Round the classes 

Reception class : Katie 

We have been very busy since we have come back to school. So far this term we have been working on how to write sentences ensuring we punctuate them correctly. 

In maths we have been learning about time which includes the days of the week and the months of the year. We have also been revising our teen numbers. 

As part of Design and Technology we have been designing and building worm farms. In HASS we have been learning about the Aboriginal culture through a variety of different stories. We also had a great time working with the 5/6 class on our Positivity activity. 

Year 1/2 classes : Sam and Kelly

We have jumped straight back into it, continuing with learning our sounds, blending, dictation and sentence writing. 

This term's focus is narrative writing, and the students have their first narrative Big Write this Friday. We have been having great discussions about why we write narratives and have looked at the structure of narrative writing.

We read the book Wombat Stew and we discussed the setting, characters, what the problem was in the story and how the problem was solved. The children then had to draw an image and write about what they saw at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

In maths, the children have been revisiting number. We have focused on subitising, place value, ordering numbers from smallest to largest and vice versa and completing some activities using the hundreds chart.

For design and technology and HASS, we are looking at toys/machines around the world. We have looked at toys from 100 years ago to now and have discussed how toys have changed over time. We looked at what a time-line looks like, how it is used and why we use them.

Year 3/4 class: Stephen

In Stephen’s year 3/4 class the students have been learning about the great story behind the invention of Hill’s hoist for Australian history.  The students have made timelines for this topic and have read a text as part of their reading comprehension.  They have also made models of Hill’s hoist.

In maths the students have been learning about decimals and have had some practice at ordering tenths decimals from smallest to largest. 

Year 3/4 class: Alex

In maths students have been applying their knowledge of odd and even numbers and equivalent fractions to investigate problem-solving challenges. They have been representing and ordering fractions using number lines.

In English students have been working on their grammar by defining types of nouns including concrete, abstract, collective and proper nouns. They have been applying this learning in their writing to demonstrate their understanding. Students have been working on their persuasive writing, examining a range of persuasive devices and identifying these language features in advertising and written persuasive texts. 

In Design and Technology students have been finishing off their 3D digital designs of their sustainable chicken coops. They are beginning to draft their persuasive pitches which they will present to persuade the class of the benefits of their design. 

Year 5/6 Class: Sallie

It has been lovely coming back after the holidays and having all the students enthusiastic and ready to learn. Lila Serotzki left our school and has moved to a school closer to home. We will miss Lila, she was a great leader and always full of energy.  On the positive side we have a new Year 6 student Angus Charlton. Angus knows many of the students from football and he has fitted into our class seamlessly. Welcome Angus. 

In English we have been working on adding depth to our narrative writing. We have been exploring "show don't tell" , direct and indirect ways to reveal a character's personality and inferencing.  We were lucky to have Andrew (OSHC director) do some drama with the students around this as well. 

For maths we have started a unit of work on measurement. We have been investigating length and are starting to unpack area. 

The 10 students who were part of the Readers Cup enjoyed the challenge of the quiz against the 6 schools involved and will do their second part of the competition (a presentation) in Week 6. See their photos and report below.

The Year 6 students had a fantastic time on the Flinders Ranges Camp at the end of last term. See the students' reports below. 

All in all, a busy but really positive start to the term!!

Readers Cup

This week, on Tuesday, we had our first Readers Cup activity. The students in Readers Cup are Ethan, Benji, Hannah, Dylan, Campbell, Karl, Finn, Alby, Trinity and Lucas (Patrick too but he was away for the quiz part). Readers Cup is where lots of schools (Littlehampton, Stirling East, Norton Summit, Nairne, Kangarilla, Bridgewater and us) nominate teams to answer questions on different books. The books were His Name was Walter, The Silver Arrow, Rabbit Soldier Angel Thief, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Wandi and Figgy in the World. We had a term to read the books. My favourite book was Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief because it had a really heartwarming ending. We think we did really well. 

The next part of the activity is a presentation night which will be in week 6 and although we don’t know the book we will be focusing on, we have been told it will be something about the cold and an explorer.   By Ethan.

Indonesian :Ibu Susan

This term in Indonesian we are focusing on the word “punya” to have/own. Each class will be using this word with a variety of nouns and adjectives. We have started with a list of animals we may have at home like “Kucing” cat, “Kelinci” rabbit and “domba” sheep. We have noticed that lots of Uraidla families have many animals at home!

Science and P/E: Henry

This fortnight in Science the receptions have been investigating the bugs living in our school garden. With Katie’s help, we found lots of worms and observed them wriggling about with magnifying glasses. The Year 1 and 2 group have been learning about the needs of animals, with a specific focus on how we look after our pets. We all agree that pets need food, water, shelter and care to be healthy. The Year 3 and 4 group have also been looking at living things, but this time we have been investigating what it means for something to be living or non-living. We have spent time in the school grounds recording the characteristics of items and noting whether they are living or non-living. The Year 5s and 6s have continued to enjoy looking at the way electricity interacts with a variety of materials. We have classified objects as having insulating or conductive properties. We have also started to design a haunted house that will use a simple electrical circuit to light up when the front door opens.  

In PE, the receptions have been practising a range of fundamental movements including jumping, throwing and catching while playing a series of games. The older year levels have been learning about basketball and have been working to develop ball skills, movements such as pivoting and dribbling at a range of speeds, as well as the importance of being a fair competitor and teamwork.