St Mary's School

News from around the school

Laptops For Sale

Secondhand lap tops are still available to purchase - $500, if you are interested please contact the school office.

Specifications listed below -

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)

Storage 128 GB

Processor 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

NEW - Festival of The Sacred

Festival of the Sacred - The combined voices of 650 Grade 5/6 students from Catholic Primary Schools in the Sandhurst Diocese will fill Mercy Centennial Stadium with spirit and song on Wednesday, 27th November, 12:45pm (1pm start) – 2pm. The Festival, which is part of the Diocesan Arts Strategy, will provide an afternoon of entertainment for parents, guests, staff and students. Everyone is welcome to join our Year 5/6 students who having been working with vocal/dance trainers from the Australia School of Performing Arts (ASPA Ed) throughout Term 4 and rehearsing in music sessions.

NEW - Grade 4 Camp - Camp Kookaburra

The weather may not have been the best but our Grade 4 students enjoyed an action packed few days at Camp Kookaburra, displaying persistence and resilience with the ropes course and the rock wall, manouvering canoes with fabulous skill, many squeals of delight with the flying fox and taking some time to chill with games activities.

NEW - Prep Bush Kinder

Last week our Prep students had fun exploring and learning at Bush Kinder. They even saw a big mob of Kangaroos.

UPDATED - Chatter Matters

Language genre/longer and more complex sentences

These activities will help the students to make the necessary adjustments to their language so they can communicate for a variety of purposes eg; to tell stories, recount events, persuade, give instructions and report information. Learning about the language and types of words we use in each of these different contexts supports not only the child’s oral language but written language development also.

 

Focus: Using longer and more complex sentences

7. Persuading others

Many children are very good at arguing but have they got the power of persuasion. Can they justify their decisions and provide evidence? The ability to provide a convincing argument both verbally and in written form is a critical life skill that children need to develop.

Ask your child to provide 3 reasons for and against each of these situations:

  • Are dogs better than cats?
  • Are athletes better role models than rock stars?
  • Do students need longer holidays?
  • Should pets be allowed at school?
  • Should students be allowed to bring phones to school?
  • Should be allowed to eat sweets everyday?

 

Focus: Using a variety of language genres

8. Communicating to socialise

We all use a particular style when we email or use the internet to access social media but are our children explicitly aware of these styles? How can they adjust their language/style to get more out of their interactions with others?

Ask your child to tell you they might write an email to the following people about a recent holiday. Grandma, their best friend, the school principal, a prep student, the school magazine. What sort of words, phrases do they use for each of these different audience? Why?