Primary

                                                                   Mrs Leanne Schulz

Assistant Principal (Primary)

Many exciting things have been happening this term!

Preps and Year 2 Swimming Program

The Preps and Year 2 students have been involved in the swimming program. A very big thank you to Mrs Pocervina for organising these lessons, and the Prep and Year 2 team for making sure things went to plan. The students have enjoyed this ‘water safety’ experience with their peers. Learning to swim takes many, many lessons over time and is a life skill necessity led by parents. Thank you to families for ensuring your child has been well-equipped and ready to face water safety challenges over the weeks. 

Preps 100 Days of School 

Where did that time go by? Our Preps of 2023 are 100 days into their school journey! It is heart-warming to see their development and how much they have blossomed throughout the year, academically, socially and emotionally. Parents, you must be so proud of their achievements! 

Parent Teacher Interviews 

Research shows that students who feel a genuine sense of belonging at school are more likely to do well in school, stay in school and make healthy choices. This sense of belonging is often described as school connectedness. Parents have a major influence on a child’s sense of connectedness by reading school newsletters, attending parent-teacher-student conferences, contributing to school events, checking out the school's website to learn what is going on at the school, and encouraging student participation in co-curricular activities. 

Thank you to parents who attended the recent Parent Teacher Interviews, as meeting regularly with your child's teachers to discuss achievements, effort, behaviour and learning needs has a great impact on a child’s sense of connectedness. Teachers appreciate the opportunity to speak with families about student learning and social developments, as well as to establish positive relationships with families.

Semester 2 Cumberland Student Leaders

Congratulations to the following students who have been nominated as Class Captains and Sustainability Leaders for Semester 2.

Class Captains

Sustainability Leaders

Mrs Natasha Radley (Head of Year Prep)

This term the Prep students have been anticipating their 100 Days of School. It finally arrived last week. The students had such a fun day celebrating with their teachers and friends. When they arrived at school, they were excited to see decorations and the teachers dressed up as 100 year old ladies! I would like to say personally, how proud of the Prep students I am. The growth they have shown in just 100 days of learning is amazing and I know they are also proud of themselves. The Prep Team are filled with pride at the achievements of our wonderful Preps. 

Here are a few student’s highlights from the special day:  

• Lexie B - PF: I liked all the colourful decorations 
• Penelope S - PF: I liked putting 100 materials onto a 100 chart 
• Anaiza A - PF: When we were having some fun 
• Jay W - PF: I liked being old 
• Nate O - PF: I liked how everyone was dressed up as old people 
• Billie A - PF: I got a lollipop from Miss Faizi 
• Harbani K - PF: When I took a photo with Miss Faizi 

Mr Jevon Scandrett (Head of Year 1 & 2)

Thank you to all the families who attended Parent Teacher Interviews over the past two weeks. Communication between home and school is very important and all teachers value and appreciate the opportunity to speak with families about their child’s learning and social developments.  

In Year 1, students are continuing to work on narrative writing. Students have used story planners, including ‘characters’, ‘setting’, ‘problem’ and ‘solution’ to draw their narrative stories before writing. 

Students have also been working with Ms Megan Williams in the STEM lab. Students have been using algorithms to program Bee-Bots (mini robots) to follow directions, linking in with their learning in the Integrated Studies topic ‘Our Community’.  

Year 2 students have been learning about fractions in Mathematics. Students completed a practical activity using Oreo cookies to demonstrate their understanding of halves, quarters and eighths. 

Year 2 have also thoroughly enjoyed their swimming programing at Splash. It has been wonderful to see the students build independence in looking after their belongings and to witness their enjoyment of the lessons with the teachers at Splash. The swimming program will conclude in Week 8. I would like to thank all the staff involved in the supervision of the program as well as families for supporting their child in bringing their belongings each week. 

As always, your first point of contact should be your child’s homeroom teacher followed by me as the Head of Years One and Two. 

Mrs Anne Adams (Head of Year 3 & 4)

We are now mid-term which is hard to believe. The students have been involved in many interesting outdoor and indoor activities. Here are some comments from the students: 

Lily M - 4M

Orienteering was fun. Ayla was my partner. We had to find square shaped, orange and white metal tags. It was really tiring because we had to run all around the school not really knowing where we had to go. Sometimes we didn’t get the correct place on the map. 

Shazelle O - 4M 

I entered a book in the Cumberland book writing competition. It is called ‘Dreamer.’ It is about two girls who are sisters and they go to the Library. They open a history book and get sucked into a portal. They have to find a cure for the virus in Mushroom Land. I am looking forward to seeing who is the winner of the competition. 

Ashen N - 4M  

At indoor games, we played Battleships. It is really fun and exciting and we don’t know who is going to win. My friend Adriel knows a good tactic to win. Coding Club is also fun and hard to do, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do. 

Jordynn M - 3T 

I am loving Maths because I love doing division with Mrs Touma. I am good at short division where you have to draw arrays and then we write the number sentence. 

Samara E - 3W 

I also love Maths. We are learning about division. We use the mini whiteboards to draw groups of things. Sometimes we play Maths games. 

Benaiah  P - 3T

We planted trees up near the farm house. We had to dig the holes. Sometimes with hands and sometimes with shovels. We planted grasses and trees. The deeper your hole gets, the muddier it got. 

Mr Nigel Keegan (Head of Year 5 & 6)

Kitchen Garden continues to be a real highlight in Year 5, providing the opportunity for students to use a range of cooking equipment and ingredients and learn about hygiene and safety in the kitchen. We recently cooked Jerusalem artichoke soup which was an interesting addition to students’ culinary repertoire and a new experience for most taste buds! In addition, students have learnt how to monitor the health of the Aitken chickens through methods such as catching and weighing them, and they have also been busy weeding to maintain the gardens. 

It has been fantastic to witness the engagement of Year 6 students during our Integrated Studies topic, 'Earthcraft'; the international political simulation game created by Mr Lawless. The game promotes teamwork and creative, practical thinking. Students are given a whole host of real world political, environmental, social and military problems to navigate, and are encouraged to think big picture. For the whole class to ‘win’ the game (which happens only if all teams solve all their ‘Earth Challenges’), everyone needs to work together. Ultimately, the game is designed to foster cooperation, problem-solving and creative thinking. It challenges students with realistic world problems in a simplified game environment. 

During RVE lessons, Year 6 students have been learning about organisations which provide service to others. We had the opportunity to hear more about the history and impact of the Royal Flying Doctor Service which spans 95 years, during our recent incursion. Students explored the flight simulator and had a go with virtual reality! 

There is much planning and rehearsing happening for the Cumberland concert during Performing Arts lessons, and Friday sport has seen students competing in the ‘Mini Olympics’! We are looking forward to book week and STEM activities planned over the coming weeks. What an exciting term it is! 

Year 6 STEM 

We're excited to share an update on our Year 6 STEM project, which delves into the fascinating realm of plastics recycling through the innovative 'Precious Plastics' initiative. Our students have been engaged in hands-on experiences that explores the world of plastic types, recycling techniques and the creation of useful products.

Our Year 6 students have been learning about two common plastic types: High-Density Polyethylene or HDPE (No. 2) and Low-Density Polyethylene or LDPE (No. 4). These plastics are used in various everyday items, such as bottles, containers, bags and packaging. 

Students have been collecting and sorting plastic bottle tops into different types and colours. Although colours can be mixed in our recycling process, it is important that the different plastic types remain separate as their melting temperatures are different.  

After sorting the plastic lids, we went to the workshop in the Technology building where Mr Watson showed us how the shredder worked and we were able to shred the sorted bottle tops. The shredded plastic allows us to mould the plastic into new forms. 

One of the key machines we used is the extruder, a device that melts plastic and shapes it into new forms. Students have had the opportunity to learn that it works by heating and melting either HDPE or LDPE plastics, and then it pushes the molten plastic through a mould to create a new product (in our case, a comb) and other useful items. 

Through the injection moulding process, our Year 6 students have had the chance to transform plastic waste into functional and practical items. This hands-on experience showcases how recycling can lead to the production of everyday objects, contributing to a more sustainable future. 

Assembly Roster 

We welcome parents to Chapel and Assembly. Below is the Assembly roster. 

Important Dates