Classroom News

Foundation Miss Bennett

We're coming to the end of Term 2 and the Foundation students have been very busy getting 'stuck in' to their learning and finishing off all of their units before the end of Term. The last two weeks we have been flat out preparing for the whole-school science fair, practicing our roles for the Foundation Liturgy and fine-tuning our learning!

Some highlights for us have been: 

- Making and eating icy-poles. 

- Listening to the public speaking competition. 

- Practicing for Foundation Liturgy. 

- Writing a reflection about our text-based unit: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Grade 1-2 Miss Hayes

Break Times 

In Grade 1/2 Hayes we have been really enjoying our play times outside. We have been busy creating fairy gardens, tunnels in the sandpit or making delicious food creations in the new mud kitchen! 

Inquiry 

This week in Inquiry we started to learn about recycling and the different materials that can be recycled. We conducted an experiment where we attempted to have our own recycling plant, which was made using a jar and water. With a partner we had to investigate how many shakes it took to break down a paper material. 

Text Based Unit 

Last week we started a new text based unit on 'The Speedy Sloth'. At the beginning of this unit we built our background knowledge and we learnt all about sloths. Some facts that we can recall are: 

- Sloths move slowly

- They can turn their necks nearly all the way around to see predators 

- There are two types of sloths 

- A sloth's fur blends in with this environment 

-They sleep for about 15 hours a day! 

 Grade 1-2 Miss Hart

What a Term 2 it has been! Whilst we have been in the midst of wrapping things up for this term - as a class we have begun to speak about our favourite parts of this term and how grateful we feel. As a school community we have been given so many wonderful opportunities to enhance our learning and spend time with some of our favourite people. 

In our Literacy block we have delved into character descriptions using big and fabulous adjectives to describe their appearance and personality. We have learnt about many different characters such as Penny from ‘The Imagineer’ and Spike from ‘The Speedy Sloth.’ We have also had a big focus on Phonics - learning new sounds each week!

In Numeracy this term we have discovered new findings on the topics of Volume & Capacity and Chance. We can describe events that have a ‘likely, impossible, even chance, certain, unlikely’ chance of occurring. We have also explored the big ‘number topics’ of ‘addition and subtraction’ - during these units we have used concrete materials to solve problems and enhance our understanding. 

The Resilience Project and 4 RRRR program has helped us navigate our feelings and encourages us to be grateful for what we have. As well as being empathetic towards others and how they might be feeling - this coincides with our Religion topic of Grief and Loss. Each student, confidently chose, 5 people they could go to for help in a time of need and have opened up their minds to understanding and using many mindfulness techniques.

In Religion we also learnt about the topic of Pentecost - our class were very lucky to conduct a Liturgy for the whole school on this special time in the Church. I was extremely proud of every single one of your children for the effort they put into learning their readings and singing the songs. They all should be very proud of themselves. 

Inquiry has pushed our experimental minds to the limits! We have enjoyed a range of experiments to discover how certain objects can change when interacted with - we can bend, twist, pull and stretch these items. Come down and check out our exhibit at the Science Fair next Tuesday - where we will show off our fantastic, newly learnt knowledge. 

A huge congratulations and thank-you for the superstar term the students have had. I wish you all a fantastic and safe holiday break!

Grade 3-4

The 3/4's have really enjoyed participating in different science experiments over the past few weeks to further support their understanding of solids, liquids and gas. We have enjoyed watching liquids turn to gas, liquids turn to solids, solids turn to liquid then back to a solid again and this week's experiment was combining a solid and a liquid and creating a substance called oobleck which is both a solid and a liquid.

The students enjoyed getting their hands messy and feeling this substance change from a liquid to a solid and then back to a liquid, in their hands. They found it fascinating that they could put pressure on the substance and it would be as solid as a rock but yet when no pressure was applied on the substance it flowed through their hands.

The 3/4 students also enjoyed completing the 'Making Butter Experiment'. First, they had to hypothesise what they thought would happen when you vigorously shake a liquid (cream), for 15 minutes. A few students thought the lid was going to explode! Some were able to use great scientific language and predict that the liquid would turn into a solid (butter) after lots of shaking.

The students enjoyed testing out their butter on some salada's.

Grade 5-6 Miss Rasmussen

The Grade 5/6 class presented their speeches for the Lions Club Public Speaking Competition. It was so interesting to listen to the students talk about various world records that have been made and broken over the years. It took a lot of courage for the students to stand up and deliver the speech to their peers, but everyone did an amazing job and should be proud! Congratulations to Tamara, Deklen, Shila and Georgia who were selected to present to the judges. Deklen was chosen to progress to the next round. 

For the last part of learning before beginning work on the Science Fair, the students explored Oobleck which challenged their understanding of solids and liquids. It is a non-newtonian fluid. It was good fun to play with and started some fantastic conversations about their learning. 

After many hours of rehearsals, the Grade 5/6 students took to the stage for The Festival of the Sacred. The students did our school proud in the way that they performed, applied themselves, behaved and enjoyed the day. We have so much to be proud of.

Congratulations to:

- Caleb who did an amazing job of introducing our song, having to learn many lines. 

- Zac, Tamara and Isla who had special reading roles during the liturgy and spoke so clearly. 

- Amelie & Isla who had a duet to start our song. Their voices were angelic.

- Amelie, Zac and Tamara who were part of a small singing group who sang special parts of songs.