Here we are nearly at the end of Term One.  It’s been a fabulous start to 2023! We are so pleased with the way learners have settled into their new routines and built new relationships.

Diversity & Inclusion

During the term, educators have been getting to know their learners, implement consistent routines and provide high-quality differentiated teaching.  Some learners have a Personalised Plan for Learning or PPL. For these learners, a smooth transition from last year meant that those adjustments continued as the year began.

Each new Pastoral Care Group and Neighbourhood brings new opportunities and therefore a revision of current adjustments for learners. Educators have been reviewing the detail of these PPL’s and by the end of Term One, all learners with diverse needs will have an updated plan.

We value working in partnership with families and towards the end of Term Two, families will be invited to meet and review their child’s PPL. We acknowledge the professional role of Allied Health and Medical Practitioners to ensure the best learning support for your child.

Learning Conversations

Our Learning Conversations were held last week.  A big thank you to the many families who booked a time to discuss their child’s learning journey.  Our educators were thrilled to see such engagement from families.

These conversations focused on key elements such as your child’s transition into the 2023 school year, literacy and numeracy development, wellbeing, social development and being safe and orderly.  Your child provided a reflection on their learning, Mercy Keys and goals.  At the end of Term Two, we will be pleased to present you with your child’s report.

Term Two

We are looking forward to all of the learning and opportunities for achievement in term two.  Before that time though, as a school community and in many families, we celebrate the Gift of Easter. May it be a time to gather with family and friends and a time for rest and reflection.

On behalf of the staff at McAuley Community School, we wish you a very Happy Easter. See you all next week for a four day week, before we commence School Holidays. Take care everyone.

We are fast approaching Holy Week and Easter. This year we are celebrating the liturgical events of Holy Week and Easter in a variety of ways, as Neighbourhoods and as a whole school community.   

Holy Week Liturgical Celebrations 
On Monday this week, we gathered as a community to celebrate Palm Sunday. The Year 5 students presented a role play to the school and we were blessed a performance by the school choir and live music for the event. 

During Our Last Supper Liturgy on Wednesday, each learner placed the names of those who they want to express their love towards, inside the school’s Heart Box, which made its way to each Neighbourhood. This Liturgy also featured a recorded song, ‘A Life of Love’ beautifully performed by three outstanding Year 6 vocalists, Finley, Emmalyn and Zara. 

Our Heart Box has been placed in the Chapel for the rest of the year as a reminder to always have those we love close to our hearts and to pray for them often. 

The Stations of the Cross whole-school Liturgy involves each Neighbourhood who will contribute a Station of the Cross to the school community. 

At the end of the Easter Liturgy, celebrating the Risen Christ, each student will be presented with a seed to place in pot they have decorated, to take home and grow. This represents the resurrection of Jesus and the opportunity for New Life in showing Christ’s love to each other.  
 
Project Compassion 
In their morning Pastoral Care prayers, learners have been reflecting on Project Compassion charitable works.  

Our Mercy Leaders planned and organised a ‘Walk-for-Water' activity for learners in Reception through to Year 6. On the day of this event, learners returned their Project Compassion money boxes and we were very proud of the money they raised for such a worthy cause. 

During Holy Week, the underlying message of this time in the Liturgical Calendar is one thing: love. At McAuley we see love in the way the learners approach their work, in their relationships with each other and in the way the educators and co-educators actively encourage every learner to the best they can be.
  
We remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection as the catalyst for change and remember that every time we do something with love we are walking in Christ’s footsteps. 

Have a wonderful and Holy Easter. May you be blessed in sharing it with those you love.

We have had a very successful term of learning at McAuley Community School. Our Educators, Co-Educators and Learners have been very committed to their learning and as such, we have experienced pleasing growth in literacy, numeracy and across all areas of the curriculum.

In the Australian Curriculum, numeracy is defined as the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and dispositions to use mathematics in a wide range of situations.

At McAuley Community School, our Educators explicitly teach mathematical skills and concepts and provide learners with opportunities to transfer and apply this knowledge purposefully. Through this, learners recognise the interconnectedness of mathematics to their everyday lives. 

This year, we have established a timetabled numeracy block across the school and implemented a scope and sequence for mathematics. A scope and sequence is a summary of what mathematical skills, concepts and knowledge is to be taught, the sequence in which it will be taught and the curriculum outcomes that will be addressed in the intended learning over the year.

We use a range of assessments and tools including PAT Maths and Essential Assessment to track and monitor learner’s mathematical development and support curriculum design.

f you would like any further information regarding learning, please email me:  nicole.tropeano@mcs.catholic.edu.au

Wishing you all a blessed Easter and school holiday break.

As a part of our learning in Numeracy this term, the Reception learners have been busy exploring sorting, patterning and number.

The skills they have been focussing on include: 

Patterning: Understanding patterns help prepare learners for complex number concepts and mathematical operations.

Sorting: Sorting is the ability to identify the similarities and differences of objects and group them according to an attribute. Sorting is an important early numeracy skill.

Subitising: Subitizing means instantly seeing how many without counting. Being able to subitize is an important foundational number sense skill.

Number: Recognising numbers and learning number names to build number sense 
Learners have had opportunities to demonstrate their existing knowledge and to build on it as they explore these concepts using a range of concrete materials, playing number games as well as making patterns with shapes, colours and by moving their bodies.

In the Year 1 Neighbourhood, the learners are investigating the attributes of an object and how to sort objects by a common attribute.

At the beginning of each unit of mathematical learning, educators assess the skills and knowledge of the learner prior to teaching the topic. Here the educators are working alongside the learners to assess their understanding of sorting and the key concept of attributes and correct any misconceptions. This helps educators understand a learner’s prior knowledge and supports to differentiate learning for them.

After this lesson, they move into explicit teaching using the gradual release model - I do (educator), we do (educator and learner), you do (learner) whilst providing differentiated learning outcomes. In Year 1, they always use concrete materials to help them explore, understand and develop concepts and skills.

Year 2 learners are mathematicians!

They are learning to develop their understanding of number as they learn to read, write, create and sequence three-digit numbers. Have you ever played the Bankers Game? They love it in Year 2 as they learn the value of numbers and where they are located. Learners are moving towards writing numbers in expanded form as they recognise their value. 

Our Year 2 learners are becoming critical thinkers by using number as they make connections to the real world. To support your child to use more mathematical language in everyday life you can skip count cars on the way to school, go on a shape treasure hunt and use measurements in cooking.

As part of their Numeracy program this term, Year 3 learners have been revising and building basic number skill fluency.

During their daily ‘Mini Maths’ lessons, learners spend 15 minutes calculating answers to single and double-digit addition and subtraction problems that involve Facts of 10, Doubles, Near Doubles, Halving, Friendly Numbers and Adding 10.

Through the repeated playing of games involving dice, cards and other concrete materials, learners have strengthened their ability to automatically recall answers and commit number facts to memory.

Each week there are opportunities to extend and challenge those who have demonstrated automaticity with each skill, as well as for learners to engage with websites such as ‘Hit the Button’ and complete selected Seesaw and Study Ladder tasks.

Learners have loved using their brand-new devices in this way, both at school and home.

This term in Numeracy, our Year 4 learners have been focusing on the importance of place value.

They have explored the concept of place value within the context of whole numbers and addition and investigated numbers up to 5 digits. Next, they began looking at number patterns and explored the idea that mathematics is all about patterns.

While investigating number patterns, particularly growing number patterns, the learners found connections with their times table knowledge and multiplication. Currently they are continuing their learning journey with multiplication and division and discovering the inverse relationship between these two operations.  

Their educators are looking forward to continuing the work with multiplication throughout the year as they strive for automatic and random order re-call of times tables. 

This term, the Year 5 Neighbourhood have been focusing on the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Learners recognise the importance of having a sound knowledge of these maths operations as a life skill.  They came together as a Year 5 cohort to solve complicated maths problems and puzzles. 

Their educators are so proud of their Year 5 ‘riddle-master’ learners for creating riddles which they swapped with their peers as part of Number Investigation.  Learners were challenged to create clues for a 4 to 6 digit number using their place value knowledge. The clues had to refer to the four operations in order for it to be solved.

Next, learners are looking forward to exploring fractions, decimals and percentages.  The learners will also continue to progress through the numerical acumen challenge which they started this term.

During Term One, our Year 6 learners have been growing into confident and capable mathematicians. They have been using investigative approaches to problem solve throughout Maths.

Learners have used various strategies to explore the Number strand, identifying and understanding Prime and Composite Numbers, Square and Triangular Numbers, Segmented Bar Charts and Timetables. 

They have been exploring mental, written and digital technology strategies when using the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Their confidence has grown in choosing which operation to use and using large multi-digit numbers. They have also been self-assessing their mathematical progress and becoming independent in choosing where to start and how to further extend themselves. 

Next term, the focus will be on fractions, using the four operations: addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.

We gathered as a school community to recognise the beginning of Holy Week with our Palm Sunday celebration. 

‘When the crowds of people saw Jesus, they lay their cloaks on the road.  Others cut down palm leaves as a sign of respect. They cheered, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise be to God.”’

Our Year 5 learners respectfully led us in this important reflection.  Thank you to Mr Mifsud for his music coordination and the Primary Years Choir for performing.  Thank you to Mr Ellul for organising this event in our Plaza.  Finally, thank you to the parents who joined us.

On Tuesday 28 March, nearly 40 learners represented McAuley at the South Australian Catholic Primary School Sports Association Section 2 Swimming Carnival at the George Bolton Swimming Centre, Burnside.

Everyone swam to the best of their ability in the events and relays with McAuley finishing a close second in both the Boys and Girls overall competitions.  Congratulations to the Year 5 Girls, Year 2 Boys and Year 6 Boys for winning their Age Champion Categories.

Special congratulations to Sam West (Year 6) and Lewis McMillan (Year 3) for being awarded Individual Champion for their year level.  Bravo!

We are very grateful to the 50 learners that trialled for the McAuley Swimming Team which is almost double the entries of last year.  Well done for participating.

Thank you to PE Educator, Mr Tom Siinmaa and Sports Administrator, Mr Ben Currie for coordinating this opportunity.  Thank you also to our parent volunteers for their sense of humour and enthusiasm on the day.

As we prepare for Holy Week, learners have been thinking of others in our community.

Thanks to parent Mrs Rikki-Lee Belperio, our Year 4 learners decorated home-made Easter biscuits for distribution in the city by Fred’s Van volunteers.  Year 1 made bright Easter cards to go with the biscuits.

To support our local Parish of St Joseph’s Brighton, our Year 2 learners made Easter cards for residents of nursing homes our parishioners visit.  Easter bookmarks were made by learners in McAuley’s Out of School Hours Care as a thank you to parishioners.

Year 6 designed Easter placemats for residents of the Calvary Aged Care Centre and Mercy Sisters & Associates.

Our thanks to Mrs Emmy Smyk, School Chaplain and Mercy Associate for her charitable guidance.

At McAuley, we value the partnership we share with our families and recognise the strength that comes with working together. Giving voice to this partnership is the McAuley Community School Board.

Our School Chair, Mrs Cherise Round joined the Interim Board in 2020 and was elected to Chair in 2021.

“As a first time school mum, I was keen to develop an understanding and appreciation of the matters relevant to the school’s governance. I am honoured to have chaired the Board since 2021 and enjoy having an active role in contributing towards the best outcomes for learners, educators and our McAuley community.”

On Thursday 4 May at 6:30pm, our Annual General Meeting will be held in the Year 5 Neighbourhood.  We invite parents and carers to attend and ask for you to kindly RSVP via the eForm on Skoolbag.  Or call our Front Office for assistance on 8397 6450.

If you would like to nominate to be a School Board member, we ask that the 2023 School Board Nomination eForm is completed by Tuesday 11 April.  This form is also available on SkoolBag.