Learning and Teaching
International Day of Mathematics – Friday 13th March
St Mary’s celebrated the International Day of Mathematics on Friday the 13th, with classes taking part in a range of fun and engaging Maths games connected to their current learning units.
Some classes also spent time setting personal Mathematics goals, linking to this year’s theme of “Mathematics and Hope”, which encourages students to think about how mathematics can help them grow, improve and look positively towards the future.
Students shared some wonderful goals:
- Mahaleea (Year 4) – “I hope to improve in multiplication and division.”
- Ruby Rose (Year 2) – “I hope to improve at telling the time.”
- Bodhi R (Year 1) – “When Maths gets tricky, I will persist by using a 100 chart.”
Grace G (Year 1) – “When Maths gets tricky, I will persist by using number lines.”
It was fantastic to see our learner's showing persistence and confidence as they continue to develop their Mathematics skills.
3B – After completing NAPLAN Numeracy, Year 3B enjoyed some collaborative Mathematics games. The activities gave students a fun way to practise their skills while working together and supporting each other.
Foundation B had fun playing a game of Buzz, reinforcing their numbers to 10. They also enjoyed a favourite game of “Sit down Sunday”, helping them to practise and reinforce the days of the week.
NAPLAN 2026
Last week (Week 7) was our official NAPLAN testing week for Year 3 and Year 5 learners. Learners completed four tests, and the teachers were extremely impressed with the determination and resilience shown as they worked hard to demonstrate their knowledge in the areas of Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation skills), and Numeracy.
This week (Week 8), we have been providing catch-up sessions for learners who were absent during the testing period. All testing conditions were calm and supportive, and learners were provided with fresh fruit at the start of each test. At the end of the testing period, learners enjoyed Zooper Doopers as a small celebration of their effort and positive attitude.
The Year 5 learners were affected by the nationwide outage on Wednesday 11th March. Our Year 5 teachers and learners should be congratulated for keeping a calm and positive approach during this disruption. They were supported by the leadership team and Rod Spiewak, our fabulous ICT support, who worked hard to ensure testing could continue as smoothly as possible.
Parents/Carers of Year 3 and 5 learners will receive their child/s results July/August this year.
Year 2
Year 2 learners have been investigating Health and Wellbeing through our Inquiry unit, where we have been thinking deeply about what it means to live a healthy and balanced life. Throughout the unit, students have explored questions such as 'What does being healthy look and feel like?', 'What does balance mean?', and 'What does a healthy community look like?' This learning has encouraged learners to reflect on their own habits and consider how they can be the best version of themselves both at school and at home.
Learners worked together to categorise foods into “always foods” and “sometimes foods", helping them understand the importance of balance in the foods we eat. They also created their own night-time routines that support healthy sleep habits and discussed how good sleep helps our bodies and minds. As part of our learning about wellbeing in the modern world, students set personal goals for using technology in ways that keep them happy and healthy. Through these experiences, Year 2 learners have been developing a deeper understanding of how healthy choices support both individual wellbeing and a healthy community.
Year 3
Our Year 3 learners have truly shone this week! We are incredibly proud of the focus and determination they brought to their NAPLAN sessions. They’ve worked so hard leading up to this, and seeing their faces light up while enjoying a well-deserved Zooper Dooper was the perfect way to celebrate their efforts. Well done, superstars!
To recognise International Mathematics Day last Friday, we incorporated interactive games into our classrooms to deepen our understanding of mathematical concepts. The room buzzed with strategic thinking and probability-based decision-making, especially during moments of 'Greedy Pig' and ‘Noughts and Crosses”.
