The Learning Zone
Week 10, Term 1
It has been a very busy term in the maths space at SMOTA. All classes have been strengthening their understanding on a range of concepts.
Stage 1
Stage 1 has spent the majority of their term exploring Whole Number. This is a critically important topic, especially in the early years, as it provides the foundation that underpins student's mathematical understanding of all concepts. Students have extended their knowledge of odd and even numbers, counting on and backwards by 1’s, 10’s and 2’s, place value, rounding and estimation. It has been fantastic to see the growth that students have made already and leaves us excited to see what is to come.
Stage 3
Stage 3 has recently been learning about fractions using a range of hands on activities to support their understanding. Parents can support their children’s understanding of fractions by thinking about how to use them in the real world by encouraging children to apply their fractions knowledge to real-world contexts. You can also provide meaning to fractions and help children solve problems presented in formal notation.
Stage 1 - History Excursion
Last Friday, Stage 1 spent the morning exploring the Guyra Historical Museum. This aligned with our history unit for this term as we have been learning about the importance of artefacts and what they can teach us about the past. Our young people had the opportunity to look at a range of artefacts from local war heroes to old farming equipment, toys, sporting equipment and a range of technology.
A massive thank you to the four wonderful volunteers from the museum who shared their time and knowledge with us, it was a highly enjoyable morning for all who attended.
Parent Learning Walk & Talks
Week 2 - Term 2
Week 8 - Term 2
2025 NSW Premiers Reading Challenge
2025 Challenge dates
Challenge opens: Monday 24 February 2025
Challenge closes to students: Friday 22 August 2025
The Premiers Reading Challenge begins on the 24th of February and runs through to the 22nd of August 2025.
This voluntary challenge involves the children reading a specified number of books from a particular list and keeping a log of the books read. The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for pleasure in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge for children to read, to read more, and to read more widely.
It is also expected that parents and students will be responsible for keeping track of books read. This can be easily done by logging on to the PRC site and adding them to their child's reading record. This also avoids the list getting lost. Don't forget that any books that you are currently reading or that you have read since the completion of last year's challenge may be included in this year's list.
Participants will be provided with their own personal PRC login and password - Please contact the office if you need your login details or password. |
2025 Students as Authors Writing Competition
The 2025 writing competition is now open for all students in the Diocese of Armidale Catholic Schools. The competition celebrates students and their creative writing talents across four age based categories.
Winning entrants will have the opportunity to work with illustrator, Trish Donald, to develop their story into an ebook published for an audience of 250,000 Catholic education students across 15 Diocese. Please promote the competition with your school community and support students to enter. Entries close Friday 30th May.