LEARNING AND TEACHING NEWS- Vira Pirrotta

A Term Filled with Learning and Discovery

This term has been bursting with energy, excitement, and opportunities for our students to learn, explore, and grow together. From hands-on experiences and engaging incursions and excursions to special celebrations and whole-school events, there has been so much happening in every corner of our school.

Our teachers have worked tirelessly to create meaningful learning moments, providing an extensive teaching and learning program. They thoughtfully planned each week, across all our core learning areas — Literacy, Numeracy, STEM, Sport, Italian, Visual Arts, The Resilience Project, Inquiry, Discovery, and Religious Education.

We are so grateful for the dedication and commitment of our teachers, the support of our families, and the enthusiasm of our students, which together have made this term such a rewarding and enriching experience.

We look forward to an amazing Term 4.

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

Term 3 Storytime re-cap at St Fidelis

Every Monday afternoon from 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm during Term 3, pre-school children, parents and grandparents gathered in FLW’s learning space to play, hear a story, complete a craft activity and then venture outside for a play on the playground.

This Term, we have listened to a variety of stories including: “Dinosaur Roar! “My Big Umbrella”, “The Inside Dog”, "Where's the Green Sheep?”, “Dear Zoo”, “You Can’t Pat A Fish!”, “Thank you Daddy!” and “There’s a Monster Inside my Book”. Together we have created: a dinosaur, a mosaic umbrella, a dog puppet, colourful sheep, an animal mask, a rainbow fish, a magnetic heart and card for Father’s Day and a friendly monster.

Thank you to the parents and grandparents who support the Storytime sessions. It has been a wonderful opportunity to become familiar with St Fidelis school and also a way for children, parents and grandparents to meet each other. Enjoy viewing the photos to see what we have been up to on a Monday afternoon!

Colourful Sheep

Animal Masks

Father’s Day Gifts

Friendly Monsters

Have a great holiday break! I look forward to seeing those that are about to begin school in 2026 at the School Transition sessions on Monday 27th October, Monday 10th November. Monday 17th November and Monday 24th November. These sessions will run from 9:30am - 11:00am.

Warmest regards

Leanne Wenckowski

lwenckowski@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au

Family Engagement Leader

NUMERACY NEWS - Colleen Monaghan

Games Day dates - Note change to Foundation day

Our upcoming Maths Games Days will be fun and engaging opportunities for students to work in teams, solve problems, play strategy games, and take part in active maths challenges. These days are only possible with the support of our wonderful parent helpers. If you’re able to assist for one session (or more), your help would be greatly appreciated. The day will run across three sessions:

9:00–11:00
11:30–1:30
2:30–3:30

Further details will be shared soon, but for now you may like to pop the dates into your calendar.

Thursday 16th October - Grade 5/6
Thursday 23rd October - Grades 1/2
Wednesday 29th October - Foundation
Tuesday 20th November - Grades 3/4

As we end another term, I would like to thank my year 5/6 students who have turned up at 8:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings to work with me supporting our junior students with their maths. They are so dedicated and reliable that they deserve their thanks. Without them I would not be able to run my sessions.

Thankyou to Alexander, Caleb, Zac, Skyler, Maddie, Madelen, Stella, Estelle, Diana and Elizabeth.

Our juniors have been so engaged in finding the fact families with multiplication and division. Here are some of their examples.

I have been working with some year 4’s on introducing decimals. We used playdough to divide up the whole into tenths and tenths into hundredths. They did so well identifying the decimals and recording them as fractions. We competed them and ordered them too. Well done guys .

PE & SPORTS NEWS - Michael Jennings

INTERSCHOOL SPORT

The St Fidelis Girls Bat Tennis & Basketball Teams played Coburg District Finals last week. Results:

Basketball

St Olivers defeated St Fidelis

Bat Tennis

St Fidelis drew with Pascoe Vale

Congratulations to both St Fidelis teams on outstanding performances throughout the year and winning their respective division premierships. Unfortunately the basketball team was defeated by a fantastic St Oliver’s outfit, but the girls can hold their heads high. They never gave up trying and persevered to the end.

In an exciting conclusion to the bat tennis final, St Fidelis came home strongly, however, narrowly missing the win but creating a draw. Due to St Oliver’s unavailability, St Fidelis will qualify to represent the Coburg District at the forthcoming Inner North/Merri-Bek Hot Shots Tennis Tournament to be held in Term 4. Good luck, Girls!!!

SSV IN/M DIVISION ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Congratulations to the following students who came 1st or 2nd in their respective events at the recent Coburg District Athletics Carnival. And qualified to represent the Coburg District at the Inner North/Merri-Bek Division Athletics Championships at Meadowglen Athletics Track, Epping, on Friday 12 September 2025.

ST FIDELIS INNER NORTH/MERRI-BEK DIVISION ATHLETICS COMPETITORS:

ZITA M 11 GIRLS SHOT PUT
ELIZABETH F 10 GIRLS SHOT PUT
TOMMY G 10 YEAR BOYS DISCUS
MAX L 12 BOYS 200M & HIGH JUMP
SKYLER F 11 BOYS 200M & SHOT PUT
HUNTER F 10 BOYS TRIPLE JUMP
RILEY L 10 GIRLS TRIPLE JUMP

Congratulations to all the competitors on their performances at this event.

Special mention to Elizabeth F on winning her shot put event and Max L on coming second in the high jump. Both students have qualified in their respective events for the forthcoming Northern Metropolitan Region Athletics Carnival to be held on Wednesday 15 October at Meadowglen Athletics Track, Epping.

MANCHESTER CITY SOCCER SHIELD

St Fidelis Primary School has been offered an opportunity for a selection of our Year 4 students to participate in the Manchester City Football (Soccer) Primary School Shield on Thursday 9 October 2025.

The event is conducted at Parade Secondary College, Bundoora Campus.

Parade College organises free transport to and from the college for this event to be conducted for a maximum of 15 students from St Fidelis Primary School, accompanied by a St Fidelis teacher in charge.

STUDENTS ATTENDING MANCHESTER CITY SHIELD ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Sebastian A, Tommy G, Giorgio I, Thomas K, Sebastian S, Zac H, Roderick P, Raf S, Isaac S, Carlo T, Ella S, Riley L, Priscilla M, Tess N & Florence M

YEAR 3/4 GALA DAY

Our Grade 3/4 students will be participating in a ‘Gala Day of Volleystars’ (modified volleyball) games on Friday, 19 September 2025, commencing at 11:45 am and concluding by 1:00 pm in the Benny Courts. The Year 3/4 students are to wear their sports uniforms on this day in preparation for this event. Parents are more than welcome to attend.

ST FIDELIS ATHLETICS/SPORTS DAY

The St Fidelis Annual Athletics/Sports Carnival for students from Foundation-Year 6 will be held on Friday 31 October 2025. The venue will be Coburg Athletics Track.

PARENTS & FAMILIES ARE MOST WELCOME TO ATTEND TO SUPPORT THE STUDENTS AND THEIR TEAMS

If possible, the students can wear coloured items to represent their team such as socks, t-shirts, ribbon, bands etc. It is advisable that students wear sunscreen. Sunscreen can be in the colors of the teams.

Please note that in the event of extreme weather conditions, the Sports Carnival will be postponed. Back-up Day will be Friday 7 November 2025.

This week, we will be seeking parent assistance in conducting the Sports/Athletics Day events. If you are able to assist, please complete the form sent home and return to school by the end of the week. Please note that parent/carer assistants must have Working With Children Checks.

Please find the Sports Teams and their history in the links below:

STEM NEWS - Joe Frazzetto

Year 3/4 STEM: Designing Smart Solutions for a Greener School

Over the past two weeks, our Year 3/4 students have been working on an exciting STEM challenge using LEGO Spike Essentials — all centered around the big question: "How can we care for the environment in our school?"

In the first part of the project, students explored the importance of recycling and were challenged to build a model of a recycling bin that only detects white paper. Using LEGO Spike’s sensors and coding tools, students programmed their bins to give a positive message when the correct item (white paper) was placed inside, and a reminder or warning when incorrect materials were used. Students were encouraged to modify a base model and get creative with their designs and messages.

Building on this foundation, the following week students took their skills to the next level by stepping into the role of engineers to design and build their own AI-Bin (Artificial Intelligent Bin). Their challenge: Create a smart recycling bin that only accepts white paper and automatically rejects anything else.

Using the LEGO Spike Essentials kits, students developed sensors, coded smart responses, and built custom mechanisms to make their AI-Bins both functional and fun. This hands-on project combined elements of environmental responsibility, design thinking, coding, and robotics.

We are incredibly proud of the creativity and innovation our students showed throughout this challenge. Their AI-Bins not only demonstrate STEM learning in action but also show how young minds can contribute meaningfully to real-world problems — like reducing waste and promoting sustainability in schools.

Well done to all our Year 3/4 eco-engineers!

ITALIAN NEWS - Rosa Fokianos

BUONGIORNO!

Salve a tutti! (Hello everyone)!

Le vacanze sono quasi qui!

(The holidays are almost here!)

Mamma Mia! How quickly has this term flown! Even though Term 3 was a shorter term this year, (nove settimane - 9 weeks), we have had some great Italian learning…

Foundation grades have been introduced to the names of various body parts through a fun and engaging text about Pinocchio, as well as having been introduced to the 5 sensi (5 senses).

Grade 1/2 have learnt about various foods, including likes and dislikes through literature and songs.

Grade 3/4 have learnt about various mealtimes of the day, stating what they like to eat and drink for each of these meals. As well as learning about the cultural differences between Italy and Australia in regards to eating and drinking.

Grade 5/6 have learnt about pasta, its origins, types of pasta, how to make pasta and how to be creative with pasta by designing pasta artworks.

So as you can see, it has been a very practical themed learning experience for all in Italian this term!

Term 4

The first week back next term, the whole F-6 cohort will be attending an incursion entitled: L’ingrediente Segreto. The children will be watching a play where they will hear the Italian spoken language being used in a number of different situations, all based on finding the secret ingredient!

So for now, I would like to wish all our St Fidelis school community a very happy and safe holiday break. Recharge your batteries and return to scuola energised for more greater Italian learning!

PS. If any of the mamme, papà, e nonni enjoy watching movies, the Italian Film Festival is on again at Palace Cinemas from 19 settembre fino al 16 ottobre, with some advanced screenings throughout. The movies include a cross section of Italian genres from dramas, comedies and documentaries. I know I will certainly be watching a few over the holiday break.

Buone Vacanze a tutti!!

Signora Rosa 🌹

Student Engagement

Biketober