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We welcomed some lovely rain this week which was great to see. The Autumn weather has been fantastic and has allowed us to participate in our High Jump events over the last two weeks. The Athletics carnival is set down for Wednesday 26 May and we will be heading over to the Bull Paddock in Tumut for the day, notes to follow in the upcoming weeks.
Teachers are continuing their learning this year with the CE initiative of Catalyst. High impact teaching strategies is one of the areas that staff are focusing on.
One significant area is called Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). CLT is simply the understanding that in our learning environment there are limitless amounts of information for us to access and learn from, i.e. everything we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, etc. Our body and brain notices, collects and filters this into our working memory, a temporary holding space for processing the information - sorting it, connecting it to ideas, and relating it to previous knowledge. The problem is that our working memory is not limitless.
In fact, it can hold only 4-7 items in there at once as it processes them. Learning happens when the information we take into our working memory is organised into larger concepts, understandings and complex skills and then moved into our long-term memory. The long-term memory is limitless. The real skill is to be able to retrieve these facts, concepts, understandings and skills when we need them and in some cases develop 'automaticity'.
When you first learnt to drive, you were consciously thinking of all the little things you had to do, e.g. check mirrors, change gears, operate pedals, remember road rules, etc. These were all separate aspects being processed in your working memory. The more you practised, the more you started to develop patterns and order to your behaviours. You did not have to remember separate steps, just one pattern of steps. You also developed a greater awareness about typical driver behaviours on the road, and the paths to get to familiar venues, enabling you to predict your journey and anticipate what you will need to do. Driving became automatic. Some of the journeys you undertook became automatic too. Especially those you took on a daily basis.
The same theory of learning can be applied to everything we do at school, from reading, to sport skills, to music and mathematics. This understanding about learning helps us to shape highly effective teaching and learning experiences for our students. We ask questions such as:
- How many new ideas can we teach at one time to not overload a student's working memory?
- What knowledge and skills do the students already have with which to connect the new ideas and experiences to, enabling them to move it to their long-term memory?
- What strategies can we use to help students practise recalling the information and skills they learn to help it become embedded in their long-term memory and automatic?
Current research shows us that daily review – revising previous learnings is a great strategy to make those connections and transfer our knowledge to long term memory. Having time to practice and work independently to master skills is also a necessary part of this process. Students need time to do consolidate their learning – so great teaching ensures that students have time to do this. There may not necessarily be new learnings happening every day – but it is important to acknowledge that this is an essential step to transferring what students know so they can apply that knowledge to new situations and learnings. If your child says that they didn’t learn anything new today – rest assured they are learning.
Kirsty Beavan
Principal
Celebrating Catholic Schools Week - 3rd to 7th May 2021
This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week across our diocese. The theme this year is
‘Faith in the Future’ with the addition of Archbishop Christopher’s focus on ‘Hope’. The theme is an adaptation of the national theme from the campaign to celebrate 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia.
The theme reflects the core purpose of Catholic education to form students in their faith and to provide an education that enables our graduates to make a meaningful contribution to the world. The theme reflects our commitment to build on the great work of those who have come before us and to provide a Catholic education for future generations in a world that is rapidly changing and poses new challenges for Catholic school communities. We look to the future with faith and hope that we can face these challenges and continue to build on and strengthen our mission of Catholic Education.
We look forward to completing Catholic Schools Week by welcoming families in on Friday to celebrate Mother’s Day with us and enjoy a range of activities.
Wishing all our mothers and grandmothers a very happy Mother’s Day on Sunday.
- Liz Murray
Religious Education Co-ordinator
| Week 3 - 3rd May - 7th May | |
| Fri 7th: | Mothers Day activities - 12pm |
| Week 4 - 10th May - 14th May | |
| Mon 10th: | Gymnastics (sports uniform) |
| Tues 11th: | NAPLAN - Yr 3 & 5 |
| Wed 12th: | NAPLAN - Yr 3 & 5 |
| Thurs 13th: | NAPLAN - Yr 3 & 5 |
| Fri 14th: | NAPLAN - Yr 3 & 5 |
| Week 5 - 17th May - 21st May | |
| Mon 17th: | Gymnastics (sports uniform) |
| Tues 18th: | Mortimer Shield - Tumut |
| Wed 19th: | |
| Thurs 20th: | |
| Fri 21st: | |
| Week 6 - 24th May - 28th May | |
| Mon 24th: | Gymnastics (sports uniform) |
| Tues 25th: | Arch Cross Country - Canberra |
| Wed 26th: | Athletics Carnival - Tumut |
| Thurs 27th: | |
| Fri 28th: | |
Grounds Maintenance Roster
Thank you to all our families who have mowed and whipper snipped the grounds.
|
Section A |
Section B |
| Campbell family - mowing | Matthews family - mowing |
| John Corbett family - mowing | McMahon family - mowing |
| MacDougall family - mowing | Pearce family - mowing |
Mortimer Shield for Yr 5/6 students will be in Tumut on Tuesday 17th May, students who have indicated they would like to play will receive a permission note in the next couple of days.
Next week students in Yr 3 and Yr 5 will participate in NAPLAN, students need to charge their laptops each night.
If parents have any questions regarding NAPLAN please contact Mrs Beavan.
On Friday afternoon, students were given a STEM challenge to build a lego bridge across two desks. Students were highly engaged and it was fantastic to hear the conversations that took place while they were designing and building their bridges, and solving any problems that appeared.
Due to the integration of COMPASS within the school, next week a form will be sent home for parents to check if their student information is correct and up to date. This will include family address, phone numbers, emails, emergency contact details and medical information.
In the covering letter it will outline the importance for the school to hold up to date Medical Alerts and Asthma Action Plans.
|
Student of the Week Awards: Laura, Kaitlen, Reuben, Mitchell and Lochie Principal's Awards: Charlie, James and Billy Happy Birthday: Billy and Harry |
| Date | Reader | Acolyte | Liturgy Leader | Gifts | Cleaning | Mowing |
| May | ||||||
| 9th | Fred Roche | B Isaac | Liz Murray | Carmel Salmon | ||
| 16th | School | S Murray | Trish Roche | |||
| 23rd | Jean Roche | T Corbett | Scott Murray | Carmen Cribb | ||
| 30th | Jan Kendall | B Isaac | Doreen Hughes | Chris Harrison | ||
| June |
||||||
| 6th | K Beavan | S Murray | Helen Isaac | |||
| 13th | T Roche | B Isaac | Sue Roche | Jenny Toole | ||
| 20th | Julian Roche | T Corbett | Sue Roche | |||
| 27th | Liz Murray | S Murray | Trish Roche | Lucy Roche | N Hughes | |
The sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion will be held in St James Parish in 2021. I am working with Father George to finalise the dates and will let families know as soon as they are set.
Confirmation will be held in Tumut at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, on Thursday 17th June 2021. Students in Year 6 are invited to register for this Sacrament.
Please email me if you would like your child to make a Sacrament or you require any further information. Students in Year 3 are eligible for Reconciliation and Year 4 and above for First Communion.
Thank You
Liz Murray (Elizabeth.murray@cg.catholic.edu.au)
Keep up to date with events happening at St Joseph's via our electronic school calendar (please note dates can be subject to change).
