Teaching & Learning

This week, our Leader of Religious Education, Marcia Janky, and Leader of Mathematics, Mrs Saville will share some of the learning that is happening in R.E. and Mathematics

Religious Education ~ Mary MacKillop

As you enter the foyer at the front office at school, you will see a display on the table dedicated to Saint Mary Mackillop. So, who is Mary MacKillop?

Mary MacKillop is honoured as Australia‛s first saint. Her life was lived with great faith in God, whom she never doubted. She displayed courage and strength to stand up for what she believed was right and fair and never wavered from her devotion to the poor and the needy. Her simple life was lived in a way that inspires ordinary people in our world today. As a catholic school, we especially remember Saint Mary MacKillop as one of the founding sisters of providing a catholic education for the poorest of the poor with the schools she opened in Australia.

Mary Mackillop history.pdf

Marcia Janky

Religious Education Leader

Mathematics at STM

As you might have read in our previous newsletters and/or heard in the news over the past few months, Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) is the most effective and efficient instructional teaching approach. At STM, staff design and deliver well-crafted lessons that explicitly teach content to ALL students. All mathematics classes at STM include the following five times a week in their lessons.

We begin with ten minutes of fact fluency. Students build their number fact fluency and use their ability to use different strategies when problem-solving. The next five minutes is a timed revision of simple number facts in P/1 and time bombs (number facts) in Years 2-6.

Our Daily Review is next. This a 15-minute review of previously taught concepts and skills.

The last 30 minutes of every mathematics lesson comprise new content that the teacher models. Once the concept or skill has been explicitly taught, the students are guided through some practice tasks, and then they are given the opportunity to apply this skill or knowledge through independent learning tasks.

I've included some photos of the wonderful learning experiences in mathematics that have happened throughout the school.