Learning & Teaching 

LEARNING & TEACHING - Vira Pirrotta

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS IS A FOUNDATION FOR READING 

Phonological awareness refers to the ability to identify and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) that make up words. It is the ability to hear and identify the sounds in spoken language, to distinguish between them, and to manipulate them by blending, segmenting, deleting, or substituting sounds to create new words. 

Research has found that phonological awareness is a critical precursor to reading and writing skills because it provides the foundation for understanding the alphabetic principle, which is the relationship between letters and sounds.

Children who struggle with phonological awareness may have difficulty with other aspects of language and literacy, such as vocabulary development, comprehension, and spelling.

Phonological awareness is a skill that can be developed at home. Parents can help their children develop phonological skills through simple activities and play. Many of the activities that help children develop phonological awareness are fun and engaging.

Activities such as singing songs, reading books together, playing word and sound games and having conversations that focus on the sounds of words support students in developing their reading and writing skills. 

Rhyming Games

• “I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?” Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? (dig, fig, wig)
• While driving, spot something out the window and ask your child, "What rhymes with tree, car or shop?"  
• Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, E.g. cat. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, and flat. It will help your child hear patterns in words.
• Matching pictures of words that rhyme 
• Rhyming card games
• Matching words that rhyme to objects around the house 
• Books with a song, E.g. One Elephant Went Out To Play, Ten in a Bed
• I spy with my little something that rhymes with 

Singing Songs

• Actions songs to highlight rhyming 
• Nursery Rhymes 
• Silly  Rhymes 
• Number songs 
• Poems 
• Say silly tongue twisters

Reading Picture Books 

Books to Help Promote Phonological Awareness.pdf

Sound Games 

• I spy with my little I something beginning with…
• Practice blending sounds into words. Ask, "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.
• Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" — where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again — can be a fun way to provide practice with a speech sound. E.g. For M: Miss Mouse makes marvellous meatballs!
• Sound Slueth - Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. “Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter “p” pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear”
• When you’re reading together pick a word from the book and emphasise the first sound. Let your child say the sound and match the letter name.
• Sound counting LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, top = t-o-p = three sounds, so your child would place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. 

Overall, phonological awareness is a critical skill for early childhood literacy, and parents can play an important role in helping their children develop this skill. Parents can help their children become successful readers and writers and set them up for academic success by fostering phonological awareness.

Term Curriculum Overviews 

The overviews inform parents about what their children will learn throughout the term. The information in this overview will give you an overview of the key learnings across the curriculum for Term Two.  Attached are each Year Level's curriculum overviews. 

Celebration of Learning 

The celebration of learning is more than just displays of student work. It is a time for students to share and reflect on their learning with an authentic audience. It allows them to share their learning with their parents, peers and the school community.

Please join us on Wednesday 31st May between 3:30 and 4:30 pm or Thursday morning between 8:30 and 9:15 am. 

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT - Leanne Wenckowski

If you are intending joining Story Time in 2023, can you please email Leanne Wenckowski with your name and the number of children attending so that I have an idea of numbers interested. "lwenckowski@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au

NUMERACY - Colleen Monaghan

Attached is the PowerPoint from the Year 1/2 Addition and Subtraction Maths session:

SPORT & PE - Michael Jennings

SSV COBURG DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

The SSV Coburg District Cross Country Championships will be held on Wednesday 17 May 2023 at the Coburg Athletics Track. Congratulations and good luck to the following students who will be representing St Fidelis Primary School at this event

ST FIDELIS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM

10 YEAR GIRLS

Mia Nightingale 

Zara Azzopardi 

Clara Perri 

Violet Arounsavat 

Olivia Masini 

Estelle Kelly 

Gemma Piotti 

Angelina Hude - emergency

Ava Soares - emergency

Olivia Servello - emergency 

10 YEAR BOYS

Alfie Brazel 

Xavier Dickinson 

Pierre Matsamakis 

Sam Louca 

Christian Liberti 

Joe Gaffney 

Monte Nihill 

Max Leahy 

Caleb Porter - emergency

11 YEAR GIRLS 

Savannah Alves 

Katarina Theodore 

Scarlett Falsetta-Spina 

Alex Archibald 

Eliana Kachi 

Selena Triulcio   

11 YEAR BOYS

Jake Russ 

Patrick Hude 

Jack Gallagher 

Joe Hamwi 

Francesco Fazzarii 

Harry Pirruccio 

12 YEAR GIRLS 

Kiara Louca 

Emily Mallaurino 

Olivia De Fazio 

Maya Woodhouse 

Isabella Joson 

Penelope La Porta 

12 YEAR BOYS

Sebastian Lunardi 

Christian Papas 

Luca Sortino 

Xavier Carr 

Christian Xerri 

emergency - ONLY ATTENDS IN THE ABSENCE OF A COMPETITOR

SSV COBURG DISTRICT WINTER SPORT RESULTS

On Friday 12 May, St Fidelis’ Year 5/6 students participated in Round 1 of the SSV Coburg District Interschool Sports Competitions. In this round, St Fidelis hosted St Bernard’s to play matches of Football, Netball and Soccer.  Congratulations to all our teams on displaying wonderful sporting behavior, which included respect for our team members and the opposition, trying our best, and supporting each other through encouragement.

A large number of our team members were playing these games against an opposition team from another school for the very first time, so our teams’ performances are to be commended! 

Results:

Football Boys

St Bernard’s 11 goals 10 behinds defeated St Fidelis 2 goals 3 behinds

Soccer Boys

St Fidelis 7 goals defeated St Bernard’s 1 goal

Soccer Girls

St Fidelis 7 goals defeated St Bernard’s 1 goal

Netball Boys/Mixed

St Bernard’s 24 goals defeated St Fidelis nil

Netball Girls 

St Fidelis 15 goals defeated St Bernard’s 5 goals

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Kaylee (FAP) who was graded at Judo and received her yellow stripe belt! It was her first grading after she started Judo this year.