Learning & Teaching 

LITERACY NEWS - Bernadette Parnis

What’s been happening in Literacy at St Fidelis?

At St Fidelis, our students have been engaged in various writing activities tailored to their year levels.

Foundation, Year 1/2, and Year 3/4 have been focusing on writing information reports as part of their Inquiry units.

Years 5/6 have been concentrating on narrative writing with the aim of entertaining their readers.

What is an Information Report?

An information report is designed to provide readers with factual information about a specific topic. These reports can cover a wide range of subjects, from famous individuals to non-living things like planets or cities, as well as groups of people, animals or objects. Their purpose is to inform the reader.

What is Narrative Writing?

Narrative writing revolves around telling a story. It includes characters, a setting, and a narrator, who presents the story from a particular point of view. Narratives can be either fictional or non-fictional and are crafted to engage and entertain readers.

Helping Your Child with Spelling in Writing

Learning to spell is important for your child’s writing development. When they master spelling, they can focus more on their ideas rather than worrying about how to spell words correctly. Good spelling also encourages the use of more interesting vocabulary.

Here are some effective strategies to support your child:

1. Encourage your child to ‘have a go’. -Encourage your child to have a go at spelling a word. This will build confidence and practise spelling skills. Remember, mistakes are part of learning. If your child feels comfortable with the idea that they might not get every word right, they’ll be more willing to experiment with new words. Keep your feedback positive and supportive.
2. Reinforce Phonics Skills -Remind your child to use phonics as their first approach when spelling new words. Help them break down the word into individual sounds and identify appropriate spelling patterns. This foundational skill is crucial for spelling accuracy.
3. Check for Spelling Errors -Encourage your child to review their writing for spelling mistakes. Developing an eye for whether a word looks right is an important skill. You can also help them use a dictionary to check correct spelling.
4. Promote Reading -Reading exposes your child to correctly spelled words, which reinforces their spelling skills. The more they read, the more familiar they will become with various spellings.

Next week, I’ll share some creative ways to turn your child’s spelling list into a fun learning experience, making it easier for them to remember and use their spellings effectively!

Bernadette Parnis

bparnis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au 

NUMERACY NEWS - Colleen Monaghan

As we head into the holidays, we know how important it is for children to take a break, relax, and recharge. However, keeping their minds engaged can also make the transition back to school smoother. This holiday, why not add a fun twist to learning by incorporating maths into your everyday activities? Here are some simple, practical, and engaging ideas to help keep your child’s math skills sharp while enjoying the break.

1. Maths in the Kitchen

Cooking is a great way to sneak in some maths while spending quality time together. Measuring ingredients, doubling or halving recipes, and even timing the cooking process all involve maths skills. You can ask your child to help with tasks like counting tablespoons or calculating the correct oven temperature.

2. Budgeting and Shopping Maths

Next time you’re at the shops, turn it into a real-world maths lesson. Give your child a budget and ask them to pick out items while staying within that limit. Encourage them to add prices as they go, work out discounts, or compare prices to find the best deals. This will build their understanding of money, percentages, and basic addition.

3. Board Games with a Maths Twist

Many classic board games involve maths, whether it’s counting spaces in Snakes and Ladders, keeping track of money in Monopoly, or solving problems in games like Sum Swamp. These games help develop number sense and strategic thinking in a fun and interactive way.

4. Outdoor Maths Adventures

Make use of the beautiful spring weather by turning outdoor play into a maths challenge. Try estimating distances in the park, timing how long it takes to run certain laps, or counting items like trees, flowers, or birds. You could even create your own obstacle course and have your child calculate the fastest times.

5. Maths Puzzles and Riddles

Keep their brains active with fun maths puzzles and riddles. You can find many free resources online with challenges suited to all age groups. Whether it’s solving Sudoku, completing a maths crossword, or working through brainteasers, these activities can strengthen problem-solving skills and number fluency.

6. Building Projects and Geometry

If your child enjoys building or creating, use construction toys like Lego or blocks to explore maths concepts. Ask them to build structures using shapes or create specific designs with certain measurements. You can even talk about symmetry, area, and perimeter while building forts or measuring out rooms.

7. Maths in Nature

Head outside for a nature walk and incorporate maths into your adventure. Encourage your child to count how many different types of plants or animals they spot, estimate the height of trees, or compare the lengths of leaves. For an extra challenge, they could create simple graphs to track their findings.

8. Holiday Maths Journal

Encourage your child to keep a “Maths Journal” throughout the break. They can record any interesting maths problems they encounter, whether from games, puzzles, or everyday experiences like measuring and budgeting. It’s a great way to reflect on how maths is part of our daily lives and build a connection to real-world applications.

9. Online Maths Games and Apps

Many online resources combine learning with fun. Websites like Mathletics, Coolmath Games, and Khan Academy offer a range of interactive activities that reinforce key maths skills in an engaging way. Just a few minutes a day can help keep maths fresh in your child’s mind. Continue to practice recalling their times tables and addition , subtraction facts as well as counting forwards and backwards regularly.

10. DIY Maths Challenges

Get creative by making your own maths challenges at home! For example, set up a scavenger hunt where each clue involves solving a maths problem to unlock the next one. You can also encourage friendly competitions, like who can solve a set of mental maths problems the fastest or complete a puzzle first.

By incorporating maths into everyday activities, you can show your child that maths is not just about numbers on a page but a valuable and enjoyable part of life. These activities are designed to be fun and stress-free, helping your child maintain their skills while enjoying the holidays.

We hope you have a wonderful, math-filled break! We look forward to seeing everyone back, ready for an exciting new term.

Colleen Monaghan 

Maths Leader 

PE & SPORTS NEWS - Michael Jennings

Interschool Sport

St Fidelis' Girls' Bat Tennis Team played its Coburg District Final against Coburg West on Friday, September 6. Unfortunately, the girls lost in a very close encounter by only two games. Well done to the girls and Ms Zorzut!

St Fidelis Boys/ Mixed & Girls Softball Teams will play Coburg District Finals against Pascoe Vale & Pascoe Vale South on Friday, 13 September 2024, commencing at 11.30am at Shore Reserve, Reynard St, Pascoe Vale South.

INM Division Athletics Carnival

The following students have qualified to represent the Coburg District at the forthcoming INM Division Athletics carnival to be held at the Meadowglen Athletics Track on Wednesday, 11 September 2024:

AFL Clinics

YEAR 3/4 

Our Year 3/4 students participated in their 2nd Australian Rules clinics conducted by a qualified coach on Friday. Funding for these programs are provided through the Sporting Schools Funding Program. Further clinic dates: Friday 13 Sept, 20 Sept

ITALIAN NEWS - Rosa Fokianos

BUONGIORNO!    

Salve a tutti! (Hello to everyone!) 

È primavera!! (It’s springtime!) I hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine when it was out. ☀️ Perhaps you may have even done some giardinaggio (gardening) like I did!. 🌷😃

As most of you know by now, Mrs Watson will be on leave for the next few weeks at a Principal’s Conference in Italia! As part of her conference, she will be visiting places such as  Roma e Assisi. I wonder if anyone has heard of Assisi and where it is located in Italia? I personally have been to both and I can tell you that they are both very beautiful places and for different reasons, as well as both having a lot of history behind them.

Mrs Watson is not the only one who will be in Italy over the next few weeks. It has come to my attention that there are also quite a number of families in our St. Fidelis school community leaving to go to Italy for a holiday, or are already there, or others that are travelling to other countries. To all that have travelled or will be travelling soon, I wish them and their families un buon viaggio! (have a good trip). I hope you all make special memories during your vacanze (holidays) and wishing you all a safe return next term! 

In next week’s newsletter, for those of us who are not travelling overseas, I will be writing an article about something that is happening in Melbourne, that has an Italian theme and that we can all visit. Stay tuned! 😀

Alla prossima settimana…Until next week.

Signora Rosa 🌹