Learning Across the
Junior School
Message From the Assistant Principal: Head of Junior School
NAPLAN
Our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in NAPLAN over the past two weeks. This is a nationwide assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. The girls approached the tests with determination, resilience, and focus, demonstrating their dedication to learning.
A big thanks must go to our dedicated teaching staff for their guidance and support throughout this process, ensuring a learning environment that fosters both academic excellence and personal growth. Congratulations to all the girls on a fantastic effort!
Parent Teacher Conferences
A friendly reminder that our Junior School Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Junior School Hall. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with your daughter's classroom teacher, discuss her progress, and set goals for the term ahead.
Please be advised that PURPLE DAY for the Junior School has been rescheduled to Friday 11 April 2025. I apologise for the changes to the calendar. Further details will be communicated closer to the event.
Lisa Sexton
Assistant Principal: Head of Junior School
Place Value Exploration in Year 2
As part of our Mathematics learning in Year 2, we have been focusing on Place Value, understanding how numbers can be partitioned, rearranged, and renamed using their place value parts (hundreds, tens and ones). We have been exploring these concepts through a hands-on approach, including collaborative and games-based learning.
Students particularly enjoyed learning a new game called ‘Race to 999’. Each student made their own place value die and rolled it to collect as many hundreds, tens and ones as they could within two minutes. After the timer ended, students applied their understanding of place value to calculate the number of points collected. The highest number collected won! We have heard a repeated chorus of “Can we play again?” ever since.
We have also been focusing on renaming numbers based on their place value parts. 145 can be renamed as 1 hundred, 4 tens and 5 ones but did you know that it can also be renamed as 14 tens and 5 ones? Or if can be even renamed as 1 hundred and 45 ones! Students have enjoyed using number expanders as a helpful visual to explore how numbers can be renamed in various ways using their place value parts.
We have also begun using the language and symbols of mathematicians to compare numbers– greater than, less than and equal to. Using our knowledge of place value, we can quickly read, identify and compare numbers. We loved pretending to be the mathematical symbols.
We are proud of our Year 2 girls for thinking like mathematicians and building their number fluency.
Ms Sarah Shaw and Mrs Jillian Dennis
Year 2 Teachers
Science in Junior School
Now well settled into the new school year I am inspired by the natural curiosity and wonder our students bring to their investigations about the world. Science, now a specialist subject, aims to cultivate this natural curiosity encouraging a mindset of exploration and discovery, inspiring individuals to ask questions, seek answers and challenge existing knowledge in pursuit of new understanding. As a curriculum area, Science looks at how science knowledge is used, the skills and methodology required, and science content knowledge. From hands-on experiments to engaging discussions, our science classes are sparking a deeper understanding of the world around us.
This term, students have worked across the areas of physics, biology, astronomy and chemistry. The continuous thread binding these areas is the scientific method and those skills required to enhance investigation. These skills and methods are taught right from Reception. Currently, our Reception students are exploring the question ‘What is a scientist?’ at the beginning of the year the responses were along the lines of “they do science” or “make explosions” or “wear goggles”. Over the last few weeks, we have conducted many different experiments and with each investigation the focus has been on building their skills of prediction, observation and scientific communication. We are excited to be conducting experiments next week which the students have designed. These investigations include equipment lists, a prediction about the outcome, and the method to be followed.
As part of our science offering, I also support those students wishing to participate in the Oliphant Science Awards. While the majority of the project is completed by the students at home, they are encouraged to join us in the Junior Science Room on a Tuesday morning between 8am and 8.30am. It is a wonderful way to mix with students of different year levels who also have a passion for science! If your child wishes to participate in the awards, more information can be found on the extracurricular page on Loreto Connect.
Jessica Twelftree
Junior School Specialist Science Teacher
Year 6 Canberra Trip
The Year 6s travelled to Canberra in Week 8 for an action-packed trip which encompassed learning from their studies in HASS. Through developing our knowledge around civics and citizenship and democracy, we deepen our understanding around our origins, how our parliament functions, and how our structures protect our rights as citizens of a democratic nation.
Throughout the week, we visited various educational institutions which consolidated much of these key learnings. Being able to apply this knowledge in a range of interactive experiences was so memorable for our students, and the way in which they engaged and participated made us truly proud as their teachers. Particular highlights include visiting Parliament House; we toured the two houses of our parliament, and took part in a role play simulating passing a bill in the House of Representatives which sparked some very heated discussions! We were very fortunate to tour the High Court, where we sat in on an appeal case, as well as the Australian War Memorial, paying our respects to our nation’s fallen heroes. A visit to Canberra is never complete without touring the Australian Institute of Sport, and Questacon, where we connected with our friends from Loreto Mandeville Hall and Kirribilli in celebration of our 150 years of Loreto in Australia.
In addition, students explored many other significant locations, further enhancing their understanding of Australia’s rich culture and history. The Australian Government, through the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program, supported this vital learning experience by contributing $90 per student to help offset the overall costs. We are grateful for this support and look forward to continuing the program in the future.
We were so proud of our confident, independent Year 6 students who were incredible ambassadors for Loreto throughout our time in Canberra. Experiences like this that extend beyond the classroom provide a myriad of skills and understandings; they foster curiosity, encourage adaptability and help to build informed, engaged and resilient young individuals.
Amanda Smith
Year 6 Teacher