Education News

IN THE CLASSROOM

Junior School News

After spending the first week of term “resetting the climate” and revisiting classroom routines and expectations, students have settled in well and are now focused on consolidating and extending their learning across all areas of the curriculum.

 During Phonics lessons we have now met almost all of Milo the monkey’s friends and students are using their growing knowledge of letter sound relationships to sound out and blend (read) or segment and spell (write) words. This term we will introduce new strategies in Literacy learning, including choral reading, fluency pairs and targeted vocabulary instruction. 

In Maths, toolbox goals are being introduced where students will work on specific, sequential skills to develop their knowledge and understanding of number. Early addition strategies will also be explored. 

Our Core Knowledge topic this term involves seasons and the weather and students will be exploring concepts through a variety of hands-on activities. Spanish lessons will mirror Core Knowledge learning, a wider variety of colour words will be introduced and Spanish (Mexican) culture and traditions will be celebrated. ICT is being introduced this term and students will be using iPads, following an age appropriate curriculum and reinforcing content already covered in other subjects.

 In our Grade 1 and 2 classooms, we have been busy with lots of exciting learning and special events! We recently celebrated Mother’s day where students enjoyed spending time with their Mum or special person with activities such as nail painting, massages and decorating hair clips. Students were buzzing with excitement! In our Inquiry unit, students have been exploring “Past and Present” by creating and sharing their own personal timelines, helping them to understand how life changes over time. 

We are also very excited about our upcoming dress-up day, where students will have the opportunity to come to school dressed in ‘olden days’ clothing, as well as our excursion to Ripponlea to investigate life in the Victorian-era.

 In Numeracy, we are focusing on additive thinking, building our confidence with strategies to solve addition. 

In Literacy, students are learning the Sounds-Write extended code, exploring more complex spelling patterns to support their reading and writing. It has been fantastic to see students reaching their reading goals, with some students celebrating 75 nights reading at home. 

Students have settled well into their classes and made a positive start to term 2. This strong start sets a great tone for the term ahead, and we look forward to seeing their continued growth and achievements in the weeks to come.

Middle School News

Year 3 and 4 students started the term with their swimming program. It was fantastic to see so many students confidently participating in the water, trying their best and achieving personal goals throughout the program. Students demonstrated resilience, teamwork and a willingness to challenge themselves, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts.

Literacy - Students have been deeply engaged in exploring the novel Nanberry, building a range of important reading comprehension skills along the way. Throughout the unit, students have practised questioning, summarising and responding to comprehension tasks to strengthen their understanding of the text. They have also been developing their visualisation skills by creating detailed character profiles, helping them make deeper connections with the characters and events in the story.

In Mathematics, students have begun their learning focus on additive thinking. Using pre-assessment data, teachers have identified key “quick win” strategies to support student growth, including turnarounds, doubles and near doubles, and bridging to 10. Students are continuing to build confidence and fluency by applying a range of mental and written strategies, including split and jump strategies, to solve addition problems efficiently.

As part of Core Knowledge, students have been developing their understanding of timelines and historical thinking. They began by creating personal timelines to help understand how events can be sequenced chronologically. Students will now apply these skills as they explore the timeline of the First Fleet and make connections to events and themes within our class novel, Nanberry.

Senior School News

Overall, students have made a positive start to the term. They are settling into classroom routines well and building confidence in their learning.Top of Form

Setting the Climate - During the first week, students participated in our ‘Setting the Climate’ unit. This involved revisiting classroom procedures and expectations to ensure everyone understands how we work together effectively. A key part of this unit was developing teamwork skills through a range of engaging team-building activities. 

Literacy - Students have begun our novel study Market Blues, where they are building comprehension skills by predicting, discussing characters, visualising, summarising and responding to varied questions about the text. They are also building their spelling knowledge by focusing on vowel spelling patterns and exploring common prefixes and suffixes. Students have been extending their narrative writing skills by exploring creative ways to uplevel their writing by incorporating sizzling starts and ending with impact, suspense and including compound and complex sentences within their texts.

Mathematics - Students have been working with decimal numbers, focusing on place value and the value of each digit. They have been practising recording decimals on number lines and identifying numbers before and after given values. We have also been looking at recursive number patterns and identifying the rules used to create and continue these patterns. Students have been developing their problem-solving skills by solving addition and subtraction problems using standard algorithms, carefully lining up place values to ensure accurate calculations. They have been encouraged to explain their thinking and apply these strategies to real-world mathematical problems.

Inquiry - Students have begun our Inquiry unit, Australia’s Journey to Federation, guided by the question: “Why and how did Australia become a nation?” They are exploring the different colonies that existed before 1901 and learning about the key events and ideas that led to Federation. This unit will help build their understanding of Australia’s history and development as a nation.

Phillip Island Camp - We are very much looking forward to our Phillip Island Camp in two weeks’ time. This exciting experience will provide students with many opportunities to build independence, teamwork, and confidence while participating in a range of fun and engaging activities. Over the coming weeks, we will continue preparing students for camp by discussing expectations, organisation, and the activities they will take part in.