Prep

What a fabulous couple of weeks we have had in prep! We have had book week dress up day, swimming (which included lots of fun bus rides to and from the pool), and lots of fun learning at school!

There were lots of wonderful book week costumes on Friday last week, and the students were proud to show them off during the book parade in the gym. We had Shrek, Pig the Pug, a cat, Pikachu, Spiderman, Cinderella and Billy B Brown (just to name a few)!

The students have been hard at work in maths learning about mass, in particular the concept of 'light and heavy'. We have been doing lots of fun hands-on activities to explore this topic, which the students have thoroughly enjoyed.

In writing, the students have finished their fairy tale books! They worked extremely hard on them, creating their own characters, setting, tricky situation and resolution. They will be coming home in their portfolios this week for you to celebrate with them at home.

In week 5 and 6, we celebrated the following shining star award recipients for prep:

Week 5:

Beau Hobbs
Scarlett Goulden
Jackson Creed

Week 6:

Remi Mackevicius
Theodore Fiske
Imogen Lovett

The students had a wonderful time during swimming week! They enjoyed jumping in the warm water, learning new water safety skills, practising the various swimming strokes and they also did a great job independently changing themselves. The highlight for some students was the bus rides there and back!

Portfolios will be coming home this week. This is a great chance for you to celebrate your child's hard work this term and for them share all the wonderful work they have completed. Can these please be returned prior to the term 3 holidays. Thank you!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

The Prep Team

Allie Harrison, Kayla Hartrick, Laina Brebner & Elyce Munnecke

Grade 1 & 2

What a fantastic fortnight the Level 1 and 2 students have had! We are all feeling very tired after a wonderful week of learning to swim. Well done to all the students who have shown great independence and resilience, turning up each day with a positive attitude toward their swimming lesson. We have enjoyed learning how to torpedo glide, star fish float and use freestyle arms. We practised being safe around water. A huge thank you to all our parent volunteers this week for helping make the week run smoothly.

Our highlight last week was Book Day on Friday. There were many fantastic costumes and the students enjoyed sharing who they were dressed as, and their favourite book titles and authors. Students enjoyed viewing ‘Inside Out’ and discussed how to identify and name their emotions. They have also been discussing how to manage emotions and feelings within each ‘Zone’.

In Inquiry, students have presented their culture collage to their classmates. They shared their knowledge of their background and interesting facts about their countries foods, celebrations, games and sports. We have many countries represented across RHPS and students have loved learning things about their peers cultures.

This Friday students will bring home their Learning Portfolios. Please take the time to share these with your children and celebrate their learning, growth and success. Please return them to school once shared.

The Level 1/2 Team

Llinos Poole, Sally Newton, Tim Huntington, Emma Wright and Veronica Paps

Grade 3 & 4

Hi Level 3&4 Families,

We have had a great couple of weeks in 3/4!

In Reading and Writing, we have explored poetry using books by Dr Suess and songs like ‘Firework’ by Katy Perry to identify a range of poetic devices such as rhyming words, alliteration, hyperboles, similes and metaphors. Students have enjoyed using these poetic devices to create a PowerPoint with examples and being able to write their own poems.

In Maths, we have been working on increasing our times tables knowledge. It has been fantastic to see all their hard work and encourage the 3/4s to keep working on their skills! We have also been working on reading clocks and telling the time to the hour, half past and the nearest minute! To finish this unit off, students have played Time Bingo to put their clockwork skills to the test!

Through our Inquiry unit looking at Social Justice, students have completed their Learning Task looking at fairness, rules and laws and how the local government make laws. It was great to see the students show off and reflect on what they have learnt so far! This week students have begun their own student-led investigation into an area of interest and will present this back to their classes later this term.

3/4 students had the opportunity to participate in a Sports program run by students from Lilydale High School. The students participated in a variety of team games in their classes where they focused on using strategies to work together to win. It was wonderful having the Year 9 students leading the program for us and our 3/4s had a fantastic time joining in.

This week we also had a visit from two authors to celebrate Book Week! On Monday, students were visited by Lauren Caceres who wrote ‘Nene va de Compras’ about a kangaroo going food shopping. The students read along in Spanish and had a chance to practice their language skills by asking each other about items needed to buy at the store. Students also had a chance to ask about Lauren questions about her book and the process to become an author! On Friday afternoon, students got the opportunity to meet Morris Gleitzman and have their books signed! Students had the opportunity to ask questions, discuss the writing process and hear him read! It was fantastic to have Morris visit us and all the students found this to be very exciting!

The Level 3/4 Team

Hayley Peirce, Sarah Jones, Damien Smith, Renée Barnden & Brent Smith

Grade 5 & 6

There has been quite the buzz in the grade 5/6 classrooms since we last shared with you.

Our literacy focus has been related to the complexity of language found in poetry. Students have demonstrated an excellent understanding of how to craft various styles of poems, in particular Haikus and use the contrasting imagery to excellent effect. Here are some examples:

The river is free,

And the river is dancing.

Now, it disappears. – Chelsea

Silent water pours.

Waterfalls, splashing, falling.

Schools of fish beneath. – Spencer

The swish of the net.

The cheers coming from the crowd.

Frustrated faces. - Ria

You may have heard about what’s happening in maths time. We have been replicating some Olympic events using potatoes. That’s right, the humble spud is now an athlete. Our potatoes have been competing in ski jumping, curling and, just to be topical, breaking. While our focus has been on fractions, decimals and percentages, we have been able to use hands on materials to gather the necessary data for us to practise these skills.

In Inquiry, we have investigated how different aid organisations support communities in need and we have identified the type of persuasive language that they use. In some instances, students have exceeded the persuasiveness of their chosen aid organisation and used statements such as:

“Save lives today,” Noah for UNICEF

“Everyone deserves to live a happily ever after, so do animals,” Emilia for RSPCA

“84% of profits go to helping people. Please help us save lives,” Johannes for World Vision.

Hoop time was a success for multiple reasons. The Rolling Hills teams played incredibly well, with some even making it into the finals. There were some hard-fought battles and students showcasing their incredible skills. All in all, we were very proud of how our students represented themselves and their school on the day. They out did themselves consistently showcasing fairness, honesty and perseverance. A massive thank you to all the parents who supported on the day, whether that was scoring, coaching, umpiring or cheering!

Keep your eyes on compass for more news about what’s coming up.

The Level 5/6 Team

Megan Pepprell, Alarna Creed, Sam Younes, Mykaela Oakley, Brendan Van Haaster, and Ashleigh Wilson.

Art