Mini Commonwealth Games

On Thursday 19th April as part of our Cross Country event and keeping with our Sports theme for the day, MacKillop will be hosting our own Mini Commonwealth Games. Students in Year 5 have assisted in designing activities and leading in sharing their knowledge, skills and leadership. Please see the current newsletter for the Timetable. Parents are welcome to pop along if they wish. The focus of the Games is to share our Team Spirit through Respect, Engagement and giving our Personal Best. The winning House Team will be announced at the following Monday’s assembly.

Another new tradition that MacKillop has begun this year has been the opportunity for our leaders of our student community to take on the Playtime PALS initiative. The students volunteer one platime a week to lead in playground activities for our Preps and Year 1’s. The students in Year 5 have risen to the challenge and have thoroughly enjoyed taking on these roles. It has not only supported the students in Prep and Year 1, but has enabled all students the opportunity to lead, engage with others, build rapport with our younger students and be a part of a Team in managing the resources, equipment and teach the games. A special thank you to the Year 5 Team for leading in this.

What are High Frequency Words? 
High Frequency Words are the most commonly used words that we read and spell. Words such as the, said and was are examples of high frequency words. The days of the week, colour names and number names are also considered high frequency words.

In the past, students were taught to learn the words by sight. This idea supposed that learning to read these words by sight would help students read increasingly difficult texts more easily. The problem with this theory, is that there are approximately 100-400 words commonly listed as high frequency words. To learn all of these by sight is an unreasonable expectation. Our working memories can only take so much!

How are high frequency words learned at MacKillop?
At MCC students are taught to ‘code’ all words, including the high frequency words. This means that students identify the sounds they hear in the words and how these sounds are represented (spelling choices). In learning the code of the words, students are then able to apply this knowledge and skill to other words that they read and spell.

How do we achieve this? 
High frequency words are presented in code so students can ‘see’ where the different sounds are and how these sounds are represented in each word e.g. in the word was the students can see that there are three sounds and that the second sound is represented by a. This knowledge can also help them identify with words such as swan where the third sound is also represented by a, even though the word swan, is not considered a high frequency word. Instead of just trying to learn all words by memory- an impossible task, students are systematically taught the code and can then apply this knowledge to other words, including new vocabulary.

Spelling and Reading:
Learning the code helps with reading and spelling. It makes sense to learn to read and spell words simultaneously. At MacKillop, students need to demonstrate that they can read high frequency words, identify the sounds in the words (using duck hands, lines and numbers) and write the words so they can use them in both their reading and writing.

This year has seen the start of Before School Care yay! We love seeing our children walk in with bright and happy faces early in the morning. So far we have had a wonderful two weeks of Before School Care and look forward to many more to come. Our children enjoy a yummy, healthy breakfast before heading off to school at 8.15 on the Before School Train. All aboard!!

Operating hours for Before School Care are 6.30am – 8.30am and After School Care from 2.50pm – 6.00pm.

For further information regarding OSH Care please contact Bianca on 0439 312 901 or oshc.mtpeter@catholic.org.au.

Bianca Moloney –  OSHC Coordinator

Tracey McCarthy
Email: pandf.mountpeter@cnsstu.catholic.edu.au 

We are just concluding Catholic Education Week (CEW) activities and celebrations. This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day. The theme for this year’s celebrations is: Opening Doors in the Year of Mercy. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to grow into the people God intended to be as thoughtful, compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of their families and communities. We look back on the excellent tradition we share as a member of the community of Catholic schools across Queensland, and we look forward to the contribution our College is and will make. We were so proud of and pleased for our Year 3 class who joined with students across Cairns for a liturgy of thanksgiving at St Monica’s Cathedral this past Thursday.