Primary Specialists
Prep Visual Art
In Week 7, our Prep students proudly completed the construction of their toy boxes. They thoroughly enjoyed sharing their creations with their classmates and participating in a fun game of "What's in the Toy Box?" Students took turns guessing the different toys hidden inside each box and engaged in thoughtful discussions about toys from the past and present. This learning experience encouraged students to explore how toys have changed over time while developing their observation, communication and thinking skills. In Week 8, Prep students continued their learning about toys by designing and creating their own toy artworks. Students explored the features of toys from the past and present before drawing and decorating a toy of their choice. They used a variety of colours, shapes and patterns to add detail to their designs and then shared their creations with their classmates. This activity encouraged creativity while helping students identify similarities and differences between toys across generations.
Year 1 Visual Arts
In Week 7, our Year 1 students explored emotions and colours through the story Inside Out. Students chose an emotion from the movie or a feeling they had experienced and created expressive portraits to represent it. They used colours, lines, shapes and patterns to help communicate their chosen emotion, carefully considering whether their feeling would be shown using bright or dark, warm or cool, soft or bold colours. The finished artworks were vibrant and creative, showcasing students' growing understanding of how colour can communicate feelings. In Week 8, Year 1 students continued building on their learning from Inside Out by creating their own Emotion Monsters. Using colours, shapes and lines, students represented feelings such as happiness, worry, calmness and anger. They thoughtfully selected colours and patterns to reflect their chosen emotion before sharing their artwork with the class and explaining their artistic choices. We loved seeing their creativity, imagination and growing understanding of how artists can use visual elements to express emotions.
Year 2 & 3 Visual Art
n Week 7, students proudly finalised their Autumn Tree artworks. Using real leaves to explore patterns, shapes, and textures, students created imaginative characters and scenes inspired by nature. They carefully observed leaf details and incorporated these patterns into their creative designs, resulting in unique and expressive artworks.
In Week 8, students continued exploring nature-inspired art through the work of famous Impressionist artist Claude Monet. They created beautiful bridge and waterlily scenes using crayons, oil pastels, and coloured pencils. Students learned about perspective to create depth in their artwork and experimented with texture to bring their landscapes to life. We also discussed the Impressionist art movement, focusing on Monet’s loose, visible brushstrokes and how artists use colour and light to capture a moment in nature.
Year 4 Visual Art
In weeks 7 and 8, students continued to reflect on and develop their portraiture work by exploring a range of drawing styles, including anime, a popular artistic style that uses exaggerated facial features, vibrant colours, and expressive techniques to create stylised artworks. Using iPads as a research tool, students investigated different approaches to drawing portraits and gathered inspiration to inform their own artistic choices.
As they refined their ideas, students considered how style can influence meaning and expression in art. They also explored the medium of oil pastels, learning how to blend warm and cool colours effectively and use colour to create shadows and highlights. This helped them develop techniques to make their portraits appear more three-dimensional.
Through this process, students continued to deepen their understanding of portraiture while making thoughtful artistic decisions. This learning encouraged them to be Reflective and Open-minded as they explored a variety of artistic styles, techniques, and perspectives.
Science Prep to grade 6
Science learning has continued with great enthusiasm during Weeks 7 and 8, with students across all year levels participating in engaging hands-on investigations.
Our Prep students have continued exploring and identifying the basic needs of living things. Through observations and discussions, they are learning how living things grow and change.
In Grade 1, students have been further investigating weather patterns, observing daily weather changes and discussing how weather can influence what we wear and the activities we do.
Grade 2 students are continuing their exploration of the properties of materials, examining how materials can be changed through actions such as bending, stretching, heating and cooling, and identifying which materials are best suited for different purposes.
Grade 3 students investigated friction by experimenting with different surfaces and discovering how smooth and rough textures can create more or less friction, affecting how objects move.
Grade 4 students have been busy exploring how weathering and erosion occur through hands-on experiments that demonstrate how natural forces can gradually change the Earth’s surface.
Grade 5 students have been investigating mirrors and reflection, experimenting with how light bounces off mirrors and observing how the angle of light affects the direction of reflection.
In Grade 6, students are building and testing simple circuits as part of their electricity unit. They are exploring how batteries power a circuit and investigating which materials act as conductors or insulators, helping them understand how electrical energy flows.
Spanish – Learning and Exploring Together
¡Hola Families!
Our students have continued to enjoy learning Spanish and exploring the rich cultures of Spanish-speaking countries.
Prep to Grade 2 students have been practising basic Spanish vocabulary through games, songs, and classroom activities. They have been learning the names of different shapes in Spanish, including círculo (circle), cuadrado (square), triángulo (triangle), and rectángulo (rectangle). Students have enjoyed identifying shapes and using their new vocabulary in fun and engaging activities.
Grades 3 to 6 students have been exploring the cultures and traditions of Spanish-speaking countries while continuing to build their Spanish vocabulary and communication skills.
Grades 3 and 4 have been learning about foods from Spanish-speaking countries. Students investigated traditional ingredients and recipes and explored how food is an important part of culture. They also learned about the popular Mexican dish guacamole and discovered how it is made.
Grades 5 and 6 took their learning a step further by investigating the ingredients and process used to make guacamole. Students explored the cultural significance of this well-known dish and practised following instructions and using food-related vocabulary in Spanish.
We are proud of the enthusiasm our students continue to show in Spanish lessons. We encourage families to ask students to share some of the new Spanish words they have learned at home.
¡Hasta la próxima! (Until next time!)
The Spanish team
WELLBEING
Over the past two weeks in Wellbeing, students across all year levels have been learning about persistence, problem solving, and positive ways to cope with challenges and conflict. Students explored how problems are a normal part of life and practised strategies to manage emotions, work through disagreements, and support their wellbeing.
Prep Foundation students have been learning that challenges are a normal part of learning and growing. They talked about why it is important to keep trying, even when something feels difficult. Students discussed challenges they might face this year and shared ideas about actions that can help them keep going and succeed.
Year One Year One students explored how conflict can happen in everyday situations and practised ways to solve problems respectfully. Through discussions and role-plays, they looked at different ways to respond when disagreements occur. Students also focused on including others, learning how to help classmates feel welcomed and part of the group.
Year Two Year Two students discussed how trying new things can sometimes feel challenging or unfamiliar, and how being brave and giving things a go can lead to positive experiences. They also explored common conflicts that can happen at school and practised respectful strategies to solve problems.
Year Three Year Three students explored how emotions and friendships can change as we grow. They created a “Strong Emotions Thermometer” to understand different emotional intensities and discussed ways to manage strong feelings. Students also developed their own self-calming strategies to help them stay calm and focused during challenging moments.
Year Four Year Four students investigated ways to promote health, safety and wellbeing in everyday life. They also explored persistence and adaptability when facing challenges. Using the “Roads and Roundabouts” problem-solving model, students practised thinking about different choices they could make when faced with problems.
Year Five Year Five students learned about the importance of preventive health and positive wellbeing habits, including staying active, building social connections and making healthy choices. They were also introduced to the concept of self-talk and discussed how positive thinking can help when facing challenges. Students began creating their Positive Coping Portfolio, identifying strategies that help them manage stress and emotions.
Year Six Year Six students continued exploring preventive health and wellbeing, focusing on the role of positive habits and social support. They also learned about self-talk and coping strategies, building their own Positive Coping Portfolio. In addition, students discussed independent learning and problem solving, thinking about how they can manage challenges and take responsibility for their learning.
Through these activities, students are developing important life skills such as resilience, empathy, problem solving and emotional regulation.
Families can support this learning at home by talking with children about challenges they face and encouraging them to keep trying, use calming strategies, and solve problems respectfully.
MEDIA - With Mr. Brendan Howarth
Prep classes are exploring the connections between books we read and TV shows we watch. This includes looking at characters, settings, problems and solutions.
Year One students have just finished making connections between Greek mythology and the names of our planets. They will be finishing the unit with a viewing of Hercules.
Year Two classes have continued representing attributes of the IB learner profile with photography.
Our Year Three Media classes have added all the construction and building changes around our school to their PowerPoint slides all about Saltwater.
The Year Four classes have continued viewing Thalu and recently explored the diverse languages in Aboriginal culture and the importance in preserving them.
Using their devices and being creative, Year Five students created their own music loops and beats.
Finally, Year Six students are putting the finishing touches on their created protagonist character profiles.
DANCE.
Recently in dance we have been working on opposite directions and what may appear opposite but actually isn’t. Teaching everyone the same steps with directional changes and different levels, to then split the class in half to turn and face each other and do the task again. This at times caused confusion amongst students as the groups faced each other and performed the combinations. Though everyone would be travelling to their right side, it was confusing as the opposite group was travelling in a different direction due to the steps given, even though everyone was doing exactly the same thing. This taught the students the skill of adapting to change and working under pressure, and being able to accommodate the changes without letting it affect what your own task was.
VSSS.....(Dance)
We recently had our 3rd and final combined schools Hub rehearsal here at Saltwater college this week, where 5 other schools visit our school campus for a fun day of rehearsals with the VSSS choreographers. This was our last rehearsal of learning the final parts of the routines for this years massive show, before heading off to Keilor Basketball stadium on 24th July for our first dress rehearsal. Once again our Saltwater students proudly represented our school and community to the highest standard gaining attention and special mention from the choreographers and team on their commitment, effort and energy throughout the day. The routines have all been taught and now it’s just consistent practising to perfect what we know before heading to the next rehearsals and show!
Wakakirri.....(Dance)
Our Wakakirri dancers and team have been working hard to finish this years routine before the end of term and a massive term 3 ahead! Our performance date has been locked in for Tuesday 4th August at the Clocktwer Centre in Moonee Ponds, and is set to be another massive week of shows and comps for all schools involved. We have once again set the bar high for ourselves this year pushing our story and concept to another level than we have before, but also to a deeper level that will help everyone connect with our story titled “Always Here” for this years theme of “Guardians Of Us”. We are over half way through our constructing our performance and we can’t wait to bring this to our Saltwater Community soon! Tickets will be released for this years Wakakirri show soon with more details to follow.
