Literacy 

Dear St James Families,

My name is Mrs Cassandra Elliott and I have taken over from the amazing Miss Olivia Quinlan. While I have big shoes to fill I am extremely excited to be in this role two days a week for Term 4 while continuing to teach Year 2. 

A little bit about me: I was born in Canberra and studied a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at the Australian Catholic University before living and teaching in Nottingham, London, Canberra, Sydney, Gold Coast, Finland, Melbourne and Brisbane. I completed my Master of Education (Educational Management) at The Melbourne University and have been teaching for 19 years. 

I am passionate about Literacy, children’s picture books, concept-based learning, LEGO Education, online communication, and teaching in the early years. I have spent a lot of my career teaching in all boys’ schools and know the importance of hands on experiences, making connections as well as engaging children in the learning process. I have 2 young children, Levi and Mae and a miniature schnauzer called Jett. We recently relocated back to Melbourne from Brisbane and are enjoying the comforts that this wonderful city has to offer.

Olivia was able to give me a thorough handover about all things Literacy at St James before she left. I am pleased to let you know that our submission for Shared Stories has now been submitted. It was a privilege to read through all the pieces of writing the children worked so diligently on and admire the creative artworks. 

A huge thank you for all parents who have begun supporting our children in Literacy by listening to reading and providing support during Literacy groups. It is wonderful to have parents back in at school and we are very grateful for the time and efforts that we share together.

Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 were invited to 'Storybook Day' at Star of the Sea so that the VCAL students could present their personalised books to the St James children and share some milk and cookies while reading the stories they had created in small groups. A huge thank you to Mr Lyons for developing this partnership and enabling the children of St James to build such relationships with the girls at Star. Copies of the stories have been distributed to the children and are also available in the library. 

There are many Literacy opportunities and assessments in Term 4 that provide insightful data about your child’s skills and abilities. It enables teachers to guide the teaching and learning in the classroom and will also impact the results that your child receives for their semester two report. The data from these reading, spelling and writing assessments will be interpreted and analysed by staff to identify and monitor student needs and assist whole school improvement strategies in Literacy. 

I look forward to the term ahead and working in partnership with you and your child’s classroom teacher to support and extend your child in their Literacy learning. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me

Kind regards,

Cassandra Elliott 

celliott@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

Kind regards,

Cassandra Elliott

Literacy Leader