Term 3 Week 6 2022

Principal's Message

Dear families and friends,

‘We do whatever it takes to lead the way in Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport & Community’

Student Support Educators
Our SSEs (other schools call this role a Teacher Aide) are so important to the success of all our students and their learning at SMP. We currently have 17 SSEs to support our students and teachers. Every Maths and English lesson at SMP has the students supported by an SSE and a teacher. The Student Support Educator, alongside the teacher, works with all students from the highest achieving to the lowest, in order to ensure all kids get a good opportunity to grow the best they can. After Maths & English lessons, they then work with the ones that require the greatest support. The role of SSEs at SMP are:

• SSEs know what the Learning, Learning Intention & Success Criteria is in advance 
• English: Guided/Reciprocal/Modelled Reading and Writing. Comprehension questioning, probing (with a group ... not 1 on 1)
• Maths: Explicit instruction, Questioning, Probing, Challenging, Supporting (with a group …not 1 on 1)
• Instruction/Modelled  Time: Ensure kids are engaged in the instruction and learning/Assist with modelling, Listen to 
• Give real-time Instruction, Feedback and Feedforward
• SSEs not floating around but targeted Teaching & Learning with a group of kids that varies 
• Evidence Based Tier 2 Intervention after English and Maths (at least 4 times per week)

Grandparents Day/Book Week 
Thank you to Betty for leading another great Book Week and to Kristie Irvine for helping lead a great Grandparents Day!

Tell Them From Me Surveys 
Results are in. Thank you so much to the 146 parents who completed a survey. We will look at the student, parent and staff responses very closely to identify opportunities to better ourselves as a Catholic school community. I will share the results with our community over time and how we are continuing to work on our strengths, and looking for opportunities to improve.

Take care
John O’Brien 
Principal

Assistant Principal's News K-9

Message from our Assistant Principal K-9 
I have been getting trained by a gentleman from Kyogle called Guy. Guy thinks I am well suited to being a school dog and he can see the great impact I am already having. He really cares about my well-being and how I can best support the kids at SMP.

Vinnies Funnies:   How do dog catchers get paid?
                                       By the pound

Woof Woof
Vinnie - Assistant Principal K-9

Assistant Principal's News - Mission

Feast of the Assumption

Assumption Mass
On Monday 15th August, we joined together for a whole school Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. This is a special day in our liturgical year where we celebrate the ascension of Mary into Heaven with God, body and soul.  It was great for our school to come together in the church for the first time in over 3 years!

Friday Church Visits - All parents and family members are welcome to join 
9th Sept 1.00pm - K, Y5 & Y6 Mass (church)
16th Sept 1.00pm - Y1-Y4 Mass (church)
23rd Sept 12:15pm  - Whole School Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy (church)

3:16 Church Youth Group 
Last one for Term 3 is Friday 9th August (3.30pm 5.00pm).

Canteen Lunch Orders Cut-Off Time
The canteen has a new cut-off time for online orders which is now 9.00am.

New School App - Compass
From Term 4  2022, we will gradually transfer to our new Student Information System (SIS) called Compass.  This will mean that the current Skoolbag school app will no longer be used from Term 4, 2022.
One of the first things we need to make sure of as a school is that we have all parents and family members' contact details up to date, particularly phone numbers and email addresses. If we do not have your correct email address, you will be unable to access the new parent portal on the app. A hard copy note has gone home outlining the simple process to update your family details.

Parent Surveys Online - “Tell Them From Me”
Thank you to the 140-odd parents who have participated in the Tell Them From Me parent surveys and giving feedback to us on how we are going as a school. This data will be looked at by our leadership team and school staff and be used to help guide our strategic planning for the future success of our school. Our school SRC will also use the student voice data to guide their planning.

SRC Update - Written by Lizzie Carey (Secretary)
The SRC has been working hard over the last two terms. We have worked on three areas so far (all suggested by student's voice):
* Homework and giving students a bit of a change with their home learning
* Behaviour expectations when using the toilets
* Introducing a student voice box where students put their suggestions or troubles at school in the box and the SRC look at finding a way to solve the problem
Our next project is to look at hats and solutions for students who don't have a hat or have lost it.  Please see an SRC member if you have any ideas or suggestions for improving our school for all students.   

Tennielle Gould Fundraiser
Tickets can be purchased at Casino DIY, Hotel Cecil or the Casino Bulls Rugby Club.

Sam Irvine
AP Mission

Assistant Principal's News Teaching & Learning

Clarity- What Matters Most in Learning and Teaching

The second belief, that all staff at SMP agree on, is that "All teachers can teach to a high standard when given the right assistance". To ensure that all staff is supported to offer the best learning opportunities for our students we ensure:

• We use our "Knowledgeable Others" to support our continued growth as teachers. We are blessed at SMP to be surrounded by many amazing teachers. We support each other through our grade partners and each stage has a "Leader of Learning" that is available to observe and model teaching practice and offer feedback. 
• We are always looking for professional learning opportunities to continue our growth as educators and to find engaging, targeted teaching practices to allow all students to achieve the fullness of life.
• We have regular Professional Learning Team meetings where we examine student data and identify what we want our students to know, how we will know if they have learned it and how we will structure our teaching and learning to ensure they achieve this 
  

We have a passionate, dedicated, and investigative staff who know that the most important factor for a child's success in the classroom is the teacher in front of them, and we will continue to work together to put your child's learning at the forefront of all that we do.

Premiers Reading Challenge
Congratulations to all those students who have completed the Premiers Reading Challenge for 2022.

In the K-2 level of the challenge, students are able to achieve the challenge if their teachers read them 25 of the selected texts in the allocated timeframe, and thanks to the dedication of our K-2 teachers, all students in these classes have completed the challenge this year.

We also had a number of students complete the challenge themselves at home and I would like to thank these students for their dedication to reading. We know that reading underpins all other learning so making reading a priority will always have a positive impact on a child's ability to learn.  All students who completed the challenge will receive a certificate from the NSW premier in Term 4.

Thank you
Felicity Wilde
AP Teaching & Learning

Leader of Pedgaogy

Prime Minister's Spelling Bee
Recently more than 60 students from Yrs 3 to 6 were invited to participate in Round One of the annual Prime Minister's Spelling Bee. This competition involves spelling a list of words given online. Each student was asked to spell 30 words in a timed format to find the fastest, most accurate speller in their Stage Group. Students from schools all around Australia were involved. 

Congratulations to our SMP Class champions: Oliver Christensen, Matthew Brenan,  Thomas Zeller and Indy Stubbin. A special congratulations to Oliver Christensen for also being the SMP School Champion for 2022.  His score of 28 words correct in just under two minutes is an outstanding achievement. 

Michelle Bratti
Leader of Pedagogy

K-2 Instructional Leader

K-2 Home Learning - Decodables
Starting in 2021, our school has been participating in professional learning in Sequencital Structured Literacy, based on extensive research into the Science of Reading and as a result, our teaching practices over time are transitioning to align with this teaching approach in spelling, reading, and writing. 

Homework may look different from traditional homework for your child. Before a child is ready to have a book, they need to be able to blend and segment words with 3 sounds at word level and sentence level. Prior to this they need to work on a whole range of skills and we would like to supply you with homework that supports this. 

Examples of Homework may include:
- A decodable reader for the week, letter cards and word work to support decodables:
Use letter cards to make words from the decodable and say the words using segmenting and/or blending skills
Use letter cards to make words that rhyme
- A book for you to read to your child.  This is for enjoyment and should not be used to test your child.

When reading a reader with your child simply, help your child read each word on the page, rather than guessing or using the pictures. The prompts below will help guide you:

Laura Hughes
K-2 Instructional Leader

Leader of Curriculum

Science and Technology
At St Mary’s we are fortunate to have Carrisa Pursey and Emily Kerrison lead our Kindergarten to Year 6 classes in Science and Technology.  Carrisa and Emily share a passion for this curriculum area and work closely with our Teaching and Learning team to plan quality, engaging and fun learning experiences for our students.

This Term, Year 4 are learning about solids, liquids and gasses and how we use them in a variety of states. They have been investigating volcanoes and how they exist in all three states. This week students have created scientific drawings and composed a list of materials needed to plan for and build a three-dimensional model of a volcano erupting. This has been a very exciting design process and students are very excited to see their learning erupt.

Karen Faber
Leader of Curriculum 

Sport News

Soccer Gala Day
Congratulations to the students who represented our school in Lismore last week at the Schools Soccer Gala Day. All students participated really well and lead the way in Sport and School Spirit. Congratulations to you all.

Polding Athletics
Big congratulations to the 8 students who will represent the Lismore Diocese at the Polding Athletics Carnival in Newcastle on Friday 9th September. The students who will represent are Harper Myers, Bianca Hodges, Josie Ryan, Ashley Morrow, Emma Green, Marcus Barber, Rocco Jenkins and Jay Urquhart-Purdon. We wish all these students well. Big congratulations to Harper Myers who was awarded the Senior Girl Champion at Dio!

NRRRL Matty King Cup
Congratulations to all the students that were selected to represent SMP in both Stage 2 and Stage 3 at the Matty King Cup on the 15th September (Week 9) at Queen Elizabeth Park. We will have training each Monday at lunch times until then.

Girls Cricket
See attached program for girls interested in participating in after school cricket.

Brendan Mitchell
Sport Co-ordinator

Leader of Love and Community

Hi Everyone!

We have a very busy few weeks coming up here at SMP! We will be having our first Scooter Friday next Friday 2nd of September. All students are able to bring in their scooters to ride at lunch time play, as long as they have a helmet. Scooters and helmets can be placed on the netball court when the students arrive at school.
Please be aware that scooters are not allowed to be taken onto school buses.

Our Father's Day Beer and Pies afternoon will be held on Friday 2nd September. Please come down to school from 2:30pm for a prayer service in the Cola and then to enjoy a cold beer and a warm pie! 

SMP are having a Disco!!! We will be raising money for Childhood Cancer, whilst dancing the night away.  Please see the flyer attached for all of the information! 

If you would like anymore information on Millie and her journey, please visit her website Millie's Awareness Rainbow. A link can be found below.

We are really looking forward to all of these events and hope you are too!

Kristie Irvine
Leader of Love & Community 

Student of the Month & Learner Achievement Awards - 19 August 2022

Father's Day Stall - 2 September

FATHER’S DAY STALL ~ FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER

The Father’s Day stall will be held on FRIDAY 2 September.  The stall is where students can purchase a gift for $4.00 each for their father/guardian.  Please return slip by Thursday, 1 September in an envelope marked with child/ren’s name + class/es and with correct money enclosed.  Place envelope in the office door.  Limit of 4 gifts per student.

No orders will be accepted after Thursday 1 September- if an order arrives at the office on Friday morning, it will be returned.

HELPERS NEEDED      Help is always needed on the day.  Please let the school know if you can help any time between 9.00am – 11.00am.  Phone the school office on 6662.2566 and advise of available time.  Thank you.

School Hours

Please see below our school timetable/bell times for your information

• Be punctual (this is a skill we wish to instill in all our children).
• If late (after 8.50am) you must bring your child/ren to the office and sign them in.
• Early pickups are discouraged unless an arrangement has been made with the Principal and/or your child has a medical appointment
• Please refrain from collecting your child/ren during lunch and recess as it can be very difficult to locate them.
• If collecting during the day, please sign your child/ren out at the school office and allow enough time for them to be located.
• Phone messages to child/ren can only be delivered in an emergency.
• Please make a consistent arrangement with your child/ren. For example:  tell them to catch the bus every day and if this changes and you decide to pick them up, please make sure you are outside the North Street bus gate ready to intercept your child before they get on their bus.
• Also, make sure you let your child/ren know that sometimes Nan or Aunty (or whoever else) may collect them instead of you.

DAILY TIMETABLE/SCHOOL BELL TIMES

            Monday→Friday

            8.30am:                       First bell - supervision commences

            8.45am:                       Students to be at school ready for the morning bell

            8.50am:                       Morning bell - students move to class - class roll marked at 8.55am

            10.55am→11.40am:   Lunch

            1.45pm→2.05pm:      Recess

             3.10pm:                      Dismissal