Mary Queen of Heaven Newsletter Term 3 – Week 5

We wish our Pilgrims, Dani and Loretta the very best as they embark on their Pilgrimage journey to Penola next week, walking in the footsteps of Mary Mackillop.

Here is a summary of what is coming up in Term 3 at MQH!

Class Assemblies (see school calendar)

Thursday 22nd August – School Feast Day: Queenship of Mary Mass and Performance

Friday 23rd August- Book Week Parade 9am

Friday 30th August – Father’s Day Morning Tea & classroom visits

Saturday 31st August – Confirmation

Friday 6th September- Colour Run

Thursday 12th September – R U OK? Day wear a splash of yellow

Thursday 19th & Friday 20th – Parent Teacher Interviews

Next Thursday we will celebrate our school’s feast day The Feast of The Queenship of Mary.  As Mary is Assumed into Heaven, she is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. She holds queenship over every creature in the universe, including us. “For us, we can model Mary’s faith, humility, and love here on earth … Loving her as our queen in heaven, we can turn to her for guidance and intercession.”  We will celebrate with a whole school Mass at 12 noon and then a performance at 2:30pm, dedicating songs to Mary our Queen.

Data is crucial for the development and improvement of our organisation.  In the coming weeks we will be inviting families to take part in a survey, giving us an insight into the opinions and views of our families.  The more data we receive the more information we can put in place for ongoing improvement.  This year, for every family that completes the survey and shows evidence of completion to Kate in the front office will go into the draw for a terms free school fees.  What an incentive to tell us about your experience at MQH!

We are excited to welcome Fathers and Fatherly figures to our Father’s Day breakfast on Friday 30 August, from 9am in the Sacred Space.  Fathers / Fatherly figures will be invited into children’s spaces after breakfast.  Raffle prizes will also be drawn on this day. Please ensure that you have returned your money and tickets to the office no later then Thursday 29th August. 

CBCA Book Week next week!

A reminder that we will hold a Book Week Assembly and Parade on Friday, 23 August at 9am on the oval.

On this day, money made from popcorn sales will be donated towards the World Literacy Foundation:

If you need some DIY inspiration or creative ideas, there are plenty of free resources available to get you started.

Let’s make this Book Week a magical celebration of reading!

• 30 of the best Book Week costumes – including easy DIY hacks!

• Book Week Costumes

SPS Speech Box

Orthographic mapping and sight words

Download PDF

Welcome to another SPS Speech Box for 2024.  This Speech Box discusses reading with your child and offers some strategies you can implement at home to improve your child’s reading development.  Feel free to include it in your next school newsletter. 

 Orthographic mapping and sight words

What?

Orthographic Mapping is how our brains learn to read and store written words. It is the connection between speech sounds and the letter/s that represent that sound, and their word meanings (Ehri, 2014). When we first learn to read, we begin to map sounds to letter/s and store this information in our brains. We use this mapping system to allow us read, spell, and understand words.

Sight words are words that are recognised and read immediately (Ehri, 2014). Because we recognise the word so quickly, it is almost as if we have read it by ‘sight’, but in actual fact, it is due to the strong connection we have made between the sounds, letters, and word meaning (Orthographic Mapping) as beginning readers that we can do so. Without prior mapping of the sounds to letter/s, words are not recognisable by ‘sight’. As we become more efficient readers, the aim is that almost all words will be ‘sight’ words (Ehri, 2014).

So what?

Orthographic Mapping is important for learning to read (Ehri, 2014). Through practice and repeated exposure to what sounds map onto what letter/s, this connection is ‘engraved’ into our long-term memory, and we become more reliable and quicker at reading words without thinking too much. For example, beginner readers see the word ‘sat’ and may break it into its individual sounds ‘s-a-t’ so they can read it. With more experience, the brain uses the repeated exposure to the sound-letter combinations and can retrieve and read words, like ‘sat’, and unlock its meaning instantaneously.

Now what?

The research shows that the best way to support Orthographic Mapping is through Systematic Synthetic Phonics (Ehri, 2020). This is because this approach explicitly teaches what sound/s map onto what letters/groups of letters. This explicit teaching means that the connection between sound/s and letter/s can be stored in the brain for rapid retrieval, leading to fluent, skilled reading. Some strategies that can be used in the home to support Orthographic Mapping include:

• Talking about sounds and what letters may represent them – E.g., The ‘a’ sound is shown by this letter <a>
• Bringing your child’s awareness to written words and talking about the sounds that the letters make

Encouraging your child to sound out unfamiliar words and push the sounds together to read the word. 

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If you would like further information, please contact the SPS Speech Pathologist at your school.

Number Blocks is a great TV Series on Netflix to infuse maths into your everyday life.  

Alternatively, you can usually find episodes if you search in Youtube. For those of you who do not have access to Netflix, here are some links. In Prep to 2 at the moment students are learning about division and multiplication. 

Youtube.

Introducing Multiplication: Season 3, Episode 27 (Fun Times Fair)

Introducing Partition Division: Season 3 Episode 28 (The Lair of Shares)

Introducing Doubles Season 2 Episode 9 (Double Trouble)

Introducing thousands and beyond (place value) Season 5 Episode 4 (One thousand and One)

Part- Part-Whole:(the song and visuals are so good!) Season 6 Episode 3 (Tens Top Ten)

A fun number mystery episode is great for Foundation/Year 1 students. I could imagine students being inspired to come up with their own number ‘mystery’ after watching this!  

(Thanks to Dr Ange Rogers for her Blog on ‘Maths tips for starting school. Read more on her blog here- https://www.numeracyteachersacademy.com/blog/numberblocks)

This week is National Bullying No Way Week. The theme for 2024 is ‘Everyone belongs’. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It’s about embracing who we are, respecting everyone’s differences and standing up together against unkindness.

Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We’re encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued.

What is Bullying?

Bullying is when one or more of the following things happen repeatedly to someone who finds it hard to stop it from happening.

Bullying is when a person or a group of people offline or online (mobile phone or Internet):

• Make fun of / tease someone in a mean and hurtful ways
• Tell lies or spread nasty rumours about someone to try to make others not like him/her 
• Leave someone out on purpose or not allow him/her to join in
• Hit, kick or push someone around
• Deliberately damage, destroy or steal someone’s thing
•  Threaten or make someone feel afraid of getting hurt 

It is NOT bullying when: 

• Teasing is done in a friendly, playful way. 
• Two people who are as strong as each other argue or fight.

At Mary Queen of Heaven students learn about this as part of their Wellbeing lessons.

Dear Parents or Guardians 

First Aid certificates will no longer be paper based, they will now be sent via email.  

When a child has sustained an injury that we believe needs immediate attention or if we have any concerns, parent/guardian will be notified with a phone call. If your child has sustained any injury minor or big above the shoulder you will receive an email with a description of the event and a phone call before school ends. If it is below the shoulder and is minor, you will receive an email with a description of the injury. When a parent/guardian are trying to be contacted and there is no answer, we will call the emergency contact number provided and in an event where parents and emergency contact have not responded and we believe your child needs immediate attention, we will then call an ambulance.  

The peak of the cold and flu season is upon us.  To prevent widespread flu in the school, we recommend that your child stay home from school if experiencing cold or flu symptoms.  To decide whether to send your child to school, please consider the following,   

• Fever  

• Vomiting  

• Diarrhea 

• Chills/ body aches 

• Cough 

• Loss of appetite  

• Feeling extremely weak and tired 

Hand Hygiene is an importance to ensure we keep children and school community safe from the flu, below are recommendations to teach your children hand hygiene,  

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water 

• Do not touch eyes, nose or mouth. 

• Cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, use a tissue, throw it away and then wash hands. 

• Use hand sanitiser when convenient, you will find these in all classrooms.  

The influenza vaccine is the most effective way to reduce the chance of your child becoming sick with influenza. The influenza vaccine is recommended annually for everyone aged six months and over. You can find the flu vaccine at either your local GP or pharmacy.  

Sarah

School Nurse

Please see the attached information flyer regarding the upcoming Colour Run.

2. Newsletter Insert 1 – Colour Run 2024 (1)