From the Assistant Principal
Learning at St Mary’s
I’ve been very fortunate to witness such wonderful student learning at St Mary’s during the term. Staff have been busily preparing and implementing ‘Daily Review’ each day with such amazing and positive results. Daily Review is a process that supports students to take information from short to long term memory. Students need to practice surface level skills on a daily basis so that they can be recalled from memory quickly and used for more complex learning.
After such positive feedback from Jordan O’Sullivan (Instructional Coach Shaping Minds) and Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond AM, PhD, CF from Edith Cowan University, WA, staff at St Mary's are continuing to build their knowledge and expertise with the opportunity to observe a colleague/s and give purposeful professional feedback. Additionally all staff will have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise to a colleague. I thank them for their continued excellence in delivering such high quality teaching and learning at our school.
I have asked some of the 3-6 students how they feel about Daily Review and would like to share some of their responses with you.
Daily Review in Maths is really fun. You go over it so it stays in your long term memory. Yr 4
What I like about Daily Review is there are lots of hard answers. It has helped my learning as I have to use working out strategies. I like doing the big problems. Benji R Yr 3
I really enjoy using Daily Review in Maths, as the repetitive tasks help me to remember key Maths concepts like place value of larger numbers. Alec P Yr 6
Daily Review in English is important because we repeat things to go into our long term memory. Yr 4
I enjoy working on whiteboards and working with a partner to discuss the learning in English Daily Review. Lincon S Yr 6
During Maths Daily Review slides we are required to complete similar topics each day. This helps me to remember important things I have learnt in the past. Chloe C Yr 6
I like Daily Review because you get to write fast. It has helped my learning because it has helped me practice my maths. Chael S Yr 3
I enjoy Daily Review because it helps me memorise certain sounds and learn new complex words such as annihilate, phenomenal, radiant, tranquil and plenty more. Grace R Yr 5
Maths Daily Review has helped my learning because it makes my mind think “Ohh, that’s cool to think of”. My favourite part is when we get to do fun and cool maths activities. Liam G Yr 3
I find it easier because if you make a mistake you rub it out quicker. It is more fun because you do not need to get out of your seat to show the teacher. Year 4
My favourite aspects of Daily Review is adding and subtraction. I think it has helped my learning because we get extra learning. Dion P Yr 3
Book Week
Wow, what a fabulous day. The school was full of Gangster Granny, Sesame Street, Minion, Mary Poppins, Star Wars, Rainbow Fish, Gruffalo and Cat in the Hat characters, plus many many more. Thank you to all the parents and carers for going the extra mile and having the children of St Mary’s look so wonderful for this special day. The book character parade was such a spectacular event and a fantastic way to showcase all the costumes on display. Thank you to the St Mary’s staff who channelled their inner childhoods and looked awesome in a variety of costumes.
Our first book swap was a roaring success thanks to the many kind donations from our parent community. We thought initially students would be able to take 1 or 2 books, but with such a large selection of quality literature, students could take many more. Thank you again. And finally to our book quiz. Wow, we read a broad range of quality literature at St Mary's and the students' knowledge of their classroom books was outstanding. It was such a fun way to finish our day.
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Have a wonderful and safe weekend.
Justin Bateman
Assistant Principal (Acting)