We welcome back our students and families to Term 4, it’s hard to believe we are already in October! We have a busy term ahead with many fantastic events and activities to look forward to. Please remember to read Postman Pete and Compass notifications to make sure you have all of the details.

HAVE YOU NOTICED..

ST PETER'S HOSPITALITY MASS THIS SUNDAY

20TH OCTOBER

St Peter’s Hospitality Mass is this Sunday 20th October from 5.00pm to 6.00pm. We would love to see as many families there as possible and our school choir will also be singing. Please bring a plate of food to share afterwards. A sausage sizzle will be provided. 

SOCKTOBER !

Next week St Peter’s will celebrate Catholic Mission Month, otherwise known as “Socktober!” This year our goal is to support families in Timor-Leste facing health and wellness challenges.

In supporting Catholic Mission, we will help sustain and enrich the lives of vulnerable children in Timor-Leste by providing vital medicines and health support. At St Peter’s, students and teachers will be listening to and watching stories about life in Timor-Leste, and are invited to wear some wacky socks with their uniform and bring in a gold coin donation on Friday 25th October to help raise awareness and money for this vital cause. 

PARENT CUPPA & CHAT + LET'S TALK ABOUT...

Thursday 31st October - 8.45am to 9.15am

Parent Cuppa and Chat will resume next week with the MAD coffee van onsite even weeks and 2 Frogs Coffee Van odd weeks. The MAD van will have bacon and egg rolls to order and iced coffees for purchase. In weeks 3, 5 and 7 an opportunity to chat about a topic with other parents, will be provided from 8:45am until 9:15am. The first chat topic is about God, Faith and the Church, and will be facilitated by our Assistant Principal, Rebecca Cameron. Please come along to hear Rebecca’s journey and bring along any questions you may have. RSVP to amanda.thomas@lism.catholic.edu.au. 

LEARNING

PAT ASSESSMENTS - YEARS 2 - 6

During Weeks 1-3, our students in Years 2-6 will complete their ACER PAT Adaptive Mathematics Test.  ACER’s Progressive Achievement approach is used in thousands of schools in Australia and around the world. The approach focuses on assessing and monitoring student growth over time and is underpinned by an understanding that students of the same age and in the same year of school can be at very different points in their learning and development.

These tests are designed to provide objective, norm-referenced information to teachers about their students’ skills and understandings in a range of key areas. The Mathematics test assesses students’ skill and understanding in the six strands of Number, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, Statistics and Probability.  The Reading Test assesses students’ reading comprehension skills, vocabulary knowledge and spelling.

Why do schools use PAT tests?

• They provide a measure of student achievement in each learning area.
• There is a common achievement scale for all tests within a learning area.
• They are mapped to the Australian Curriculum.
• They provide overall descriptions of the types of skills mastered and those still to be developed based on test performance.
• They can be used to inform teaching and learning and to assist in planning effective and targeted learning programs.

A healthy education system has multiple assessments (large-scale and small), each designed to suit the purpose at hand. Standardised tests are an imperfect measure by nature, and cannot be expected to measure children’s learning as competently as the teacher who spends hours with them every day.

On the other hand, individual teachers’ judgments cannot map learning across the entire education system. We may be experts on the progress of our students, but we cannot compare that progress with students in the school down the road, let alone a school in another state or territory. A standardised assessment provides the best birds-eye view of where the system is working, and where additional attention is required.

If you have any questions about the ACER testing please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher for further clarification.