Term 2, Week 6 - 23rd May, 2024

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

It is week 6 and we have so many things to celebrate this term. From sporting achievements, to reading growth, to growth in confidence, to positive learning habits - our students have been 'letting their light shine' in many ways. Thank you to our staff, parents, community (and most importantly) our students, for being prime examples of what it takes to be a  great school. I am grateful to lead this community. 

National Reconciliation Week - 27 May to 3 June

National Reconciliation Week  commemorates two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey; the successful  1967 referendum (learn more), and the High Court Mabo decision (learn more)  respectively. It is a time for all Australians to learn about shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.  

“The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024,  Now More Than Ever, is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will —and must —continue. There have been many moments in Australia’s reconciliation journey that make us want to turn away. But when things are divisive, the worst thing we can do is disengage or disconnect. Now more than ever, we need to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation. Now more than ever, the work continues. In treaty making, in truth-telling, in understanding our history, in education, and in tackling racism. We need connection. We need respect. We need action. And we need change.   Now more than ever, we need reconciliation.” (Reconciliation Australia) 

Our students will be participating in daily prayers for peace and reconciliation in the classroom, and will explore the concept of reconciliation and what that means in their lives.

Prayer for Reconciliation

God of all creation,

as we journey together in this Great Southern Land,

we pray for healing, forgiveness and unity,

 creating a path of good will, with justice and compassion.

Jesus, through the power of your love, you have given us the courage, wisdom and strength to share our gifts and talents in humility.

 In peace and understanding we reconcile with each other.

Creator Spirit, we come together in prayer and thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received. Allow your Spirit to wash over us and give us strength to walk together as one.

Amen.

How We Teach Reading at St Maria Goretti 

If your family has been a part of St Maria Goretti for some time, you’ll notice some changes in how we teach reading; if you’re new to St Maria Goretti, jump on board, it’s going to be a fantastic journey!

It’s an exciting time to be in education as we align our instruction with Toowoomba Catholic School's Diocesan Approach to Reading (DAR), backed by the Australian Curriclum Version 9, Reading Theory and Cognitive Science. Embedding DAR across our whole school is one of our strategic intentions in our school's Annual Action Plan. Listed below are some points of research that we have been addressing as we continue on our reading journey. 

• Code Emphasis. This means that grades P-2 especially focus on acquiring the skills to crack the code of our alphabet to the speech sounds in English. (There are 44 speech sounds in English and 150 ways to read and spell them!) Kids must first learn to decode/sound-out words before they can understand the meaning of text, therefore, we emphasise instruction in ‘cracking the code’ in grades P-2.
• Phonemic awareness. This is the ability to get to the individual sounds in words by listening and to identify and manipulate those sounds orally. While this skill will be emphasized in grades P/1, we make sure all students at St Maria Goretti have this necessary foundation. Students in the intermediate grades sometimes need to practice these skills until they have firmed up this foundation of reading. Don’t be surprised if you have an older student who is working on phonemic awareness! This is an area that the research has indicated is hugely important!
  
• Decodable Readers. Our early readers are working with decodable readers. These are books or passages that only include words that the students can ‘decode’ (sound-out) according to the skills they have been taught thus far. Our kids need practice with the phonics skills they are learning, and these books and passages provide that practice. 
• Explicit and systematic phonics instruction. We have an order or continuum of phonics skills, progressing from simple to complex, which is followed throughout the early grades. Students progress through the continuum as they master skills. As students progress through primary school, word study continues with more grammar and morphology and etymology (learning about word parts such as Greek and Latin roots).
• Knowledge Building and Vocabulary. Research has indicated that reading comprehension is closely connected to the background knowledge we have on a topic we’re reading about and by understanding the vocabulary contained in the text. Students have access to complex text, often read aloud by their teacher, and in the process, gain more complex vocabulary. The research tells us that building knowledge and vocabulary contributes significantly to their reading comprehension and should be taught beginning in the earliest grades.
• Comprehension. The ultimate goal of all reading instruction is for students to understand what they read. The model of ‘The Simple View of Reading’ (visual below) demonstrates that reading comprehension occurs only when students have both Decoding/Word Recognition Skills and Language Comprehension skills. Children need the essential skills to get the words off the page as well as knowledge, vocabulary, and a good understanding of how our language works in order to comprehend what they read. We must provide instruction that will help students achieve these goals.

How can you support your child? - Read to your child, have conversations with your child, ask your child questions, encourage conversation, listen to your child read, praise their efforts.

Encourage the love of learning as an important disposition!

Attendance Matters

Please see the graph below, highlighting the percentage of Term 2 attendance. As you can see, our whole school attendance for Term 2 is currently sitting at 89%.

Academic progress can be significantly affected when student attendance falls below 95%. 

We aim to improve our class attendance averages, but also our whole school attendance average.

Please contact your child's teacher if you have concerns or you are struggling to get your child to school. We are a partnership and we are here to help families in all aspects of school life - including attendance. Please contact your child's teacher if you are interested in your child's individual attendance rate this term.

Yours in education,

Casey Robinson

Principal 

Office News - New phone system

LIFE AND LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY

AUTHOR VISIT ONLINE WITH RENEE TREML

Students and teachers enjoyed an hour online with author and illustrator Renee Treml last Thursday. We learnt how important pictures are to a story and how to draw characters using simple shapes with added features. If you would like to buy one of Renee's books, please place your order using the information below before this Sunday.

National Simultaneous Storytime

St Maria Goretti School - Inglewood (accessit.online)

Thanks Miss Barnes for a fabulous sharing of Bowerbird Blues for NSST 2024. You are amazing how you model your love of story and bring it alive for our students!

Thanks Mrs Smith for the colourful library display for this very beautiful book!

Week 4 and 5

Happy reading everyone!

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Reporting student absences

Absences may be reported in advance for illness, appointments or family holidays. Please see the link below for how to enter absences in the Sentral for Parents app.

Students of the Week - Week 5

Students of the Week - Week 6

Sight Word Certificates

Birthday Certificates

Sporting Achievements Semester 1

Sportsmanship Award

Fanfare 2024

This week our 5/6 students participated in Fanfare 2024 in Warwick. They joined with students from Inglewood State School to form ‘Inglewood Schools’ Band’ and came away with a Bronze certificate! 

See you soon Susie!

This morning on assembly we said farewell to our greatest cheerleader Susie Callaghan. Students performed a couple of music pieces and presented Susie with a small gift. All the best for your move Susie and we look forward to your first visit back.

School Photos information

Parent Engagement Network (PEN)

Strategic Plan 2023-2026

Notices

We are currently looking for relief teachers to fill vital roles at our wonderful school. Relief teaching offers you the flexibility to take on work to match your lifestyle and the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the lives of our students and staff.

Please apply here: https://bit.ly/3HlXcIX or contact our office directly.