Around the School 

DAILY ABSENTEEISM  

Phone 9510 7420 or email absent@smstkildaeast.catholic.edu.au

(Please notify the school by 9:30am)

STUDENT FREE DAY

Monday 31st October

(Please note that additional days to be confirmed)

Staff Professional Learning  

STUDENT & FAMILY INFORMATION UPDATE - IMPORTANT

If any of your personal details change (address, mobile number etc.), please let the school office know as soon as possible by email to admin@smstkildaeast.catholic.edu.au. 

NAPLAN ONLINE 2022

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 3 and Year 5 students is held in May each year. In 2022, the NAPLAN Online test window is between Tuesday 10 May and Friday 20 May. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The results of the tests provide information for students, parents, teachers and principals.

NAPLAN Online delivers numerous benefits including:

• a ‘tailored test’ design that adapts to correct and incorrect student responses providing a more precise understanding of student achievement.
• innovative use of technology, including a more engaging test design and a wider range of item types.
• the extension of the 'test window' to two weeks, allowing schools greater flexibility to schedule the tests at times that suit them best and increasing student participation.

All students are expected to participate in the NAPLAN Online tests. Catch up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days up to and including Friday 20 May 2022.

Later in the year parents of students in Year 3 and Year 5 will receive their child’s personal NAPLAN report. The report will describe your child’s particular skills in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The report will also show how your child performed in relation to national minimum standards. These describe the minimum acceptable standards for students across Australia.

In preparation, all schools will be participating in a Coordinated Practice Test on the 24 March at 11.30am. Please note a flyer will be sent home with Year 3 and Year 5 students in the next few days with further information. 

For more information about NAPLAN Online, please visit the VCAA website at www.vcaa.vic.edu.au or the NAP website at www.nap.edu.au

You might also like to have a look at the demonstration site by clicking on this LINK.

NUMERACY NEWS  -  Mrs Catherine LeHunt

   Here is the answer to the previous challenge.

   23 chickens would be two legs each equalling 46 legs. 

   12 cows would be four legs equalling 48 legs. 

   46 + 48 legs = 94 legs. 

   23 chicken heads and 12 cow heads make a total of 35 heads.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!  

Questions adapted from Matharoo - helping kids jump into Maths.

   * How many leaves would there be in my hand if I held four small      

      shamrocks (clovers), each with 3 leaves on it?

   * Thursday 17th March is St Patrick’s Day.  How many Thursdays are 

       there in March this year?

Ready for another challenge?

Get together and play a game called:    ‘Nim’ ( from NRICH)

   *   Start with any number of counters ( or small toys etc)  in any number of piles. 

   *   2 players take turns to remove any number of counters from a single pile. 

   *   The loser is the player who takes the last counter.   

This is a game of skill for two players, both players have exactly the same information, chance plays no part, and each game must terminate. There is always a 'winning strategy' and all the moves can be analyzed mathematically. The only advantage that either player can possibly have is to start or to play second. To work out how to win you need to start by analyzing the 'end game', and the losing position to be avoided, and then work back to earlier moves. 

Can you find the winning strategies?

A very important part of mathematical learning is metacognitive development (as Dr. Angela Rogers from The Numeracy Teachers Academy explains: it is thinking about our thinking) or reasoning.  Take the time to discuss the strategies used after playing the game with your child/ren. Provide opportunities for them to problem solve and then explain to someone else the winning strategy.

Some of the Mathematical vocabulary that students at St Mary’s use in their learning:

  *   Number line: 

a number line can be explained as a straight line with numbers placed at equal intervals along its length.

A number line is usually represented horizontally. 

  *   Jump strategy: 

involves putting the smaller number at the beginning of a number line, then jumping up to the larger number.

  *   Split strategy: 

An example, using the split strategy to add 46 + 23, you would: split each number (decompose) into tens and ones: 46 + 23 = 40 + 6 + 20 + 3. rearrange the tens and ones: 40 + 20 + 6 + 3. add the tens and then the ones 60 + 9 = 69.

  *   Decuple:

A tenfold amount or number. ‘A ten’s number’

  *   Partitioning:

is a way of splitting numbers into smaller parts to make them easier to work with.

Have fun with Mathematics

ITALIAN NEWS - Mrs Carmela Vozzo 

During Italian this week students in Prep learned to confidently introduce themselves in Italian by saying “ Ciao, mi chiamo……” Fantastico!

They learned a song - “Come, Come ti Chiami?” which helped them use the language “ Mi Chiamo……”. Students were given a star chain to introduce themselves in written form on it. 

In Italian during the last few weeks Year 6s focussed on the specific foods and drinks which Italian Bars specialise in. They noted that a variety of hot and cold drinks such as una cioccolata calda, una limonata, un’ acqua; along with a few snacks such as una pizzetta, un panino, un canolo can be purchased from very early in the 

morning until late evening.  Bravissimi ragazzi!

ST MARY’S SPORTS CARNIVAL  -  Mrs Chris Kidman (P.E. teacher)

We are very excited about our up coming Athletics Carnival on Thursday 31st March at 12.30pm at Alma Park. Please come and cheer us along. Students need to wear their house colour T-shirt with a safety pin for their ribbons.

SPORT NEWS

It was very exciting to have the Holt Swimming Carnival to prepare for early this year. We had our fingers crossed that the event would go ahead…and it did! Thank you to all of the St Mary’s Years 3 to 6 swimmers who swam in the trials at Prahran Pool. From those lap times we were able to select the team who would go on to represent St Mary’s  at the Holt District Carnival. 

The St Mary’s Swim Team 2022 is:

We are so proud of the fantastic effort, and school spirit, the team displayed at the swimming carnival, each one trying their very best and supporting each other.

Several of our St Mary’s Swim Team swam so well they progressed to the Beachside Division Swimming Carnival on Friday the 11th of March, as representatives of our Holt District. 

Thank you to these swimmers and their parents who made sure they were at the pool ready for their race on Friday, which was a student free day for St Mary’s. These students represented our school, and the Holt District, well.