Issue 5 - June 2024

I want to discuss the importance of mastering maths facts. Maths facts are the basic calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division that students need to know automatically. When a student is automatic, we call it maths fact fluency. 

Here’s why focusing on these skills both at school and at home is important.

Building a Strong Foundation 

Maths fact fluency provides a strong foundation for more complex mathematical concepts. When students have quick recall of basic calculations, they can tackle more advanced problems with confidence and efficiency. This foundational knowledge is essential for subjects like algebra, geometry, and more. 

Building Blocks for High School Success

The benefits of knowing maths facts extend well beyond primary school. As students progress to high school, there is an assumption that students have a grasp of basic maths facts. Students who are fluent in maths facts can transition smoothly to the advanced topics of high school maths, as they are not struggling with foundational calculations. This fluency significantly contributes to their overall success in high school maths and science. 

Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills 

Knowing maths facts by heart allows students to focus on problem-solving rather than getting bogged down by simple calculations. This fluency enables them to see patterns, make connections, and develop strategies to solve problems effectively. In essence, strong maths fact knowledge enhances overall mathematical thinking. 

Boosting Confidence and Reducing Anxiety 

Many students experience maths anxiety, often stemming from struggling with basic calculations. By ensuring they have a solid grasp of maths facts, we can help reduce this anxiety. When students are confident in their abilities, they are more likely to participate in class, ask questions, and enjoy learning maths. 

How We Support This at School 

At SPC, we dedicate time each day to practising maths facts. Our school program is Rocket Maths. Students are working to reach their own personal goals. 

How You Can Help at Home 

Your support at home is invaluable. This year we have reduced our homework requirements to only reading and maths facts. The programs are a mix of Ninja Maths and Rock Star Maths, depending on the age group and teacher preferences. Taking an interest in maths facts at home, reinforces the importance of this learning Celebrate your child’s progress and effort. Positive reinforcement encourages a love for learning and perseverance. 

By working together, both at school and at home, we can ensure that our students have the strong mathematical foundation they need to succeed.

Mrs Kerrie Flynn

Principal

Staff News 

This week we welcomed Mrs Victoria Cotton who has been appointed as our new Finance Officer.  Melinda Armstrong, in her new role as CET Finance Specialist, has been assisting Victoria with her transition into the new role.

A couple of weeks ago, we farewelled Mr Moore.  Mr Moore has returned to Hobart, where he is closer to family and friends. We wish him all the best as he continues his work with Catholic Education in a student support role.

School Photos will be on Wednesday, 19th June families are now able to order Photos via compass. If you are unable to order via compass please contact the office. 

Hair and jewellery must be compliant with the school uniform policy for students to be able to participate in school photos. 

Students are able to wear any combination of the smart play uniform for photos. Please note, no underclothing is to be visible i.e singlets.

We are getting very excited for the Premier’s Reading Challenge to start in week 8, on June 17th. In the week leading up to this, I will be visiting all the classes to hand out reading logs and bookmarks and explaining to students how to keep track of which books they are reading. Remember any book counts, whether it is read to students by parents/teachers or whether they are reading it themselves. If older students are unsure how many ‘books’ their larger book consists of, they are welcome to come and see me, and they may record each chapter in their log rather than each book. 

Some tips for supporting children’s reading development at home are to:

• encourage children to ‘sound out all through the word’
• encourage multiple readings of the one book
• encourage children to speak in full sentences
• encourage children to spend time with books they enjoy

Happy reading!

Mrs Laura Korpershoek

Literacy Leader 

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

​​Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD).  The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please do not hesitate to contact me at school.

Mrs Brooke Lardner

Student Support Coordinator

On the final day of Term 2, we will be having an Ancient civilisation’s dress up day. This is in line with the students core knowledge units they have been working on in class.

Students are encouraged to come along to school dressed according to their class era.

Kinder & Prep - Nursery Rhymes

Year 1 & 2 - Ancient Greece  

Year 3 & 4 - Vikings

Year 5 & 6 - Feudal Japan 

Below are some images for reference. Please note families are not expected to go out and buy expensive outfits, this is just a bit of fun for our students.

Wishing all of our students participating in the North West Cross Country tomorrow the best of luck!

If your child has an infectious condition, you may need to keep them home from school to stop it from spreading. Please see below some of the sicknesses that we have been made aware of and their recommended exclusion periods. 

Thank you for keeping your children home and helping stop the spread of illness. 

Congratulations to the following students who received awards today at Assembly:

Shooting Starr Awards 

Kinder - Mirha Usama & Tilney Cotton

Prep - Tobias Horton & Archer Armstrong

Year 1 - Archie Radford & Maddelyn West 

Year 2 - Luka Walsh & Oliver Wright 

Year 3 - Lucas Schuuring & Rory Bishop

Year 4 - Amelia Khan & Harry Dawson 

Year 5 - Charlie Ollington & Georgina Blake 

Year 6 - Charlotte Armstrong & Max Monson

SPC Way Award - Harper Bishop

The next P&F Meeting will be Thursday, 27th June at 3pm - all welcome!

Congratulations to today's bake raffle winner Millah! 

This term, Year Three has been exploring ‘changes of state’ in our Chemical Sciences unit. So far, we have learned that there are three states of matter, and we can identify different materials as solid, liquid or gas. To further explore why it is hard to classify some materials as solid, liquid or gas, we engaged in an experiment using water and cornflour/custard powder. To begin with, too much water was added and our experiment didn’t work. We used this as an opportunity to discuss the reality of this problem that real scientists face and then brainstormed some ways that we could improve our experiment next time. In our second attempt, we used our brainstormed ideas (e.g. adding the powder before the water to control how thick it became) and had much greater success with our outcome. We can’t wait to do more investigations and experiments to observe different states of matter.  

A reminder for families that Monday, 10th June is a public holiday. Enjoy the long weekend! 

Issue 4 is here!

Book Club provides a fantastic opportunity to encourage regular reading and to offer great value to families. 

Families who ordered books on Issue 3 can spend the $5 promo code they earned on Issue 4. Plus, they will get another $5 promo code to spend on Issue 5!*

Issue 4 orders due to the office by 21st June, 2024.

Due to our supplier increasing uniform costs, we have updated our uniform price list to reflect this. These increases will come into effect from 1st July, 2024.

Please note prices are subject to change at any time.