St Michael's Catholic Parish Primary School Thirroul
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Station Street
Thirroul NSW 2515
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Email: info@smtdow.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 4267 2560
Fax: 02 4268 1482

Middle Leader 2

Learning Labs 

The University of Wollongong has invited your students to LITTLE and EARLY LEARNING LABS, an academic enrichment holiday program. They are targeting students from Year 1 to 6 during 2019, who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.

Dates: Little Learning Labs (Years 1 and 2): 6th – 8th January 2020

Early Learning Labs (Years 3 to 6): 14th – 16th January 2020

Venue: University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)

Applications close: 6th November 2019

LITTLE AND EARLY LEARNING LABS program brochure

 APPLICATION PROCESS

  • Parents/Guardians visit the website and read the full list of workshops available by scrolling to the “January workshops overview” section.
  • This is an academic enrichment program designed for students who are motivated and passionate learners and performing excellently in their area of interest. First-time applicants are required to demonstrate their suitability for the program. One piece of supporting documentation is required (see 'Supporting Documentation' section on website). Please note that the Teacher Nomination Letter can be used as a supporting document.

Please know that workshops fill very quickly.

We will also have several sponsorship places available for students who identify as Australian Aboriginal/Torres Strait or students experiencing financial difficulty. 

For further information about workshops and the application process please visit our website, or contact the Learning Labs team via email at learning-labs@uow.edu.au or phone on (02) 4221 5557.

Deadly Encouragement Awards 

The Deadly Encouragement Awards are to recognise Indigenous students who apply themselves to their learning and/or are respectful members of the school community. This year Ruben Mayers was awarded for his work in the Leaders of Faith and Community team. He has consistently given up his time to plan and be part of liturgies and assemblies. We thank Ruben for his commitment. 

Ruben Mayers 

I was proud to get this deadly award because ever since my brother got this award I wanted to try and get this award and be recognised for being Aboriginal. This year I was lucky enough to receive this award and go to the ceremony with my family and teachers.

It was a good experience because I got to meet and see some of the Aboriginal kids in the schools around here. I also got to meet some of the most successful and hard-working Aboriginal people who have been really involved with wanting to be recognised for being Aboriginal and not caring what other people say and think about them.

Inventions are Taking Shape in Year 6 

Project-Based Learning is an inquiry-driven practice that engages students in relevant, real-world problems that require them to attain strengths and skills essential for success in the 21st century. This term year 6 are engaging in an inquiry-driven project related to their Geography unit. The students were given the problem ‘How has the drought affect people, places and things?’ Through brainstorming answers to this question, the students have formed groups and chosen an issue they would like to further investigate. Some examples include dust storms, mental health issues and water wastage.  After further investigation and research about the drought and the effect it is currently having and may have in the future, the students are now inventing a product that could help alleviate their chosen issue. 

The students will work on their inventions throughout the term making prototypes, researching costs to build their project, investigating the impact their product will have on their chosen customers and looking at companies or industries that would be interested in buying their product. 

In week 10, the year six students will be presenting their prototypes and sale pitches to a ‘shark tank’. The panel will include a range of people from the Catholic Education Office and a farmer from Coonamble, NSW. 

We look forward to continuing to share our process with our real-life inventions that could potentially help make a difference in the lives of many people. 

Miss Eliza Treble - Middle Leader 2