In Our Classrooms
Book Week
Reading is one of the most valuable skills our students develop, and fostering a love of books in the early years lays the foundation for curiosity, confidence and a lifelong passion for learning. Book Week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this, encouraging students to explore new and exciting stories that have been shortlisted throughout the year.
Across the Primary Years, our classes enjoy sharing stories, reading together, listening to one another and engaging with rich texts that support learning in every area. Below, our Prep, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 classes have shared their favourite class books, and what they love most about the book.
Prep A: Prep A loves Mopoke because it is funny, the illustrations are engaging, and we enjoy discovering all the different types of Mopoke throughout the story. It always makes us laugh and keeps us excited to see what comes next!
Prep B: We just love reading the Potato People because it is the story of a boy and his fun visits to grandma’s house each week. They do so many activities together, but their favourite is making potato people! The pictures are so lovely too!
Prep C: Prep C loves reading Little Bont and the Big Secret because we enjoy talking about football and playing sports to keep us healthy. It teaches us that accidents happen and telling the truth is always important.
1A: Our class's favourite book is Dropbear by Philip Bunting, which we first discovered during a visit to the library. We loved joining in by shouting "DROPBEAR!" throughout the story and were fascinated to learn afterwards about the famous Australian myth.
1B: 1B loves reading Busting! We enjoy Aaron Blabey's funny stories and illustrations, and we especially love reading Busting because it rhymes and is full of /oo/ words for us to spot.
1C: 1C loves reading Do Not Open This Book because we love looking at the pictures. Tt is funny, and even though he asks us not to open the book, we don’t listen, and we keep going.
2A: Our class loved reading Gary by Leila Rudge because the story was funny and full of heart. The book was especially meaningful because it reminded us of the pigeon that visits our classroom, who we have named Gary. We enjoyed comparing the story to our own Gary and loved the beautiful illustrations and the message about belonging.
2B: 2B love reading the different stories in the Do Not Open series, but our favourite is Do Not Open this Book Again. We love reading it because it's so fun and silly.
2C: We love reading Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas! It always makes us laugh, and it's a story our class has enjoyed since they were little.
2D: 2D loves reading Dropbear by Philip Bunting! We like reading this story because it addresses the misconception that koalas drop from trees. The humour and illustrations are what make it really enjoyable!
3A: 3A’s favourite book at the moment is Charlotte’s Web. They have loved following along Wilbur’s journey and listening keenly for each new message Charlotte has in her web. We have learned all about the importance of friendship and resilience. We can’t wait to reach the end of the book and see what happens next!
3B: 3B loved reading Mopoke by Phillip Bunting because it is engaging and funny. We enjoyed the playfulness and clever illustrations. We liked making predictions as we read the book aloud as a class, and there was a surprising twist at the end.
3C: 3C’s favourite books to read are the Do NOT Open This Book series. They are funny and filled with colourful and hilarious illustrations. We don’t follow the rules when we read these books - we continue turning each page because we want to see what happens next, even though the author says DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK!
3D: 3D's favourite book is OH, SAY CAN YOU SAY? by Dr. Seuss. We really enjoy trying all of the tongue twisters; even though they can be tricky to read, they are funny and make us laugh. Also, the characters are unique, wacky and interesting. We really like how Dr. Seuss makes up words and how many of the words rhyme with each other and go together so well.
100 Days of Prep!
On Friday the 31st of July, we celebrated 100 Days of Prep!
Our Prep students arrived dressed as their best 100-year-old selves, ready for a day full of fun and learning. We have been counting down to this special milestone since the beginning of the year, so everyone was thrilled when the big day finally arrived!
Throughout the day, students took part in a variety of exciting 100-themed activities. We filled ten ten-frames to make 100, created colourful 100 Days of Prep crowns, and drew imaginative self-portraits of what we might look like at 100 years old.
The celebrations also included some delicious treats! Students decorated cookies using lollies to create the number 100 and made fairy bread covered in hundreds and thousands.
It was a fantastic day filled with laughter, creativity, and lots of opportunities to celebrate how much our Prep students have learned and grown over their first 100 days of school!
Year 1 Measuring in Maths
Our Year 1 students have been busy exploring lots of exciting Maths this term! Last week, we investigated Capacity, using classroom materials, water and sand to compare, measure and describe how much different containers could hold. Students loved predicting, testing and sharing their thinking through these hands-on learning experiences.
This week, we are beginning our new Multiplication unit by exploring what makes an equal group. Students will use a range of hands-on materials to make and count equal groups and arrays, while applying their skip counting skills of 2s, 5s and 10s.
It has been wonderful to see the students’ confidence and enthusiasm grow as they discover that maths is all around them!
Year 2 Literacy
This term, our Year 2 students have been exploring the wonderful world of cinquain poetry. Through this creative writing experience, they have been identifying and using nouns, verbs and adjectives to carefully craft their own poems. As they experimented with descriptive language and poetic structure, students created something a little special that will be revealed later in the term.
Our Year 2 students have also begun their exciting narrative writing unit with a text analysis of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox. As they delve into this much-loved story, students are exploring the characters by identifying their inside traits (such as their thoughts, feelings, and personalities) and outside traits (their physical appearance and actions). This deeper understanding of character will provide a strong foundation for their own narrative writing in the weeks ahead. Building on this understanding, students will soon begin exploring sizzling starts to engage their readers and learn about narrative structure, equipping them with the skills to craft their own imaginative stories in the weeks ahead.
Year 3 Writing
This term, our Year 3 students have been exploring the wonderful world of poetry! They have been learning how poets use vivid imagery, rhythm and rhyme to bring their ideas to life. Students have enjoyed reading a variety of poems, identifying literary devices such as onomatopoeia and alliteration, and discussing how these features make poetry engaging for readers. They have also been creating their own poems, using descriptive language and imaginative ideas to express themselves. We are so proud of the creativity, confidence and enthusiasm our young poets have shown throughout this exciting unit.
“I’ve loved learning how to use imagery in my poetry. My favourite poem to read was Macavity.” - Clara, 3B
“It has been really fun learning about poetry because we have learnt about lots of different poetry devices and created our own poems” - Hayleigh, 3B
“I learnt about onomatopoeia, including what it is and how to use it in my poems” - Lina, 3B
“I’ve enjoyed learning how to create imagery in my poems, and I like looking for similes” - Hayley, 3B
Year 4 Writing
Over the past few weeks, our Year 4 students have been developing their biography writing skills as they explored the lives of a range of people they found inspiring. Throughout this unit, students learnt that biographies are factual texts written to inform readers about a person's life, achievements and contributions. They investigated how biographies are organised using clear sections, chronological order and important dates, while also learning to write engaging introductions and thoughtful conclusions.
Students strengthened their ability to research and organise information by identifying the most important facts and transforming their notes into well-structured paragraphs using their own words. A strong focus was placed on using formal language, topic-specific vocabulary and accurate sentence structure, as well as editing and revising their writing to improve clarity and presentation. It has been wonderful to see ourstudents grow in confidence as authors and researchers while exploring this informative text type.
Year 5 Mathematics
The Year 5 students have had an exciting and engaging start to Mathematics this term! We recently completed our Financial Mathematics unit, where students developed their understanding of rounding and estimating money amounts while working within a budget. A highlight of the unit was planning a class party and holiday, where students created realistic budgets and entered their data into digital spreadsheets to organise and analyse their spending.
We have now begun our new Measurement unit, focusing on angles. Students have done a fantastic job identifying and labelling different types of angles found around the school, and they are looking forward to learning how to accurately measure them using protractors over the coming weeks.
Year 6 Update
Our Year 6 students have had another busy and exciting fortnight! As part of our transition to secondary school, students attended the Year 7 Awards Assembly, where Mr Stockwell commented on how respectfully they entered the Performing Arts Centre and conducted themselves throughout the event.
House Performing Arts rehearsals are now well underway, and it has been wonderful to see our Year 6 students stepping into leadership roles as they support and encourage our younger students while learning their dances. Interschool Sport has also returned, with students enthusiastically representing our school in Softball, Hotshots Tennis and Volleyball.
In the classroom, our Literacy learning has centred around our class novel, How to Bee. Students have been analysing characters, settings and important turning points in the story while building their vocabulary, exploring themes such as hope, and developing the skills of journalistic writing in preparation for creating their own news reports.
In Mathematics, students have been strengthening their understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages by making connections between these concepts and applying their learning to authentic, real-world situations, including calculating discounts and sale prices.
During Curiosity, students have explored global aid agencies, analysed spoken word poetry and begun developing their own persuasive call-to-action pieces using a range of literary devices. In PEP, students have focused on building positive relationships by practising help-seeking strategies, reflecting on how to engage respectfully in activities, and considering ways to create safe, inclusive and enjoyable play spaces for everyone. It has been wonderful to see students demonstrating resilience, curiosity and leadership across all areas of their learning.