Teaching and Learning
Big Write and VCOP Talk Homework
Our next Big Write will be a Cold Write and will be held on Thursday 4th May. This means that the students will not be exposed to the topic earlier and that there will be no Talk Homework this fortnight.
Termly Cold Writes are an important part of St Mary’s assessment schedule. These writing pieces are used to determine how students' independent writing abilities are progressing and will be used to set individual writing goals and class writing foci.
PAT-M and PAT-R
During the month of May, all students will be completing the Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) in Mathematics and Reading. PAT has been a regular part of our October assessment schedule, this will be the first time that we will be completing PAT twice a year as an adaptive version of the test which will adjust the questions while they are working through the assessment based upon their answers on previous questions. Younger students will be participating in the Early Years version of the test, which is not adaptive but does provide more support with the program reading the questions to them.
PAT will be used to inform the teachers of each student's individual skills and knowledge in the areas of Maths and Reading. This will give the teachers valuable data to inform classroom teaching and ensure that we are extending and supporting each student.
PAT is a low stress assessment and we encourage students to do the best that they can. The Foundation students will be completing the PAT Early Years versions of the assessment.
The Grade 1 and 2 students will be completing either the PAT Early Years or PAT Adaptive versions of the assessment.
The Grade 3-6 students will be completing the PAT Adaptive versions of the assessment.
Community Partnerships
We are very excited to be starting up community partnerships with Rushworth Neighbourhood House. Each Monday, a student from each class will be going with an ESO to the Neighbourhood House to help set up and serve morning tea at their Senior Craft Session. We will be rotating through the students throughout the year, so that everyone has a chance to participate. Some student representatives will also be attending the community morning tea this Thursday 27th April.
Inform and Empower Term 2 E-Safety
In the coming weeks, all classes will be participating in their term 2 e-safety virtual incursion.
The F/1/2 students will be participating in their Ollie Online session on Monday 1st May. They will be learning about balancing screen time, healthy digital habits, and putting down the tech.
The 3/4 students will be participating in their Adventures Online session on Monday 8th May. They will be learning about balancing screen time, healthy digital habits, and how different tech makes us feel.
The 5/6 students will be participating in their Thrive Online session on Monday 8th May. They will be learning about balancing screen time, building a healthy relationship with tech, and why it’s so hard to put down devices.