Specialists

Visual Arts

The past two weeks in our visual arts studio have been a hive of creativity and inspiration. Our students have been deeply engaged in crafting their individual and unique art pieces, showcasing their growing skills and artistic expression. The focus of our studio work this fortnight was on the Studio Habit of Mind (SHoM) "Envision," where students learned to develop their ideas and plan their artwork step-by-step. This critical skill helps them to not only picture their final piece but also articulate the processes involved in bringing their vision to life.

Collaboration was, as always, a key component of our studio environment. Our young artists worked together, sharing ideas and techniques, fostering a vibrant community of creativity and mutual support.

Our youngest artists, the Preps, had an exciting introduction to acrylic paint. They were also introduced to the world of Yayoi Kusama, a renowned Japanese contemporary artist known for her work in sculpture and installation, as well as her contributions to painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, and fiction. The Preps explored Kusama's distinctive style, characterised by vibrant colours and bold patterns, and experimented with these elements in their own artwork.

It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and dedication of all our students. We look forward to sharing more of their amazing work with you in the coming weeks.

Performing Arts

The Grade 4-6 students have started working on learning a song on their instrument of their choice. 

Students first chose to focus on 

• keyboard, ukulele or guitar

Students then had to make a choice of their starting level

• basic
• easy
• medium
• hard
• extreme

From there, students worked accessed learning resources, labelled sheet music/TAB and started to play their song. 

Students have shown great independence and commitment through this process. 

Can't wait to see their progress through the next few weeks! 

In addition to this, Grade 4 students have started to work on their project for the Dream Big Music Festival as part of RuOK Day. Both classes will be making a music video - 4A for the song Superheroes, and 4B for a song they are writing with artist John Lane. 

4A will start working on their story boards for their video in the coming weeks.

4B have had two in person sessions and one zoom session with John and their song is coming along nicely!

STEM

The past two weeks in our STEM program have been filled with amazing engineering and technological achievements.

First and foremost, a HUGE congratulations to our Just Dance team for winning the Melbourne West Division of the FUSE Cup! Each member showed remarkable dedication and represented our school with immense pride. Not only did we win top overall, Kayla achieved the highest score overall, with Kaylee earning runner-up. 

Our Prep to Grade 2 students have been learning about the weather. We've explored why it's important to protect ourselves from various weather events, and students have been creating shelters to protect Chunky, our STEM mascot, from the sun (a torch), rain (a spray bottle), and wind (a fan). We will be testing out our designs from next week to evaluate what features can protect us from certain weather events. 

Grades 3 and 4 students have been demonstrating their understanding of magnetism through Stop Motion Studio. They've put in great effort to develop their skills, ensuring their movies engage the audience effectively.

Grades 5 and 6 students have been presenting their projects on light. Using a variety of software, they’ve demonstrated their understanding of topics such as light being blocked, reflected, refracted, and classified. Their work has been truly impressive!

Physical Education

Athletics Day for the 4-6 students will be held at Keilor Athletics Track on Thursday May 30th. If any parents are able to volunteer for the day please let me know by email

dane.barun@education.vic.gov.au

Spanish

Hola a todos,

The past two weeks in Spanish our prep students have been singing the ‘Familia Dedo’ song and practising some numbers and colours in Spanish. Our Grade 1 and 2 students have been busy with colour code activities centered around classroom objects. Meanwhile, Grade 3 and 4 students have been practising their skills with numbers up to 50 through lively bingo games, while also learning to say what they like, dislike, love to do during their leisure time. As for our Grade 5 and 6 students, they’ve been combining their Spanish and Art skills by creating self-portraits and using the language they’ve learned to describe themselves. 

All classes have really enjoyed having the Spanish iPads ready to learn and practise their Spanish language in the Spanish Casa.