Classroom News
Foundation: Mrs Fleming
As we head towards the end of Term 2, the Foundation students have been busy with lots of exciting learning across all areas of the curriculum.
In Mathematics, we have wrapped up our unit on Shape. The students thoroughly enjoyed the many hands-on learning experiences throughout this unit as they explored and identified 2D shapes, sorted them according to their features, and found shapes in the world around them. One of the highlights was creating their very own Shape Monsters, which included all the shapes they had been learning about. We are now beginning a new unit on Counting and Place Value, with a focus on developing confidence with numbers to 20.
The Foundation students have also been enjoying our daily InitialWrite sessions. We recently read the story Postcards from Pop and used it as inspiration for our writing. After reading the story, we learned about characters, actions and places, and practised writing simple words and sentences about the characters. More recently, we have been reading an information text about the parts of plants. This week, the students put their learning into action by creating beautiful paper daisies, just like the ones Sam planted in Postcards from Pop.
We are also very excited as the Foundation students prepare to lead their very first Liturgy. They have been busy learning their speaking parts, practising songs and actions, and rehearsing their roles. We are looking forward to welcoming our families next week to celebrate this special milestone and share in our Foundation Liturgy together.
Grade 1/2: Mrs McKiernan & Mrs Tyler
We're excited to share the latest news in 1/2 MT.
In Maths, we have just completed our second unit of addition and subtraction. It has been wonderful to see the growth of students from last term as we have been focusing on the strategies we use to add and subtract numbers. We are going to finish the term with patterns as our next topic.
We have recently completed our unit on Pentecost in religion. Students engaged in discussions about the significance of Pentecost being the Church's birthday and the significance it has. We completed our class Liturgy on this topic, where all students spoke in front of the school and community. They acted respectfully and really made it a celebration. We were so proud of their efforts and contribution! It was a wonderful opportunity for them to practice their readings, sing in front of the school and share their work and knowledge of what they have been learning in class about Pentecost.
In English, we read a storybook each fortnight over four lessons. Among other things, we focus on vocabulary. Last week we read the story "Harry by the Sea" where we defined the words 'annoyed', 'shrieked' and 'grateful'. Students shared stories about what annoys them (mostly siblings!) and then wrote a sentence about what they are grateful for (mostly siblings!).
As we head into the last couple of weeks of term, we encourage students to keep up the fantastic learning and focus to finish off the term in positive way!
We're excited to share the latest news in 1/2 MT.
Grade 1/2: Miss Wooden
We have been learning how to add and subtract using number lines and partitioning. Our students have taken great strides in understanding these concepts, and it's wonderful to see their confidence grow as they solve problems together. In writing, we have started to explore the world of procedures! The students read procedures for various games, and we recently played “River Rock Hop” as a class. Everyone had a blast, and soon they will be writing their own procedures based on our game experience. This will help them develop clear and logical writing skills, which are essential for effective communication.
Additionally, we are learning about grief and loss, and the students have engaged in very thoughtful discussions and reflections on this important topic. Our Grade 2 students have been particularly enthusiastic about activities related to the story “Turtle's Song.” This story allows them to explore themes of life cycles and the natural world. In our humanities lessons, we have been learning about the seasons and understanding the importance of how our environment changes. We've taken a special interest in the knowledge and practices of the First Nations people, exploring how they recognize and adapt to these changes. This perspective helps our students appreciate the environment and inspires them to think about ways we can care for and preserve it.
Grade 3: Miss Taylor
It has been another busy fortnight of learning in our Grade 3 classroom. The netball clinic has been a huge hit, with many students sharing that it has been their favourite part of the past two weeks! Even with the long weekend, we have packed plenty into our learning and are navigating a particularly busy time of the school year, and it is great to see our students doing so with such great enthusiasm and effort.
Over the past fortnight, we also took time to recognise National Reconciliation Week and National Sorry Day through classroom discussions and activities that encouraged students to reflect on our shared history and the importance of reconciliation. In our RRRR lessons, students have explored the topic of stress, discussing what stress is, how it can feel in our bodies and minds, and shared a range of different strategies with each other, finding ways to help us manage different types of stress. We discovered that no two people are the same when it comes to stress!
This week for our newsletter, we have encapsulated one thing each of our students has loved doing at school across the last fortnight and included a fun fact they have each learnt recently!
Tom – Sewing Group. I have learnt the Place Value Party strategy and can use it to solve big addition and subtraction problems.
Indy – Netball in Sport. I have learnt that a backspin can help a netball shot go in more easily.
Samuel – Digi Tech. I have learnt how to log in to different apps on the iPad.
Harlow – Netball in Sport. I have learnt that the Blue Mountains in NSW are a protected area.
Will – History in Humanities. I have learnt that Melbourne was Australia's capital city before Canberra.
Heidi – Netball in Sport. I have learnt how to put backspin on the ball in netball.
Buddy – English. I have learnt that Pemulwuy's head has still not yet been found...
Linc – Sport. I have learnt all the rules of netball.
Lottie – Netball in Sport. I have learnt about all of our different states of Australia in Humanities.
Angus – Digital Technologies. I have learnt how to send my teachers and friends emails!
Noah – Netball in Sport. I have learnt that you can throw a spinning ball while lying down and it won't hit your body!
Matilda – Netball in Sport. I have learnt how to use lots of different things on the computer in Digi Tech.
Alex – Netball in Sport. I have learnt that you can't hit the netball out of another player's hands when they are holding it.
Madi – Netball in Sport. I have learnt heaps of different strategies to help remember how to spell my tricky spelling words!
Kynan – Netball in Sport. I have learnt that you can't hold the ball for longer than three seconds.
We have a big couple of weeks ahead, with us just having our Year 3/4 Winter Sports competition and our today's Athletics Carnival! It promises to be a busy time, filled with exciting opportunities, plenty of learning and lots of hard work. We are looking forward to seeing students challenge themselves, support one another and continue to make great progress in the classroom and beyond!
Grade 4/5: Mrs Stock
Our highlights from the past few weeks!
Ollie- I have enjoyed the Tongala Aged Care because the people set up fun games and everyone is really nice. I enjoyed playing on the whiteboards with them.
Marla- I liked the 3-4 Winter sports because I liked playing with my new friend from Tonny Primary.
Tom- I liked the 3-4 Winter sports because I made a friend and I liked backboard dodgeball.
Will- Tonny Aged Care- because there is a man there called Wayne. George and I got to colour in with him and he is very funny.
Joshua- I liked the 3-4 winter sports because it was so good and so fun.
George- I enjoyed the Tongala Aged Care because Wayne and I coloured in a picture of chickens and it was peaceful.
Charlie- I liked the Winter Sports because all the leaders were really nice and kind.
Maddi- I've enjoyed having the opportunity to be able to go with Mr Naylor every Tuesday.
AJ- I liked the visit to Tonny Aged Care because I got to see TJ who I haven't seen for a while.
Sophie- I have enjoyed netball in sport because we have had the netball coach.
Zara- I have liked going with Mr Naylor on a Tuesday and learning my 3 times tables.
Edith- I enjoyed being with the Grade 5/6 class when the 4’s went to 3-4 sport because I got to be with my friends from year 4.
Lani- I like the activities that we do in sport.
Liam- I have enjoyed playing ‘keepy uppy’
Carter- I enjoyed the school soccer!
James- I really like going to the Tonny Aged Care because I enjoy spending time with the residents and playing with them.
Ben- I like sport because it's fun and we have the best teacher.
We hope everyone has a great couple of weeks! Hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the year!
Grade 5/6: Miss Rasmussen
The Grade 5/6 students have dived into a new novel, Free Diving. We have enjoyed learning about the fascinating history of pearl diving and the extraordinary risks people were willing to take in search of pearls and the wealth they could bring. The story has sparked plenty of discussion, particularly when the main character tragically loses his life in pursuit of pearls.
As part of our reading work, students have been writing a book review on Free Diving. This has involved summarising the text and sharing their own personal opinions about the story, including what they enjoyed and whether they would recommend it to others.
In Mathematics, we have been exploring 2D shapes and transformations. Students have been learning about reflections, translations, symmetry and transformations, developing their spatial reasoning skills and learning to think about shapes in new ways. It has certainly challenged our brains differently from our recent number units and encouraged us to look at mathematics from a different perspective.
