Learning and Teaching

Teaching & Learning

A message from Mrs Hodgetts

As we head into the school holidays, my mind starts to reminisce of the activities that I used to do with my own children. I remember trying to think of activities that would get them off their devices, were cost effective but more importantly gave them an opportunity to be creative.

Although my children tell me off for wanting to take photographs of them (constantly), I am so grateful that I did (and will continue to) ....as it helped me prepare this Top 10 list of ideas for you to do over the holidays.

My son, Oscar is now 19 and my daughter Morgan has just turned 16, but some of these ideas are still highly relevant ....I might just need to make a few tweaks!

Play Board Games or complete Jigsaw Puzzles!
Scrabble, Monopoly and Trinominoes are Hodgetts favourites!
Create a homemade golf course.
Fly a kite!
Inside Camping.
Make a family time capsule to open in 5 years time.
Hide something and create the matching treasure map!
Go on a daily walk, highlighting the route on a printed map!
Bake some goodies to take on a picnic!
Go on a Photography Scavenger Hunt! Get creative with your list!
Create a scrapbook of each activity to treasure forever!

I would love to see some photographs on Seesaw or when you return safely to school on Tuesday 22 April.

Mathematics

A message from Mrs Toney

Next term sees the start of some exciting Maths competitions at St. Mary’s. All of the Year 3 and Year 4 students will take part in the Maths Explorer competition and approximately 35 Year 5 & Year 6 students will participate in the Maths Olympiad competition. In addition, the Year 2 students will be taking part in Maths Quest developed by APSMO which will run across Term 2 and 3.

The Maths Olympiad is an annual contest that has been offered by Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads Inc (APSMO) since 1987 and is designed specifically for high achieving students. Unlike many other maths competitions, the Olympiads consist of four separate contests held approximately six weeks apart between May and September. The overall aim of the Olympiads is to encourage students to develop important mathematical problem solving skills in an enjoyable environment. The Olympiads are designed to be challenging, however, even though students are competing against other members of their class and teams from other schools, they are primarily competing against themselves and trying to improve their skills over the course of the year.

The Maths Explorer competition allows the children to develop the foundations of mathematical problem solving in an enjoyable, non-threatening environment as they work collaboratively to solve 5 problems each competition.

The Maths Quest is an innovative teaching and learning program that introduces problem solving concepts. This year’s topics are Finding All Possibilities and Exploring Patterns. Each unit is comprised of a series of activities that are both interactive and fun, and encourages students to work together and learn from each other. I’m excited to begin working with the children on these competitions and seeing them develop their skills and gain confidence in their ability to tackle challenging maths problems. Good luck everyone!

English

A message from Miss Cardillo

Time flies when you are having fun, so that must be the reason Term One has come to an end so quickly! I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome.

Keeping with the theme of the year, I would like to SHINE A LIGHT on some work that has been done this term in English by our amazing students.

Please give it up for some of our Year 6 Authors and Illustrators

The Little People, Big Dreams Edition