ST FIDELIS NEWSLETTER

Learning & Teaching 

Learning and Teaching encompasses the following areas: Student Outcomes, Curriculum, Assessment, Reporting, Principles and Pedagogy.

LEARNING AND TEACHING NEWS- Vira Pirrotta

CELEBRATING SCIENCE WEEK

9th to 17th August.  

Science is at the heart of everything we do. It helps us understand the world around us, solve complex problems, and build a better future. National Science Week reminds us of how science impacts our lives and how we can contribute to its progress.

 

Throughout this term, our students will take part in hands-on experiments, interactive workshops, and exciting challenges designed to spark their imaginations and deepen their understanding of the world around them.  

 

We can’t wait to see our budding scientists in action as they ask questions, experiment, and discover that science is not just something you learn – it’s something you do!

 

Family-Friendly Activities to Celebrate Science:

Science Experiments at Home: Bring the laboratory to your kitchen! Simple, fun experiments like making a volcano, growing crystals, or creating a rainbow with a glass of water can captivate children’s imaginations. 

https://funlearningforkids.com/science-activities-kids/ 

 

Nature Walks and Observations: Turn a walk in your local park or garden into a scientific adventure. Observe plants, insects, and weather patterns, and encourage children to ask questions and take notes. It’s a fantastic way to connect with nature and learn about the environment.

 

STEM Movie Night: Pick a science-themed movie or documentary and make it a family movie night. Follow it up with a discussion about the concepts presented in the film. It’s a fun and relaxed way to introduce complex ideas to children.

 

Build and Create Together: Use everyday materials to build something as a family, whether a simple robot, a birdhouse, or a model solar system. These hands-on projects encourage problem-solving and creativity.

 

Local Events for Families 

 

Join Merri-bek Libraries for a family science night and celebrate National Science Week 2025!

 

Experiment with states of matter, mixing and un-mixing, and the properties of materials. Get hands-on with lots of icky gloop, dry ice, and heart-pounding explosions as we explore the magic of chemistry. This event is for primary school children and their carers.

 

 

Learn about the animals that help pollinate our plants, from the birds and the bees to the butterflies and trees. Hear from the experts or go on a guided talk with our keepers and Horticulturalists. Visitors can build their native bee hotel to take home, or enjoy storytelling time at Keeper Kids.

 

Buzz along, Bee involved, flutter in and learn, laugh and get involved in Melbourne Zoo Victoria's Plants and pollinators day.

 

National Science Week is just the beginning! Encourage your children to keep exploring and asking questions year-round. Whether through books, educational games, or family visits to science museums, there are countless ways to keep the spirit of science alive.

  

SPS Speech Box 

Supporting Your Child's Narrative Skills:

Welcome to another Speech Box for 2025. This Speech Box presents research showing that children’s early oral narrative skills predict later literacy skills, including writing competence.  Feel free to include this Speech Box in your following school newsletter. 

If you would like further information, please get in touch with the SPS Speech Pathologist at your school.

 

Kind regards,

Mala Ferdinando

Speech Pathology for Schools

www.speech.edu.au

 

 

LITERACY NEWS - Bernadette Parnis

Thank you to the families who were able to attend last week’s SMART Spelling Information Session. For those who couldn’t make it, and as promised during the session. I’ve included the information that was shared. We hope you find it helpful and informative.

 

SMART Spelling approach

SMART Spelling is based on the idea that spelling is best taught through understanding patterns and regularities in words. This approach supports teachers and, therefore, students by providing explicit and systematic spelling instruction.

Key features include:

  • a yearly scope and sequence; 
  • alignment with the Victorian Curriculum content and sequence;
  • focus on word families, high-frequency words, prefixes, suffixes, plurals, and spelling rules.

SMART Spelling helps students deepen their understanding of how words work, improving their spelling skills in a structured way.

 

SMART Spelling at St Fidelis (Years 1–6)

  • We have implemented the SMART Spelling approach by Michelle Hutchinson across Years 1–6.
  • This approach promotes consistency, routine, and clarity in the way spelling is taught.
  • SMART Spelling teaches spelling patterns explicitly, one at a time, helping students build confidence in writing and editing.

Weekly Routine

  • Each Monday, teachers:
    • teach the meaning of new words to expand vocabulary;
    • break words into syllables, sounds, and letter patterns (graphs, digraphs, and trigraphs);
    • follow a simple, consistent routine.
  • BOB (Back of Book) words are personal spelling words taken from students’ own writing, and are practiced throughout the week.
  • Weekly SMART Spelling lists are sent home for extra practice.
  • Students practice saying, writing, and doing short learning tasks with their words each day.
  • On Fridays, students complete a spelling test and dictation to check their mastery of the week’s pattern.

Homework sheet

Implementing SMART Spelling in the Classroom

Teachers have implemented SMART Spelling strategies in daily lessons. You may hear your child talking about words, graphs/letters, and sounds.

Children analyse words by:

  • breaking them into individual sounds;
  • matching sounds to letters using clustering.

They will be using spelling terms like graphs, digraphs, split digraphs, and trigraphs.

Your child brings home spelling words to practice as part of their home learning each week.

  • Students write their words in their spelling book and highlight them on a Homework Sheet.
  • The Homework Sheet is placed in a plastic pocket and sent home for daily review.
  • While all students receive the same word list, only your child’s highlighted words should be practised.

Daily and weekly practice

  • Tuesday to Thursday:10 minutes of the Literacy block is dedicated to reviewing and rehearsing the words.
  • Friday assessment includes:
    • a dictation of the word list;
    • a sentence dictation containing words with the same spelling pattern.

This checks students' ability to transfer sound knowledge into writing.

SMART is an acronym for:

Say the word

Meaning: put it in context and discuss variations

Analyse it in terms of syllables, sounds and letters

Remember it by focusing on the parts of the word we need to remember, and then

Teach it by spelling the word aloud using letter names and clustering.

 

Sound Circle Strategy 

Sound Circles - a strategy used in SMART Spelling to help students connect sounds (phonemes) with letters or letter combinations (graphemes).

How it works:

  1. Say the word clearly.
  2. Stretch the word out slowly, listening for each individual sound.
  3. Draw a circle for each sound in the word. Each circle represents one sound, not one letter.
  4. As the students identify each sound, they fill in the letters or letter combinations that make that sound (e.g. d, u, ck).
  5. This helps students understand how sounds are represented in writing and builds phonemic awareness.

For example: ‘ship’ Hear the sounds: /sh/ /i/ /p/ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ → Fill in: sh | i | p

 

Syllable Strategy

The syllable strategy helps students break longer words into manageable parts by dividing them into syllables, the spoken beats in a word. This strategy supports students with spelling longer words.

Spelling grid: write, say, sound, count, write

This SMART Spelling grid template is used in class to help students break down and understand how words are built. It follows a consistent, step-by-step process:

  1. Write the word

    Students write the full word clearly (e.g. weekend).

  2. Say the word

    Students say the word out loud to hear how it sounds.

  3. Sound the word out

    Students listen carefully and break the word into individual sounds (phonemes).

  4. Count the sounds

    They count how many separate sounds they can hear (not just letters).

  5. Break up the word into spelling parts

    Students separate the word into graphs, digraphs, trigraphs, the spelling patterns that match each sound (e.g. w – ee – k – e – n – d).

  6. Tricky part

    Students identify any tricky part of the word they need to pay close attention to (e.g. the "ee" in weekend).

This routine helps students:

  • connect spoken and written language;
  • recognise common spelling patterns;
  • build confidence to spell independently;
  • learn how to edit and self-correct their writing

Home spelling tips

  • Spend 5–10 minutes per night reviewing the words.
  • Encourage and praise your child’s effort.
  • Our aim is to build confidence and a positive attitude toward spelling, not competition.

Home spelling tips

Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check 

  • LOOK… at the sounds, or parts of the words as you read the word.
  • COVER… the word. Try to see the word and all its sounds in your head.
  • SAY… each sound or part of the word while revealing a finger.
  • WRITE… the word in alternating colours.
  • CHECK… your work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSaRUa-tPxs

  • Read and spell the words aloud 
  • Sound out the words 
  • Use the word in a sentence to explain its meaning 
  • Search for the word in a book
  • Repeat sound circle strategy

Phonics Heroes Free Phonics Hero Access for Term 3

We have been emailed about an opportunity to sign up for Phonics Heroes for free during Term 3. This is optional and not a requirement by St Fidelis School. It is a great opportunity, though, to use this free platform to support phonics development. The information I received suggests the following. This is a great chance to give students extra practice in key reading skills, including:

  • Recognising letter-sound relationships (grapheme-phoneme recognition)
  • Blending and segmenting sounds
  • Building fluency and confidence in reading sentences

There are over 850 fun, interactive games, and the best part is your child can access them from school or home, on any device. How to get started:

  1. Sign up or log in at www.phonicshero.com
  2. On the Welcome page, look for the ‘Child Accounts’ section
  3. Click the green ‘Start Trial’ button
  4. Set up your child’s account

Have a great week. 

Bernadette Parnis

Literacy Leader

bparnis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au 

STEM NEWS - Joe Frazzetto