Classroom & Curriculum News

1/2 updates

Welcome to another exciting month in our Year 1/2 classrooms!

Over the past few weeks, the children have settled back into routines and continued to grow in confidence and independence. It has been wonderful to see them taking greater responsibility for their learning, showing persistence when faced with challenges, and celebrating their achievements—both big and small.

In our classrooms, we have been focusing on working collaboratively, listening to one another, and showing respect in all that we do. The children are developing strong friendships and are learning the importance of supporting and encouraging each other.

As part of our Catholic identity, we have been reflecting on ways we can live like Jesus in our daily actions—showing kindness, forgiveness, and compassion to those around us. The children have been thoughtful in their reflections and are beginning to make meaningful connections to their own lives.

We are so proud of the positive attitudes that the students are bringing to their learning each day and look forward to all that is ahead.

Remember to check out our student page for their insights into school life.

1/2 Mathematics

In Term 2, we are exploring a range of mathematical concepts, developing and strengthening our skills in number and measurement (length). This month, our focus has been on place value.

Through our place value learning, students have been exploring numbers beyond 100 and are developing their ability to read, write, and represent numbers up to 1,000. Using a variety of hands-on activities and small group work, students are not only building their mathematical understanding but also strengthening their teamwork skills and learning from one another.

We have been using number lines and number charts to locate and identify numbers, as well as comparing and ordering numbers based on their place value (hundreds, tens, and ones). Students have also been practising partitioning numbers, helping to deepen their understanding of how numbers are constructed.

A strong understanding of place value is essential, as it forms the foundation for many other areas of mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and problem-solving. Developing this knowledge supports students to work confidently with larger numbers and apply efficient strategies in their learning.

You can support your child at home by practising counting, grouping objects into tens, and talking about numbers in everyday situations.

1/2 Slinky apples are back!

In a way to encourage healthy eating including fruit break, the slinky machine is back in the classroom. 1/2 are now again eating a good amount of apples, and having fun at the same time in our fruit break after literacy.

Prep News

Welcome back to Term 2!!

The Prep students have started Term 2 with confidence and have settled back into the school routines after a restful holiday. 

ANZAC Day

In Week 1, they learned about ANZAC Day and why it is important to reflect and be thankful for our friends and families. The students also explored the significance of the Dawn Service and practised responding with “We will remember.”

The Lord's Prayer

The Preps have also begun learning the “Lord’s Prayer” as part of their Morning Circle routine, with the support of song. Through this, they are developing an understanding of the importance of Jesus in their lives and are learning to give thanks to Him each day.

Cross Country

The Preps had a fantastic time at their first Cross Country race, running laps around the oval with enthusiasm. Everyone gave it a go and enjoyed the experience of running alongside their friends, with plenty of encouragement and support from their buddies and families.

Spirited Scribes- Greeting Cards

In Week 2, our Prep students had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside visiting artist Soula Mantalvanos, founder and director of Queenscliff Gallery. During her visit, Soula guided students through the process of illustrating their own greeting cards, connecting beautifully with their Inquiry unit, "Places and Important Places".

Students explored how artists draw inspiration from the people, places, and experiences they cherish. They reflected on their own favourite places,such as their homes, local parks, and play centres and used these ideas to design the front covers of their cards.

We are excited to share that these unique and heartfelt creations will soon be published and available for purchase. What a fantastic effort from our talented Prep M “Spirited Scribes”!

🌟 Year 3/4 Class News 🌟

It has been a busy and exciting start to the term in Year 3/4! Here are some highlights of our learning and experiences.

In English, we have begun the novel Uncle Xbox. So far, we have read the first few chapters and met characters such as Dusty, Marcus and Diego. We are enjoying following Dusty’s journey and are excited to continue reading and learning more about the story in the coming weeks. During our Word Origins lessons, we have been building our understanding of phonemes and syllables. We have been practising breaking words into sounds and learning their meanings. Sometimes it can be tricky, but we work through challenges together! 

This term, some students are preparing to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist. We have been learning about the Last Supper and how Communion helps us grow closer to God. It is a special time where we remember Jesus’ love and sacrifice. Please keep all these students in your prayers.

In Maths, we have been focusing on multiplication and division. We have been using arrays and fact families to solve problems and practising our times tables. We even took our learning outside, using chalk to show our thinking!

We had a fantastic time at Cross Country at Yarraville Gardens. Everyone showed great effort and sportsmanship, and some students progressed to the district level. We are very proud of everyone who participated and supported each other.

Next week we will be taking part in Inform & Empower’s session 2. This will be online again and a great opportunity for students to learn about balancing screen time & green time, how tech makes us feel & the importance of sleep. We look forward to learning more about being safe online.

We also look forward to having members of our local Police Force next week. They will be speaking with all students about online safety & responsibility: respecting others, appropriate content, sending messages, selfies, sharing images.

YEAR 5 / 6 CLASS NEWS

The Year 5 / 6 students have hit the ground running to start Term 2!

We had our cross country at Yarraville Gardens and it was so great to see our senior students interacting so well with their peers and across all age groups by encouraging and cheering on one another, displaying leadership and maturity!Well done to everybody for their efforts.

In class we have started to read the Novel 'Us mob Walawurru' and the students are starting to see the main character Ruby navigating her way through two cultures and reflecting on what that means to her and her people in central Australia during the 1960's.

Students have discussed some interesting themes and concepts that have arisen in the book,such as equality and discrimination and the right to have a say in the affairs of their own country.We have also been focusing explicitly on the formation of words when we do 'Word Origins’ and looking at morphemes and how words can be used in various contexts and settings.

In Religion we had a focus on ANZAC day and we all made poppies and prayers to make a class wreath to present at our whole school ANZAC ceremony.

The students reflected on why it is such an important day for our nation and why we should never forget the sacrifice that others have made for us in the service of their country. We are looking forward to heading to the shrine on Tuesday with the grade 6's to pay our respects during the school ANZAC march.

In Maths we have been focusing on Fractions and improper and proper fractions and mixed numbers. It 

During Inquiry we have started looking at Natural disasters  and we explored various bushfires in Australia in recent history and the impact these fires have had on local communities and the nation as a whole. The students reflected on how something good could possibly come out of something so bad and tragic, such as mateship, charity, compassion and the love of a caring community.

Next week we look forward to spending time with our two sister schools and coming together as a small learning community in faith and to have some fun.We are so lucky to be able to have the historic Sun Theatre so close by to use!