News from our Specialists

STEM: Coding Takes Flight!

This term, all students are diving into the exciting world of coding and computational thinking! Our Foundation to Year 2 students will launch their primary school coding journey using ScratchJr, mastering basic block programming to create interactive stories and games. Our Year 3-6 students will advance their skills using the powerful Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) platform to develop complex projects and solve challenging programming problems.

A friendly reminder for Year 3-6 families: Please ensure your child brings their keyboard along with their iPad to their weekly STEM lesson if they have one. School laptops are available for any students who don't have a keyboard. We look forward to seeing the incredible creativity and innovation they display!

Performing Arts

Term four will have a focus on planning and preparing for our End of Year Concert, which will be held on Thursday Dec 4th, 5-6.30pm.

Our Junior students will be learning about Music All Around Us/Music for Special occasions.

The 3/4 grades will discover more about the Four Families of the Orchestra, whilst the Seniors will continue honing their skills on the Ukuleles, Marimbas and will try their hand at Chair Drumming!

A big thank you goes to our school community for raising $228 in our Busking For Change initiative. Our whole school enjoyed singing this year's song "Country Tells Us When" at our final assembly last term. The money will be send to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Mandarin

This term in Mandarin, students across all year levels will continue developing their language skills while deepening their understanding of Chinese culture through engaging, hands-on learning experiences.

Foundation: 

Our youngest learners will explore Fruits, building upon their prior knowledge of Family Words (from Term 2) and Colours (from Term 3). Using these familiar concepts, students will learn to describe fruits and express simple preferences such as “My dad likes red apples.” Through songs, storytelling, and creative speaking tasks, they will gain confidence in combining words to form meaningful sentences.

Grade 1/2:

Students will discover the names of Australian Animals and Pets, including iconic Australian species such as kangaroos, wombats, and koalas, as well as common pets like dogs, cats, and birds. Through fun activities including songs, memory games, and colouring tasks, they will expand their vocabulary while enjoyably developing listening and speaking skills.

Grade 3/4:

Students will learn how to talk about School Subjects and a School Day in Mandarin and will consolidate their understanding through interactive learning experiences such as the Classroom Subjects Song, word games, role plays, and memory challenges.

Grade 5/6:

Our senior students will explore one of China’s most fascinating historical topics — the Terracotta Warriors. They will learn how and why these warriors were created, uncovering amazing facts through research and quiz activities. Students will also have the opportunity to design and sculpt their own mini warrior using air clay, combining creativity with cultural understanding.

All Levels across all levels, students will learn and perform the Chinese version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in preparation for the upcoming Christmas Concert — celebrating language learning through music and cultural connection.

Art

This term in the Art Room, students are diving into the wonderful world of textiles! Across all year levels, we’ll be exploring the creative possibilities of fabric and fibres through projects such as weaving, dry felting, toy making and graduation bears. Students will learn about texture, pattern and design while developing their fine motor skills. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be experimenting with materials, practising new techniques and planning our individual and collaborative textile pieces. 

If you have any spare buttons, beads or embroidery cotton lying around at home, the Art Room would love to give them a new life in our textile projects. Any donations would be greatly appreciated!