Learning and Teaching

Literacy 

Lion’s Club Speeches 

Harvey Brown and Audrey Dobeli will participate in the next round of the Lion’s Club Speech competition, held in Numurkah on Sunday. St Mary’s are extremely proud of their achievements, and we wish them well.  

ICAS – English  

Selected learners from Yr 2-6 will be participating in the ICAS English competition on Tuesday 12th August.  This competition celebrates achievement and challenges learners to extend their literacy skills.  

Book Week 2025 – "Book an Adventure".  

Only 1 week to go before we celebrate Book Week 2025 with this year’s inspiring theme, "Book an Adventure." This theme invites learners to explore new worlds, discover exciting stories, and go on unforgettable journeys – all through the pages of a book! 

St Mary’s Book Week Parade will be held on Friday 22nd August.  

Our 2026 Foundation learners have been invited to celebrate Book Week with St Mary’s by joining in our parade. They can then enjoy Storytime and a Book Week activity in the library with a cup of milo. Learners are encouraged to come dressed as a character from their favourite book or an adventurer ready to explore the literary world! Look Out Indiana Jones! 

Let’s all get ready to "Book an Adventure" and celebrate the magic of reading! 

Mathematics  

On Tuesday and Thursday, learners from Years 3 to 6 participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition. Learners from these year levels opted in to take part in this Australia wide event.  

The competition consisted of 30 questions, covering a wide range of mathematical concepts including arithmetic, fractions and ratios, algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics, and problem-solving. The questions progressively became more complex and often required multi-step reasoning. 

This event provides a fantastic opportunity for learners to stretch their thinking, grow in confidence, and develop perseverance in solving unfamiliar problems. We are proud of every learner who participated and gave it their best effort. 

Thank you to our teachers for supporting the event and to families for encouraging your children to get involved. 

We look forward to receiving the results and celebrating our participants at the End of Term 3 Assembly.  

Here’s an example of a question from the 2023 Australian Mathematics Competition. Any families who would like to solve the question and submit their answer to Clare Pentreath via email will go into a draw for a small prize! Entries close Friday 15th August.   

ICAS Mathematics Competition 

 The next Mathematics competition, ICAS Mathematics, will be held at St Mary's Primary School Echuca on Thursday 29th August. Selected learners from Year 2 to Year 6 will participate, based on their performance in the PAT Adaptive Mathematics assessment completed in Term 2.  Families of selected learners have been notified via letter and a Compass post. 

Essential Assessment

You would have received a QR code for your child to access Essential Assessment. This is an optional activity for your child to engage in at home. 

The Science of Learning 

While classroom teachers held their Learning Conversations, the remaining staff and learners participated in a day of collaborative learning based on how our brain and learning.  

You child would have arrived home with an L plate, displaying how they learn best. Ask your child to share their learning with you.  

We also welcomed The Circus Crew to our school. Each House Group participated in a one-hour session, learning new tricks. We then linked this to how our brain processes information and the importance of regularly revisiting new learning to help strengthen our neural connections.  

See attached some photos of our circus visit.  

Year 6 

The Life Relationships Parent / Learner evening will be held on Wednesday 27th of August at 6.30pm in the Brigidine Centre.

The main topics covered in this unit include relationships, family, adolescence, puberty and reproduction.  All learners must be present with at least one parent at this evening.

We have scheduled this for 6.30pm to accommodate all families and to allow time for a quick dinner after sporting commitments if needed.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Year 3

The Year 3 learners have been actively exploring chemical science. They have learned that chemical changes are often irreversible, while physical changes can usually be reversed. The learners thoroughly enjoyed engaging in a range of experiments to test these concepts. A highlight of their learning was a visit from Twisted Science, which sparked curiosity and inspired a strong desire to continue investigating scientific ideas through hands-on experiments. The learners will continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of solids, liquids, and gases throughout the term.