Around the Junior School

Year 4 Wellington Caves Excursion

On 8 August Year 4 set off on the bus to Wellington Caves. Once we had arrived we had a quick morning tea break before being briefed on the safety of entering Cathedral Cave. 

Our helmets were fitted and we began our walk to the cave. Along the way we learned that the site was once a coral reef and the rocks we could see were actually coral! We also learned about the megafauna that was once found in the caves. 

The descent into the cave was steep and dark but was worth it once we'd entered, the caves were huge! The crystal cathedral was the most impressive and we enjoyed learning about how it was formed, as well as looking at some of the graffiti from the 1800s. 

Once we came back to the surface we participated in an archaeology workshop and saw an ancient Australian landscapes exhibition. It was a great day that helped us learn more about our current Science topic on geology. 

Area 51 Lunchtime Activities

Area 51 has offered lunchtime activities all year, including Minecraft Social Club for Years 1 to 6 since Term 1, and Lip Sync Battle and NASA Kids Club in Term 2. 

Due to its popularity, we have split up Minecraft Social Club across two days and also allowed Kindergarten to join. On Mondays we have K-3 Minecraft social club, where Years 1 and 2 bring their own iPads from class, Kindergarten uses the Area 51 iPads and Year 3 can use the class set of laptops. On Fridays our students in Years 4-6 can come, with Years 5 and 6 bringing their own laptops and Year 4 can use the Area 51 laptops. Minecraft social club is by far our most popular activity this year with upwards of 40 students regularly coming along.

This term we have started the Construction Crew using the K’nex kits. This is open to all ages, but seems to have struck a chord with our younger students.

Next term Minecraft Social Club will continue, but we will also offer Creating Video Games, using Microsoft MakeCode Arcade to teach students to make their own digital games and GarageBand Jam, exploring GarageBand on the iPads to create music.

Mrs Muriel Fatai

Junior School Leader of Technology and Innovation

Pre-Kinder loves Bluey

At the beginning of the year our classes were asked to name their class. Pre-Kinder became Pre-Kinder Bluey after the very popular TV blue heeler, 'Bluey'.  

Bluey uses her imagination to turn everyday moments in to fun adventures, full of play, learning and social interactions.

Bluey’s character aligns beautifully with the school values, Courage, Respect, Inclusiveness, Resilience and Commitment. These values play an integral role in our day-to-day interactions with the children.

This week we celebrated Bluey’s 6th Birthday. We had Bluey craft activities, Bluey games, pass the parcel, we made Bluey biscuits and of course sang happy birthday to Bluey. 

Bluey has been a lovely addition to our class. She has taught us about friendships, and being kind and caring. Happy Birthday Bluey.

Merit Awards 

Term 3 week 3 and week 4, 2022

K Paddington

• Emilia Douglas-Impressive thinking in mathematics
• Henry Volkofsky-Making great strides with his reading
• Samuel Milliken-Being a kind and considerate student
• Ruby Whittemore-Improved handwriting and spelling

K Caterpillar

• Hareem Rashid-Wonderful improvement in all learning areas
• Sam Akerstrom-Amazing sentences in writing
• William Pegum-Approaching all aspects of school with zest and joy
• Grace Keir-Improved reading fluency

1 Elmer

• Sofia Buckley-Number fact families
• Edith Wells-Number fact families
• Lachlan Elder-Fluent reading
• Henry Devjak-Reading Group Activities 

2 Alcott

• Mackenzie Austin-For showing maturity and leadership
• Eve MacMahon-For eager participation in class
• Alec Stewart-For effort with writing
• Edith Triggs-Displaying kindness in the classroom

2 Barty

• Aedan Hunnam-Excellent detective work when inferring texts
• Maddie Geard-Excellent use of adjectives in writing
• Alexander Flynn-Reading fluently in class
• Elizabeth Milliken-A great first paragraph in her persuasive text 

3 Curious Creatures

• Olive McLaurin-Using feedback to add details and description to writing
• Nicos Cassimaty-Improved commitment in English
• Georgia Dunn-Improved stamina with writing tasks
• Kimberly Williams-Adding more strategies to your friendship toolbox

3 Volcanics

• Bella Zhang-Her improvement in multiplication
• Janagan Kandeepan-His respect to teachers
• Tom Gibson-His improvement in maths
• Dylan Cutter-His improvement in spelling

4 Attenborough

• Daniel Hayward-Asking interesting questions in History
• Anna Kenny-Having a positive attitude towards her learning
• Charlotte Gurr-Rehearsing enthusiastically for the Storyville play
• Thomas Karrasch-Having a positive attitude this week

4 Phillip Parker King

• Mya McLachlan-An enthusiastic approach to all learning
• Daniel Kerdic- An enthusiastic approach to all learning
• Leo Wade-Always modelling the school values
• Prayan Dulal-Dedication to his learning

5 Irwin

• Jimmy Jones-Effort and application
• Nick Balcomb-Being organised and showing initiative
• Lachlan Turnbull-Consistently modelling respectful behaviour
• Ella Mason-Always projecting infectious positivity 

5 Watson

• Ingrid West-Mature approach to learning
• George Davis-Improved application in the classroom
• Amelia McGee-Always being a helpful friend
• Jett Johnson-Outstanding results in Maths

6 Goodes

• Eliza Lord-Her consistent work in Mathematics
• Aurora Everett-Her excellent work in writing
• Lucas Choi-For his creative problem solving in Mathematics
• Sophie Caro-For selflessly helping her fellow classmates

6 Mabo

• Natalie Hayward-Her detailed and creative character descriptions in narrative writing
• Elliot Terrey-His dedication to complete learning tasks and for his improvement in handwriting
• Hannah Cunningham-Always striving to reach her full potential
• Clancy Hazelton-Showing persistence and determination in all learning tasks

Mathematics 

In Mathematics this week, 4A have been exploring two-dimensional shapes. We created a large irregular or regular shape by combining smaller polygons. We then used fractions to record how many of each polygon was present in the shape. This lesson extended our thinking by linking fractions with 2D space. 

What’s been happening at Gowrie in Week four 

This week we explored cooking, board games, puzzles and used our creativity and imaginations to make identification cards with scratch paper. One of our friends made a delicious banana cake. Younger and older children worked together to build with the new magnetic and marble run sets, designing airports, trains, tunnels and skyscrapers. We all really enjoyed playing our new guessing game “Headbands”, where we had to answer yes or no questions to help our friends guess what they were.

We got to enjoy some Winter sun playing in the big playground and a game of team tunnel ball. We drew pictures on bunting to make some beautiful classroom decorations. The best part of the week was all our friends working together to have fun.

Vacation care bookings are opening soon, look out for a notice in the newsletter in the coming weeks. We have such a fantastic program!