Term 2, 2026 Newsletter: week 6

Dear Parents,

In the previous newsletter, I spoke about the SMMC response to AI and the shift in schools more broadly to a focus on learning integrity rather than digital literacy. While many schools that have adopted one-to-one laptops, iPads and digital texts are finding this shift to be an agonising reversal of policy, practice and strategic resourcing, this is not so at SMMC.

In part this can be explained by an innate wariness of screen overuse and the tendency of the internet towards propaganda, both instincts born of the Catholic understanding of truth, goodness and beauty. But for the most part, it is the intentionality with which the school day and curriculum are organised.

The daily schedule, which has been in place since 2021, was initially a response to primary teachers who reported that the mornings were too short and the afternoons too long. And so, in order to optimise the learning time, the day is geared in the Primary School so that literacy and numeracy are privileged in the morning when everyone is at their freshest. Hobby, most sport sessions and PDHPE, History, Science and Tech, Art, Italian, Music, Library, Kitchen and Garden are conducted in the afternoon.

Primary students enjoy a 15 minute break in the morning, 40 minutes for lunch and another 15 minutes in the afternoon, 70 minutes in all. The length and timing of the breaks compares favourably with other schools, and teachers have discretion to include further activity in the day. Families are encouraged to get to school early, if they can, to make use of the yard and reconnect with friends.

For High School, 80-minute periods have proven to be exactly what was needed for engagement and deep learning. In order to support and make the most of the daily structure, teachers adopted an instructional model, which is a direct instruction method for planning and delivering lessons and units of work.

At the outset of a lesson, teachers ‘hook’ the students’ interest, make connections to previous learning and establish goals for the lesson. The middle of the lesson sees the teacher present new ideas and skills, checks for understanding, guides the students through scaffolded activities and monitors students putting the ideas and skills into practice. The lesson is consolidated by a review of the learning goals.

By a happy coincidence, educational and regulatory authorities have returned to this tried and true formula of ‘I do, we do, you do’ after a fateful venture down the path of enquiry and constructivist models that we know don’t work. I’ve attached a fact sheet on the instructional model for further information.

Thanks for your support.

Warm regards,

Ian Smith

Principal

Week 6 Term 2, 2026 Newsletter.pdf

Download PDF • 2.73MB