St James Learning and Teaching 

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are held in March each year. In 2024, the NAPLAN test window is between Wednesday 13 March and Monday 25 March. 

Below is a schedule of when the students will complete each test.

A public demonstration site is available for schools, teachers, parents/carers and students to familiarise themselves with the online tests https://nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site 

All eligible students are expected to participate in the NAPLAN tests. Catch up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days up to and including Monday 25 March 2024.

Support can be arranged for students with disabilities, if the student regularly uses similar support for classroom assessment tasks.

Exemptions may be granted to students with significant intellectual disabilities and to students who have been learning English for less than one year. 

If your child is eligible for support due to disability or exemption, you should discuss this with their teacher prior to the tests. Parental consent is required before any support due to disability or exemption is granted.

Students may be withdrawn from NAPLAN by their parent or carer. This is a matter for consideration by parents and carers in consultation with the principal. If, after consultation, you decide to withdraw your child, you must sign a student withdrawal form. These forms are available at the school.

Later in the year you will receive your child’s personal NAPLAN report. The report will describe your child’s particular skills in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. 

For more information about the tests, please visit the VCAA website at: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au or the NAP website at: www.nap.edu.au.

MATHS

New Victorian Curriculum for Mathematics

Last year a new version of the Victorian Curriculum for Mathematics was released, with schools becoming familiar and beginning to implement it this year. As a staff we have been unpacking the new curriculum and developing our understanding of the differences to the previous version. Throughout the year we will be using the new Mathematics curriculum to plan, teach and assess students on their mathematical understanding. This new curriculum continues to focus on providing students with the fundamental skills that they will need in their personal and future work lives and aims to make greater connections between topics so that students can apply their understanding to a range of contexts. More information on the new version of the Mathematics curriculum can be found on the VCAA website.

Miss Bridie Slater

Maths Leader

LITERACY

It’s Week 4 already and Literacy learning at St James is well underway!

Teachers and students have made a positive, happy start to the school year, in exciting new learning spaces. Together, they have been busy setting up routines and expectations to encourage consistent, positive reading and writing behaviours.

In the first 4 weeks of this term, teachers have made understanding student needs a priority so they can target the explicit teaching of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, Writing, Phonics, Spelling, Grammar and Handwriting.

Even in these early stages of the year, quality differentiated teaching is a cornerstone of best practice at St James. All teachers ensure to adjust learning tasks to enable and support, whilst also extend and challenge. This allows teachers to cater for students at their point of need. Such practice is embedded in our teaching and learning culture and has become a very natural and fundamental aspect of our Literacy programs.

How lucky we are at St James to have passionate, dedicated teachers and motivated and enthusiastic students to teach! Thank you to parents for their ongoing support. I am looking forward to working with you all this year to continue to strive for success in Literacy.

JUNIOR LITERACY PARENT HELPERS

At St James, our primary focus is on providing explicit instruction in Literacy. Over the last year, we have seen great success in our evidence-based explicit instruction - InitiaLit, and now that we have a well-established routine across the Junior School we will be starting our Parent Helper Reading Program next week. This will entail coming into the class, receiving a list of children that you will read with, and reading with them 1-1 for 10 mins each. You will receive a list of prompts to ask the child as you read. This help will align perfectly with our InitiaLit program. 

If you would still like to help with 1-1 Reading time from 2.45-3.30 pm please follow the steps below:

1) Apply for or renew your Working with Children Check (WWCC) here.

2) Update your WWCC information on Operoo. Log into Operoo and go to the "Forms Library" and complete the Working with Children Check Form.

3) Read through the Literacy Parent Helper Information and Guide

4) Share your availability via the Junior Literacy Parent Helpers Google Form

We look forward to welcoming you into our classrooms.

READING AT HOME

Over the next couple of weeks, classroom teachers will be encouraging positive home reading routines.

Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students will be supported in selecting appropriate texts to take home to read with their families each evening. In time, junior students will also be encouraged to practise reading some high frequency words to assist in building automatic recall, which contributes significantly to reading fluency.

Year 3 - 6 students will be supported in selecting texts which spark interest and promote engagement. Expectations around home reading will be discussed with the students in the coming weeks.

HOW TO HELP CHILDREN READ: 10 Simple Steps to Try at Home

1. Use songs and nursery rhymes to build phonemic awareness

Children's songs and nursery rhymes aren't just a lot of fun—the rhyme and rhythm help kids to hear the sounds and syllables in words, which helps them learn to read. A good way to build phonemic awareness (one of the most important skills in learning to read) is to clap rhythmically together and recite songs in unison. This playful and bonding activity is a fantastic way for kids to implicitly develop the literacy skills that will set them up for reading success.

2. Make simple word cards at home

Cut out simple cards and write a word containing three sounds on each one (e.g. ram, sat, pig, top, sun, pot, fin). Invite your child to choose a card, then read the word together and hold up three fingers. Ask them to say the first sound they hear in the word, then the second, and then the third. This simple activity requires little prep‑time and builds essential phonics and decoding skills (helping them learn how to sound out words). If your child is just starting out with learning the letters of the alphabet, focus on the sound each letter makes, more so than letter names.

3. Engage your child in a print-rich environment

Create daily opportunities to build your child's reading skills by creating a print‑rich environment at home. Seeing printed words (on posters, charts, books, labels etc.) enables children to see and apply connections between sounds and letter symbols. When you're out and about, point out letters on posters, billboards and signs. In time you can model sounding out the letters to make words. Focus on the first letter in words. Ask your child “What sound is that letter?” “What other word starts with that sound?” “What word rhymes with that word?”

4. Play word games at home or in the car

Building on from the previous step, introduce simple word games on a regular basis. Focus on playing games that encourage your child to listen, identify and manipulate the sounds in words. For example, start by asking questions like “What sound does the word                      start with?” “What sound does the word                      end with?” “What words start with the sound                     ?” and “What word rhymes with                     ?”.

5. Understand the core skills involved in teaching kids to read

It's important to remember that learning to read involves various different skills. There are five essential components of reading. These are the skills all children need in order to successfully learn how to read. In summary, these include:

1.  Phonemic awareness – the ability to hear and manipulate the different sounds in words

2.  Phonics – recognising the connection between letters and the sounds they make

3.  Vocabulary – understanding the meaning of words, their definitions, and their context

4.  Reading comprehension – understand the meaning of text, both in storybooks and information books

5.  Fluency – the ability to read aloud with speed, understanding and accuracy

6. Play with letter magnets

Middle vowel sounds can be tricky for some children, which is why this activity can be so helpful. Prepare letter magnets on the fridge and pull the vowels to one side (a, e, i, o, u). Say a CVC word (consonant-vowel-consonant), for example 'cat', and ask your child to spell it using the magnets. To help them, say each vowel sound aloud (/ayh/, /eh/, /ih/, /awe/, /uh/) while pointing at its letter, and ask your child which one makes a sound similar to the middle sound.

7. Harness the power of technology to keep your child engaged

Learning to read should be an enjoyable process in order to keep kids motivated to improve. Sometimes a child might be full of excitement and eagerness to learn at the beginning, but once they hit a wall can feel overwhelmed and give up easily. As a parent, it can feel impossible to pick up again and know where to fill in any gaps that may be causing frustration.

8. Read together on a daily basis and ask questions about the book

A lot of people don't realise just how many skills can be picked up through the simple act of reading to a child. Not only are you showing them how to sound out words, you're also building key comprehension skills, growing their vocabulary, and letting them hear what a fluent reader sounds like. Most of all, regular reading helps your child to develop a love of reading, which is the best way to set them up for reading success.

Strengthen your child's comprehension skills by asking questions while reading. For younger children, encourage them to engage with the pictures (e.g. “Do you see the boat? What colour is the cat?”). For older children, ask questions about what you've just read, like “Why do you think the little bird was afraid?” “When did Sophie realise she had special powers?”

9. Play games to memorise high-frequency sight words every day

Sight words are ones that cannot be easily sounded out and need to be recognised on sight. High‑frequency sight words are ones that occur very often in reading and writing (e.g. you, I, we, am, had, and, to, the, have, they, where, was, does).

The strategy for learning sight words is, "See the word, say the word". Learning to identify and read sight words is essential for young children to become fluent readers. Most children will be able to learn a few sight words at the age of four (e.g. is, it, my, me, no, see, and we) and around 20 sight words by the end of their first year of school. You can teach sight words by playing with flashcards.

10. Be patient; the best way to teach kids to read is to make it fun!

Every child learns at his or her own pace, so always remember the single most important thing you can do is to make it enjoyable. By reading regularly, mixing things up with the activities you choose, and letting your child pick out their own books occasionally, you'll instil an early love of reading and give them the best chance at reading success in no time.

MIDDLE AND SENIOR LITERACY

A new school year offers an opportunity to think about the past and set goals for the future. This includes family reading goals with your child:

• Talk about books or stories you’ve enjoyed together in the past year. If the books are nearby, look through them.Have your child choose three favorites. Ask, “What was the best part of this story? Why?” Or, “What is your favorite picture in this book?”

• Discuss future reading plans. Are there ways you can refresh or improve reading habits? Could your family read more often? Could you read new things together, such as children’s magazines? Could you listen to some audiobooks in the car? Could you start a family book club? Build daily reading time into your family’s schedule and make 2024 your family’s best year ever for reading exciting materials.

Thinking aloud improves comprehension

One factor in understanding reading material is thinking about it. Making connections between the reading and other things they know helps students retain the new material. Help your elementary schooler strengthen comprehension skills by modeling these “think-aloud” strategies:

•Discuss the book. Connect it to an experience your child understands. “This story reminds me of the time when … .”“Have you read any books that are similar?”

•Talk about books with similar settings, characters or themes. “What other books that we’ve read does this story remind you of?”

•Help your child make a connection between the story and something similar that may be happening in the real world. Brainstorming together about a book helps your child learn to make these connections independently.

Enjoy the benefits of the public library as a family. Brighton Library is a great resource in our community.

Libraries are wonderful places to explore with your child. To enjoy everything the library has to offer:

•Help your child get a library card.

•Schedule regular visits. Try to go at least once every two weeks.

• Meet the librarian and attend fun activities together.

• Help your child discover a new section of the library each time you visit.

Mrs Mandi Joplin

Literacy Leader

LIBRARY

Library Book Donations 

Thank you to all the families that have donated books and continue to donate each week after their children have finished reading them. Your contributions have helped build our library and provide us with some rich, interesting contemporary texts for the children to engage it. We are truely grateful that you are helping spread our love of reading!

Spare Library Bags

If you have any spare library bags around the house, we would love them in the library. Spare library bags give children the opportunity to still borrow if they have forgotten their library bag. 

Wide Reading at Star of the Sea

Our 6 students have commenced a very exciting collaboration with the Star Library and Mr Pearson and Mrs Austin from Star .

In the Year 6 library time, the children, accompanied by Mrs Joplin will walk over to the Star of the Sea Library to participate in a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ wide reading program. 

What is Wide reading?

Constantly striving to improve literacy outcomes at St James means continually turning to evidenced based programs and peer-reviewed research. With the habit of reading frequently cited as a goal of education and a foundational global competency, the St James Library, will be launching a Wide Reading program. The program ensures that students can easily engage and access books that will provide reading experiences to build the wide reading habit.  Wide reading not only enhances subject learning across the entire educational framework but is also an essential lifelong habit for enjoyment and for informative and reflective engagement with the world. This program is a great step toward the transition to secondary school and provides the opportunity for our senior school learners to experience what high school will be like. 

Mrs Mandi Joplin

Teacher Librarian

SPORT

On Thursday 15th February Ethan K, Ava N, Evie R and Nick S represented St James at the Holt District Tennis competition. This was held at the St James tennis courts. Other Holt District Schools also sent students to compete as well. Congratulations to Ava N and Ethan K who both came 2nd in their competitions and will now progress through to the Beachside playoffs at the end of March. 

On Friday 16th February St James took a team of 26 students to the Holt District Swimming Competition where they competed in 50m events of each stroke, an Open Medley Relay and Freestyle Relays. A huge congratulations to all of our students who competed. Some for the first time and some for the last time. I am pleased to say that St James once again came home with the overall winning shield. We are now 9 years in a row winning this shield. A number of our students will now go onto compete at the Beachside Division Carnival on Friday 8th March. An Operoo will be sent to those students who have made it through. 

A huge thank you to our wonderful parents who came and supported the students on this day; whether it be through timekeeping, cheering or just generally supporting. Thank you also to Mrs Herbert and Mrs Fatouros who supported the students on this day. 

Our next major sporting event will be the St James Athletics Carnival to be held on the last Tuesday of term at Sandringham Athletics Track. 

Mrs Georgia McNamara

Deputy Principal-Student Wellbeing/Sport Co-Ordinator/ Senior Physical Education Teacher

WELLBEING

Previously I wrote about the importance of Resilience for children. Here is an excerpt:

Resilience is not an innate trait but a skill that can be developed and strengthened over time. It involves harnessing the power of mindset, emotions, and coping mechanisms to overcome difficulties. Resilient individuals view challenges as opportunities for growth, embrace change, and remain optimistic in the face of adversity.

Resilience can only be developed through hardship and struggle. This is an important message for Mothers, who are naturally and beautifully inclined to protect and defend their children from all hardships, even blame. Even this morning I got a distressed text from my wife after dropping our 3 year old off at daycare, apparently she was crying and holding on to her saying “nooo, don’t leave me” (that is my three year old saying that not my wife, just to be clear). But I knew that at the end of the day she would be fine and had a great day, so I reassured her it would be okay. But of course all mothers can relate, that is not easy to do, it takes resilience.

Resilience is so important because the more our child has it the better equipped they are to face challenges and rise above them. Because without resilience they may be heading for a pit.

Recently I came across this image that perfectly depicts the importance of resilience:

This might be a good image to show your child. Depending on their age you can make it appropriate. For example:

1. You could show it can be a hard decision to learn or to study hard but if you took the easy way and didn’t do homework then it will be much harder later on.
2. If you don’t choose food that may taste bad but is good for you then it may lead to bad health that is even more difficult to handle.
3. Choosing good friends that exhibit positive behaviour and good values, they may not be the popular kids, but they will influence your child to follow their path.
4. Extracurricular activities may be challenging but they teach children leadership and teamwork skills that are very important later on in life.
5. Standing up to people who bully you or harm you and working through conflict will make it easier to handle throughout life. Holding in hurt feelings becomes worse feelings later on.
6. Saving money early on in life might be a hard decision but in future it will be very good, they may be the only one of their peers that can afford a car.
7. Screen time limited might be a hard decision but it will pay off building healthy habits of connecting with others, with nature, with God.
8. Respecting Authority will help your child realise the importance of community and leadership. 
9. Setting Goals early on in life may be difficult, it would be easier to just play games and see how it goes, but your child will end up in a place very far from where they really wanted to go.
10. Taking on responsibilities and chores at home early on is hard but later on in life your child will find it easier to do what is necessary for a responsible life.

I hope you find this useful, let us get busy with the task of building resilient children for the good of our current communities and future communities and especially for the good of our children's life and eternal destiny.They need to be warned.

And remember your Childs challenges and failures are a gift, an invitation to grow more resilient.

Kind regards

Corey Payton

School Chaplain