👋 Ciao, Hola, Bonjour, Halo, Kon'nichiwa. This term we held our first ever Lanuage Expo. Our Year 5 & 6 students were asked to pick a non English speaking country of their choice and researched many different aspects on their chosen country. They presented their projects which included many props, costumes and food. The evening was great success and the positive feedback and support from our amazing school community was much appreciated by our team and students. 🙏
This year we have introduced InitiaLit, an evidence-based whole-class literacy program that provides all children in our Reception to Year 2 classes with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. It is a 3-year program for our Reception to Year 2 students, that incorporates a synthetic approach to the teaching of phonics in a fun and engaging way. Read more.
In line with our sustainability school value, we are excited to introduce this inspiring and fun program founded by Stephanie Alexander AO, one of Australia’s most recognised cooks, food educators and authors in 2004. The purpose is to educate children and young people about fresh, seasonal, delicious food so they form positive food habits for life, as well as build the skills to help them be more hands on in the food production process. We can also see this program having a positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of our students, as they build resilience when trying new things, work collaboratively and enjoy sharing in experiences with their peers.
Click here for more information about the benefits of the program and how it links to our learning curriculum.
We acknowledge the assistance from Blair Boyer, Minister for Education, Training and Skills for securing funding to support this initiative.
The joy of Christmas giving warms our hearts. Our families have generously donated items for this year's Vinnies Christmas Appeal. All the delicious goodies filled up the car as they were collected last week. These food hampers will make a difference to many families this Christmas.
On Wednesday the 6th of September the Year 6s had an excursion to Adelaide Oval, the Museum, and Parliament House.
We first went to Adelaide Oval and met our tour guides. During the tour we saw many incredible things including the changerooms, scoreboard, the coaches debrief room and much more. Our favourite part of the oval was when we ran up the players slope and a crowd (fake crowd) cheered us on.
Next, we walked to the SA Museum. We were split up into 3 groups and viewed the Museum’s exhibits, ranging from the Giant Squid, animals, and Sir Douglas Mawson exhibit.
After that we walked to Parliament House and our tour guide was Member for Heysen, Josh Teague. We got to see the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council. Josh taught us about the different levels of Parliament, and the various roles in a debate.
By Alfie, Will, Holly & Adele
On Tuesday the YELP students attended a workshop day at Stirling East Primary School, along with many other YELP students from other schools. The day was full of hands-on environmentally-focused activities which included conducting PH testing of soil samples collected from across our school environment, identifying character strengths of our YELP team, making clay models and studying flora and fauna charts to identify key features of native animals and plants.
Our YELP representatives worked amazingly well as a team and showed excellent leadership skills in communicating their team goals and their learnings from the day.
Recently Swanbury Penglase commissioned professional photos of our new area opened late last year.
The new welcome and wellbeing spaces at St Catherine's School Stirling has completely transformed our beautiful school. Architecture, Interiors and Landscape teams worked together to deliver a new front entry, administration facilities and student breakout space.
The extension compliments the adjacent local heritage listed building, while providing a greater street presence.
A new undercover walkway and landscaping has transformed the previously under-utilised front entry into spaces for learning and school community gatherings.
The internal break-out space provides opportunities for individual and group learning for the school’s students.
Thank you to Ivan Cavuoto from CESA, Nick Grbin, Sarah Oliver and the entire team at Swanbury Penglase and Harrold & Kite Pty Ltd for all their hard work and dedication in challenging building times!
“The impact of these bright and welcoming spaces has been significant in providing students with areas to work one to one or in small groups with an educator.” John Low (Principal)
The project is Stage 2 of the school’s Master Plan supported by a State Capital Grant of $700, 000.
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