F/1 CLASSROOM

What a fantastic start to Term 3! The children have settled straight back into our classroom routines and learning has hit the ground running. It's been so lovely to see everyone excited to be back, catching up with friends and enthusiastically getting stuck into their learning. We have lots of wonderful things planned this term and can't wait to see what the weeks ahead bring!

One of our favourite learning experiences this fortnight has been exploring what makes each of us unique. As part of our Social and Emotional Learning, we read What Makes Us Unique and celebrated the many ways we are different, while also recognising the things we have in common.

We shared our likes and dislikes, talked about our strengths, and reflected on skills we would like to keep practising. We also had some wonderful conversations about being kind with our words and asking respectful questions when we are curious about someone else.

To finish our learning, the children took part in a self-portrait masterclass! They carefully drew themselves, thinking about the features and qualities that make them special. We think they turned out absolutely fantastic. Don't they look amazing?

Our Religion learning has taken us on a journey back to the time when Jesus was a child. We've been discovering what Nazareth may have looked like, the simple homes people lived in, the roads they travelled and even the games children played.

One of the highlights was learning to play marbles! The children loved having a go at one of the games children may have played during Jesus' time. There was lots of excitement, laughter and a little friendly competition as everyone practised their marble skills.

Playing marbles also linked with their Science learning with Ms. Oliver about Push and Pull. The children explored how a gentle push or a stronger push changed the way the marbles moved. They also investigated cause and effect by using a bat to hit a ball from a tee and observing how different amounts of force changed how far the ball travelled. It was wonderful to see the children making connections across their learning while having so much fun!

Mrs Nagy

Foundation/Year 1 Teacher

2/3 CLASSROOM

What a wonderful start to Term 3 it has been in the Year 2/3 classroom! Our students have settled back into their learning routines beautifully and have been working incredibly hard across all areas of the curriculum.

Mathematics

This term, our focus in Mathematics has been multiplication and division. Students have been developing their understanding by creating multiplication and division equations, representing repeated addition, and writing "groups of" and "rows of" number sentences based on arrays.

I am incredibly proud of how much progress everyone has made in this unit.

It has been wonderful to see students becoming more confident, engaged, and enthusiastic during our Maths lessons.

Their growing understanding is evident not only in the work they produce but also in the way they explain their thinking and apply their knowledge to new challenges.

We have also been working hard to develop automatic recall of the 3 and 4 times tables. Alongside our regular lessons, students have loved practising through our exciting "Buzz Off!" game, where classmates go head-to-head in a fast-paced multiplication challenge to see who can make it through each round.

It has quickly become a classroom favourite and is a fantastic way to build fluency while having fun!

Introducing… Deskemon!

This term has also seen the launch of our exciting new classroom reward system to build on the success of last term's Desk Pets. Welcome to... Deskemon!

Deskemon is inspired by Pokémon cards and has been a huge hit with the class. Students earn points throughout the day by consistently demonstrating our school and classroom PBIS expectations during learning time.

Each time a student reaches 10 points, they earn:

A new Desk Pet to add to their collection.
A blank Deskemon card to design their very own Deskemon character.

Students use their mathematical thinking to calculate their Deskemon's power levels, while also creating strengths and weaknesses for each character.

To celebrate all of their hard work this term, we are planning an epic Deskemon Battle at the end of the term, where students will put their creations to the test. We can't wait to see the imaginative characters they create and will be sure to share how it all unfolds in our next newsletter....stay tuned!

Mrs Stephens

Year 2/3 Teacher

4/5/6 CLASSROOM

What a fantastic start to Term 3 it has been in our Grade 4/5/6 classroom! It's been wonderful to see everyone back, and the class has slipped straight back into our learning routines in an amazing way. The first three weeks have been busy ones, with plenty of great work happening and so much effort being put in by all students.

Reading & Writing

In Reading & Writing, we've begun a whole-class novel study of Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, a fantasy adventure written by Australian author Jessica Townsend. The story follows Morrigan Crow, a girl who has grown up being blamed for her town's misfortunes and believing she's cursed to die on her eleventh birthday. At the last moment, she's rescued by the mysterious Jupiter North and swept away to the magical city of Nevermoor, where she's given the extraordinary chance to compete for a place in an elite society for gifted children, even though she's convinced she has no talent at all.

Alongside our reading, students have begun planning and writing their own narrative fantasy stories. They've been deciding on their main characters, settings and the magical elements that will drive their plot, and have now started writing their story openings, introducing their character and setting to the reader. We have also been working on specific writing tools to boost the quality of our writing, most recently sensory language, where students practise adding in detail about what a character can see, hear, smell, taste and feel to bring a scene to life, as well as "show, don't tell" and varying the way we start our sentences.

Maths

In Maths, we've been working through our Fractions unit. We began by revisiting what fractions are and showed them using fraction walls and number lines, before comparing and ordering fractions with the same or similar (related) denominators. A big focus over the past few weeks has been converting between mixed numerals (where there is a whole number and a fraction like 2¾) and improper fractions (where the numerator, top number, is bigger than the denominator, bottom number, like 11/4). We have now moved into our next unit, where we're learning to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator. It's been great to see the class build real confidence with fractions over these first few weeks, it can be a challenging and daunting subject, and they are taking that challenge in stride!

Geography

In Geography, we have begun a unit called Our Place in the World, which takes students on a journey outward from our own backyard to the whole globe. We started by looking at our own place, Corryong and the Upper Murray, before mapping Australia's states, territories and capital cities, and then adding in Australia's major natural features like deserts, coastlines and landscapes. Most recently, we've begun exploring the continents and oceans that make up our planet. There's been a lot of focus on maps and globes throughout, with students learning to read and use them, including features like keys and compass directions, and building an understanding of where we actually sit in the wider world. Along the way we've also been talking about how our place on the earth shapes the way we live, and students have been building up their own Geographer's Portfolio as we go.

It's been a busy but really positive start to the term. The students have settled back into their routines beautifully, and it's been wonderful to see them return to their learning with such enthusiasm!

Miss Meares

Year 4/5/6 Teacher

Catholic Identity

Sacred Heart Parish Wodonga