Foundation/Year 1

We are excited to share that our class chrysalis kits arrived this week! Over the next two weeks, we will have the incredible opportunity to observe the life cycle of butterflies firsthand. The students will observe the chrysalis and witness the transformation into beautiful butterflies. This hands-on experience will enhance our Inquiry learning about minibeasts, life cycles and the wonders of nature.

Year 1

On Friday two weeks ago, we planted some seedlings that will grow into flowers called Impatiens. We put in some fresh potting mix to top up the planter boxes and make the soil richer. Then we all planted a few seedlings each. After that we watered the seedlings. They need water, some sun and lots of shade to grow. We wrote and illustrated about this experience - you can check out our writing on the wall near our classroom!

ITALIAN

In Italian classes, students enhance their vocabulary through the engaging and enjoyable practice of singing Italian songs. Music provides a fun, rhythmic way to reinforce new words and phrases, helping students memorize them more easily through repetition and melody. Singing allows them to practice pronunciation, intonation, and sentence structure in a natural, stress-free way while immersing themselves in Italian culture through traditional and contemporary tunes. Recently, students have been learning the song “Gioca Jouer”, which introduces Italian verbs like dormire (to sleep) and camminare (to walk), making vocabulary acquisition both interactive and fun.

Year 2/3

Howdy Families,

WE HAVE OUR CLASS PET. Drum roll please 3, 2, 1 it is a chrysalis! That is right, we will have a beautiful butterfly in 4 to 12 days. The children named it Crystal and what a wonderful name they chose. We have been working on keeping our voices low in class to make sure Crystal has a safe environment to grow. Please enjoy the photos below.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Italian

In Italian classes, students enhance their vocabulary through the engaging and enjoyable practice of singing Italian songs. Music provides a fun, rhythmic way to reinforce new words and phrases, helping students memorize them more easily through repetition and melody. Singing allows them to practice pronunciation, intonation, and sentence structure in a natural, stress-free way while immersing themselves in Italian culture through traditional and contemporary tunes. Recently, students have been learning the song “Gioca Jouer”, which introduces Italian verbs like dormire (to sleep) and camminare (to walk), making vocabulary acquisition both interactive and fun.

Year 3/4

Life Cycle of a plant

Amy - Last week, we got a cup and filled it with soil and put a seed in it. Then we watered it and now it's grown into a seedling. It was pleasant to see how it grows. Next week we will plant them in the planter box.

Katalina - Our class has been researching recently about “life cycles” on plants and also animals. We decided to plant snow peas outside, and radishes in paper cups to see the perspective of the life cycle. We then later came back to check on them and saw astonishing results! They had sprouted quickly and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Viraj and Sai - In our Inquiry topic we are learning about life cycles of different things.

We planted seeds in the school garden and we got to plant our own radish seeds and it was so astonishing to see that my jaw dropped! In just a day they had already started to sprout. We planted the radish seeds in paper cups and put them in the art and Italian rooms. The plants in the art room grew slower than the ones in the Italian room but they still grew fast. It was so pleasant learning about the life cycles of living things and how they reproduce and live.

Georgia and Mia - Grade 3/4 have been planting some radish. Once we planted the seeds we water it to give it some hydration and so it would not dry out. But today we looked at our radish plant and IT HAS GROWN SO MUCH! I think if we wait a little longer it will look very astonishing. And we have been learning about the life cycle of living things and when we were learning about the life cycle it was very pleasant.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Raffaela - The butterfly is a chrysalis. It is so small and it is pleasant and astonishing to look at it.

Olivia - A butterfly starts off as a caterpillar then it eats so much. WOW THATS ASTONISHING!’ Then it turns into a cocoon. Then it comes out of the cocoon after it transforms into a pleasant butterfly.

Laura - On Tuesday we got a Butterfly. I was so surprised I got to unbox it! So first I carefully opened the orange tissue paper. When I opened it the chrysalis looked like a green earring, I was astonished by this. Then I hung it in the box. It was a great and fun afternoon. I loved it!

Benjermen - We have a chrysalis in our classroom in a cube that is green.

We look forward to seeing it come out as a butterfly.

Butterflies come in an astonishing range of different colours. I wonder what ours will be. Butterflies like to eat sweet nectar from flowers.

Samantha - We got a chrysalis on Tuesday. A chrysalis is a butterfly waiting to hatch. We don’t know if it is a boy or a girl so we are waiting to name the butterfly. We mist the chrysalis every second day to take care of it.

Lawrence and Massie - When we first got our butterflies it was astonishing. Butterflies come from caterpillars, first caterpillars eat some leaves then either go into a cocoon or a chrysalis. The chrysalis is green. Then after a while they come out and become a beautiful butterfly and they drink nectar. When we first got our chrysalis it was green. Soon it will get darker then we can see the butterfly but it won’t have any wings yet, soon when it comes out it will have wings. We keep it for 2 days while the wings dry and finally release it to the wild. If we have to keep it longer than 2 days we have to feed it nectar.

Year 4 / 5

This past Tuesday, Marie and Denise bought a strange box into our classroom. The year 3/4 students were also with us. Raffaele and I looked at each other, thinking what could be in the box?! Both classes guessed what might be in the box. Raffaele thought that there might be a stick insect inside. I thought that there might be a butterfly. Marie opened the box, Brenton slowly unwrapped the tissue paper and we saw a Chrysalis! The Chrysalis was so pretty! We were amazed by the bright colors of the Chrysalis! Our class decided on a name for it which was Jimmy! By Natalie and Raffaele

On Tuesday, Marie and Denise came into our classroom with a mysterious box. They gave us a clue of what was in the box and we tried to guess what was inside. They slowly opened the box. Then Brenton and Emmastacia carefully unwrapped some orange tissue paper that was protecting a butterfly Chrysalis! We were all surprised to see the Chrysalis. Each class has a Chrysalis each. The year 4/5 voted for a name for their Chrysalis and we came up with Jimmy. By Cody, Kaone and Shasmus

After lunch on Tuesday, we came inside the classroom and Emmastacia had a mysterious box in her hand. She said it was a surprise! We were all so excited because we wanted to see what was inside the box. We were all fascinated when we saw a Chrysalis inside the box! After that, Marie and Denise showed us some videos of how to care for it! Now we await its arrival into this world. It will take up to 12 days to become a butterfly. We have named it Jimmy. By Kaitlyn, Tristan and Tiffany

On Tuesday, our teachers Marie and Denise surprised us with a mysterious box. We had no clue what was in it until Emmastacia and Brenton unpacked the box. We were flabbergasted - it was a ………… butterfly in cocoon! Well, it wasn’t exactly a butterfly yet but if we wait for between 4 to 12 days, a butterfly will emerge. We have to take good care of the Chrysalis which is its small natural cage. Sadly, once the butterfly emerges, we must free it after 2 days or so. By Nirav, Lauren and Azariah

ITALIAN

In Italian classes, students enhance their vocabulary through the engaging and enjoyable practice of singing Italian songs. Music provides a fun, rhythmic way to reinforce new words and phrases, helping students memorize them more easily through repetition and melody. Singing allows them to practice pronunciation, intonation, and sentence structure in a natural, stress-free way while immersing themselves in Italian culture through traditional and contemporary tunes. Recently, students have been learning the song “Gioca Jouer”, which introduces Italian verbs like dormire (to sleep) and camminare (to walk), making vocabulary acquisition both interactive and fun.

Year 5 / 6

Wowee what a great way to start the year! A crysalis was delivered to our classroom. Many thanks to Antoniette for making this possible. We named it Morpheus and then tried to calculate when it would arrive as a butterfly. We cant wait to see the metamorphosis.

Fortunato explained that word at today's assembly. He spoke about how the crysalis would transform into a butterfly. It's been a wonderful way to start our Inquiry Unit.

OSHC (Out of School Hours Care)

School Holiday Program at St Mark's, Fawkner

St Mark's Long Day Care, Monday 4th November Expression of Interest Form