto

Foundation Artists Inspired by Piet Mondrian

Last term in Visual Arts, our Foundation students have been learning about the famous Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, known for his bold, straight black lines and use of bright primary colours – red, blue, and yellow – along with black and white. The children have been exploring how Mondrian created his artworks, and using his unique style as inspiration for their own creations.

As part of this exciting unit, the Foundation students have been working with building and construction materials to create their own Mondrian-inspired artworks. They also designed and made colourful masks in Mondrian’s style, carefully using thick black lines and bright colours to bring their designs to life.

Students learned how to hold and use a paintbrush with control, painting strong vertical and horizontal lines just like Mondrian did. Throughout the process, they were encouraged to work carefully, think creatively, and express themselves as young artists. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm and pride as they develop their artistic skills and explore the world of modern art.

We look forward to sharing their fantastic work with the school community soon!

Click on the below link to see the Foundation’s great and amazing work!!!

https://youtu.be/fXL-VT9eCEY

STEM NEWS - Joe Frazzetto

St Fidelis LEGO League Squad – Tournament Ready! 

Over the past two terms, 10 dedicated Year 6 students have been working incredibly hard as part of the St Fidelis LEGO League Squad. As part of the First LEGO League Challenge, they have been designing, coding, building, and problem-solving to prepare for this exciting STEM competition.

This Tuesday, the team will proudly represent St Fidelis at the tournament held at Caulfield Grammar, where they’ll compete against 19 other schools from across the region.

As part of the challenge, the squad was required to:

• Design and build a robot to complete a variety of tasks on the official LEGO ‘Unearthed’ mat
• Present to a panel of judges to explain how their robot works and the reasons behind their design choices

• Develop and pitch an Innovation Project based on this year’s theme, Unearthed

   

For their Innovation Project, the team created a concept involving robots and drones designed to detect and deactivate landmines—a powerful idea aimed at making the world a safer place using technology. 

The St Fidelis Robo League Squad-Gemma, Angelina, Estelle, Zara, Erica, Samuel, Zac,  Monte, Jacob and Caleb.

We’re so proud of their creativity, teamwork, and dedication. Let’s wish the St Fidelis LEGO League Squad the very best of luck as they take on this exciting challenge and represent our school with pride!

Go Team!

ITALIAN NEWS - Rosa Fokianos

BUONGIORNO! 

Bentornati a tutti per il quarto trimestre! (Welcome back everyone to Term 4!). 

I hope everyone had a lovely vacanze, (holiday break), riposando (resting), e giocando con amici e famiglia (and playing with friends and family).

Last Wednesday - mercoledì 8 ottobre, I organised a whole school Italian incursion called L’ingrediente Segreto, (The Secret Ingredient). This was an Italian music show, whereby the main character, 12 year old Giacoma Bonda, was in search of her nonna’s secret ingredient to make her famous bolognese sauce for her pasta. Along the way she travelled to places throughout Italia on her fabulous flying vespa! She travelled to places like il Colosseo e la Cappella Sistina in Roma, went to a fashion parade in Milano, as well as meeting up with some Carnevale characters and not to mention meeting Pinocchio. Giacoma finally found the secret ingredient BUT I won’t tell you what it was, you need to ask your child/ren that! 😍

Everyone, including the teachers, seemed to enjoy this interactive show. This was reflected through their enthusiasm, participation and smiles on their faces. We definitely have some great performers at our school! Bravissimi ragazzi! 

I often use a Kahoot quiz with the grades 3-6 as part of my ongoing assessment tools. The children enjoy participating in these end of topic quizzes, for they are both interactive as well as informative, in the sense that they show how much the children have retained regarding particular topics. Below are some of the photos of the children that came 1st - 5th in their particular grades / groups Kahoot quizzes at the end of last term or last week. Bravi ragazzi! 👏

ITALIAN FESTA 2025

Located once again at the Royal Exhibition Building & Museum Plaza in Carlton, the Italian Festa & Expo 2025 returns this weekend, 18-19 ottobre (October) from 11am-10.30pm sabato (Saturday) and 11am-8.30pm domenica (Sunday). Entry is free, so come along and indulge in authentic Italian street food, regional specialties. Explore the all-new Piazze Italiane for the most authentic Italian feast. With more than 50 food marquees and trucks, kids' games and playground, seating and covered rest areas, music and dancing on various stages, there will definitely be something for everyone to enjoy! 🍕

I will definitely be going to explore what will be on offer sometime over this coming weekend. Perhaps I may even see some of you there too, if so buon divertimento! 😃

Until next time, buona settimana! (have a good week).

Signora Rosa 🌹