Junior School
Prep
We have had a beautiful start to Term 4 in Prep! It has been wonderful to see students arrive ready to learn, challenge themselves, treat others with kindness, and work together through play and learning. We have loved hearing about everyone’s holiday adventures and giving students the opportunity to share their experiences with their classmates.
Over the past two weeks, we have been busy building on our learning and developing skills to help prepare us for Year 1. In Mathematics, we have been learning about ordinal numbers and practising our number skills through fun, hands-on activities.
In Writing, we have been focusing on forming our letters and numbers carefully, remembering to write neatly on the line. In English, we have begun exploring information texts, learning about their purpose and how to identify and label the different features of an animal.
We have also been reflecting on our classroom Golden Rule: “Treat others as you want to be treated.” We connected this important message to Luke 6:31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” It has been a wonderful opportunity to remind students that kindness, respect and care for others are not just our classroom expectations, but values that Jesus taught us, too.
The students have returned with such enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, and we are excited to see them continue to grow in confidence, independence and resilience as we prepare for Year 1.
We are looking forward to a productive, fun-filled and faith-filled Term 4, full of new learning, challenges and opportunities to celebrate just how far our Prep students have come!
Sarah Grainger & Margot Bail
Prep E Teachers
What a wonderful start to Term 4 we have had in Prep G! It has been lovely to see everyone back at school, ready for another exciting term of learning and fun!
We have enjoyed lots of creative play, with students using their imaginations and problem-solving skills to construct some amazing buildings, zoo enclosures, towers and other wonderful creations! In Writing, we have been working on our holiday recounts, sharing some of the exciting things we got up to over the break. We have also begun practising writing on dotted thirds, focusing on correct letter formation, size and placement. The Preps have done a fantastic job, and their writing is looking beautiful!
In Maths, we have been revisiting lots of our learning through fun, hands-on activities and games. We have particularly enjoyed practising ordinal numbers and developing our addition skills by counting on to find the total. We also loved spending time with our Year 6 buddies, playing games together and listening to some wonderful stories they shared with us.
We are looking forward to all the learning, growth and special memories still to come in our final term of Prep!
Alissa Griffin
Teacher
Year 1
Our Year 1 students have made an energetic start to our final term together! The classroom was filled with warm smiles, laughter, and enthusiastic chatting as the children reconnected and shared their holiday adventures. To kick off our literacy learning, the students created detailed holiday recounts. They wrote about something they ate, did, played, saw, watched, and enjoyed, resulting in wonderful stories that they proudly read and shared with their peers. Throughout these first weeks, our Year 1’s shared so much joy and simple fun with one another. Showing love and kindness in action, the children also wrote some jokes and created a book to cheer up an unwell classmate.
We also took time to reflect on R U OK? Day with two meaningful projects: Joy Stones and a farewell banner for our Graduating Year 12 students. The children painted vibrant stones with encouraging messages and placed them along the dry riverbed, praying that they bring a smile and hope to anyone who discovers them.
To honour our Year 12 students as they finish their schooling journey, the children had a wonderful time painting their hands and placing their small handprints onto a special frame. These tiny prints serve as a loving reminder to our graduates that they, too, were once this small, and that our younger students look up to them as role models. Congratulations Year 12 on completing your schooling. We are praying for God’s peace and wisdom to guide them in their upcoming exams, and wish them every blessing for the future!
It’s going to be a memorable Term 4!
Kerry Snook
Year 1 Teacher
Year 2
This week, our Grade 2 students have been learning all about fractions! We explored the idea of a whole and how it can be divided into equal parts, including halves and quarters. To make our learning hands-on and creative, we used potatoes to explore halves.
Students carefully cut potatoes in half and then used the two halves as stamps to create colourful patterns and designs. It was a fun way to see fractions in action while combining Maths with Art.
The students enjoyed getting creative and were excited to see how a simple potato could help bring our fraction learning to life!
Year 2 had a fantastic time at camp, staying at Warra Gnan! The children enjoyed a wonderful two days filled with adventure, laughter and opportunities to build friendships and create special memories together.
Our busy schedule included beach games, a competitive game of Capture the Flag, mini golf and watching the much-loved Oddball. The children also enjoyed some well-deserved free time to relax, play and spend time with their friends. One of the highlights was our big Amazing Race at Lake Pertobe, where the children worked together, tackled challenges and had plenty of fun along the way!
We were incredibly proud of how well-behaved, happy and enthusiastic the children were throughout camp. For many, this was their first time sleeping away from their families, and they showed such bravery, independence and resilience. It was wonderful to see them step outside their comfort zones, support one another and embrace every opportunity.
A huge thank you to Miss Johnson, Mr Zeunert and Zayn's mum Maria for giving up their time to come along and help make camp such a memorable experience. We are so grateful for their support!
Year 2, you should be very proud of yourselves. What a wonderful adventure!
Emily Hunter & Ellie Johnson
Year 2 Teachers
Year 3
Our Year 3 students have been busy exploring, investigating and making some exciting discoveries in Maths and Science!
In Maths, we have been learning all about 3D shapes. We began by using connecting cubes to build different structures, challenging ourselves to work out how many cubes were used, including those hidden from view!
We then got creative with matchsticks and Play-Doh, constructing a variety of 3D shapes while learning to identify their faces, edges and vertices.
In Science, we have begun exploring rocks and soil, and were very excited to visit the Senior School Science Lab! Armed with soil samples collected from our own backyards, we used microscopes to investigate what was hiding beneath the surface. The children were fascinated to discover tiny living creatures that were invisible to the naked eye, as well as the amazing differences in the composition of our soil samples.
It has been wonderful to see the children's curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement as they discover just how much there is to learn about the world around us!
Ang Hales
Year 3 Teacher
Year 5
This week Year 5 have been given their final project for our Science unit in Space Innovations. After many weeks learning about the sun, moon and stars and how they effect the Earth and also learning about man first walking on the moon and the technology used to achieve that momentous task we are now going to build our own replicas of the Apollo 11 Command Module. In Science this week, in our small groups, we planned what we are going to do over the next few weeks to achieve this task. We had to email Mrs Robertson with who, in our group, would be doing what, and the materials we need to bring from home to achieve the model we want to create. A lot of wonderful co-operative time and effort was put into our planning. In a few weeks time we will show you our completed models.
Coral Robertson
Year 5 Teacher