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Dear Parents,
Please find some information regarding class structures for the 2025 school year. This information was presented to school staff on Tuesday and then shared with the Community Council at Wednesday’s meeting.
Multi-Age Classes at St Mary’s
In recent years students enrolled at St Mary's have been placed in single grade classes. Prior to that there has been a history of having multi-age classes where students from at least two grades make up one class. In St Mary’s history, the school has moved between the two structures and like we do now, have both in operation at the same time.
Multi-age classes are common across Australia and NSW particularly in rural schools. Some schools adopt a multi-age approach for philosophical reasons while others do it to provide greater flexibility for enrolments. At St Mary’s our decision is driven by both.
Multi-age classes provide a greater flexibility when it comes to grouping students. Instead of allocating students across one or two classes we have the choice to allocate students to one of three classes. This allows students to develop friendships with a greater number of students. It allows our older students to demonstrate leadership to their younger classmates and it allows our teachers to work as part of a team rather than in isolation.
This year we have continued with our Year 1/Year 2 multi-age class that ran in 2023 and we also commenced three multi-age classes in Year 3 & 4.
It is not viable for Catholic Education to staff the running of multiple classes with small numbers and so in Stage 2 we moved from 4 classes to 3. This aligns well when planning the curriculum as the NSW syllabus is constructed in Stages not years, from Kindergarten to Year 12 to allow schools flexibility. In 2024 our average class size across the school is just over 19.
2025 Class Structures
Next year St Mary’s will continue to roll out multi-age classes across the school, building on changes already implemented in recent years for Stage 1 and Stage 2 that were mentioned previously. We will continue our policy of preserving two small Kindergarten classes in 2025 and into the future.
In Year One/Year Two we will move from one multi-age class to three. This will align it with the three current Year 3/Year 4 multi-age classes which are continuing in 2025. Students from Year 5 and Year 6 will also be allocated to one of three Year 5/Year 6 multi-age classes. This decision may cause some angst among parents, especially those who have children going into Year Six, wishing to understand if it will impact the usual “rights of passage” in their final year of primary school. We assure you that staging will not impact the special events that are a part of their final primary school year. Schools who have implemented staging have not seen a diminishing in the richness of school life for any of their students.
Moving to multi-age classes in 2025 across the school with the exception of Kindergarten we see an average class size of just over 20 students per class.
Several large scale studies have looked at the impact of multi-age classes on academic achievement of students. In a recent book ‘Visible Learning: The Sequel’ released by world renowned educational researcher, John Hattie he states the average effect size across three meta-analyses he examined was -0.02: and as he states it makes no difference. However there is a lot of literature saying that the social benefits are most obvious for the younger students in a multi-age class.
As with all classes, the effectiveness of student learning rests with the class teacher and the strategies they employ, the passion they have and more importantly the relationships they have with their students. As a school we have been working along with all other schools in our system on High Impact Teaching Practices based on the science of learning to make our teachers more skilled and knowledgeable than they already are. I am currently working on staffing for 2025 and hope to have this completed by early Term Four when I will be in a position to share it with parents.
I will be facilitating several parent evenings to answer any questions parents may have about the structures for 2025. The first of these will be held on Tuesday 10th September at 6pm in the school library.
Reminders
Parents are reminded that Interim Reports for Semester Two will be available for them to view on Compass from this afternoon.
A final reminder that 3 Way Conferences involving the child, the teacher and parents take place next Wednesday. I ask all families to take this opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher. Bookings can be made via Compass and if you are having trouble please contact the front office.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL WINTER APPEAL
Today, as part of our Vinnies Winter Appeal, St. Mary’s staff and students wore beanies and brought in a gold coin donation.
Thank you to all those who participated today and supported families in need in our local community. Together, we raised $280.00!
FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
On Monday, we celebrated the Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary, during our whole school prayer time. Each class received a ‘Hail Mary’ prayer card to take back to their classroom’s prayer table and use in their daily prayer times. August 15th, is a special day where we remember Mary being lifted straight to Heaven by God.
ALTAR SERVERS
Thank you to the many students who expressed an interest in Altar Serving. All notes are due to Ms Murray by Monday August 19th.
Trent Barrett Legends Gala Day
A big well done to our small squad of Year 3 & 4 students who headed over to Harden to participate in a great day of tackle football and league tag. Thank you to Mrs Rumble, Mrs Terry and Mrs Dal Molin for attending the day. We thank Mr Brendan Croese from Hennessy for lending us nine of his sports coaching students who were amazing all day and were exemplary role models for our kids. A great day once again organised by the NRL.
Young League Stars Tag Gala Day - K-2
It is time for our infant students to have their turn to attend a NRL gala day!!!!! On Thursday 5th September students from Kindergarten to Year 2 will have the opportunity to go to Keith Cullen Oval from 10am to 12.30 to participate in league tag games. The day is for all students regardless of experience to come along and have some fun. If your child would like to participate please complete the online permission on Compass. It can be found in the events section. The permissions for this event will close on Wednesday 21st August so please opt in for your child before then!
MacKillop Girl’s Rugby 7s
Congratulations to Chloe Buck for her selection in the MacKillop Girl’s Rugby 7s Team on Wednesday in Sydney. The competition was very tough and it is a tremendous achievement for her. Well done Chloe!
Boorowa Touch and Netball Carnival
Our current teams are:
Touch Football
Yr 2 - full
Yr 3 - 2 spaces
Yr 4 - 2 spaces otherwise we can not field a second team. This means only one team entered with too many reserves which impacts on game time for the players.
Yr 5 - 2 spaces otherwise we can not field a second team. This means only one team entered with too many reserves which impacts on game time for the players.
Yr 6 - 1 space
Netball
Yr 2 - 4 spaces needed otherwise we will not be able to field a team.
Yr 3/4 - 1 space
Yr 5 - 2 spaces
Yr 6 - Full
Please email me before Monday if your child would like to fill one of the above spaces as this is the last day I can enter the teams with the organisers.
leonne.challen@cg.catholic.edu.au
BOOK CHARACTER PARADE
We will be celebrating our love of books and reading at St Mary's Primary School on Friday 6th September. Students from Kinder to Year 6 are invited to come to school dressed as a storybook character. Costumes must be warm, suitable for outdoor play and include appropriate footwear. Parents and friends are invited to attend our Book Character Parade at 12:30pm on Friday, 6th September.
PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE
Roarsome Midterm Meal Deal
Friday August 23rd 2024
Dino Nuggets, juice popper and treat
$6.00
Gluten free and vegetarian option available.
Your children have brought home the flyer for the term 3 midterm meal deal today.
You can either return the flyer with payment to the canteen by Wednesday the 21st or order on flexischools by Wednesday the 21st at 11 am.
This term we put the meal deals to a vote asking the children to select their favourite option from 3 choices (Dino Nuggets, Spaghetti and Garlic bread or Cheesymite Scrolls)
Dino nuggets was the top choice by a very narrow margin of 1 vote! Coming in 2nd was Spaghetti with garlic bread which will be our end of term meal deal on the last day of term 3.
This term 3/4S have been researching other countries who have competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics. We have found out so many different facts about countries and the Olympics. We have loved following the success of the Australian team and changing our medal tally everyday. We can’t wait for the Paralympics to start, so we can follow their achievements and stories too. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR LIBRARY
This term Kindergarten students have been exploring the nonfiction section of our library. We have been learning about reptiles and the many interesting animals that are part of the reptile family, like crocodiles, snakes, lizards and turtles. Reading and writing about these creatures will be the focus of our library lessons in Term 3.
WEEK 5
Wednesday 21th August
- Parent Teacher Student 3-Way Conferences
WEEK 6
Tuesday 27th August
- Achdiocesan Athletics
Friday 30th August
- Father's Day Breakfast
-
2pm Assembly - 3/4R Class item
SAVE THE DATES
Friday 6th September
- Meerkat Performance
-
12:30pm Book Character Parade - K to 6
Saturday 7th September
- Community Council Bunnings BBQ
Monday 9th September
- Archdiocesan Public Speaking Finals - Batemans Bay
Tuesday 10th September
- 9am Whole School Mass - St Mary's Catholic Church
- Multi-age Classes in 2025-Parent Information 6pm in the School Library.
Thursday 12th September
- Student Disco
Friday 20th September
- 8:50am to 10:50am - Kindergarten Orientation Session #1
Saturday 21st September
- Men & Ladies of St Mary's - Combined Event @ Bulla Creek
Wednesday 25th September
- Yr5 & Yr6 Boys to the Bush Community Engagement Day
- MacKillop Athletics
Thursday 26th September
- Mission Day Fair
- Last Day for Term 3 for all students