Dear St John's families,

Happy World Teacher's Day to all of our wonderful teachers and staff at St John the Apostle. We have such a warm and friendly group of teachers. Their creativity, generosity and keen interest in supporting their students' learning is evident every day. A perfect example is the Teddy Bear's Picnic organised for Kindergarten & Year 1 students and families today. We're very fortunate to have the teachers we do at St John the Apostle. Thank you to our teachers for all of the amazing work.

Learning to read requires learning about the world

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to a professional learning day for all Principals across our system. It was part of the three year Catholic Education Catalyst professional learning program focusing on improving the reading competency of every  student in every school and supporting teachers to implement High Impact Teaching Practices in every classroom.

The main speaker was Professor Pamela Snow. Professor Snow's session was about the most effective method of teaching reading during the early years, with a particular focus on supporting students to build their knowledge of the world and their vocabulary so they can read and understand many more texts than they already do.

I have no doubt that if you tried to read an article in the medical journal Pediatric Pulomonology you would understand it as much as I would. Unless you were a nurse, doctor or researcher in the field, and you had a deeper knowledge of the human body, you would have the most basic understanding of what they were talking about. So would I. Knowledge is key here to understanding what we read. But I suspect you and I would not be reading an article in this journal anyway, without a purpose.

It's absolutely true that learning phonics and decoding is essential to becoming a skilled reader. But equally essential is the development of knowledge about the world, about literature, about language. Not only must students decipher the letters and words on the page, they must know the topic, the meanings of words on pages and the way the author puts words together (e.g. metaphors and similes) to create meaning. Only then will they have the fullest understanding of what they are reading.

Have you ever read a book as a child and then re-read it much later only to have a very different experience of reading it? The Harry Potter series is an example of this. I have seen students in Year 2, who have developed very good phonics and decoding skills, pick up and read the first book in the series, excited because they can. It's almost an opportunity to celebrate their newly developed decoding skills. They feel empowered.

Later, in Year 5, they pick the same book up and read it again. Not only do they read it faster, they also comment about parts of the book they never realised or understood the first time around. They understand much more about the characters motives or the sarcasm that is used by Harry or the place in England where an event occurs. It is a whole new and enjoyable experience because they have read so many more texts and understand more fully how authors write, they've developed a more sophisticated humour themselves and they have learnt a lot more about England through television shows or other books.

Once students have enough decoding skills and knowledge under their belt to help them become more independent as a reader, it is is knowledge about the world, language and literature that will propel them forward in becoming very skilled and successful readers, and this aspect of being a successful reader can grow for the remainder of our lives.

So what can you do to help your child become a skilled reader? 

In the early years, support our work at school with building their knowledge and skills in decoding, helping them recognise and interpret the letters and combinations of letters on the page. Throughout their journey you can also have an enormous impact on their reading when you :

• read aloud to them, so they hear how how our written language sounds and is used, it will help them recognise it in their own reading;
• support their willingness to try books that are a little more challenging. It will stretch their skills and knowledge. It's also okay to let them put a book down because it is hard and say "This is a next year book. I'll be ready for it soon".
• encourage their curiosity about the world and how it works. If they ask questions, answer them or help them find the answers. At some point in the future they will use this knowledge to really understand a story they will be reading.
• talk to them about family, local and world events. Again, the knowledge they learn will support them in reading new and interesting fiction and non fiction texts.
• encourage the development of a broad vocabulary. Try not to 'dumb down' words for them. Use accurate words about topics, feelings, experiences. Using them in our conversations helps them learn their meaning and when they encounter them in their reading they will have a better understanding of the text.

I hope you can see that the small things you have been doing every day have an enormously positive impact on your child's reading development, well past the early years of school. Thank you for working together with us to help your child become a powerful reader.

Supporting Positive Behaviour in Children

Thank you to the Community Council for providing the opportunity for an Open Forum with Ian Luscombe on Wednesday evening. Thank you for the wine, tea, coffee and nibbles. Thank you to everyone who came and engaged in the fruitful conversation.

Ian's ability to help parents understand what is happening when their child is pushing the boundaries with their behaviour at home is exceptional and his practical advice is challenging but effective. We received a lot of very good feedback afterwards and we will hold another parent session with Ian early next year.

Reminder: Last day of term

In the letter at the following link the Director of Catholic Education for Canberra and Goulburn, Mr Ross Fox, has written to school communities to advise about a pupil free day on the last day of term. Please follow the link to understand why this has been determined.

Letter to School Communities from the Director

Following this communication, on Friday 16 December there will be a pupil free, staff development day. This day will allow our staff to be involved in finalising all administrative requirements for their current class and to prepare for new curriculum initiatives beginning in 2023 that will benefit all the students at our school.

The last day of term for students is Thursday 15 December.

Have a lovely weekend.

Matthew Garton

Principal