Students are catching the book worm at Holy Spirit St Clair’s, by being a part of its Early Bird Reading Program.
Designed to support all students by promoting the importance of reading and writing in our daily lives, this program offers more than basic literacy skills.
While improving their ability to read and write, the children spend lots of time with their peers in becoming more aware of others’ emotions, feelings and perspectives. It’s also offers a great opportunity to build positive relationships.
Reading is a major focus at Holy Spirit, as they believe success in life comes from the ability to read and understand complex concepts.
They take a whole-school approach to the teaching of reading, having strategies taught in English, as well as all key learning areas and other aspects of school life beyond the classroom.
In the classroom, children are encouraged to become active in the reading process by talking about what they are reading before, during and afterwards.
They are encouraged to understand the texts at a deep level, rather than just at the surface. This helps them develop life skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, analysis, and justification of their point of view.
Holy Spirit students and families know and understand the importance of reading at home too.
6 Tips for helping your child when reading at home
- Every child reads something he or she chooses… let your child choose the story.
- Every child reads accurately… be encouraging while helping them read the words correctly.
- Every child reads something he or she understands… make sure the story is relevant to his or her experience.
- Every child writes about something personally meaningful… encourage your child to write about his or her interests, or something they care about.
- Every child talks with peers about reading and writing… try to have a conversation with your child about what they learnt from their homework.
- Every child listens to a fluent adult read aloud… try to make time to read to your child or spend some time reading as a family.
(Based on six elements of literacy instruction – Richard L. Allington & Rachael E. Gabriel, 2012)
Holy Spirit Primary St Clair
www.hsstclair.catholic.edu.au
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18 Jun 2026
From Facebook
Filling Baskets, Warming Hearts! Our wonderful Year 1 students are learning all about kindness and community spirit this week! They are currently on a mission to collect 100 items for the St Vincent de Paul Food Drive. As part of their learning, our youngest students are discovering how their own small actions and generosity can make a massive difference to local families in need. We are so close to our goal! 🥫❤️ #CommunitySpirit #StVinniesFoodDrive #GenerosityInAction #Year1 #KindnessCoun
18 Jun 2026
From Facebook
❤️ A Heartfelt Thank You ❤️ We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Wickramanayaka family, especially Elena and Aidan, for their incredibly generous donation of sleeping bags and inflatable mattresses to support our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. As the colder months settle in, many members of our community are facing the harsh reality of homelessness and financial hardship. These donations will provide warmth, comfort, and dignity to those who need it most during winter. Elena, Aidan and their family’s kindness and compassion are wonderful examples of how every act of generosity can make a significant difference in the lives of others. We are so proud to see young people actively supporting those in need and helping to build a more caring community. Thank you, Wickramanayaka family, for your generosity and for helping us make a positive impact this winter. Your support will bring comfort and hope to many people in our community. ❄️💕 #WinterAppeal #StVincentDePaul #CommunityKindness #MakingADifference #GivingBack #ProudSchoolCommunity
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18 Jun 2026
From Facebook
Filling Baskets, Warming Hearts! Our wonderful Year 1 students are learning all about kindness and community spirit this week! They are currently on a mission to collect 100 items for the St Vincent de Paul Food Drive. As part of their learning, our youngest students are discovering how their own small actions and generosity can make a massive difference to local families in need. We are so close to our goal! 🥫❤️ #CommunitySpirit #StVinniesFoodDrive #GenerosityInAction #Year1 #KindnessCoun
18 Jun 2026
From Facebook
❤️ A Heartfelt Thank You ❤️ We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Wickramanayaka family, especially Elena and Aidan, for their incredibly generous donation of sleeping bags and inflatable mattresses to support our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. As the colder months settle in, many members of our community are facing the harsh reality of homelessness and financial hardship. These donations will provide warmth, comfort, and dignity to those who need it most during winter. Elena, Aidan and their family’s kindness and compassion are wonderful examples of how every act of generosity can make a significant difference in the lives of others. We are so proud to see young people actively supporting those in need and helping to build a more caring community. Thank you, Wickramanayaka family, for your generosity and for helping us make a positive impact this winter. Your support will bring comfort and hope to many people in our community. ❄️💕 #WinterAppeal #StVincentDePaul #CommunityKindness #MakingADifference #GivingBack #ProudSchoolCommunity
18 Jun 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Year 4 are bringing the energy! 🌟 Our amazing Year 4 students had an absolute blast participating in ZING! It was fantastic to see them putting their teamwork, focus, and coordination skills to the test through so many fun, high-energy challenges. Everyone showed incredible sportsmanship and gave it 100%. Check out some of the action shots below! 📸👇 #Year4 #Teamwork #ActiveKids #SchoolPride
16 Jun 2026
From Facebook
Our Year 5 scientists have been investigating mixtures, chemical changes, and the properties of materials through a range of exciting hands-on experiments. Students explored density using oil, water, and food colouring, observed the colourful movement of liquids in the Magic Milk experiment, and compared different material combinations to determine whether they formed mixtures or new substances. Through predicting, observing, recording results, and discussing their findings, students developed their scientific inquiry skills while discovering how scientists explain the world around them. 🔬🧪 A fantastic week of curiosity, investigation, and learning!
16 Jun 2026
From Facebook
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Bronte and Bryleigh's grandma, who has generously crocheted and donated 50 beautiful blankets for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. Our Winter Sleepout will take place this Thursday for students in Years 4–6. As part of the experience, students are invited to donate blankets and warm accessories to support people in our community during the colder months. Bronte and Bryleigh's grandma's incredible handmade blankets are a wonderful contribution and a fantastic example of kindness, generosity and community spirit. There is still time for families to donate blankets, beanies, scarves, gloves and other warm accessories, even if their child is not participating in the Winter Sleepout. Donations can be left at the school office. Thank you to Bronte and Bryleigh's grandma for helping us support the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal and make a difference in the lives of others this winter. ❤️
16 Jun 2026
From Facebook
Year 3 have been exploring the fascinating world of printmaking, using a variety of textured materials to design and create their very own printing plates. From corrugated cardboard creating bold stripes to bubble wrap making patterned circles, students experimented with different textures to bring their ideas to life. Using planning sketches, hands-on materials, and plenty of creativity, our young artists carefully arranged, glued, and constructed unique artworks ready for printing. It was wonderful to see students problem-solve, collaborate, and express themselves through this exciting artistic process.
16 Jun 2026
From Facebook
15 Jun 2026
From Facebook
In music 🎶 this term, Year 2 has been learning about the relationship between beat and rhythm in music compositions. They have explored the techniques of dynamics (volume) and tempo (speed) in music and the impact these techniques have on the listening audience. Each week the students have practised using a tambourine, triangle and clapping sticks, working on using correct technique. Additionally, the students are beginning to learn how to understand, read and compose musical compositions using musical notation concepts. This has allowed students to compose their own compositions in groups, and play them using the three instruments for an audience. 🎶
12 Jun 2026
From Facebook
Year 5 have been working hard in English, upgrading their writing with adjectival clauses, stronger verb groups, and more precise vocabulary. They’ve been swapping out simple words for sharper synonyms and discovering that every word has a job to do. Their sentences are growing in depth, detail, and confidence. Through oral construction with partners, students have been rehearsing and refining their ideas before writing, discussing different ways to strengthen sentences and selecting the most effective language. This collaborative talk has helped students develop greater confidence as writers while deepening their understanding of how language choices can engage and inform the reader.
12 Jun 2026
From Facebook
🏀⭐ Ball Skills in Action! ⭐🏀 Our Kindergarten students have been having a fantastic time participating in Zing Learning Ball Skills! Through fun and engaging activities, they have been developing their coordination, balance, teamwork and confidence while learning important fundamental movement skills. From bouncing and catching to throwing and rolling, every session has been filled with smiles, laughter and lots of active learning! 🎉 We are so proud of the enthusiasm, perseverance and positive attitudes our students have shown as they challenge themselves and celebrate their successes. Well done, superstars! 🌟👏 Click here for more photos https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QnHlU5aa2Ipo3tODGPpueJcES0zkoyGf?usp=sharing
11 Jun 2026
From Facebook
This week in Religious Education, our Year 6 students read and unpacked two foundational pieces of scripture to explore how God works within us. We unpacked Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 to learn the difference between the Fruits of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit. To help us remember the difference, we talked about it like this: The Fruits of the Spirit are the qualities that grow inside our hearts when we follow God- like love, joy, peace and patience. They shape who we are. The Gifts of the Spirit are special talents and abilities God gives us to help others and build up our community and church- like wisdom, faith and healing. They shape what we can do. To bring these concepts to life, Year 6 designed beautiful, creative artworks in their RE books. Take a look at their amazing work samples below to see how they visually captured the difference between a fruit that grows and a gift that is shared! Click below for more photos https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eox1sUnN4qB8NPEjfB009wgjWgPv3Q0U?usp=sharing
09 Jun 2026
From Facebook
📝 Boosting Our Literacy Skills: Becoming Thoughtful Writers and Readers! Our students are working hard to level up their writing by learning how to join ideas together using connecting words like and, but, so, and because. They are discovering that while these longer sentences help their writing flow smoothly, each part of the sentence can often make sense all on its own! To make their stories more engaging for the reader, our learners are now using a mix of short and long sentences alongside very thoughtful word choices. They are also becoming "language detectives" by identifying descriptive words in the books they read, which helps them understand how authors add detail and meaning to a story. By noticing how professional writers use sentence structure and vibrant language to grab an audience's attention, our students are developing into insightful readers and creative writers! 🌟 #SchoolLiteracy #WritingSkills #YoungWriters #NSWPrimarySchools #LearningTogether