Assistant Principals’ News

Reading Comprehension and Life Long Learning
This year a priority across the school is to further develop skills in Reading Comprehension. Comprehending and understanding what we are reading is an important skill that is crucial for learning every day at school. The ability to successfully comprehend what we are reading is also an essential skill for life – long after we leave school!

In the workshop we will:

• look at Reading and Comprehension
• explore why Reading Comprehension is vital for all students – both at school and for life
• find out what Reading Comprehension ‘looks like’ in the classroom across various year levels from classes in the early years through to classes in upper primary
• discover why Reading Comprehension is an important skill that is needed in all learning areas

To learn more about the importance of Reading Comprehension. Infant Jesus School Staff will be providing some information during a workshop on Wednesday 12 June 2019 commencing at 6.30pm. Please use the link below to register your attendance. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Iy-FxTM2KU-zhlHaU-NeI2_eQieF-KhGs26VsZBufqFUMlBaSVZXUU5LVkIyRUc3SkpLSzFXWjRQUi4u

Comprehension
Advertisements and reading between the lines
Advertisements and signs can be used to further develop literal, inferential and evaluative comprehension skills. They are designed to inform and persuade the reader and are often seen on brochures, magazines, billboards or even on television.

At home find an advertisement and ask some of the following questions:

• how does this advertisement capture our attention? 
• what product or service is the ad promoting? 
• what words and images are the advertisers using to persuade us to buy? For example School Book Club.

Encourage your child to think about what catches people’s attention, and the words they use to influence people to buy a product. Remind them that ads can be very persuasive!

During this activity your child will be finding the meaning in the text or the picture on the advertisements and signs and will further develop an understanding of some of the techniques used to influence readers.

Mathematics
Helping students understand and apply Mathematics knowledge and skills is a collective responsibility of parents, teachers and principals. Students need to learn Mathematics in a way that will serve them throughout their lives. Understanding Mathematics can provide our students with many job and career opportunities. This is why students need to know why Mathematics works the way it does, how to use it with confidence and competence when solving problems.

Solve Everyday ProblemsInvolve your child in using numbers to solve problems and make everyday decisions. You might ask the following:

• “We need six tomatoes to make our sauce for dinner, and we have only two. How many more do we need to buy?”
• “You have two pillows in your room and your sister has two pillows in her room. How many pillowcases do I need to wash?”
• “Two guests are coming to eat dinner with us. How many plates will we need? How many utensils?”

More challenging situations might involve adding or subtracting larger numbers, or situations in which your child has to add or subtract more than once to solve the problem.

 

 

 

Year 1-2 Question
At the show, Jane’s 16 year old brother had to pay full price, but Jane only paid half price. 
How much did Jane’s brother pay, if Jane paid $4.50?

Year 3-4 Question
Steven read 9 books each month. 
He read the same number of books each month for six months.
How many books did Steven read in total?

Year 5-6 Question
Bernard was going on a 4.2 km bushwalk. He needs 1.2 litres of water for every 1.4 kilometres he walks. He only has 600 mL water bottles. How many water bottles will he need to take to make sure he has enough water for his walk?

Please add your answers to the boxes in the Library.  

Grandparents Day
On Friday 14 June we will recognise the special gift of our grandparents. The morning will commence with a gathering in the hall at 8.45am which will be followed by classroom visits. Grandparents will be able to see the children’s wonderful work, read with them and share some of their stories about school ‘in the olden days’. There will also be a morning tea in the hall at 10.15am. 

For catering purposes please ensure you have added your name and details on the form.  Click on this link

Occupational Therapy Night
Last week a small group of parents attended a presentation by two Occupational Therapists from Therapy Focus. This was a very informative presentation, particularly for parents of children in Kindy, Pre-Primary and Year 1.

Key aspects of the workshop included:

• information about the development of fine and gross motor skills from birth
• skills expected at each age prior to coming to school and in the early years of school.
• ‘red flags’ to be aware of and observe as these may signify that fine and gross motor skills and milestones have not been achieved and could therefore impact on learning.
• the many and complex aspects of early development that need to be integrated to attain proficiency in both fine and gross motor skills including tone, motor planning, muscle strength, co-ordination and cognition.
• recognising that fine motor skills are essential for achieving independence in everyday skills and also support a healthy self-esteem and academic performance.
• the importance of bilateral integration (using both sides of the body simultaneously) and crossing the midline.
• highlighting the impact of gross and fine motor skills on the many aspects of learning, including handwriting.

Information and recommendations from the World Health Organisation regarding daily physical activity, sedentary screen time and good quality sleep for children under five years of age were also shared during the presentation.

These recommendations advise that replacing restrained or sedentary screen time with more moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, while preserving sufficient sleep, can provide additional health benefits.

More information is included in the flyer attached Click on this link

The therapists also answered many questions, shared and provided a range of fine and gross motor activities, resources, ideas and strategies for each stage of development. Participants were provided with ideas that could be used both at home and at school to support ongoing gross and fine motor development in the early years.

SEQTA
Educational research shows that parental involvement and encouragement plays a significant role in a student’s success in school.

For parents to be actively involved they need up to date information on their child’s schooling. SEQTA Engage provides this information with one click of a mouse! SEQTA Engage is a web portal, allowing parents and students to log on to the Infant Jesus School’s Learning Management System (SEQTA), at any time and on any device. 

How to reset a forgotten password:

1. Go to the Infant Jesus School Website homepage – http://www.infantjesus.wa.edu.au and choose the SEQTA Engage tab at the bottom left hand corner.
2. From the SEQTA Engage login page, click the Forgot your password?
3. Enter in your email address. If SEQTA has an account associated with this email address, it will send you further information to assist in accessing your account.
4. Then click reset my password.
5. If your username and email address are correct and if SEQTA can find an account with those details, you will receive an email directly from SEQTA with further instructions.
6. Please go to your email to retrieve instructions on how to reset your password.

Follow the link in the email to reset your password. The link is only active for ONE HOUR

If you need any further assistance with this, please contact the school for further information.

Parking Around the School
A reminder to all parents that all the car bays in the car park entered from Russell Street and exited to Lovegrove Place are for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Pre-Primary parents and carers who have a ‘parking permit’. These families are provided with close access to the Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Pre-Primary classrooms as the parents and carers need to wait with the children in the morning and collect them from the class in the afternoon.

To ensure that safety is maintained parents who do not have a permit are reminded to park in another area which includes the Church carpark and the carpark off Lovegrove Place. Both school drive throughs also provide excellent and very close access to the school during the morning and the afternoon. In the morning teachers supervise children from 8.00am and in the afternoon teachers supervise children at both drive throughs until 3.20pm.