Dear Nativity Community,
Our students and teachers have certainly been busy with learning, swimming and now preparing for Sports Day. The buzz of excitement and the many different learning experiences being provided for the students is highly visible when walking around the school and hearing the discussions amongst students and adults.
The Writing Revolution
Prior to school resuming, our staff were busy preparing classes and learning programs as well as discussing our 2023 directions. This year we are excited to be incorporating ‘The Writing Revolution’ to support writing across R-6 classes. The Writing Revolution (TWR) provides a clear method of instruction that you can use no matter what subject or grade level you teach. Staff have already engaged with professional learning with ’The Writing Revolution’ and are looking forward to our next session on Tuesday 15th March (Pupil Free Day)
Students have been working on how they can expand the information in both oral and written sentences by incorporating the power of basic conjunctions: because, but and so. Students are provided with a sentence stem and then are asked to turn the stem into 3 separate complex sentences using each conjunction in turn. This requires students to engage in far more specific and focused thinking rather than just asking them to respond to an open-ended question. Below you can see some of the examples our students have created.
My favourite sandwich is peanut butter.
My favourite sandwich is peanut butter because peanut butter is my favourite. (Zac Year 1)
Every child must participate in afterschool sport.
Every child must participate in afterschool sport , because they can get fit.
Every child must participate in afterschool sport, but not for too long.
Every child must participate in afterschool sport, so they can learn to like lots of sports. (John Year 3)
Bond Blocks
To support our students with their number skills, we have introduced ‘Bond Blocks’ to support our mathematics program across R-3. This program is a mental maths program which builds on developing the number bonds. R-3 classes will have 3 x 8 minute sessions per week to focus on a number skill.
Supporting this program, we are also able to increase our intervention support to include numeracy this year. We are also introducing Bond Blocks as an intervention support to students who may require support in Year 1-3 at this stage, families will receive communication regarding intervention if their child is participating. Students from Year 1-3 have completed a screening assessment to gauge their knowledge. This then will enable teachers to direct students to the particular learning that they need. More information regarding Bond Blocks can be found with the link below
Bond Blocks Program – Mental Maths & Intervention Support Program Australia
Some of our Year 2 student comments relating to Bond Blocks.
I cant wait to use the Bond Blocks again, it is fun. Hazel
It was fun putting the bond blocks in number order Aaliyah
You can make 10 in so many different ways. Griffen
NAPLAN
This year students in Year 3 and Year 5 will undertake the yearly NAPLAN assessment in March with the official testing window beginning on March 15th. Last week our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in a practice online assessment. NAPLAN includes four different tests including writing, reading, conventions of grammar, and numeracy. Families have received information regarding the privacy procedures in place however further information regarding the NAPLAN assessment can also be found on this link:
NAPLAN information for parents and carers
Playgroup
The school in conjunction with the parish are setting up a Nativity Nest Supported Playgroup in Catholic Education. This will run on Tuesdays form 9- 10:30 beginning in Term 2 at the Parish. All of our families are welcome to join, more information will follow soon.
Thanks to Kylie Osborn, Bianca Cotton and Ann Donnelly for taking on the leadership of this program. We are looking for any donations of toys and books for 0-3 year olds that could be used in our playgroup. Please note we do not need soft toys and all toys donated must be clean and in good working condition.
Premiers Reading Challenge
Please look out for the Premiers Reading Challenge forms that will come out this week. To mark the 20th anniversary of the reading challenge, students have the opportunity to participate in an extra challenge of reading 20 books. Students who participate in the extra challenge will receive an additional certificate.
As you can see there is a lot of learning taking place within our Nativity Community. I would like to leave you with a thought…
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”— Chinese Proverb
Kind regards
Melinda James
