Primary News

Primary Family Twilight Sports Night

What an exciting start milestone! 21 new preps have started their school journey in Prep L and we have been having a lot of fun!

 

Our first day of Prep was filled with games, laughter and smiles as we all got to know each other and learn a little bit about what we do at school.

We got to do some gardening, we all planted a few seeds and hopefully we will see them grow everyday!

We have been having a lot of fun learning how to say hello, goodbye and my name is… in Mandarin.

We also had our First aid incursion with St John’s ambulance. We learned how to help our friends if they are hurt or in trouble and to call 000 in an emergency.

 

We have been learning a lot and having so much fun.

We cannot wait to see what the rest of the Term brings.

 

Miss Levy - Class Teacher

Students in Grade 1A started the year looking very smart in school uniform in our ‘Garden of Blossoming Learners’. We hope to grow in all areas of our learning this year.

 

We’ve been working on getting to know each other, and were very excited to create ‘Me Boxes’ and talk about ourselves.

At our First Aid Incursion we learned about danger, emergencies and what we should do in these situations. We put on our biggest smiles on Photo Day, and can’t wait to see our photos.

Our first excursion this year, to Melbourne Arena was so exciting. We were privileged to see world class gymnasts training for the World Cup Gymnastics. What an amazing experience that was!

We are very excited about learning a new language this year- Chinese. We already know some Chinese words – we might soon be having conversations in Chinese. We’re looking forward to our Chinese Incursion, and wish to see beautiful costumes, lion dancing and learning about Chinese culture.

 

Our Sizzling Snags and Sports Night is coming up soon- what fun we’re going to have with our families and friends and of course, eating yummy sausages.

 

Thank you parents and carers for your ongoing support with our students and their learning.

 

Mrs Abraham - Class Teacher.

1/2L started the year getting to know each other as well as to a new student to our class. They found that some students have similar things in common.

 

A couple of birthdays were celebrated and we had our school photos taken.

The most exciting addition to our curriculum is that we are learning Chinese this year through a live link to our Chinese teacher called Cher. She showed us that it had been snowing outside through her multi-storey building window! We also learnt to say hello and good-bye in Chinese but we will need to practise.

 

A first Aid session last week reminded us about what to do in an emergency. There was a colouring booklet and an emergency information card that students could take home. I hope all students can learn their address in case they need to tell an emergency operator.

This week we had the opportunity with the whole primary school to attend The World Cup Gymnastics at The Melbourne Arena. Students were able to watch as the representatives of various countries, went through their practise sessions. They were also able to participate in some gymnastics workshops. Everyone was surprised to receive a gift bag of goodies on the way out.

 

Mrs Lilburne - Class Teacher.

2020 has started with a bang! This year we are so excited to be taking part in learning Mandarin online with our teacher Xu Wenjia! We have learnt a lot already, including how to say hello and goodbye in Mandarin, as well as about some of the culture in China.

 

In Writing we have been writing our autobiographies. We have learnt that autobiographies are a person’s life story. We have found out some interesting information from our families about ourselves as babies, such as what time we were born! In our classroom we have also been learning about telling the time as well as setting ourselves learning goals across different areas of study.

Learning about our emotional wellbeing is also new this year. We have enjoyed brainstorming different positive and negative emotions and coming up with reasons why people might feel a certain way. We have been learning about how we can help our friends if they are feeling some of the negative emotions.

 

This term is set to get busier! We are about to attend the Gymnastics World Cup in Week 4 and we are looking forward to Twilight Sports in Week 5. It has been wonderful getting to know all of the smiling faces in 2/3N so far this year, including the many new people we have welcomed to our school!

 

Miss Naylor - Class Teacher

4B have had an exciting start to the year and lots of fabulous learning in the classroom. Students have been working on teamwork during Sport and PE and learning about emotions in our Wellbeing classes.

 

The Gymnastic World Cup excursion, Chinese New Year incursion and First Aid were great opportunities for students to practise these skills. Wow, those gymnasts were amazing!

 

Scaffolding groups have started and students are demonstrating their passion for learning and commitment to achieving high standards of work.

Congratulations to our ‘Outstanding Work’ recipient this month, Collin Nguyen! He demonstrated his ability to use descriptive language in a personal recount of his holidays as well as his autobiography. A fantastic effort and we look forward to more students in our class showing off their amazing work.

 

In Maths scaffolding group we have been working on Counting Patterns and Time and will soon be moving into Place Value and Data. Essential Assessment and Studyladder are two websites that are set up for students to practise what they have been learning in class and it’s great to see so many trying their hardest to improve their learning and strive to achieve their best.

 

Mrs Bishop - Class Teacher.

It has been a smooth start to the year in 5M!

 

We have welcomed some amazing new students, we have set up a positive reward system to work towards. We are learning about each other, building relationships and supporting each other through the start of a new year!

 

In Literacy, we have been focusing on recounts and informal letter writing. We shared interesting activities during the holiday period and we are currently writing to our new Pen-Pals in Western Australia (Australia Post Pen-Pal Program). It is all very exciting!

Reading groups have begun positively with everyone focussing on learning new vocabulary to help us understand a text fully. We have chosen ‘Just Right’ books and discussed the importance of fluent reading.

 

In Numeracy, we have been learning about time and calculating lapsed time, reading information on various timetables and understanding 24 hour time. We have also been working towards understanding the value of each digit in a number and the importance of that value when using the 4 operations. We have been playing many games to consolidate our learning and a times table challenge is under way!

We have already participated in an incursion- First Aid including CPR. We learned about being a first responder and how to deal with emergency situations. Everyone has a clear understanding about what they can do to help someone in a crisis.

 

We have also been on an excursion, visiting Melbourne Arena to watch gymnasts from around the world training for the ‘World Cup’. We experienced some gymnastics moves of our own on the giant mats and participated in an aerobics class. We look forward to spotting some of the talented gymnasts competing in the Olympic Games later in the year.

 

P.E classes have been spent training for our first Gala day and we are looking forward to the College Swimming Carnival coming up next week.

 

Busy, Busy, Busy! Loads of fun and excitement to come!

 

Mrs McPhie - Class Teacher.

What a start to the year it has been for 5/6C! We began the year with getting to know you activities. As a new teacher to the school, it was a great way to get to know my lovely students as quickly as possible and for the students to know more about their classmates and their environment.

 

We are beginning the year by studying democracy, personal writing, time and place value and, among other things, we have begun our Chinese Language lessons. The students have been able to interact with a Chinese teacher who is based in China through video streaming in class, which they have all loved and shown a lot of engagement during. As Mrs Elias mentions, they have been taught a few greetings and key words to begin with, and I am looking forward to watching the students learn more about the Chinese language and culture, as I am sure they are just as excited.

 

5/6C were also lucky enough to be visited by St Johns members who came into the school and taught us how to do DRSABC and as such, CPR on a mannequin. The students thoroughly enjoyed completing this lesson and were all eager to participate and practice CPR. It was great to see how engaged and interested the students were in learning what to do in an emergency situation.

 

Finally, grades 1-6 were lucky enough to take part in going to the Gymnastics World Cup practice sessions at Melbourne Arena. The students were given the chance to watch the women from a range of different countries, including but not limited to, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada train and practice on the different types of apparatus available.

The students were then divided into four different groups and undertook different rotations and tours of the arena. 5/6C began with the tour and were lucky enough to visit the athletes lounge and the practice arena across the road. Afterwards, we were then able to begin the active rotations, they included free gymnastics and acrobatics. In free gymnastics students were able to practice their jumps on springboards and over blocks, whilst in acrobatics the students created a routine alongside one of the leaders from Melbourne Arena.

 

To finish off the day, students were able to sit and watch the men gymnasts practice. They too were from a variety of countries, including Argentina, Netherlands, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand. The students thoroughly enjoyed watching the tricks they could all do and were eager for their turn to do so at school.

 

The start of the year has flown by already and it is clear that this term is going to be jam-packed but I cannot wait to see how well it goes in 5/6C.

 

Miss Cox - Class Teacher.

We have had a busy start to the year in the 5/6 unit. The first few days were very exciting as we heard about everyone’s holidays and as we got to know our new teacher Miss Cox.

 

Our focus for writing at the beginning of the year was personal writing. We wrote recounts and through those learned more about each other. In Reading we have been focussing on solving unfamiliar words and reading fluently. In Maths the focus has been Time. Students have been working on calculating elapsed time, converting 12 hour time to 24 hour time and understanding and using timetables. We have also been working understanding place value, which has involved expanding larger numbers, rounding numbers and identifying odd and even numbers.

 

Our Integrated Studies Unit this term is based around learning about Democracy. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a school based election so that they can learn about the process involved in preferential voting. To this point they have learned about different methods of voting and have made decisions about which methods they think are best to enable them to demonstrate freedom of speech.

 

This year we have started learning Mandarin. The students have been very excited as we have learned how to say “hello”, “My name is….”, “goodbye”, “thank you”, “how are you”, “I’m good” and “you’re welcome”. We work with our teacher Xu Yao, who lives in China and have our lessons via video link. Our lessons involve a combination of learning new words and learning about China.

Last week we had a visit from St John’s Ambulance.

The students were able to go through the DRSABC routine to ensure that in a case of emergency they know what to do. Once students had remembered what the letters in the acronym stood for, they had the opportunity to practise CPR on a mannequin. All of the students were surprised by how exhausting it is to perform CPR, even for the short time they practised the technique.

On Wednesday 20th February, the students went to Melbourne Park to participate in a fantastic gymnastics event. They were able to participate in workshops and to see elite athletes from around the world training for the World Cup event which was due to begin the following day. Miss Cox has posted photos of the experiences grade 6 students were able to participate in.

 

In the coming weeks we will be writing letters to some Pen Pals at a school in Brisbane. In Writing our focus will move to Narratives and in Reading we will be looking at adjusting our reading for different types of texts.

 

In Maths our focus will continue to be place value and counting, and we will also begin our work with Shape. We will also continue to practise for our first Gala Day which will be early next term.

 

As always, the year has had a very hectic start. I look forward to working with the grade 6 students in the coming months.

 

Mrs Elias - Class Teacher.

Grade 1/2 Complementary Colour Circles

Grade 1 and 2 students viewed and responded to Alma Thomas’s painted concentric circles. They then painted circles of their own and decorated them with complementary colours. Complementary colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. When complementary colours are used in artwork they contrast – or stand out.

Grade 4 Paper Plate Weaving

Grade 4 students created their own paper plate loom. They learnt how to tie knots and pass the yarn under and over the loom. Great for developing concentration and fine motor skills.

Mrs McAleer - Primary Art Teacher.

Mad On Music

CSEF

CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF)

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. 

 

Eligibility Date

CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/legal guardian’s concession card being successfully validated with Centrelink on either:

Term 1            28th January 2020

Term 2            14th April 2020

 

The CSEF program for 2020 closes on the 26th June 2020. Application forms cannot be accepted after this date.

The annual CSEF amount per student is:

$125 for primary school students

$225 for secondary school students

 

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef

 

If you applied for the CSEF at your child's school in 2019, you do not need to complete an application form in 2020 unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

 

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

 New student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools in 2020 or you did not apply in 2019.

 changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing at the school in 2020.

 

Check with the school office if you are unsure.