It was lovely to see the girls return to school looking refreshed and eager to catch up with friends and teachers. I commend the girls for quickly moving back into their school routine and focussing on their learning. 

With the start of the term comes new units of work and I encourage parents and girls to be punctual to school, arriving preferably before 8.15am so they can be relaxed and prepared for the start of the day – the most important learning time and a time when the day’s plans are unpacked and new units of work explained and outlined. We all know that feeling of being behind in knowing plans and feeling unprepared – we want to avoid this! 

Barbreck Blueprint for Successful Learners Years 5&6 

At Barbreck we work hard to ensure our girls are successful learners. To this end, we have developed our Barbreck Blueprint for Successful Learners, which will support our girls to be the best learners they can be. The Blueprint forms part of our Academic Advisory Program at St Catherine’s School. 

The Program develops successful learning skills for our students. Within the Program, students develop their organisation and time management skills to become a good learner who is self-aware of their strengths and needs, purposeful in their application of learned strategies and skills, and reflective of their learning journey. 

The Program introduces specific skills and strategies, giving our girls the opportunity to be better equipped for success through the explicit teaching of skills, guided application, and practice of these in a range of lessons, and time to reflect on progress made and goal setting. 

Each Module is delivered across four to five Academic Advisory sessions. 

The key resource is the Barbreck Blueprint for Successful Learners booklet which teaches students the skills and strategies for being a successful learner. 

The structure of these Modules follows the following format:   

• Introduction and outline of the module and the skills and strategies to be learned. 
• Explanation about why this skill is important 
• Explicit teaching of the skill 
• Guided practice of the skill 
• Application and practice of the skill in a range of lessons (across a variety of subjects) 
• Reflection and Review of the skill/strategy.   

YEARS 5 & 6 MODULES 

• Module 1 – Starting Well  
• Module 2 – Rubrics and Feedback 
• Module 3 – Reading to Learn 
• Module 4 – Recording and Representing Content 
• Module 5 – Self-Assessment and Reflection   

The Modules will be introduced to the girls in lecture style and workshop formats, with learning skills further developed and practised across all subject areas where applicable.    

The Program will be introduced in the coming weeks, and we will encourage girls to show parents the work they will be undertaking once they receive their booklets.   

Soon we will be working on the development of a Barbreck Blueprint for Successful Learners Years 3&4. 

Important Dates: Term 2

Monday 22 – Wednesday 24 April – Years 5&6 Golden Valleys Camp 

Thursday 25 April – ANZAC Day Holiday 

Tuesday 30 April – PFA ELC to Year 3 Social Evening 

Thursday 2 May – JS District Cross Country 

Tuesday 7 May – JS House Athletics (Years 3 to 6) 

Friday 10 May – PFA Mother’s Day Stall 

Thursday 16 May – Open Morning 

Friday 17 May – JS Prep to Year 3 Special Visitors’ Morning 

Wednesday 22 May – JS District Soccer & Netball Year 6 

Thursday 23 May – Years 3 and 5 ACARA Testing 

Friday 24 May – Ruth Langley Luncheon 

Thursday 30 May – GSV Cross Country Years 5&6 

Friday 31 May – Year 7 2025 Orientation 1 (9.00am to 12.00pm) 

Tuesday 4 June – Open Morning & JS District Hockey 

Wednesday 5 June – JS Careers Morning & JS District AFL 

Thursday 6 June – PFA Years 4 to 6 Social Evening 

Monday 10 June – Mid Term Break – King’s Birthday 

Friday 14 June – JS Music Assembly 2.00pm 

Wednesday 19 June – JS Wellbeing Festival 

Thursday 20 June – End of Term 2, 3:20pm 

Friday 21 June – Staff Assessment and Reporting Day – Pupil Free