School News
Prep
This fortnight in Prep has been full of wonderful learning and excitement!
In Reading, we have been practising our fluency skills. Students have been supporting each other during reading time and keeping track of important skills such as sounding out tricky words, re-reading to make meaning, using a smooth reading voice, and paying attention to punctuation. We have also been learning how to look for important information in a text to help deepen our thinking and understanding.
In Writing, we have been enjoying our unit on procedures. Students have loved becoming “experts” and teaching others how to do something. We have written procedures on topics such as how to wash your hands, how to brush your teeth, and how to make a fruit salad. The children are becoming confident at using steps and clear instructions.
In Maths, we explored the new skill of hefting—using our hands to compare objects and decide which is lighter or heavier. Last week, we also began learning about capacity. The students had a fantastic time using containers and unifix blocks to compare how much each container could hold.
We are very excited for our upcoming Carols Night! The students have been practising their song beautifully. Their confidence is growing each day, and we cannot wait for them to showcase their wonderful singing.
Reminders
- Carols- 2nd of December
- Prep assembly on 5th of December
- Getting to know to you interviews- 9th of December and 11th of December
- Transition 9th of December
- Last day of Term 4- 19th of December 2pm
Kindest regards,
The Prep Team
Laina Brebner, Kayla Hartrick and Emma Wright
Grade 1
The Grade 1’s have had a busy and exciting couple of weeks at school! We are still on a high after ending week 8 hosting assembly. What a tremendous presentation by our students! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
In Writing this week, we have had great fun exploring comics! Students have been learning how to plan their own comic by thinking about the characters, setting, and the sequence of events – including a clear beginning, middle and end. Using their plans, students have created their own comics by adding dialogue, drawing detailed illustrations, and ensuring the pictures and speech bubbles work together to tell the story. The students have loved using their creativity and humour to bring their characters to life!
In Maths, we have been exploring division by learning how to make equal shares. Students have been practising how to share amounts into equal groups, record their work using number sentences, and identify any leftovers as remainders. To make our learning fun and meaningful, we have been sharing animals into paddocks, birds onto branches, t-shirts onto washing lines, and even Beyblades into stadiums!
Students are making the most of their final weeks of Investigations, eagerly exploring each space with curiosity and creativity. We even held a friendly class challenge to see who could build a paper bridge sturdy enough to support five erasers!
Congratulations to our week 6 & 7 Shining Stars: Zoe, Lenny, Fletcher, Arlo, Xavier and Maverick. Thank you for shining so brightly!
Friendly Reminder
From one exciting occasion to another, our School Christmas Carols are coming up next Tuesday!
- 3:30pm – Art Show, food trucks, mystery bags, and book fair
- 4:40pm – Class Carols
Please ensure your child arrives by 4:35pm. We encourage all students to come dressed in their best Christmas attire and get ready to celebrate the festive season with us!
Kind regards,
The Grade 1 Team
Mel Layton, Sally Newton and Ashleigh Wilson and Tim Huntington
Grade 2
What a great few weeks we have had in Grade 2! The biggest highlight for our students has been using their laptops! Students have begun mastering their passwords, typing on Word and more importantly, saving their work! It has been wonderful to see how quickly the Grade 2’s are picking up the laptop skills.
In Reading, the Grade 2 students have enjoyed performing in the Reader’s Theatre. The students worked on adjusting their voice when reading to reflect their character and the events happening in the play. We read a variety of scripts including The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Stinky Cheeseman and The Very Cranky Bear. This week students have been synthesising as they read to see how their thinking has changed throughout the story. They have explored the lessons the main character learns and what we can learn from the character.
In Writing, students have started publishing their Passion Projects on their laptops. They have worked hard to draft at least three pieces of writing about a topic of their choice. Students then edited their work. They are now using Word and PowerPoint to type up their finished pieces to show off next week. Students are also making choices about how they display their work by changing the font, adding in borders and using pictures.
In Mathematics, students really enjoyed looking at money and all the ways to make a dollar. Students then had the challenge of having a budget and selecting a few items from Kmart and Big W that they would like and calculating the change. The highlight of this unit was the students created a shop where they priced items to sell. Students were given an amount to spend at the stalls where their peers calculated the change. They also participated in a live auction of some additional classroom items. This week’s focus has been on mass and capacity. Students have been hefting items in the classroom to compare them to determine which one is heavier.
In Wellbeing, students have continued exploring the Cyber Safety Project. They have shared what online skills they have and shared their expertise to be able to help their peers when using their laptops. Students have also explored the S.T.A.R.T. strategy to tune into their emotions when online and keep a healthy digital balance. This strategy encourages students that when they are beginning to feel tired, frustrated or upset, to take a break.
The Grade 2 Team
Allie Harrison, Sarah Jones and Brendan Van Haaster
Grade 3 & 4
We've had a busy few weeks in Grade 3/4! In Reading, we investigated how authors present ideas using different types of sentences. We identified punctuation marks and how these are used within dialogue. These lessons have supported students to enhance their own written work.
Students have shown a huge amount of enthusiasm for writing their personal ‘passion projects’. They have brainstormed and selected a topic of interest and expertise. We have reviewed all of the different text types covered over the year, and students have chosen a particular structure to revise with their choice of topic.
In Maths we have been skip counting by fractions and placing various fractions and decimals on number lines.
During Inquiry, students are enjoying designing their own country for their project titled ‘Our Island Home’. They have designed flags and written their national anthems. They are busy creating eye catching presentations showcaseing their country, using Powerpoint and other digital apps.
Kind regards,
The 3/4 Team
Damien Smith, Daena Hailey, Brent Smith, Claire Cripps and Nick Pagliaro
Grade 5 & 6
Our Level 5/6 students have had a wonderfully busy and learning-filled few weeks!
In Reading, students have been exploring how authors use detail and descriptive language to make their writing more engaging and memorable for readers.
In Writing, students have been creating their multi-genre Passion Projects. They have used their own interests and student voice to choose meaningful topics, then expressed their ideas through a collection of text types such as poems, persuasive pieces, song lyrics, website designs, narratives and more.
In Maths, we have been practising simplifying fractions and converting between fractions, decimals and percentages, with students using hands-on materials and real-life examples to make these concepts more meaningful.
In Inquiry, students have been developing their own business proposals. This has included conducting market research, designing advertisements, and identifying the resources needed to design, produce and sell their products.
A major highlight of the week was celebrating our Grade 5 students as they received their leadership badges for next year. Congratulations to all of our new leaders—we know you will represent our school with pride. We also want to acknowledge all Grade 5 students who did not receive a position; your resilience, positivity and support for one another has been outstanding, and you are all demonstrating the qualities of future school leaders as you move into Grade 6 next year.
Kind regards,
The 5/6 Team
Alarna Creed, Kylie Morrissey, Hayley Peirce, Llinos Poole and Erin Rennick.