School News
Prep
Did you know that when water droplets get too heavy in the sky, gravity pulls them from the clouds as rain drops?! We had a great time conducting an experiment to test this science. We used a cup with water, foam, and food dye. We put the food dye on top of the foam (cloud) and watched it get pulled down like rain. We have also been learning about the water cycle. We made a water cycle in a bag to show how the sun’s heat will cause the water to evaporate, cool and then condense into small rain-like droplets.
As part of our Inquiry this term we have been learning about butterfly life cycles. Each Prep classroom has had their very own chrysalis and we have been observing their changes over the past week. We have observed the chrysalis change from a lovely mint green colour to a dark black before observing the chrysalis break open and beautiful butterfly emerge. As of Wednesday 30th October, we have had 3 butterflies emerge! We look forward to the other 3 butterflies emerging and releasing them when they are ready to fly.
We also had a great catch up with our Buddies last week. The Grade 5 students read their favourite picture story book to their Prep buddy and then together, the buddies completed a book review. It is always lovely to see our Buddies chatting away and spending some quality time together.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and look forward to sharing all the wonderful learning in Prep.
The Prep Team
Elyce Munnecke, Laina Brebner, Allie Harrison and Kayla Hartrick
Grade 1 & 2
What a wonderful fortnight of learning our fabulous Grade 1 and 2 students have had! They have embraced every task we have presented to them. It has been a delight to watch them enjoy learning new skills as well as consolidating their knowledge and understanding across all curriculum areas. We are incredibly proud of our students and hope they are proud of themselves too.
Our author study has continued to gain momentum, and this past week we have added the phenomenal Margaret Wild to our focused work. Our Grade 1 and 2 students have enjoyed exploring character traits and comparing texts by the same author. They have developed their understanding of what it means to critique a text and how this skill helps deepen their comprehension of what they are reading. We have been delighted by the number of books students are bringing in from home to share with their peers. Margaret Wild has swooped in to claim the title of ‘favourite author’ this week.
In writing, our students have had some wonderful discussions about spring, summer, autumn and winter. They have been eagerly sharing their favourite season and explaining why it is important to them. Our young authors have enjoyed sharing their opinions and persuading others to agree with their point of view. Students have explored rhetorical questions, exaggeration, and emotive language to bring their arguments to life. We are thrilled to see our students discovering the power of their words!
Our curious mathematicians have had fun exploring time! From learning to read analogue and digital clocks to understanding hours, half-hour, and quarter-hour time, our students have gained a strong grasp of how time shapes our daily lives. With key vocabulary and plenty of practice, our students are developing skills to tell the time with confidence!
Our Year 1 and 2 students have been happily immersed in our inquiry unit over the past two weeks. With incredible creativity, they have been exploring the purpose behind their robot buddy designs. Our students have also reflected on the personality traits they would like their robots to exhibit. From planning to designing, our young innovators have put thought into every detail, and we are thrilled with their enthusiasm and clever thinking!
The 1/2 Team
Sally Newton, Llinos Poole, Tim Huntington, Veronica Paps and Emma Wright
Grade 3 & 4
There have been some awesome things happening in Grade 3/4 recently, as we get toward the halfway point of Term 4 (nearly)! The students have completed some of their learning tasks already, doing an amazing job of showing their success!
In Reading, students have continued to learn about persuasive techniques by reading texts related to Ned Kelly. They completed the Reading Learning Task which asked the students to read and compare two texts about Ned Kelly. They had to find evidence from the text to support whether Ned Kelly was a hero or a villain. They then wrote their own opinion, using evidence found.
In Writing, students have spent time learning about Ned Kelly and the other important people during that time period of events. They planned, drafted and began to publish a persuasive speech, choosing to write whether Ned Kelly was a hero or a villain, from the perspective of the following people – Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Steve Hart, Joe Byrne, a police officer, a schoolmaster or a community member. They will present their speeches at the end of Week 5.
In Maths, dividing, sharing between, equal sharing and remainders have been the hot topic for the past 2 weeks! Students have learnt about division – in particular understanding the link between multiplication and division, learning about fact families and beginning to learn strategies to solve division number sentences using the halving, and split, strategies.
In Inquiry, students have been busily creating story plots, characters, settings, and story boarding these ideas for their ‘Stop Motion’ Learning Task. Most students worked with a partner or in a group of three, focusing on working respectfully with their partner/s. Elements they are self-assessing include listening, contributions to group, respect, encouragement and use of time. We can’t wait to have the students filming their stop motion movies!
In Science, we have continued learning about Earth and Space Sciences. Lessons about the earth, sun and moon have been so much fun. Students have been participating in activities to learn about how the Earth rotates with the sun and moon, to create night and day. We also learnt how shadows are created and went on a walk around the school to find shadows and sketched these into our science journals.
Just a reminder – The P&F Colour Run is next Friday, 8th November! We are so excited!
For those who are taking the opportunity to head away for a well-earned long weekend, enjoy!
The 3/4 Team
Damien Smith, Sarah Jones, Hayley Peirce, Renee Barnden and Brent Smith
Grade 5 & 6
It was yet another busy week in Level 5/6!
We had a big week of learning, with Learning Tasks almost completed. All students should be commended for how hard they worked to complete tasks to the best of their ability.
Year 5 students participated in Life Education sessions and enjoyed learning about changes happening in their bodies. Year 6 sessions were postponed but will be rescheduled soon.
Our Wellbeing sessions have had a focus on transition this term, with Year 6 students talking about things that will help them with their upcoming high school transition. Year 5 students have had a focus on leadership as they prepare to become the leaders of our school. This week they began writing speeches to present to their teachers and peers as part of the application process for leadership positions.
Miss Pepprell also brought in her SCUBA gear this week! We are reading the novel ‘Blueback’ by Tim Winton this term, which is all about the ocean. We have had discussions about the difference between scuba diving and free diving and students were very interested to check out all of the equipment and learn about how it works.
Last but not least, our Senior Hoop Time team successfully made it through to State on Friday! Congratulations to the whole team, and their wonderful coach, Mr V!
The 5/6 Team
Megan Pepprell, Alarna Creed, Ashleigh Wilson, Sam Younes, Rachel Boyle and Brendan Van Haast