Junior School News
Prep News
Our Prep students have been becoming spelling detectives as they learn about the FLOSS spelling pattern! This spelling pattern helps students know when to double the final f, l, s or z in a one syllable word. When the vowel makes its short sound, we double the final consonant. For example, in puff, the u makes its short /ŭ/ sound, so we know to double the f — p-u-f-f, puff! In bell, the e makes its short /ĕ/ sound, so we double the l.
In Writing, our Prep students have been learning how to write information reports. They have been focusing on Australian animals and learning how to include important information, such as the animal’s name, what it looks like and what it likes to eat. The students have enjoyed researching and sharing interesting facts about some of Australia’s amazing animals! 🐨🦘
In Maths, the Prep students have been learning how to share a collection equally, making sure everyone gets the same number of objects. They have been practising by sharing objects such as counters, blocks, teddy bears and other classroom materials between groups, checking that each group has an equal amount.
We just love welcoming our buddies into our classrooms and spending some quality time together! Recently, our buddies popped into the junior rooms demonstrate how to use Numbots, a fun and engaging mathematics game.
Year One News
In MSL, the Year Ones have been learning about the trigraph ‘igh’, recognising that these three letters work together to make one sound, the long /ī/ sound. They have been practising reading and spelling words such as light, high, night, bright, sight and flight, while learning that although three letters are used, they work together to represent just one sound.
In Writing, our Year One students have been focusing on adverbs and learning how to use them to add detail to their writing. To celebrate Father’s Day, students had fun creating interesting Father’s Day sentences using adverbs.
Alongside this, students have been developing their narrative writing skills with a focus on story grammar. They explored The Three Little Pigs, identifying important parts of the story, including the characters, setting, problem and events. Students then used what they had learned to write their own sentences about the story.
In Maths, the Year One students have been collecting and representing data using surveys and observations. They learned how to record their findings using tally marks and then represented their data by creating picture graphs. Students then used their graphs to answer simple questions and interpret the information they had collected.
Year Two News
In MSL, our Year Two students have been learning about the Final Y + Suffix spelling pattern. A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word, such as -ed, -ing, -er or -s.
When adding a suffix to a word ending in y, we often change the y to an i — for example, cry + ed = cried and happy + er = happier.
However, when there is a vowel before the y, we keep the y, as in play + ed = played and enjoy + ed = enjoyed.
Phew… tricky stuff! Luckily, our Year Twos are becoming suffix superstars, confidently recognising when to keep the y or change it to an i!
In Writing, our Year Two students have been learning to expand simple sentences by adding a fronted adverbial phrase. These phrases give the reader more information about when, where or how something happens, helping to make our writing more interesting and descriptive. For example, instead of 'The children ran,' we could write:
- After lunch, the children ran across the playground.
- Cautiously, the children ran across the playground.
- Across the school oval, the children ran towards the playground.
In Maths, Year Twos have been learning all about Australian money! They have been recognising and naming our different coins and notes, and practising how to count groups of coins or notes to work out the total amount. 💰
Year Two Blast Off to Scienceworks! 🚀
Our Year Two students had an exciting day of discovery and adventure at Scienceworks in Spotswood! 🌎✨ They kicked off their adventure by exploring the Think Ahead exhibition, where they had the chance to imagine what the future might look like. Students loved getting hands on with interactive exhibits, exploring new ideas and discovering how science and technology could shape the world of tomorrow. There were plenty of “Whoa!”, “How does that work?” and “Can I have another turn?” moments!
Next stop was Sportsworks, where things got competitive! 💪🏃♀️ Students challenged one another to discover who was the strongest, who was the fastest and who had the best cardiovascular fitness. There was lots of laughter, cheering and friendly competition as everyone had a go at testing their sporting skills.
To finish our action packed day, we headed into the planetarium and travelled far beyond our own planet! 🌙🪐 We lay back, gazed up at the stars and enjoyed an incredible journey around our Solar System. We learnt some fascinating facts about our neighbouring planets and discovered just how amazing our universe really is.
Did you know?
Saturn has thousands of rings! Its beautiful rings are made mostly of ice and pieces of rock and dust. ❄️🪨
As the warmer weather starts to sneak in, now is a great time to make sure our little learners are ready for plenty of sunshine and outdoor fun. A quick check over the holidays to make sure hats, water bottles and sunscreen are ready to go will help us start Term 4 sunny, safe and ready for fun!
🧴👒💦
We got the loveliest surprise while Eddie was overseas in Europe! He kindly sent us a postcard, which was such a thoughtful surprise and made our day.
Celebrating our amazing dads! 💙
Last Friday, we celebrated Father’s Day with a very special morning at school! Our Grade 5 and 6 students treated us to a wonderful performance, filling the school with beautiful singing. Afterwards, our dads and special guests visited our classrooms and enjoyed spending some quality time with their children as they completed a special Father’s Day activity together. It was a lovely morning filled with smiles, laughter and special memories!
Missed the magic of our Book Week Parade? 📸
Jump onto our instagram page to catch a glimpse of our Symphony of Stories in action.
Dancing Our Way into the Holidays 🎶
For the last two weeks of term, our lucky Junior School students have been dancing their way to the end of Term! They’ve enjoyed a special dance performance incursion, learning a total of two dances. From energetic routines to impressive dance moves, it has been a wonderful way to finish the term on a high note! 🎶✨
Check out some of their groovy moves.
Lastly, the Junior Team would like to wish all our wonderful families a fantastic school holiday as we close the chapter on another fun filled Term 3! 📚✨ What a busy term it has been! We’ve welcomed firefighters into our classrooms, celebrated the magic of Book Week, jumped aboard the Metro train for an exciting incursion, and explored the wonders of Scienceworks. 🚒📖🚂🔬 We hope you all enjoy a well deserved break, make some lovely memories together and return refreshed and ready for all the adventures that Term 4 will bring! 💛
Louise Bohannon,
Junior Leader
hwood@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
zporter@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
sprosser@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
kobrien@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au