News of the Week

Dear Parents and Friends,

We have had a busy start to the term and we will be talking about it about what we have done in this newsletter. We hope you have a great week! Also thank you to all the parents that donated to our Anzac Day fund, the Mentone RSL were very appreciative of our efforts.

Baby Rabbits in the F - 2 Area

Here are some of the thoughts from our students regarding Emily and her families arrival.

Holly (FR): The rabbits were very wriggly and jumpy. I really liked when they were closing their eyes and moving to get comfortable. Yesterday afternoon the teachers were putting them down next to the mummy so she could feed them.

Jameson (1/2A): I really liked the baby rabbits. I liked them the best because they jumped on my arm. I also really like the look of the rabbits and how small they are. They were mostly sleeping and one of them was jumping.

Chloe (2F): I also really liked the babies because they were moving a lot. I also really liked the mum because she was fluffy. They were wiggling a lot. They don't have names yet and we are lucky because we get to see them every day and they are in the middle of 2 classrooms.

Cross Country Training & Breakfast

Our cross country team have been training very hard. They have had three training sessions at the Gerry Green Reserve - starting bright and early at 7.20am. First the children have to do a couple warm ups and stretch. After that the kids have a choice on if they wanna do the Year 3/4 distance (2km) or the Year 5/6 distance (3km). At about 8:15am we head back to school and grab some breakfast. For our brekky the children are able to have 3 delicious choices of muffins and a juice.

Here we have some children letting us know how they feel about cross country training.

Torin: I feel really good trying to improve my pace and be able to do district for the first time.

Charlotte: My favorite part about cross country training is running with my friends and getting a muffin after running.

Wish wish the whole Cross Country Team good luck as they compete next Tuesday at Karkarook Reserve:

9/10 Year Old Boys

Luke D, Torin C, Flynn O, Blake N, Kyle B, Gus H, Alfie C, Levi P, Jean V & Ollie W

11Year Old Boys

Josh P, Isaac O, Lachie C, Raf P, Thomas R, Ethan R, Dash M, Mason Di & Liam W

12/13 Year Old Boys

Finn W, Sammy K, Josh G, Declan R, Hugo B, Jack W, Harry H, Max O, Ethan F & Mikey L

9/10 Girls

Islah S, Daphne F, Isla S, Edi H, Eva G, Emerson O, Sienna P, Grace W, Briar B & Jess L

11 Year Old Girls

Mikki G, Christina H, Charlotte D, Kirra R, Lacey B, Iris P, Eden D, Ava C & Daphne M

12/13 Year Old Girls

Grace B, Sasha H, Havana M, Ana B, Chloe F & Step D

5/6 Interschool Sports Update

Glenn came along and helped to umpire the footy team. He said he enjoyed helping out and the teams were showing great teamwork. He loved the encouragement by all players.

Christina was in the footy team and she liked the challenge and the opportunity because she never played footy. She loved the experience and she is looking forward to playing again.

Louise is in the netball team and she liked playing a team sport with her friends. She also liked the challenge. She is looking forward to playing netball again.

Josh G plays for the soccer team in interschool sport and he liked the challenge and the opportunity to represent the school while doing what he loves. Josh is very excited to play again.

Year 5/6 will not have inter-school this Friday because the opposing team has a school closure day. We will be playing next Friday 17th, Monday 20th and Friday 24th of May to ensure we get all our rounds played.

STEM - Online Maths Competition - Bebras Challenge

All students in Years 3-6 participated in the Bebras Challenge this past week in STEM. Bebras is an international challenge that involves over 2.9 million students from 60 countries. We were so proud of how well our students worked collaboratively in small groups to attempt some challenging questions.

Student reflections…

In my opinion, I think that this experience was well worth it. We got to do problem solving, debating and were made to think outside of the box.’ - Finn

‘I liked how it was a challenge and we worked together.’ - Emily

‘I liked that my team worked as a group and the questions were tricky.’ -

Dash

I think it was good because we could work as a team. And because I loved doing the challenges.’ - Nora

‘I loved the challenges and how we worked with people we don’t normally work with.’ -

Mikey

For any families/students who would like an extra challenge, past Bebras questions can be found at https://www.amt.edu.au/bebras-365

Our Year 6 Leaders also interviewed some of our students about the Bebras Challenge. Here is what they had to say.

Juliet

How did you feel about the competition? I found it very interesting but very easy.

Did you like your group? Yes it was very fun.

How do you think you went with the questions? I think we went quite well.

Who was in your group? Torin and Patrick.

Emily

How did you feel about the competition? I felt amazed.

Did you like your group? Yes.

How do you think you went with the questions? It started off hard and it got easier.

Who was in your group? Nora and Prince Jacob.

Sasha

How did you feel about the competition? It was amazing because you get to work with new people and challenge yourself.

Did you like your group? I loved the people in my group. They were so kind and helpful.

Who was in your group? Steph and Havana but Havana wasn't there that day.

How did you think you went? I think we did a 10/10 effort.

Interview with Mrs Patterson

Do you think the Bebras math competition was successful?

I think it was really successful because all the teams worked really well together and even if they didn't usually work with those people. They showed great teamwork skills.

Do you think it could have been better, if so why and how?

I think when we do it next time, everyone will get used to the challenging questions which will make it better.

Can you tell us a summary of what it was about?

Bebras is Lithuanian for beaver and beavers are known for working together. The Bebras competition was started to encourage students to work together in groups on challenging questions.