Learning and Teaching

Science of Reading

The research behind the Science of Reading is becoming more widely published and consequently implemented in schools. Here at St Mary's Catholic Primary School, we are committed to using best practice and over the subsequent newsletters, we will share some content that may help parents further understand this pedagogical method.

Graphemes versus Phonemes

Written English is a code for speech. Spoken English has approximately 44 speech sounds that combine to make thousands of words but we only have 26 letters with which to represent them in writing.

The individual speech sounds that make up words are called phonemes. The individual letters or groups of letters that represent the individual speech sounds are called graphemes. Understanding how graphemes map to phonemes is essential for learning to read or ‘decode’ words efficiently.

STEAM Day

On Thursday 16 May, the school is going to host a STEAM Day to coincide with the 2024 Education week theme - Spotlight on STEAM!

The students will participate in two workshops with students across multiple year levels based on their own preferences. Activities such as making ice-cream in a bag, LEGO Marble Run, creating a bionic hand and balancing robots were all popular choices.

To help facilitate this wonderful day, we need your help. If you would like to assist with a workshop please email Mrs Hodgetts (ohodgetts@smascotvale.catholic.edu.au) to register your avaliability.

In addition, we require lots of the following recyclable materials. If you have any of these items, please bring them to school and Mrs Hodgetts will collect them from your classrooms. We require:

• cardboard boxes
• cardboard tubes
• 1 or 2 litre see through plastic bottles (with lids)
• rinsed out milk bottle containers
• 600 ml water bottles (empty)
• glass jars