Learning and Teaching
Youth In Chambers
On Tuesday the 16th of October, the Sport and School Leaders attended the annual Leadership Forum. We all participated in making a project around Healthy Minds and Bodies. We had three terms to complete our project, and lots of thought, consideration and effort went into all the projects. There were some great ideas among all the schools and it was a great opportunity to speak up and share our ideas with the City Of Port Phillip and have a chance to speak our thoughts. There were presentations about mindfulness, hygiene and sustainability.
As soon as we got to the place we had to present what ideas we had come up with for the topic of “Acts of Kindness” There were six schools that we had to present our ideas to, the Mayor and two council members. We spoke about our Coles mini collectables donation to help with the farmers in the drought, we talked about how we had a sustainability market and others. After we had presented our ideas the mayor and the two council members they shared some feedback on our ideas and asked some questions. They liked all of our ideas which was a great outcome.
After the presentations, we were talked to by some council members about what they are doing for youth in the Port Phillip area. We listened to what their teams had done to help the community, such as building ramp access to public places or building new high schools in places where it is much needed. Then we got split into groups and talked to one or two of those leaders about things we thought impacted and helped us with the transition to secondary school. We then split up in those groups to come up with a recommendation for the council members that would help us on our way to high school. My groups recommendation was to upgrade the tram stops to make them safer for primary and secondary students, such as; putting lights on the tram stops, make safer barriers, and/or have a PT officer watching the tram stop with a camera or in person.
MATHEMATICS AT GALILEE
Jane Ferris
jferris@gsmelbournesth.catholic.edu.au
Parent Training in Number Intervention
Last week, we held a training session for parents to work with children in Number Intervention. We now have four new parents working with children from Prep to Year 2. A very big thank you to James Pentony, Adam Jahnke, Jessica Eveleigh and Jolene MacKenzie for joining our dedicated team of helpers. I look forward to more fabulous progress in the fortunate children with whom you’ll be working.
Due to high levels of interest in the programme, we are offering a second session for parents this term on October 30 (Tuesday of Week 4) at 9am. Number Intervention training provides parent helpers with clear, simple guidelines to work with children, usually individually, occasionally in pairs. Parents are given a step-by-step programme to follow, as well as materials to support learning in each area. In the junior grades, we focus on forwards and backwards number word sequences and early addition and subtraction strategies.
Current parent helpers and learning support officers will be available at the training session to discuss their valuable experience and to lend support where needed. In the words of Anastasia Kritikos (parent helper since 2016), ‘All you need is to love working with children!’ The work is straightforward and guided – you don’t need to be a Maths whiz! (You also require a current Working with Children Check – If you don’t yet have one, it’s easy to apply online, and free to volunteers!)
We hope to see you on October 30. If you can’t make it on that day, but would like to be a part of the programme, please let me know via email, so that an alternative arrangement can be made.
Thank you again to our fabulous parent helpers. You really make a difference and we appreciate you very much!
Professional Learning for Teachers in Mathematics
As you are aware, our staff are continually involved in professional learning and development. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, our Year Prep to 2 teachers participated in a full day of Professional Learning in Mathematics, focussing on teaching Number concepts in the classroom. Sharing our practices and ideas with teachers from various schools is a fabulous way to enlarge our learning, and we all benefited greatly from the shared experience. It was a rich and rewarding day, organised and run by the Maths Leaders of the collective of schools in the area, which we established at the end of last year.
Our staff learned about teaching a variety of number concepts in ways that make sense, in a sequential manner which reaches each child at his or her ‘cutting edge’, targeting each child’s learning and teaching at the point where he or she is challenged, but not overwhelmed or bored. This is the personalised learning of the Learning Framework in Number, upon which our Number Intervention lessons are also based. The dedication to children’s outcomes and willingness of leadership and staff at Galilee to improve have ensured that we are a leading school in this area, and the children are already benefiting from the work we are doing. It makes me very proud to be a part of the Galilee staff!
A big thank you and congratulations to Holly Evans, Sammy Bamford, Laura Cox, Brighid Fahy and Holly Burke for your dedication, enthusiasm and application of your new learning, and to our school leaders for your ongoing support of our Maths Collective. This amazing team approach is yielding wonderful results in Maths across the school!
Walk to School
Over the next two weeks, from 22nd October to 2nd November, Galilee will be participating in the Walk to School program. By walking to school students are learning to develop healthy habits by being active. It is also a great way to help save our planet by reducing car emotions.
We are asking parents to help their child/children get involved by encouraging them to be active by either walking, riding, scooting or skating to school. Walking to school would be a great opportunity to chat to your child about road safety and being safe when walking or riding their bike. Teaching them to stop at the curb and to look and listen for traffic is a great place to start.
Please see the Parents and Carer’s face sheet to find out more.
Let’s get walking Galilee!
Miss Otte