Infants and Primary
INFANTS
Excitement is building in the Infants block in the lead up to Easter. We’ve been getting our creative hats on in preparation for our Boorowa Easter Hat Parade, which is happening next Wednesday at 10.30am at the Boorowa Recreation Ground. This is such a lovely event that combines children from the BEE Centre with students from our school and St Josephs, making it inclusive of all Boorowa families. We hope many families and friends are able to come down to the cricket ground to take part in the fun.
Students across K-12 have been learning about and promoting diversity and tolerance as part of Harmony Week education. Public education is a great example of inclusiveness and we have been discussing and learning about ways that we can celebrate our uniqueness and be kind to all. Important values and lessons for all of life.
As the mornings are cooling off and sometimes jumpers are required, please check that your child’s name is clearly written or sewn onto jumpers so that they can be returned to the right person if they are misplaced. Thank you for your help with this.
Kindy
Kindergarten has a special class friend called ‘Kookie’ the Kookaburra. He and his little brother live in the classroom and keep an eye on how our class is travelling and if needed, they fly down for a cuddle with a classmate. Each Friday, Kookie chooses to go home for a weekend of adventures with a classmate who has had a great week of learning and has been a great role model for the rest of the class. So far Kookie has been lucky enough to have many bike and buggy rides, join in on a birthday party, visit Questacon, have fun at the park and pool and snuggle in to special beds his friends have made him.
This week we have enjoyed reading BJ Novak’s book, ‘The Book With No Pictures’ and finding out all the ways the author has made us laugh at silly sounds and words. We have been busy making our own ‘Blorks and BLuurFs’ and made a class book out of these.
In Mathematics, Kindergarten have been learning all about measurement. We practiced ‘hefting’ things to find out items that have a heavier, lighter or about the same mass as our lunchboxes. Students had fun using their ‘see-saw’ arms to demonstrate this. We are continuing to focus on number skills, including forming our numerals correctly, counting sequences and finding all the little numbers that make bigger numbers.
Year 1
This fortnight, year 1 have been learning about information texts in English. We have explored books, websites and videos with information about animals. For the remainder of week 8, students will be working towards researching for, drafting and publishing an information text of their own about a chosen animal.
In Mathematics, students have been exploring forms of measurement from length to area, to volume. Students have been considering what informal units of measurement are and which would be best for the job at hand.
Students have been engaging in discussions about Harmony Week this week, thinking about how we can be accepting of others and considering differences among us. This has also been linked in with our current PBL focus of being tolerable and accepting of others.
With Easter fast approaching, year 1 has begun creating easter hats for the upcoming Easter hat parade. We will also be engaging in many other easter crafts over the coming days. Some students are particularly excited to create Easter baskets!
Please contact me with any concerns or questions through the school office.
Miss Emily Friend
Year 3/4
Year 3/4 have had a great fortnight learning plenty of new things across all key learning areas.
We have concluded our study of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox and the narrative text type, and are now looking at different genres of texts focussed on Arctic and Antarctic climates, as well as the ocean. Students have loved looking at The Deep Sea, an informative and entertaining text which outlines the different environmental features and wildlife which are encountered the deeper down in the ocean you travel. Students only "swam" 1.5 kilometres deep into the ocean, but already had plenty of wonderings, unknown vocabulary, and cool understandings to clarify and share:
Students were also able to link their understanding of The Deep Sea to their current learning in Mathematics, where students have been focussing on measurement. Students have been learning to measure in metres, centimetres and millimetres, and are getting better at converting between the three units of measurement, and understanding how long a kilometre is. Students learnt about the Japanese Spider Crab, which has a maximum leg span of 3.8 metres! We have also been learning about perimeter, and measuring the perimeter of different 2-dimensional shapes.
In visual art, we have been learning about contrasting colours, and that contrasting colours can be found on opposite sides of the colour wheel. Students created abstract art, and coloured in their creations with contrasting colours, to make their work "pop" on the page.
What a busy couple of weeks! As always, if you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by email: Charlotte.Groves2@det.nsw.edu.au
The Latest from the 4/5 Classroom: A Fusion of Learning and Achievements
Over the past six weeks, the 4/5 classroom has been a hub of creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. Our unit on narratives, centred around "The Thing About Oliver," has deepened students' understanding of literary elements and fostered empathy. Guided by our dedicated teachers and support staff, the 4/5 students explored storytelling's intricacies, leading to the creation of their own imaginative narratives.
In addition to literature, our classroom has been active in English and Maths. Students have sharpened their grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary in English. Maths lessons have covered fractions, decimals, geometry, and measurement, emphasising problem-solving and critical thinking. These subjects have seen 4/5 students tackle complex problems with enthusiasm.
Art lessons with Ms Wood have been a highlight, offering students a chance to express their creativity across various mediums. The art room has become a showcase of diverse talents and imagination.
A special highlight has been the recognition of our times table champions: Maddyn, Joyce, Joe, and Caleb, each mastering the 10, 5, and 2 times tables. Their achievements have set the stage for this week's focus on the 11 times table, fostering a spirit of competition and motivation among all students.
Reflecting on the past six weeks, the vibrant learning community in the 4/5 classroom is evident. We've journeyed through narratives, tackled English and Maths, and celebrated artistic and mathematical achievements, fostering a camaraderie among students. As we look forward to the next chapter, we're inspired by the groundwork laid and excited for future achievements. The 4/5 classroom remains a testament to the joy of learning, eagerly anticipating what the students will accomplish next.
As always if you have any questions or concerns please contact me via email matthew.rowley12@det.nsw.edu.au
Primary
Well it has been another very busy few weeks in the Primary classrooms. Our behaviour focus has been: ‘Show tolerance and accept others’. This aligns with the upcoming Harmony Day festivities and we find that some of our children use some poor language to describe others who may seem ‘different’. It’s essential for appropriate social development to have the skills to accept all people, regardless of any background, circumstance or apparent ‘difference’. We look forward to helping the students view the world with an open mind as a student at Boorowa Central School.
Congratulations to Digby, William and Peter who represented Boorowa Central School and Cowra District at last week’s PSSA Western Region Swimming Carnival in Dubbo. A huge effort from all three of you athletes and well done to Peter who qualified for NSW State in 5 different events (50m butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and 100m freestyle)! Congratulations also to Hilton Apps who was asked to be a member of our secondary relay swimming team who swam at the secondary Western Swimming Trials last Monday. Hilton’s relay team have also qualified for NSW State Swimming in Sydney!
We look forward to our annual Athletics Carnival on Thursday 4th April. It will be a great day, albeit a very full and exhausting day. Notes will go out this week and please read them carefully as it’s a day that is very different to our normal routine. Many hands make light work also and without parent volunteers these carnival days simply wouldn’t happen.
If you require any additional information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: jason.stuart3@det.nsw.edu.au
Jason Stuart
Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)
5/6 Classroom
The year 5/6 class have begun working on new curriculum pieces of learning in English and Maths. We are continuing to study a text by Peter Brown called ‘The Wild Robot’ in English. We are almost finished and it’s getting very exciting. Lots of writing to go around character analysis and narrative structure that we can put on display in the classroom. In Mathematics, we have finished our study on area and perimeter and we are circling back to look at addition and subtraction methods – as well as a new focus on exploring, comparing and ordering fractions. In Creative Arts and Science our major focus has been ‘The Solar System’ and our classroom looks very colourful and interesting at the moment!
One thing that as a teacher I find most challenging is when students are being unkind to each other, shouting at each other and not appreciating the differences that we all have. The 5/6 class are a very diverse group of kids, with varying strengths across many areas – unfortunately I am seeing some students try to ‘dominate’ conversations and learning activities, which doesn’t allow others to learn and feel included in school. This will be a major focus for us for the remainder of this term, and
students not seen as being a positive influence will find themselves on a behaviour card.
As always, please get in touch if you require any further information: Jason.stuart3@det.nsw.edu.au
Jason Stuart
5/6 Class Teacher
Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)