Term 1, Week 6 - 29th February, 2024

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

Engaged Students and Personalised Learning

How children are taught to read has been a hot topic in Australia recently with the release of a new research report. In February this year, the Grattan Institute, published its report, ‘The Reading Guarantee’. The report sets out recommendations to guide government policy on how reading is taught in Australian schools. The authors of the report advocate for a nationally consistent, ‘structured literacy’ approach to the reading curriculum, with a focus on phonics in the early years.

According to the report, around 1 in 3 Australian school students are not mastering the reading skills they need. Disadvantaged, regional and Indigenous students tend to face the biggest barriers to reading success. However, about one in four students that aren’t disadvantaged also struggle with reading. Once a student falls behind, they tend to stay behind, and the gap widens over time as new knowledge and skills are built on a shaky foundation of poor reading ability.

The ‘Structured Literacy’ Approach

A ‘structured literacy’ approach to teaching reading is best. It draws on decades of research evidence, including cognitive science, by explicitly and systematically teaching students the key sub-skills needed for reading, including phonics knowledge.”

- ‘The Reading Guarantee’, Grattan Institute (2024)

The ‘structured literacy approach’, is in contrast to the ‘whole-language approach’ popularised in the 1970s. The debate around these two approaches is known as the ‘reading wars’. The whole-language approach follows the idea that learning to read is a natural, unconscious process. While the whole-language approach works for some, it doesn’t work for all.

The evidence is clear that learning to read is not a natural process and children should be explicitly taught how to read. Due to the complexity of the English language, the recommended duration for high-quality instruction in decoding words is three years.

The English alphabet has 26 letters to represent 44 spoken sounds. Students need to crack the English code by learning specific letter combinations (graphemes) that represent spoken sounds (phonemes).”

As a school, we already have many structures in place to support the structured literacy approach. It is pleasing to say that we are 'ahead of the game' in many ways when it comes to the teaching of reading at St Maria Goretti.

With our implementation of Decodable Readers Australia in early 2022 (decodable texts and resources to support our systematic, synthetic approach to phonics), we have already seen a signficant improvement in the decoding ability of our students. We encourage our readers to use their letter-sound knowledge, and to 'read through the whole word', rather than guessing using picture clues and other outdated reading strategies.

It is important to share with our community that we are committed to embedding a 'whole school approach' to how reading is taught at St Maria Goretti. In 2024, one of our annual priorities is To embed the Diocesan Approach to Reading (DAR) across the whole school so that there is a consistent approach to how reading is taught at St Maria Goretti.

The Diocesan Approach to Reading is Toowoomba Catholic School's approach to reading, informed by contemporary research, evidence-based high impact instruction, and effective and expected practices of teaching reading. As a system, Toowoomba Catholic Schools is supporting our reading journey to ensure academic success for all.

At the beginning of Term 1, we set two whole school goals to reach by the end of term to compliment our structured literacy approach at St Maria Goretti. 

These two pedagogical approaches are being implemented across the whole school and it is exciting to see high levels of student engagement in all classrooms. Our implementation journey has included upskilling our staff through regular professional learning communities (PLCs) where we engage in data analysis and professional reading. Additionally, our teachers are opening their classrooms for leadership to observe practice and provide feedback. 

We look forward to continuing on our journey of reading improvement and will continue to share our progress with our school community. 

What can I do at home to support my child at home? 

The Simple View of Reading is a basic way to think about how to help our children be successful readers. The multiplicative equation states:

Decoding x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension

Decoding - a child's ability to look at the letters and words on a page and turn it into speech.

Language comprehension - a child's ability to understand the meaning of words and speech.

Simple ways you can help your child with decoding - Segment words to build phonemic awareness

• Choose a word and say it aloud (hat)
• Talk about the meaning of the word - We wear hats on our heads while we are outside to protect our face from the sun.
• Tap the phonemes of the word (h-a-t)
• Ask: How many sounds does this word have? (3)
• Say the word again together (hat)

How can I help my child with language comprehension?

• Read books together that would be too difficult for your child to read alone (often books borrowed from the library). Discuss vocabulary words and their meaning. 
• Use higher level vocabulary in your day to day interactions with your child. E.g. instead of saying "It's time to clean up your toys," say "It's time to tidy up your toys."

I encourage the parents of P/1 children to join me on the 12th of March at 3:15pm in the library where I will be taking you through a short presentation on how to support your children with practicing their sight words using best, evidence-based practice.

From the APRE

Second Week of Lent

This week through Project Compassion, we learn about Ronita from the Philippines.

Ronita is 22. She lives with her husband and two children in Metro Manila, the Philippines. Ronita left school early to start her family which made it very difficult to find a good job. Thankfully, she heard about a program run by Caritas Australia’s local partner, the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ). Ronita was able to join the Alternative Learning System program. Completing this program was a pathway back to senior school where she completed her senior school certificate. Ronita now has a job and is able to support her family. 

“I have now graduated senior school and I am so proud of myself,” she said. “I feel hopeful for the future… Now it’s not impossible for me to achieve my dream… Thank you.”  

▶️ Watch Ronita’s story here: www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/ronita-story-video

MacKillop Way Award Term 1 

In Term 1, we are focusing on "Gratitude is the memory of the heart (Mary MacKillop, 1907)." Students will be encouraged to take the time to notice the small things each day that bring happiness and joy to themselves and others. At the end of term, each teacher will nominate a student from their class for the Mackillop Way Award who has met the following criteria:

1. Consistently used good manners, especially remembering to say please and thank you.

2. Consistently shown appreciation and gratitude to their peers and teachers.

These awards will be presented on the last assembly of Term 1.

Prayer for International Women's Day #InspireInclusion

8th March

God, whose love and goodness gathers us in: we pray for women all over the world, especially those challenged by poverty and other injustice. Stir us to know women’s dignity. Quieten us to listen to women’s voices. Awaken us to see women’s realities. Strengthen us to stand for women’s rights. Fill us with hope to make a better future together.

Amen.

Right to Disconnect protocols

Below you will find our “Protocols for the effective management of work-related electronic communications”, also known as the Right to Disconnect protocols. As a part of the recent Enterprise Bargaining Agreement approved by Fair Work Australia, each school is required to put these protocols in place to ensure a healthy work/life balance for staff. These protocols will also be displayed on the website. 

Attendance Matters

Every day counts. If your child must miss school, speak with your classroom teacher as early as possible. If you’re having attendance issues with your child, please let your classroom teacher know so we can work together to get your child to school every day. Our school is here to support you with any attendance issues you may be experiencing.

Our whole school attendance average is currently sitting at 90%. Please see attendance figures per year level in the table below. It is important that we increase our whole school attendance average. Please contact the school if you would like to know your child's individual attendance rate.

Please observe the image below which explains how much school your child is missing based on their attendance figures. 

Facilities Update

We are currently collecting quotes to build a shade sail over our new playground. As a SunSafe school, it is important that we ensure we are providing shade and shelter for our students to be able to play on equipment safely. We will continue to keep you updated as we progress. 

Upcoming Dates

8th March - Free Dress Day to support Rachael & Shave for a Cure

12th March - 3:15pm Sight Word Parent Info Session in the Library

13th, 14th, 18th March - NAPLAN Online (Year 3 & 5)

15th March - Inglewood Show Holiday

22nd March - 9:30am Opening & Year 6 Leadership Commissioning Mass

Yours in education,

Casey Robinson

Principal

LIFE IN THE LIBRARY

Reading and Learning in the Library

Happy Reading Everyone!

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Term 1 Tuition Fees are due this Friday

Students of the Week - Week 5 & 6

Sight Word Awards

NAPLAN 2024 Schedule

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be sitting NAPLAN between 13 and 25 March 2024.

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum.

Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum: English and Mathematics.

You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Some explanation of NAPLAN is useful to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests; however, it is not necessary for parents/carers to do this. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance. 

ACARA does not recommend excessive preparation for NAPLAN or the use of services by coaching providers. 

See the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at the public demonstration site.

Super Reader Award

Sportsmanship Award

GRIP Leadership Certificates

Happy Birthday!

Tuckshop Award

Student Residential & Other Information Collection

Parent Engagement Network (PEN)

Strategic Plan 2023-2026

Notices