School Newsletter

Learning & Teaching

YEAR 3-6 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Students from Year 3 - 6 will be participating in our School Sports Carnival on Monday 6th March.  Parents are welcome to join us for the day and cheer on the competitors.  The carnival will take place at the Vic Uni Athletics Track @ Hoppers Lane, Hoppers Crossing opposite the university.  This event is used to select students to represent St John’s at the Interschool Sports events that occur throughout the year. 

KABOOM SPORTS DAY

Once again we will be holding a fun tabloid sports day here at school for students Prep - Year 6 students.  The event is run by staff from Kaboom Kid Sports. On the day the students will move through a series of fun activities where they can collect points for their team. Parents are most welcome to join us for this fun day. This day will be held in Week 3 of Term 2. 

NAPLAN SCHEDULE

Below are the dates when students will be completing their four Naplan assessments:

  • Wednesday, 15th March - Writing (Year 3 & Year 5)
  • Thursday, 16th March - Reading (Year 3 & Year 5)
  • Friday, 17th March - Conventions of language (Year 3 & Year 5)
  • Monday, 20th March - Numeracy (Year 3 & Year 5)

YEAR 5 THOMAS CARR VISIT

The Year 5s will visit Thomas Carr College tomorrow.  They’ll be going on a tour of the school facilities and having the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a secondary school student.  Some of the activities they will do include a Cooking Class, time in the Science Lab and a visit to the Art Rooms. 

TAKE HOME READERS

Take Home Readers Year 1 & 2

Take home readers for students in Year 1 and 2 have commenced.  Students change their books twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.  If they finish the book prior to the next reader change day, we suggest you have your child reread the text, to improve fluency and comprehension.  A Reading Diary will be sent home with your child’s book and we encourage families to fill these in.  They are a great way to track the process your child is making. Those students who have achieved a Level 28 are considered independent readers.  As such they are able to choose their own reading material.  We encourage families to become members of the local Julia Gillard Library in Tarneit located at 150 Sunset Views Blvd, Tarneit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prep Take Home Readers

The transition to school is a major milestone and you will most likely find your child is very tired at the end of the school day and needs extra rest and sleep. Home reading books do not commence in Prep until Term 2. By this time your child will have been taught several letters and sounds in class and be able to ‘sound out’ words in the home reading books. 

 

During Term 1 the expectation is that children in Prep are read to using a range of materials including books you may have at home or by visiting the local library to borrow books.  Families can also access the Sunshine Classics Online resource by following the steps below:

HOMEWORK

At St John’s we believe homework should complement classroom learning, foster work routines and provide other opportunities for students to revisit and practise curriculum covered in class.   As a school we acknowledge that many parents have different expectations of homework and to formulate a homework structure which suits all is extremely challenging.  We believe that daily reading is the most beneficial activity for any aged student. It provides them with the opportunity to improve their reading speed and fluency and helps develop the habits required to be a lifelong learner.  With this in mind Prep and Year 1 students focus mainly on Reading, with Year 2 -6 students having the opportunity to also complete some simple literacy and numeracy tasks each week.