What's happening in our learning spaces? 

Students of the Week

Foundation News

Another busy week has come and gone and lots of learning and excitement has taken place in FAM and FLW. We enjoyed the Walk to School on Friday and the healthy breakfast, as well as the yummy food for lunch. We also enjoyed making many new discoveries this week. Time flies when you’re having fun! As part of our Discovery Time workshops, we were scientists, designers, builders and authors. As builders we continued to use blocks and boxes to construct campervans, cities, microphones, butterflies and schools in collaborative groups. As architects, we carefully drew plans and designs for our creations. We faced many challenges but continued to persist with our creations. As curious scientists and researchers, we found out about sea creatures. We used magnifying glasses to look closely at the different features and with some help, used non-fiction texts and pictures to help us gather more information.

Some of us also had time and opportunity to use the Lego Wall and to create our own books at the Book Making station. As collaborators, we worked together  to build swimming pools, train stations and robot ships with Lego. As writers, we wrote and illustrated books about zebras, numbers, the alphabet and friendship. After Discovery Time, as thinkers, we took time to reflect on our discoveries and creations by sharing them with each other, and we considered how we were communicators and collaborators. We then engaged in writing about our experiences, where we independently wrote a sentence. As communicators, we focused on using spaces between words, recording initial sounds or the beginning, middle and end sounds of words and using a full stop at the end of our sentence.

As part of our inquiry, we continued to investigate different materials and their properties. This week, we were scientists again as we explored what objects could sink or float, and why. As thinkers, we made predictions, before being researchers and testing and observing to find out what happens. We discovered that most of the heavier items sink, and most of the lighter items float, but it also depends on the material it is made out of. The key was light, but because it was made of metal, it sank. The block of wood, which was heavy, floated. 

As readers, we are continuing to engage in targeted focus groups for guided reading, letter sound knowledge and onset and rime, as well as shared reading. As researchers, we are finding out about verbs, using the Colourful Semantics cue ‘What doing’, and are identifying them in the texts that we engage with. As thinkers, we are beginning to make text to self connections by considering what the story reminds us of and connecting the setting, characters and key events to our own life, experiences, and feelings.

This week we are exploring the sounds /c/ and /d/ and those of us in FAM are exploring the words ‘said’, ‘no’, ‘likes’, ‘one’,  ‘came’, ‘you’ and ‘away’. Those of us in FLW are exploring the words 'his’, ‘all’, ‘up’, ‘say’, ‘into’, ‘that’ and ‘have’.When engaging in literacy learning at home, please continue to assist your child in identifying these sounds, and reading, writing and spelling these words. 

As mathematicians, we are continuing to explore Measurement. As researchers, we found out about the concept of Mass and identified items in our learning space and in the environment that were heavy and light. We hefted different objects, before using a balance scale to check and compare them and identify which one was heavier and which one was lighter. We discovered that just because something is bigger, it is not always heavier. We also discovered that a balance scale is a little bit like a see-saw, and the heavier item will push that side of the scale down, while the side with the lighter object goes up. 

Thank you to all our wonderful parents who have volunteered to help us in the learning space this week as we engage in different learning, we can't wait for you to join us! We also thank those who volunteered to cut and hole punch sight words for us. We wonder what new discoveries we will make as we begin another new week of learning.

Foundation Team, 

Alycia Marsico and Leanne Wenckowski. 

Year 1/2

We welcome A.C.U. student Miss Saffy to our 1/2 learning space.  Miss Saffy is undergoing her final teaching placement and will be at St. Fidelis until the end of the term.

Another week of hands-on and engaging learning experiences.  On Thursday, as part of our shared inquiry ‘Mix It Up’, microbiologist Lisa (Elizabeth’s mum 1/2BF) visited us.  Armed with microscopes, Petri dishes, agar dishes, beakers, swabs, and lots of microorganisms, Lisa shared her expertise and provided the students with opportunities to be scientists and use microscopes and petri dishes to see myriad germs. Lisa set up an agar plate for each student with swabs and saline. The aim of the experiment was to swab surfaces and see if there were any bacteria. 

Investigate and discover… what is around us?

Is it clean?  

Does it have bacteria?

The students swabbed surfaces in the learning space and zig-zagged lines across the surface of the agar dishes. They labelled their agar dish and will see the results in a couple of weeks. We couldn’t see any reaction immediately, as the bugs need time to grow. Lisa will leave the agar dishes in a hot room 37 degrees and revisit for a question and answer forum.  There were so many thought provoking questions and discoveries made:

Do germs have a gender?  Ava

Do germs have hair? Harrison

What does hand sanitiser do to the germs? Hazel

There are good germs and bad germs.  Jasmine

Micro means small and they are so small that 500 million could fit on a pin. Zita

The Walk Safely to School Day proved to be a hit on the school calendar.  What a fantastic sight to see the students and their families enjoying a healthy breakfast after a pleasurable stroll.

 In Religious Education, Mary continues to be our focus and students did a chalk talk thinking routine focusing on what they know about her, their connections and any wonderings. In digital form, students explored the story of the Ascension of Jesus, which took place 40 days after the resurrection in the presence of his disciples. Through scripture and role play and song, the students will unpack the meaning of Pentecost and how it marks the beginning of the Christian church’s mission to the world. They will make connections and link the Holy Spirit with the senior students when they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation later this year. 

As readers, we have been practising the strategy of visualisation.  We are beginning to understand that visualisation can help us to interpret ideas presented in a story by using the descriptive language and powerful verbs used by authors. We have been creating movies or pictures in our minds about the characters, setting and events. As writers, we have been using a form of poetry, alliteration, to entertain and engage readers.  We are reading the picture fiction book by Graeme Base to model the structure of alliteration.

As mathematicians, we are continuing to investigate the properties of 3D objects. We are becoming experts at identifying 3D objects such as cubes, rectangular prisms, square based pyramids by their faces, edges and vertices. 

Discovery time:

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Kind regards,

Belinda Filippone, Stefanie Carriera, Maria Delaney

Year 3/4

Last week ended with a great day at our Walk To School and with our Hot Lunch Order. Both events were thoroughly enjoyed by students and they are keen to do it all again.  Our Year 3 students did an amazing job of managing the demands of NAPLAN.  They were very cool and calm and gave their best effort. Congratulations to all students in Year 3 and a big thanks to our other students who were very supportive of the peers.

Students of the week were: 

Daniel Gaffnet 3/4GT

Madeleine Leahy 3/MM

Scarlett Falsetta Spina 3/4KD

This week we are looking forward to our Science Incursion to help us understand the sources and effects of heat energy. We are also learning how scientists work in order to find out more about the questions they pose.  

In literacy we are looking at how to write paragraphs effectively and in reading we are looking at the how different reading strategies are useful in comprehending texts. 

In Maths we are continuing to examine strategies to add and subtract whole numbers.  In STEM students are building frogs culminating in a race off.  

This Friday is a Pupil Free day.  Enjoy the time with your children. 

Year 3/4 team

Mark Mac Gregor, Katarina Davidson and Graham Troy 

Year 5/6

We would like to congratulate the Year 5 students who worked very hard to complete their NAPLAN tests, what a great effort!  Thank you also to the Year 6 students who were respectful to their peers while they were undertaking the tests.

In Religion, the students are exploring the origins of the Eucharist and significance of  the Passover.  They are investigating various artists and describing what is happening and reflecting on how Jesus is depicted in the images in instituting the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood.

In Literacy, the students have been learning about the crisis in India.  They have viewed videos and read information about the topic.  They were asked to take on different roles (such as;  Committee Leader/ Government Representative/ Foreign Affairs Minister; a family member of an Aussie stuck in India; an Australian citizen stranded in India; a Hotel Quarantine worker / Doctor and and an everyday Aussie). The students took on a role and debated from that particular perspective. In Writing, they were required to write a reflection and explain how they felt about the crisis.

In Numeracy, we are continuing to learn how to use efficient mental and written strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems.  We are learning to find the perimeter and area on regular and irregular shapes.

In Inquiry, we are finding out where electricity comes from.  The students are drawing and labelling detailed diagrams.  They are investigating both environmental and non environmental safe processes.  The students are enjoying investigating hydropower. They are exploring how electricity is created using water.  They are designing and creating prototypes such as wind wheels and turbines.  They will be writing scientific reports.

We look forward to a fantastic week ahead!

Michelle Casamento, Tania Fragopoulos, Viviana Clarke & Olivia Sargent

Year 5/6 teachers.