Term One Dates

Catalyst at St Matthew’s Primary School

Catalyst encompasses the teaching and learning approach of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn. Informed by the Science of Learning and Science of Reading, Catalyst delivers excellent learning experiences for students through evidence-based teaching practice and high-quality resources. The approach has been developed to provide your child with the very best opportunity to learn and thrive in a positive, safe, and supportive environment. Catalyst also places a strong focus on literacy, providing intervention programs and shared literacy curriculum resources for all year levels.

Through this approach, which is based on global research on the way students learn best, children will benefit from –

• High expectations for learning
• Equal opportunity classrooms
• A focus on learning
• Impactful teaching practice
• Increased knowledge-building engagement in learning
• Improved retrieval of learnt content

St Matthew’s has a practical and evidence-based approach to teaching and learning, providing the education our students and families deserve. We deliver excellent learning experiences by focusing on quality learning materials, impactful lessons, and best-practice assessments. 

For K-2 Students

St Matthew’s implements an approach known as Systematic Synthetics Phonics, which will inform the way we teach our youngest learners to read and grow into great readers. This learning program is designed to teach children to read based on the sounds letters and letter combinations make, later bringing in learned vocabulary (words they know) and comprehension (words they understand the meaning of). These programs are designed to be taught sequentially and step-by-step.

For All Students

St Matthew’s implements evidence-based teaching practice, meaning every student in every classroom is provided with highly impactful lessons that improve learning outcomes. This teaching practice is relevant to all year groups and subjects and is contextualised with relevant learning materials and complexity.

How do I support my child at home?

Parents are encouraged to discuss with their teacher how they can best support their child’s learning at home. This will change depending on each child’s age and teaching approach, but will typically include:

• Reading with your child daily - Encourage daily reading and help them explain what they learnt or enjoyed in the book. For younger children, ask them to read aloud at least four times per week.
• Share learnings - Encourage your child to talk about a topic, idea, or skill they have learnt at school and ask detailed questions
• Build vocabulary - Help your child learn new words by using tricky and complex words, explaining what they mean and how they can use them.
• Ask your child's teacher - Your child’s teacher can provide specific support and advice for learning at home.

At St Matthew’s, we have a comprehensive approach to behaviour management that aims to create a positive and supportive learning environment. The goal is to foster a sense of responsibility, respect, and cooperation among students while addressing and preventing disruptive behaviours.

At St Matthew’s, we focus on:

Clear Expectations and Rules:

Establishing clear and consistent expectations for behaviour helps set the tone for a positive school environment. Rules are communicated clearly to all students, teachers, and staff.

The school rules revolve around four basic premises:

Lead - we lead by caring for ourselves, for others and for our environment

Listen - we listen to and follow instructions

Learn - We allow teachers to teach and students to learn

Safety - we keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves

Positive Reinforcement:

Encouraging and recognizing positive behaviours through praise, rewards, or other reinforcement forms helps motivate students to maintain good conduct. This positive reinforcement approach focuses on acknowledging and rewarding desired behaviours. We will use our St Matthew’s badges again this year, along with awards that will be presented to students at our Awards Assemblies. 

Consequences for Inappropriate Behaviour:

Clearly defined consequences for inappropriate behaviour provide a framework for addressing breakdowns in behaviours. Consequences will always be fair, consistent, and age-appropriate. They may include warnings, loss of privileges, time off the playground for intentional physical harm or more severe measures depending on the severity and frequency of the behaviour.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL):

Integrating social-emotional learning into the curriculum helps students develop self-awareness, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills. SEL programs contribute to creating a positive and inclusive school culture. At St Matthew’s, students will participate in “Friendolody” lessons each semester. 

A warm welcome to our parents, students and staff at St Matthew’s Primary School for 2024. A special acknowledgement to our Kinder class and new families to our school this year. 

At St Matthew’s, we aim to nurture the growth of our students’ minds and hearts. We are able to do this by modelling our actions from Jesus, which aligns with our school motto of ‘Listen, Learn and Lead’. We focus on these values through our rules, expectations and culture. 

The Archbishop declared the liturgical year to be the year of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to embrace our connection with God through His spirit. In line with this, our theme at school this year will be ‘Encountering the Power of the Holy Spirit’. We will explore what the Holy Spirit is and how we can use the Spirit to enhance our lives.

The chosen scripture for our theme comes from Acts 1:8; ‘When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power’. Throughout the bible, there are references to this power, which comes in the form of gifts to enrich our lives and help us to follow Jesus’ mission. Each term, we will focus on a different gift: Understanding, Wisdom, Right Judgement, and Courage. 

Our Welcome Back Prayer Celebration will be held tomorrow, 9 February, at 9.00 am and will begin the exploration of the gift of understanding. We hope you can join us. 

We would also like to share how the Holy Spirit has touched our students' lives. Over the holidays, one of our Year 3 students celebrated his Baptism in his family's country Parish. We wish him and his family all the best on his new spiritual journey.

I am looking forward to the year ahead with the opportunity to meet and connect with our wonderful community here at St Matthew’s.

    

It’s no secret that regular reading has stacks of benefits for your child’s growing mind: development of literacy, imagination, focus, social and communication skills, just to name a few. Your child will be carrying books home constantly – that’s where a great kids’ library bag comes in.

A dedicated library bag or satchel keeps your child’s borrowed reads safe and separate from their other belongings whilst travelling to and from school – it’s an important item in their school bag! A library bag needs to be hard-wearing, so seek out something well-made with strong materials, as well as one that is waterproof. This helps to keep books protected from drink bottles and food items in school bags.

If your child does not already own a library bag, please purchase one ASAP. Waterproof library bags can be purchased from shops such as Officeworks (see here), Best & Less (see here), or Kmart (see here). You can also order personalised ones from various online stores. 

Thank you for helping to ensure your child has their named library bag ready for each library lesson!

Thank you!

The best gift any parent can give a child is the love of books and the joy and benefits of independent reading for fun. Children who read at home or are read to have a head start on reading success in school.

Our school is participating in the Scholastic Book Club this year. Up to twice a term during the school year, I will send home a Club catalogue with a different selection of books offered for all ages.

You’ll find award-winning books, bestsellers, and old and new favourites. I recommend them because the books span a wide range of children’s reading levels and interests and because they are inexpensive (some books cost as little as $2).

It is easy to order. The Book Club LOOP platform for parents allows you to pay by credit card. Your child’s order is submitted directly to the school safely and soundly. You can place your child’s order at https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx or using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

You should already have the first Scholastic Book Club catalogue for this year. The orders for this catalogue are due on Wednesday, February 14th. Orders generally take around two weeks to be sent out to schools and will be delivered to your child’s classroom when they arrive. If you have nominated your order to be a gift, we will contact you to let you know when you can collect it from the Front Office.

Each order helps earn free books and teaching materials for our classroom; however, there is never any obligation to order. I know no better way to encourage reading than to allow children to choose the books they want.

Sincerely,

Sally Judd

My name is Jo, and I am happy to be back as the School Counsellor at St Matthew's in 2024.

I have a psychology and counselling background and a great passion for working with young people. I feel it is a great privilege to be able to support them with their growth, emotions, relationships, and any other concerns they might be experiencing.

The school counselling program is a first port of call in supporting and addressing your child’s mental well-being within the school environment. I can provide short-term counselling to your child and provide you with some support and guidance in accessing external services if required.

Feel free to touch base with any questions or concerns relating to the counselling service at your school; I’m happy to chat through the program and the support I can offer in this role. I am at the school on a Wednesday and Thursday each week.

If you would like to make a referral for your child, please use the link below to access the form – once the referral has been put through, I will be in touch as soon as possible.

https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

I look forward to working with you and your school throughout 2024!