Wellbeing/Curriculum News

Literacy News…

Comprehension is a vital process required by all individuals – young and old. It is the ability to understand something.  There are several strategies that teachers explore with students throughout schooling. These include: predicting, visualising, making connections, questioning, summarising and inferencing.

Reading Comprehension Tips For Parents – Strategies You Can Use At Home

I know that I have mentioned this before, however I can’t emphasise the importance enough. 

Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. It’s almost impossible to overestimate the tremendous impact parents have on their child’s reading success.

Throughout the first years of school, teachers are helping your child develop reading skills that will enable him or her to become a proficient reader. But make no mistake, learning to read takes practice, practice and more practice–much more than a child can get during a school day.

You can provide reading opportunities and extra guidance at home by simply trialing the two strategies mentioned below. They are sure to help your child with reading comprehension regardless of what skill level they are currently at. Equally important, they will help foster a love for reading.

Lay a strong foundation for reading success

If you were going to reupholster your sofa, you wouldn’t just choose a bolt of fabric, buy a staple gun and then get to work. You would do a little planning first. That would involve learning about all the materials and tools you need to do a proper job. The point is you would educate yourself by gathering all the information before you get started.

Helping your child develop good reading comprehension skills involves the same type of planning. In other words, you need to give them the tools they need to apply to whatever kind of book you’re reading together.

Before reading a book about ocean life, for example, first talk to your child about how fish are different from mammals and have to live in a water environment. Preview the text to find unfamiliar words like “gills” and “vertebrate” and explain them before you start reading. Talk about the fish you may have seen in a pet store or at the beach. You can even go the extra mile and take your child to the local aquarium. Does this sound a little extreme? Not at all – teachers do it all the time! Just trust that these steps will go a long way in comprehension development.

Reading aloud and thinking aloud

Good readers unconsciously create visual images in their heads while they are reading. It’s all part of the comprehension process. While you are reading to your child, think out loud about the images you see or the questions that may arise. That means explaining the ideas, pictures, questions, and connections that go through your mind as you read a passage. Here’s an example of a think aloud:

The title of this book is Bobby: The Bravest Boxer. There is a picture of a dog on the cover so that tells me Bobby is a boxer dog instead of a man that boxes. I wonder what the dog did that proved his bravery. I need to read ahead and find out. Oh, on the next page it says, “Bobby got very nervous when the children were playing outside all alone, especially if they are near the street.” That tells me that Bobby may do something to protect one of the children in the family. But how? I have to read on to find out more.

Go on, have a go. Sit and read a book with your child and watch the wonder and awe. Make it enjoyable and fun. Please feel free to share your stories with me. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,

Eva Tomazos

Literacy Leader

etomazos@sktemplestowelr.catholic.edu.au

Let me introduce myself:

Hello to all the beautiful St Kevin’s Families, 

I just wanted to introduce myself (if I haven’t already) and tell you a little about myself and my role at St Kevin’s Primary School. My name is Chiara (Miss Chiara) and some of you may know that I was offered this role under the new National Chaplaincy Program; on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

This position is all about supporting the emotional and social wellbeing of students by providing wellbeing and pastoral care services and strategies. This may look like support in difficult moments on the playground, playing games that exercise social skills, practising mindfulness techniques or reading books that build emotional awareness or explore friendship themes (and much more!) 

I have absolutely loved getting to know all the children, whether it has been supporting them in small groups or simply playing together at lunchtime (one of the best parts of my job is that I get to be out in the yard with the children at lunchtime). 

I completed an undergraduate degree in Psychological Science and I am still studying full time as a postgraduate student with plans to complete my doctorate and become a clinical psychologist. Other than study, I have been teaching ballet to young children for over 10 years and have also been teaching reformer pilates for the last 5 years. I am also part of the youth advisory group at Headspace Hawthorn. 

I hope to get to know each of you and make a positive impact on each student in an empowering, supportive and nurturing way. I not only hope each child feels they can reach out to me for support but their families too! 

If you see me around on a Tuesday or Wednesday, please say hello :)

If you have any questions or would just like to introduce yourself, you are more than welcome to email me at ccampagna@sktemplestowelr.catholic.edu.au.

Love Miss Chiara xox

SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

Gardening News - Planting ideas for June

Regards,

The Sustainability Leaders and Mr Con - St Kevin’s Primary School

Sports Uniform

All children are permitted to wear sports uniform and runners on the days they have sport only.  School shoes must be worn with school uniform on the other three days of the week. Black runners do not count as school shoes. White socks are to be worn with both sport and school uniform for both girls and boys.  Girls can wear navy tights with their winter tunic.

Sports days this term:

Senior M - Tuesday and Friday 

Senior C  - Tuesday and Friday

Middle C - Monday and Tuesday - for the next 7 weeks (Week 2 - 8)

Junior TG - Thursday and Friday

Junior D  - Thursday and Friday