From the Classroom
News from The Seniors
It’s been a great start to Term 2, with our senior students returning from holidays ready to get back to work. We have been pleased to see everyone making a strong effort and staying engaged in their learning. Here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening and what’s coming up over the next few weeks:
In English, we have begun reading our new class novel, Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman. Students are already deeply engaged, asking thoughtful questions and making connections to build their background knowledge so they can better understand the story. Boy Overboard follows the journey of Jamal and his sister Bibi as they flee Afghanistan in search of safety and freedom. It’s a powerful novel that prompts important conversations about resilience, hope, and global issues. We encourage you to chat with your child about the story and the themes we’re exploring.
In Maths, our focus has been on fractions, decimals, and percentages. Students have been learning how to make connections between these areas and have been working on creating and identifying equivalent fractions.
A strong understanding of times tables is essential for success in this unit. We encourage parents to support their children at home by practising quick recall of times tables. You might like to play games together, quiz them in the car, or use the Essential Assessment games, which students are familiar with from school.
Our Inquiry unit this term is called Desert Survivors. We are investigating how plants and animals have adapted to live in some of the toughest environments on Earth. At the start of the unit, students brainstormed a list of questions they were curious about, and these questions will help shape the lessons and activities over the coming weeks. This way, students are taking ownership of their learning and exploring topics that genuinely interest them. We’re excited to see their critical thinking and research skills grow as they discover the amazing ways life survives in the desert!
Middle School News
It has been a great start to Term 2. Students have settled back into the routine quickly. Swimming lessons at Aquanation has been a very enjoyable experience for all of our students and they have had a great time during lessons.
In Numeracy, we have begun this term by reviewing Place Value, Addition and Subtraction. Students used MAB's, charts, counters and other resources to work out mathematical problems.
In English, students read books on ANZAC day and reported back, the four different sentence types and we have had a strong focus on different aspects of grammar, such as punctuation, capitals, coordinating conjunctions and articles.
Our Inquiry Unit this Term is on Geography and we are investigating Australia's states, territories and oceans as well as our neighbouring countries.
Juniors Tell All
What a wonderful start to Term 2! It was great to see all the students' smiling faces as they settled back into the school routine seamlessly.
In English, we have started the term with revision in our phonics lessons. During our writing sessions, students wrote about their holiday break and it was terrific to read about what they all got up to.
In Maths, we have revised counting and place value and had fun engaging in maths games to consolidate our knowledge. We will soon begin our unit on addition and subtraction.
This term our inquiry unit is 'Under the Sea'. Students demonstrated their creative thinking by drawing a picture to show us their prior knowledge of the topic. We are very excited to further explore under the sea and what creatures may lurk there!
A big congratulations to the Junior unit for completing their week of swimming lessons! We are proud of how well they developed their confidence in the water and their respectful attitude towards others in the pool.
We have been having so much fun in discovery learning! It has been wonderful to introduce 'The Vet Clinic' to our space, where students have been exploring different animals, their needs and demonstrating our school values to share and take turns.
Performing Arts
We are so excited to be back in the Performing Arts Classroom after the holidays! Everyone has brought positive and creative energy into their first sessions back.
We are finalising and getting ready to perform our plays to the class in the Middle and Senior school. Middle A will be performing their plays in Week 3, Senior A and B will be performing in Week 5, be sure to ask your kids all about their wonderful plays they have created!
Our Juniors have begun their Music and Dance Unit and will spend the term learning beat and rhythm including how different instruments work and play music. I look forward to seeing everyone grow and thrive as musicians this year!