Dear St John the Apostle families,

As we approach Week 10 of Term 3, we are looking forward to celebrating the achievements of our students.

On Monday afternoon we will send a presentation of our End of Term Awards out on the SZapp and I will go into each class and present the recipients with their awards. These awards are for students who have displayed Academic Excellence, Discipleship and Consistent Effort over the course of the term. On the last day of term, we will invite all students who have received 20 or more brag tag recognition stickers this term to a celebration session.

Welcome

Welcome to our new students this term. Welcome to Aideen (Year 5), Josie (Year 1), Mia (Year 4), Sophie (Kindergarten), Thomas (Year 5) and Lachlan (Year 1.) We have a few more new students starting soon as well. Welcome to all of your families. Thank you for choosing to be part of our school.

I would also like to welcome Lachlan (Locky) Smith and Lily Kennelly to our Inclusion Team. They will be working in our community as Inclusion Assistants on Monday, Thursday and Fridays. We are very lucky to have you as part of our Inclusion Team and we know you will contribute to all of the wonderful students at our school.

School Uniform, Term 4

We do have a Uniform Policy at St John the Apostle and we provide an opportunity for families to access new and second hand uniform items to ensure that wearing the uniform is easy. As Term 4 is coming I would remind everyone to look at their child's summer uniform and see whether some items need to be replaced since the beginning of this year.

Please make orders through the Qkr app or email the Clothing Pool at stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com

URFab

Next term the URFab team will begin working with our school to run a program with Year 1 and 2 students about understanding and responding effectively to feelings and related behaviours.

Just a Reminder

It is so important for children to have the opportunity to read books at home. Below are some strategies to help with reading at home that Mel Taylor (Year One Teacher) has created. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher for further strategies to support reading with your child at home.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Rebekah Brown (Acting Principal)

Strategies To Help With Reading At Home

For some kids, reading is like doing the hokey pokey upside down, underwater, in a clown suit. It’s freakishly hard. And not at all fun. So it’s our job – as the ingenious teachers and parents that we are – to sell it. And we can. We can help make reading fun.

​Book Orientation

Before you start reading with your child, take two to three minutes to discuss the book. It is important that the child holds the book. By having this initial conversation, you are setting your child up for success. You are putting into place the necessary support for your child to read with confidence.

Before opening the book or looking at the words:

• Look at the picture on the front cover and ask, “What do you think the story will be about?”
• Look at the pictures on each of the following pages and ask questions like:

“What can you see?”

“What is happening in that picture?”

“What do you think will happen next?”

“Why do you think that will happen?”

• Along the way tell your child the names of the characters in the story. For example point to the people and say, “this is Emma” or “the boy’s name is Matthew”
• Talk about the pictures using ‘key words’ from the story
• Talk about experiences that you and your family have had that are similar to the story because this will help you child to bring meaning to what they are reading.

If the book is difficult, read it to your child first, read it together and then let your child read it to you independently. This is OK !!

Strategies that take away the stress of reading at home

Echo reading

The adult reads a sentence, paragraph or page first. The child rereads (echoes) the sentence, paragraph or page back. Continue in this way to complete the book. Echo reading eliminates the frustration and anxiety that is too often associated with reading aloud.

By “echoing” your reading, the child has an opportunity to sound like a fluent reader. This is important in building a child’s sense of what it feels like and sounds like to be a good reader. Your child can feel confident, relaxed and will enjoy the experience. There is no loss of comprehension and together you can have fun reading the story. Echo reading allows you to model good reading. When you make a mistake, share the experience. This gives the child an opportunity to understand that all readers make errors and self-correct.

Shared reading

Negotiate with the child to take turns in reading. You could take turns reading a sentence, paragraph or page depending on the book. With shared reading, when the child comes to an unfamiliar word, he/she will hear you read it correctly and will self correct next time the word appears.

Shared reading ensures that comprehension is maintained. Any meaning that is lost when the child reads is restored when you read the next sentence, paragraph or page. Shared reading eliminates the frustration of reading together because you are modelling good reading and fixing any misunderstandings or mispronunciations the child may experience during his/her turn at reading.

Neurological Impress Method (NIM)

Read a story out loud while the child reads aloud with you. The child will "mimic" the words behind you. Track the reading with your finger so your child can keep up. The child mimics your reading and by tracking, you are directing the child to where you are reading.

Avoid pointing to individual words – instead, move your finger under the line of text in a fluid movement. Read at your normal reading pace. When using NIM, the child has an opportunity to sound like a fluent reader. This is important in building a child’s sense of what it feels like and sounds like to be a good reader. Your child can feel confident and relaxed while enjoying the experience.

After reading:

• Understanding what they have read is an important aspect of reading. After reading ask your child questions about the story (encourage them to ask you questions as well):

“What happened at the beginning of the story?”

“Who (went with mum to the shops)?”

“Why do you think . . . ?”

“What happened after . . . ?”

“When did the story take place?”

“How (did the children get to the park)?”

Praise

Give praise after the reading. Remember to praise the reading not the reader. You are reinforcing good reading habits when you respond with:

• I liked the way you read ahead.
• I like the way you worked out that word by using the clues in the sentence.
• I liked how you self corrected when you read the word incorrectly.
• I liked how you did not stop and get worried about that word. You kept on reading to gather more clues.

What else could you do to make reading fun?

• Play games like “I Spy” (I spy with my little eye a word beginning with ‘s’) or “Mystery Word” (My word has 4 letters and begins with ‘b’, ends with ‘k’, rhymes with look)
• Encourage your child to reread the book with older or younger siblings, a grandparent etc.
• Start a tradition of “reading chocolate.” Grown-ups nibble chocolate while we read, so why not kids? Make it for your scheduled reading time only.
• Help readers celebrate their skills by reading to a younger child, pets or even stuffed animals.
• Stop reading aloud at an exciting part. Your child will want to finish the book on their own.
• Kids love to voice opinions. After a book, do a simple thumbs-up, down, or in between. Also ask, “Would you change the story at all? What should happen next?”
• Show pre-readers how to recognise a particular letter or simple word like Have them find the word in magazines, newspapers or other books.
• Keep reading fun!