Primary Specialists

Visual Art

Hello families and welcome to our first newsletter introducing the teachers and Primary Years Art program. My name is Miss Crane and I am one of the four Art teachers for this year. I will explicitly be teaching Prep Art. Ms Nishani, Ms Fankhauser and Ms Mancini will also be teaching Art for Years 1-6. 

Our Visual Arts program engages students through various projects by exploring different materials, techniques, processes and technologies.

Prep Art 

Prep students will conduct their Art lessons within their own classrooms. They will create visual art works that express and communicate experiences, observations, ideas and feelings about themselves and their world. Our Preps will explore colour, shape and line through engaging activities.  

Our first couple of weeks have constisted of focussing on building replationships with every child and beginning to create individualised class Art Essential Agreement's through unpacking the attributes of the Learner Profile. Students have begun learning about safe practices, Art room routine and handling of equipment, which will be an ongoing area of learning for our Preps this year. 

Years 1-6 

Hello everyone and welcome back to another year of learning in Art! It has been a pleasure to see some familiar faces and meeting new friends. To all those students and families joining us for the first time at Saltwater College; Welcome. 

It is with great pleasure to welcome Miss Crane to our Art team and she will be taking all Foundation students and classes for art. Ms Fankhauser, Ms Mancini and Ms Nishani will continue to plan for Years 1 to 6 and the three teachers will have a selection of classes from these year levels.  

Ms Fankhauser and Ms Mancini are located in the Prep Building while Ms Nishani is located in the Year 8 building. In the coming weeks we will be starting to upload art lessons, art resources and any notifications related to the Art program onto Schoolbox. We will also be asking families for their support with any donations/items related to art from this platform. 

In the past weeks, we began all classes by going over the Learner Attributes, rules and expectations within the art space. Students were shown around the art rooms and shown where to locate items and materials for Art making. They were provided with various ‘dancing figure- activity sheets, by Keith Harring, that they could pick to decorate, with information about themselves. Below are some artworks in progress and a few completed pieces.

MEDIA: With Mr. Brendan Howarth

Hello families!

My name is Mr. Howarth and I am teaching Media from Years One to Six this year. 

In Media, we learn how we can communicate messages and ideas through different media mediums, including photography, sound, filming, advertising, visual narratives, etc. Students also analyse and interpret media texts with cross-curricular connections made with Literacy, Numeracy, Language and the Arts. 

Our unit topics include migration, Indigenous history, our emotions, advertising, and Who We Are. 

I am looking forward to getting to know all students throughout the year.

MANDARIN: With Miss. Xiong

Hello, my name is Isabella Jiaqi Xiong. You can call me Miss Xiong. This will be my first year of teaching Mandarin at Saltwater P-9 College. It is a new journey for both you and me. I am looking forward to getting to know you all. I am sure we will have a lot of fun together. Are you ready to join me to learn a new

language and culture? This year, Mandarin will be offered from years One to Six. This will be a thirteen-week unit that rotates with Media and Music. 

Physical Education

On behalf of the Physical Education team, we would like to officially welcome Saltwater College back to the 2024 school year. We have some exciting changes happing within the P.E team including changes to our program that will be delivered throughout the year. 

This year the Physical Education team consists of Todd Robinson, Kelleigh Evans, Eden Norton and Danielle Brown.

Our new addition to the team is Danielle Brown, who has been at our school since opening and comes over from the Prep team after having a year off teaching Pilates.

We are lucky enough to be running extension and intervention for students in multiple events and sports. The first two weeks of our programme has seen the students across years prep-6 participate in minor games, whilst focusing on co-constructing our P.E essential agreements. This will be the focus throughout term 1 as well as developing several athletics skills in preparation for the highly anticipated athletics carnival, which will be held at the beginning of term 2.

 We look forward to an exciting year ahead in P.E.

Music with Mr Steve Saxton

Hi Saltwater, my name is Mr Saxton, and this is my second-year teaching Primary Classroom Music at Saltwater P-9. In previous years I worked in International Schools in Mongolia and Cambodia as a PYP Performing Arts Teacher. In Mongolia in addition to working with students inquiring on music dance and drama I directed several student performances in the 450-seat auditorium. 

This year at Saltwater I am teaching music years Prep to Six in the classroom. This week we have discussed learning how to learn, establishing classroom rules and expectations. With the Prep to Year Two students, I have encouraged finding our connection to music through movement and singing as we get to know each other and form relationships. In Years Three to Six we are beginning our exploration of our connection to music through the lens of Form (structure, how music is organised) and Change as a way to examine how we attach emotions to and react to music as an Art form.

I’m a vocal advocate for quality Performing Arts programs and the benefits to student learning across the curriculum. 

Spanish

Hola a todos…

My Name is Nelson Pastén, one of your enthusiastic Spanish teachers here at Saltwater p-9 College. Born and raised in the vibrant culture of Chile, I bring not only the essence of my homeland but also a unique approach to language education.

In addition to being a language aficionado, I'm a devoted music lover. You'll often find me strumming chords on my guitar or passionately singing to the rhythms of various genres. I believe that music has an extraordinary power to enhance language learning, and I incorporate this passion into my teaching approach.

Joining the Saltwater P-9 community in 2019 has been a highlight of my career. I'm dedicated to creating a dynamic and immersive learning environment where students can not only grasp the intricacies of the Spanish language but also feel the heartbeat of Hispanic culture through the universal language of music.

Hello, everyone! My name is Miss Alejandra, and I am thrilled to join the Saltwater P-9 College as a new teacher. With 17 years of teaching experience, I bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to the classroom. I have a particular joy in creating a fun and engaging learning environment for my students. This year, I am excited to share my love for the Spanish language and culture with all of you. Here's to a fantastic year of learning and laughter!

Adios 

Hi, my name is Tono and I’m from Madrid, (Spain), and I was living in London for 13 months before I moved to Australia.

I love going to the cinema, swim and play boardgames with my friends.

I was interested in history and Spanish since I was in high school. There are a lot of interesting things to learn about and that’s how I decided to become a geography and history teacher and now I’m one of the Spanish teachers at Saltwater p-9 College.

I am looking forward seeing you around the school.

Adios!

¡Nos vemos en clase! (See you in class!)

Adios..

DANCE.

Hi there everyone! Welcome to the dance studio and program for 2024! I am your dance director and teacher Phill Haddad (Mr H), and we’re back for another awesome year ahead of dance here at Saltwater! I will be teaching dance to all students throughout the Primary years and the extension programs also, covering various elements through dance, as well as life skills that students can use in all areas outside of the studio. Body control and awareness, functionality, strength and flexibility, muscle memory, attention to detail and retaining information, are just some of the important elements we will cover throughout the year.

We are already off to a great start with having recently held our dance auditions for this years dance extension programs. Over 100 students registered and auditioned making it very difficult to choose the selected few that eventually made it through. There were 65 students chosen to represent and make up the two groups for the Senior and Secondary teams for dance extension 2024!

This year we will be part of the amazing Victorian State School Spectacular again, and we will also be participating in the Wakakirri Performing Arts Project which we will be taking on for the very first time. Both are prestigious productions and events to be a part of, which will also kick start other opportunities for students going forward! Last year’s students in the programs excelled and set the bar high, and we look forward to setting even more goals and reaching them also! Sending best wishes for an amazing 2024 ahead, and I look forward to sharing this journey with you all as we go on! :)