Foundation and Year 1

Today was our last rest day for Foundation students. We look forward to our first Library session with Miss Mackay next Wednesday.

We enjoyed a visit from Mr Forrest and trying our green eggs and ham. ‘He did Eat them in our room, and with a broom!’ We are getting better at picking up whether words rhyme or not.

It’s great to see children doing the literacy activities (Foundation), and maths activities (Grade One), each night. They are very simple activities that should not take longer than 5 minutes. These simple activities are also a wonderful introduction to setting up a routine early in their educational journey.

Just a few reminders:

- children need a drink bottle each day

- please label your child’s clothing

- check your child’s diary/reader bag each day for notes.

Mrs Tanya Chalmers, Teacher

Year 1/2

Well done for the great attendance and colourful clothes at our school swimming day recently.

We now have our heads down and are working very hard! The students in my Initialit class have been sent home with a list of tricky words that they still need to learn. Tricky words are words that cannot be sounded out or follow a spelling rule. You just have to learn them! From time to time they will also be given a worksheet that reinforces something the students have just been taught. Both things are to be done if time or energy permits, although they would greatly help your child. The most important thing, however, is that each student sits down with someone to read every night. At this age it is still necessary for someone to be monitoring what the child is reading to check for mistakes and discuss new words or the story line.

In maths we are using different units of measurement to measure and compare things around the room. Who can jump the longest distance in your house?

Great work everyone – Keep trying!

Mrs Deirdre McKenzie, Teacher

Year 3/4

It was a great experience to see so many Grade 3/4 students in the pool for the swimming sports. It was wonderful to have extra events this year where they could all participate and get involved. We loved going down earlier in the day and seeing all the students races. Great job to our age group champions and those who participated on the day. Our stand out students who participated in as many events as possible were Heath Leach, Isabelle Arnup and Kobe Uddin.

We love working with the Grade 5/6 class during PE to play the fun games. It does get a bit loud and busy but it is still fun.

During Maths time, we are learning Skip Counting and Multiplication skills to help us with our times tables. We have shared our skills with others and learned from each other to build more skills.

We are keen to progress with reading Danny the Champion of the World novel by Roald Dahl. It is at an exciting point where Danny’s dad is about to go out poaching at Mr Victor Hazell’s woods and we are worried about what might happen next.

Miss Jess Higgins, Teacher

Year 4/5

It is great to be establishing a routine and way of working in the classroom. We have discovered the wonder of Technic Logo and the mechanics involved.

The Grade 5 students are very pleased to have their Netbooks. Mr Forrest has spoken to the students about the correct use and storage of Netbooks.

Next week, we will start using our diary daily as a way of communicating between home and school. Thankyou to the families who have been doing this already.

Have a great week.

Mrs Carlie Turnbull, Teacher

Year 5/6

It is now week 5 of the term 1! Time always flies remarkably quickly. We are moving onto editing our epic narratives and moving into our next math test. Crossing fingers we get some epic averages such as Eli with 267% and Aidan with 300% in our last cycle!!

We have a special fluffy animal surprise on Thursday, thanks to one of our students.

Now…. Please don’t panic yet! But, roughly this time next term will be Grade 5/6 Camp. This year we will be attending Billabong Camp in Echuca. In 2019 the kids had a brilliant experience with horse riding, whip cracking and rain. I am yet to finalise costs however an estimate will be based on 2019 which was $280 for 3 full days. Please if you have any worries contact myself or Marie at the front office.

Mrs Annita Steel, Teacher

VCE & VCAL

Career Pathways meetings:

Our Career Advisor, Sue Clay, has begun meeting with senior students throughout this term and will aim to make her way through all Year 11 and 12 students. Groups of students are emailed prior to each visit, outlining the time and date of their booked meeting. If you would like to arrange an additional meeting, or would like to speak with Sue soon regarding your pathway, future work or study plans, please speak with Mrs. Barker or Mrs. Woodman to arrange an appointment.

Edrolo:

Our Year 11 students were able to undertake Edrolo training over the past few weeks. They, alongside our Year 12 VCE students, are reminded to ensure that they are logging on regularly and supporting their own learning through the available VCE Unit and Area of Study resources.

If you are having trouble logging onto Edrolo or would like some additional support with navigating the website please speak with your homeroom teacher.

Communications:

We would like to remind all senior students that they are expected to log on to Compass each school day and check their school based Gmail account for any correspondence from staff. All official communication will be through these channels and these places should be checked daily.

If you are unable to attend a scheduled class, WebEx or will be absent from an event, please notify your teacher by email as a matter of courtesy.

REMINDER - Year 12 Camp:

All things going well, our Year 12 students will be heading off on their Leadership Camp to Ocean Grove on 1 – 3 March. Students will take advantage of a few days down the coast to set some goals, discuss their motivations and identify ways that they can support their own learning. Please ensure to consent on Compass for this event as soon as possible.

If there needs to be changes to this camp to accommodate COVID restrictions, students and families will be notified.

Supporting yourself through Study:

As this year has thrown us some curve balls already, now is an important time for students to begin considering or revise their remote learning and revision/homework approach. It is particularly important that our Year 11 and 12 VCE students establish a routine and schedule to include revision and homework as well as important ‘down time’.

Here are a handful of strategies that you can use to get on track for a productive study timetable:

1. Routine, Routine, Routine.

You have them when you get out of bed, eat breakfast, brush teeth etc so why not formulate and use them to your advantage to study. Some students prefer using the routine of their school timetable: i.e. revising each subject that has been taught during that particular school day, where others prefer to have a priority list to complete.

Remember, having a good routine also means getting up a consistent time on weekends – don’t fall into the cycle of getting up late and going to bed late.

2. Break up each subject task list into smaller task lists.

Just writing “English homework” on a study planner won’t give you a crystal-clear idea of what is required for that study session. No idea = fluffing about = procrastination.

Be detailed with what is required such as:

Compile Unit 2 Outcome 1 summary notes

Complete end of chapter review questions

Pre-read next chapter topic

Summarise list of key quotations for XYZ

Make a list of questions for topics not understood and ask or email teacher for assistance

3. Break up the subjects and alternate

Short sessions of 45-60 minutes are good but it is even better to alternate and mix up different subjects. Different subjects typically use different parts of the brain so get some variety into your study if you can.

4. Find your zone

Find a ‘safe haven’ where you can study. That may be in the garage, the school library, at Nanna’s place etc. Pick a place that is quiet and free from distractions to help you find your zone.

If you would like to discuss study tips or would like some support to develop a study timetable please speak with Mrs. Barker or Mrs. Woodman to arrange a time.

Mrs Lauren Barker and Mrs Carol Woodman

VCE & VCAL Coordinators

Maths Pathway

Congratulations to this fortnights Maths Pathway champions.

Maths Pathway
CLASS	HIGHEST STUDENT GROWTH
Year 5a	Not yet completed
Year 5b	Nada with 200%
Year 6	Aiden with 300%
Year 7	Jade with 200%
Year 8	Kalais and Beau with 200%
Year 9	Dylan with 167%
Year 10	Zen with 200%

Just a reminder that students achieving 100% growth rate each cycle is equivalent to one year’s growth achieved in the Mathematics curriculum.

Congratulations to Aiden for achieving the highest growth this cycle with 300% and to our current leaders, Year 8 for achieving the highest average growth rate this cycle with 125%.

Thank you to the students who completed their assigned modules by the deadline. Please remember to complete your module work at least one day prior to the test and to regularly revise.

New Joke/Pun: Why do plants hate math?

Answer will be in the next newsletter

The Mathematics Team

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also received regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.

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