Argus Community Report

It has been a great start to Term 4 in the Argus Community. We have been busy practising our reading, writing, maths, and SEL skills, as well as continuing to develop our knowledge about our own history and our family in Inquiry. Our students have begun Term 4 ready for learning and have been so positive, making a fantastic start to the term. 

Reading

In Reading, we have been exploring nonfiction texts. Students have been exposed to different biographies of inspiring people of the past. We have been practising gaining new information from a text, exploring the features of nonfiction texts, making connections to the texts, and retelling texts in chronological order. Students have done a wonderful job exploring this new text type and showing their understanding of each book we have read together.

Writing

This term, the Argus community has begun to explore writing historical recounts. After identifying that a historical recount is a true retelling of something that has happened in the past, students have explored writing their own historical recounts. Students have once again followed the writing process to plan, draft, edit and publish their own writing. We look forward to sharing with you some of the wonderful writing that we are so proud of.

Maths

We have been working on fractions and financial literacy. Students have explored identifying halves, quarters and eighths of shapes, objects and collections. We have also looked at identifying Australian coins and notes, ordering this money by value, and counting small collections of Australian money. This term each week we have explored a different way of learning in our maths classes. We have been given open-ended maths tasks and had the opportunity to use our own problem solving strategies and explain our thinking. 

Inquiry and SEL

This term in Inquiry we have been learning about our own history and our family. Through this topic, students have explored culture and how the past differs from the present. It has been a wonderful opportunity for students to share with their peers exciting facts and stories about their family members and home life. 

In SEL, students have been learning about our identities and exploring our likes, dislikes and strengths. We have been focusing on celebrating each other’s differences and respecting others’ identities. 

Excursion to the Melbourne Museum

We had such a wonderful time going on our first excursion of the year! For some of our students this was their first excursion from school ever! 

Many thanks to our parent volunteers Simone, Rob and Josh, your presence on the day was much appreciated. A big thank you as well to all Aitken Hill staff who attended, your support really helped make the day a huge success. 

Please enjoy looking at some photos from the day. More will be displayed in the community next week. 

Important notes to remember: 

• Community doors open at 8:40am
• Dismissal at 3:10pm
• Please have adequate food packed in your child’s lunchbox and  suitable fruit or vegetable snacks for fruit break in session 2 (for example, pieces of fruit or yoghurt).
• Ensure your child’s belongings are clearly labelled. This includes clothing, drink bottles, hats and lunchboxes (lids too) 
• Students are to come to school with a water bottle each day (labelled)

What you can do with your child at home

• Continue to read to, and with your child each night using their take home reader bags.  
• Encourage your child to develop more independence. (Help pack/unpack their school bag/lunch, or get their uniform ready)
• Encourage your child to take increased responsibility for their own belongings.
• Establishing a regular routine helps students to develop a positive approach to learning and will benefit them as they progress through their schooling.  
• Encourage your child to practise tying their own shoelaces.
• We continue to promote healthy eating at school. We allow students to have a piece of fruit and vegetable break at 10:15am. We try to discourage highly salty, sugary and processed foods. We talk about these foods as ‘occasional’ or ‘sometimes’ food that can be enjoyed on ‘special occasions’ rather than as part of a child’s daily diet. 
• If you need to speak to your child’s mentor teacher, please contact the office to pass on the message or organise this before or after school.

Kind Regard, 1/2 Argus teaching team

Alex, Emma, Rania and Emily