Learning & Teaching 

L & T AND LITERACY - Vira Pirrotta

Mother’s Day Morning 

Thank you to all who came along to our Mother’s Day assembly it was so nice to see you all back in the school and in the learning spaces. The kids are still talking about the morning. I spent the morning with the Foundation students and they thought it was the best day of school so far. They were so excited to have the opportunity to practise their letters and sounds, practise their reading and play games with their mums. We look forward to having you all back soon. 

NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME 2022

Next week, our school will be participating in National Simultaneous Storytime. This event is held annually by the Australian Libray and Information Association.  Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. 

This year’s book is the Family tree, written by Josh Pyke and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh. The book celebrates family, community and the seasons of life.

If you would like to join in from home, please register using the link below.

 https://www.alia.org.au/nss 

NAPLAN

I would like to commend the students on how well they focused and persisted throughout the week. The Year 3 and 5 students completed four assessments with each varying from 40 to 60 minutes.  They should be very proud of their efforts. 

Results will not be released until late August, these will be sent home as soon as the school receives them.  

Thank you also to the Year 4 and 6 students who worked so quietly while these assessments were happening and to the teachers for all their work in preparing the students for this week. 

If your child was absent, please note they must return to school before the 20th of May for them to make up the assessments. 

NUMERACY - Colleen Monaghan

Our students across the school are all currently learning how to add.

I am running two workshops next week:

Wednesday 18th May 8:50am - 9:50am  and Thursday 19th May   2:25pm - 3:25pm. 

In these workshop we will unpack the strategies we are teaching  in class and  we will also discuss how you can help at home. 

In Juniors, they are learning to count all, and count on to find the total of two collections. They are also looking at doubles and how these can help them when adding numbers the same or close to each other. They are also looking at building to ten and adding tens to make it more efficient when solving addition problems.

The students in 3/4 are extending these strategies and applying them to larger numbers. They are adding amounts of money and using number lines to show their thinking. They are also using their knowledge of place value to decompose (split) the numbers when adding.

The Seniors are also working on extending their understanding of efficient strategies when adding and using the number line to show their thinking. They are also working on missing addends and balancing addition equations.  Adding money and fractions are also being taught in the senior area.

When your child talks about their method (strategy) to add, it may be different to how you leant to add. Question your child, ask them to show their thinking on a number line or with materials. Get them to teach you their method.  Formal algorithms aren’t taught until students can add two-digit number mentally using efficient strategies.  Different strategies will be used depending on the numbers being added. 

VISUAL ARTS - Joe Frazzetto

THE 2022 ART SHOW

Last Friday night was a great success and turn out! It was wonderful to see joy, laughter, and pride from our St Fidelis Community, as they attended the Art Show. The Art Show was an opportunity to bring colour and light to our families. Friday night proved ART brings out the best of ourselves - love, compassion, happiness, friendship and community. 

St Fidelis Primary School showcased beautiful and colourful artworks from all the talented students from all levels within the school, Foundation to Year 6. It was amazing to see parents, grandparents, students, past students and teachers coming to see the great art works produced by our students.

This was an opportunity for students and teachers to showcase their learning through the Visual Arts and a way they could incorporate a variety of mediums and elements to express their creativity. 

I would like to say thank you to the students of St Fidelis, who have experimented, explored and produced wonderful art pieces over the past two years and especially artworks that were created during the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning. 

The Art Show could not have occurred without the help of some of our parents. I would like to acknowledge the following families for supporting and helping me to set up and display the artwork at the Art Show. A big thank you to the Zaita Family, Piotti Family and Louca Family. Thank you so much for your help and we all appreciate what you do for the students of St Fidelis. 

I would like to share my thoughts on why art is such an important part of the curriculum and student learning:

Art is an important part of the curriculum, student learning, and is an essential part of everyday life. If you look around, there is art and creativity everywhere. Everything we see, hear smell, touch and feel have come from a single artistic idea. If this idea has come from God the Creator or ourselves, the idea begins to take form when it allows us to become part of it. Like the world we live in: our past, communities, traditions, stories and beliefs, Art allows us to express, manifest, communicate and share our ideas through various art elements that give an audience the opportunity to connect to the artwork. 

This is why it is important for students to have the opportunity to explore and experiment with all the various art forms and materials the environment is able to offer. Students are encouraged to design and create their ideas and use their imagination to change the world. We know this has occurred throughout history. Inventors and artists such as Leonardo Di Vinci and the likes of Pablo Picasso changed how people saw the world. Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up.” So as ART Teachers/Specialists we have the chance to give the future generations the opportunity to create a better and colourful world. Let's make sure that we all retain a little artist in us all throughout the years as we grow!

Joe Frazzetto