A Message from the 

Assistant Principal

I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support of the staff, and our students throughout the year. It’s been a hectic yet very productive and rewarding year. 

I wish our Year 6 children all the very best as they embark on the next phase of their school journey. In addition, to those families leaving us at the end of 2024, I thank you for all that you have contributed to our community and wish you all the best for the future. 

Throughout 2024, we have gathered as a community to celebrate liturgies, a Christmas concert, donated to St Vincent de Paul and the St. Merkorious Charity, attended excursions and incursions, sports gala days, choir and ensemble performances, school disco, and many, many more events that would not be possible without the support and dedication of the parents and staff of St. Martha's. 

2025 School Leaders

Congratulations to our new school leaders for 2025

School Captains: Phoenix T and Antonia S

Vice Captains: Alyssa T and Alysha N

Red Colour House (Martha): Ada A, Carmela B and Archer O

Gold Colour House (Ryan): Khyathi J and Savannah F

Green Colour House (MacKillop): Jacinta G, Elodie H and Zarah K

Blue Colour House (Dominic): Danny N and Tirzah C

Holiday Learning 

Don’t forget to keep learning during the holiday break. There are many simple ways to continue the learning for your child/children during the holidays. Never underestimate the impact of participating in simple learning games and activities with your child/children. 

One of the most valuable things you can do with your child/children is to read with them. Not only does this build their vocabulary, but also their oral language and comprehension. 

For younger children 

• Identify numbers and letters/words in the environment when driving in the car, walking around town or at the shops

• Play karaoke – let children read the words and sing, this builds graphological or picture (what a word looks like) knowledge to assist reading and spelling 

• Build multiplication knowledge – identify grids or arrays in the environment how many rows and how many columns 

• Cook together – talk about mass the meaning of kg, g, l, ml etc 

• Use adjectives (describing words) to describe some objects in nature – who can think of the most describing words 

• If you must watch something on a screen, turn on subtitles for more exposure to print 

• Count down the days of the holidays on a calendar 

• Use an analogue clock to identify bedtime, bath time etc Where is the big hand? What does it mean when the big hand is on 6? etc 

• Categorise objects using various criteria eg. Size, shape, colour, manmade/natural 

• Use items in the environment to create an artwork

For older children 

• Estimate the total of a group of objects in the trolley 

• Calculate the cost of a day out – movie tickets plus the cost of lunch for the whole family etc 

• Cook together – double or halve the ingredients in a recipe to allow for more/less people • Read the instructions to a new game 

• Read a book with your child – you read left hand pages, and they read the right 

• Design an outdoor obstacle course and time how long it takes to complete the activities – can you get faster over the holidays? 

• Use a calendar 

• Tell the time on an analogue clock

I wish all our children and families a safe and happy holiday break. I hope all families take the time to experience the great joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus, our saviour and that you have the chance to spend some quality time with your family and friends.

Best wishes, 

Steven Belcastro