What's happening in our learning spaces? 

FOUNDATION 

Our first term in Foundation is coming to an end this week with our Holy Week celebrations. It has been a wonderful and exciting start to our days at primary school and we can’t wait to see what Term 2 has to offer!

As a Catholic community, we have been unpacking the events of Holy Week with a focus on Good Friday. First, we engaged in a see/think/wonder thinking routine by looking at an image of Good Friday and thinking about what we thought was happening in the image. Some of us came up with great ideas like: 

• I think the lady near the Cross is Mary -Sofia C 
• I think they are saying prayers - Kaylee
• I think Jesus is dying on the Cross - Edan 
• I think they are celebrating Jesus - Madeline 
• I think they are sorry for Jesus because he died - Henry 

Once we explored our first thinking of Good Friday, as readers, we read the God’s Story version to help us better understand the details of the story. We engaged in another thinking routine “I used to think/Now I think” which helped learn new information about the story of Good Friday such as: 

• Jesus’ friends didn’t want to leave Jesus - Sofia M 
• Jesus was on the cross for 3 hours before he died - Thomas 
• The people made a crown out of thorns - Evelyn 
• The bad people hit Jesus with a stick - Arnold 
• Jesus helped people when they were sad and sick - Yiannis 

This week we will be performing our reenactment of Palm Sunday at our paraliturgy this Monday 3rd April. We have been practising our readings and our song ‘Sing it! Hosanna!’ throughout last week. We are very excited to show our school community what we have learnt about Holy Week. 

As mathematicians, we used a simple peg graph to collect data. Data is information that tells a story about what we notice on a graph. Examples of questions that were asked include: “Do you have a dog as a pet?” Did you eat strawberries for brain food?” Using a peg with our names on both sides, we were able to choose a YES or NO response and place a peg under the relevant heading.  Looking at the results of where the pegs were placed, together we formulated statements about the peg graph.

Did you know that in FLW we formulated the following statements about one of the Peg Graphs: 10 students have a dog as a pet, 11 students do not have a dog as a pet.

More students have dogs as pets in FLW.

Some of us created a graph with our bodies! We formulated a question and had to walk to the side of the room that was the best fit for our answer. 

Did you know that in FAP we formulated the following statements about one of the Graphs: 16 students attend swimming lessons, 2 students do not attend swimming lessons, 14 more students attend swimming lessons than those who do not. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter and a restful holiday break. We are very proud of all the Foundation students, especially how they have settled into school during Term 1. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Wednesday 26th April. 

Have a fabulous week. 

Leanne Wenckowski and Alex Phillips

Foundation Team

YEAR 1/2

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of Term 1! This term has gone by so quickly, and we are so proud of all the learning that has occurred in 1/2AM, 1/2VK and 1/2VS. It has certainly been a busy term, but we have all shown respect, persistence, kindness and responsibility, congratulations everyone! 

Over the last two weeks, as part of our Inquiry, we have been fortunate to have parents and grandparents come into our learning spaces as experts and share their stories. As researchers, we found out about different cultures and traditions in our community, and listened to stories about where people have come from and why.  We listened carefully, and looked at photos and artefacts. As thinkers, we have been able to make connections between these stories and our own. A big thank you to the following…

• Orlando’s Nonna Tina
• Asha’s Nonno Paul
• Eponine’s Mum Supriya
• Florence’s Mum Rita
• Eva D’s Mum Olga
• Hudson’s Dad Nick
• Giorgio’s Mum Agatha 

Thanks for being generous with your time. We loved learning from you! 

This week, as mathematicians we tuned in to the Days of the Week and Months of the Year. We sequenced these in order and connected them to different events. We also explored calendars. We made our own giant calendars for the months of March and April, before creating our own. As thinkers, we had to locate and place different days of the week, dates and events on our calendar. At home, you might like to support your child to create a monthly calendar and add various events, including birthdays, swimming lessons, sport days etc. Ask them to identify the day or date of the event. 

Thank you for all of your support this term. We hope you all have a safe and happy Easter break with your loved ones, and we look forward to seeing you back at school for Term Two on Wednesday 26th April. 

1/2 Team, 

Alycia Marsico, Vania Sparano and Vicky Karalis 

YEAR3/4

We had a blast at the Italian excursion!

On Friday, we were so lucky to have the opportunity to go to Museo Italiano (Italian Museum) in Carlton. This is where we found out about Italian migration to Australia, as well as having the opportunity to explore the Museum’s Italian artefacts, and then we walked down Lygon Street. 

An extended thank you to our parents who joined us on our excursion, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without your support! 

Thank you to Signora Rosa for your organisation of this beautiful excursion! And also to Giancarlo and the Tiamo team for making the most fantastic pizzas for us! 

“The Museum was unique, it explained this boy's life and his Italian heritage. We also looked into a trunk with seven objects and we found out what the objects were and how they were used.”  - Alexander H (3/4BZ)

“We had so much fun, we learnt about how the Italians had fought for their rights and we also found out about different machines such as pasta. The food was amazing too!” - Dannte (3/4BP)

“The museum and food were both 5 out of 5 stars.” - Juliano (3/4BP)

“The museum was fun and we got to learn more things about Italian migrants. I liked it when we got to learn about the suitcase and what could be in the suitcase and why people migrated to Australia. I really liked the restaurant , I got to sit with my friends and I had a really good time. Sorry mum for spilling pizza all over my white top!” - Louis (3/4BZ)

“The museum was really fun. I was able to listen to people on the telephone about stuff from the past and how they got to Australia. And also the pizza was really delicious and it was really fun having a little walk around Lygon Street.” - Alfie (3/4BP)

“The restaurant was so good! The pizza was freshly cooked. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.” Benjamin (3/4BP)

This week we will be performing a paraliturgy, this will be on a special day during Holy Week, Good Friday. As part of this paraliturgy we have been finding out about Good Friday and the events that occur during this day of significance. This will be at St.Fidelis Church on Wednesday 29th March at  2:45pm.

A reminder to collect objects, artefacts or images over the holidays to create your own suitcase of family history and story. Please have these at school on Friday 28th April.

Thank you for all of your hard work and engagement over Term 1! We have seen some fantastic learning and can’t wait to see more next Term.

Enjoy the holiday break and see you in Term 2!

Year 3/4 Teachers

Belinda Panzarino & Bianka Zorzut

YEAR 5/6

The Year 5 and 6 students have had another wonderful week of learning. As we come to the end of Term 1 we can see the great progress all students have made. We look forward to a well deserved break where we can all have a reset and be back ready to learn at the end of April.

In Literacy, the students have been progressing well in their reading groups as they all continue reading their set novels. There have been some wonderful conversations happening in our guided reading sessions as the students begin to delve further into these texts and answer questions about the setting, characters and wonderings they have about the book.

In Writing, we are continuing to develop our skills in constructing well written paragraphs using the T.E.E.L. process. The students are doing a great job in using evidence to support their detailed explanation of their main points. This is an important skill to have in writing and we look forward to using these skills next term when we begin persuasive writing. We can already see some debaters in our classroom! 

In Maths, we are progressing with our Addition unit. The students are continuing to develop their estimation skills and are learning what are the most efficient strategies to use when solving an addition sum or word problem. We have also been learning how to add decimal numbers together. It has been great to see students linking their knowledge of decimals that we learnt in our Place Value Unit and using this knowledge to help them add decimal numbers together and solve word problems involving decimals.

In Inquiry, we are beginning to work on our individual culture project. The students have chosen an area of culture that they would like to explore further and have been coming up with questions they have regarding that culture. We look forward to continuing that research  this week and presenting our projects next term. 

Practice is getting well underway for our end of term Liturgy. The students have been working hard preparing for Our 5/6 Liturgy about Easter Sunday. We look forward to watching all the other year levels present theirs and celebrating Easter Sunday with the rest of the school on Thursday. It will be a wonderful end to what has been an amazing Term 1.

The Grade 5/6 Teachers would like to thank all the parents and guardians for their help and support this Term. We would not be where we are with our students without your involvement. We hope you a blessed and restful Easter break. 

Olivia Sargent, Graham Troy and Aoife O’Flynn  

5/6 Teachers