Welcome Back

I hope you enjoyed the holiday break with your children. Now we move into Term 4 which is always extremely busy with all those special activities and preparation for 2019.

EXTRA SPECIAL EVENT

Lower Primary’s performance “Going to the Zoo” is this Friday. The students have practiced and practiced and are now ready for a very spectacular performance. Everyone is SO excited. I know you will be as proud as we of our students as they perform just for you, their family and friends. It is an event not to be missed.

A reminder that you are able to order a DVD of the performance through Kruni at the office. No photos or recording of the performance is permitted. Thank you for respecting the privacy of our students.

FOOTY DAY

We had our footy day celebrations at the end of last term. The students loved coming dressed in the favourite team colours, participating in the parade and marching to their club song. There certainly was lots of cheering and support for all football clubs although it seems the interstate teams were not very popular. The finals were a bit of a surprise with many of the "favourites" bombing out early. Anyway congratulations to West Coast and maybe they picked up a few more supporters. A special footy lunch was enjoyed by students and I thank those parents who capably coordinated the preparation and distribution of the lunches.

CAMPING PROGRAM

PKD and PNC Sleepover

At the end of Term 3, PKD and PNC had their sleepover and activity days. Students came to school very excited ready for an action packed two days. First up was a visit to Healesville Sanctuary. After a long drive, we got there and the students were excited to learn about Australian animals. Some students got to feed an emu. We got to feel different animal artefacts like emu eggs, snake skins, possum fur and echidna quills too. The big highlights were the bird show, the dingoes and the Tasmanian devils. After a big day at the Zoo we had dinner at the Commercial Hotel. Things got exciting when it was back to school for the actual sleepover bit. Teeth cleaned, snuggled in our sleeping bags most students were so exhausted that they were sound asleep well before 9pm.

In the morning we got dressed, had pancakes, toast and cereal for breakfast and got ready for another great day. We went to Inflatable World where we jumped and played non-stop for 2 hours. Even the teachers had some fun on the jumping castles. But the real highlight of the two days as recounted by the students was lunch at McDonalds. Happy meals everywhere- and lots of happy campers! The general consensus was that sleepover was lots of fun! The teachers were all really impressed with how well behaved everyone was.

THE BIG DAY OUT

Last Thursday PJL and PLB went on our “Big Day Out”. We began the adventure at Scienceworks. We watched the lightning show and learnt all about the weather. We saw a lightning bolt which was made from electricity. We looked at all the other exhibitions and then went to the Planetarium to watch a film called “Tycho Goes To The Moon”. We just loved lying in our seats looking up at the large dome. We saw what the Melbourne night sky would look like and learnt that when you look up at night, the stars twinkle and planets do not. The next part of our Adventure was going to Bundoora Park playground to have an afternoon snack and play. We were so lucky that it did not rain. Lower Plenty Hotel was our last stop where we had a yummy dinner and ice-cream. Finally it was time to head back to school after such a big day, where our Mums and Dads picked us up.

PYJAMA DAY

Last week the Prep students enjoyed celebrating Pyjama Day. They wore pyjamas to school and participated in a variety of activities designed to introduce them to the camping program at Concord. They went on their first excursion to the Discovery Centre. Where they explored the MILE room and its display about ‘change’, and designed their own pair of pyjamas in the art area. In the afternoon students relaxed and then ‘woke up’ to share breakfast with their friends. We made pancakes, toast and cereal which was enjoyed by all. Well done Preps for a fantastic day!

SPORTS DAY

The Primary Sports Day was celebration of team work, social interaction and school community. Some our 11/12 students assisted in organising the day, running activities and organising a delicious hamburger lunch. They did an exceptional job working with the younger students. Students from across both campuses supported and encouraged each other to compete in events which included sprints, relays, hurdles and throwing activities. Lower Primary students joined in enthusiastically and all did their personal best. What great competitors they were! Thanks to all 11/12 teachers along with their students who organised this event so well. It was a great morning.

A REMINDER

CONCORD’S SUNSMART POLICY requires all students to wear a hat for all outdoor activities during Term 4. Students who do not have a hat at school will required to sit in a shaded area during play times. Please ensure that your child brings a hat to school and that it is clearly named. We recommend that you apply sunscreen to your child before coming to school. Your support in this area is greatly appreciated.

English

Modelled and Shared reading using big books and interactive texts have been used to teach decoding strategies. Students have continued to build on their phonics and word knowledge which will assist them with their decoding strategies. Students have been introduced to specific decoding strategies depending on their point of learning need.

These strategies include:

Eagle Eye - Looking at the pictures and looking for clues to figure out the word.
Lips the Fish- Getting lips ready. Saying the beginning sound. Saying beginning, middle and ending sounds in single-syllable words
Stretchy Snake-sounding out and stretching the sounds within the word slowly
Trying Lion-Trying to reread the sentence, thinking ‘what makes sense?’
Chunky Monkey-dividing words into parts (chunks) you already know, read each part and read the word by combining the parts
Skippy Frog-skip the tricky word, read to the end, go back and try again.
Flippy Dolphin-flip the vowel sound, try long or short sounds.

WRITING- REPORTS

The primary purpose of report writing is to provide factual information about a person, place or thing that is interesting and informative. Students have written reports around interesting events such as Pyjama Day, Big Day Out, Sleepover, Sports Day along with weather reports and book reports for our older students. Students have been provided with explicit instruction to assist them to complete a simple report. They have used photos, aided language displays and picture word sentences to assist them.

Mathematics

Students are revisiting and revising their knowledge of Place Value focussing on numbers 1-5, 5-10, 10-20, 50-100 depending on their point of learning. They have been counting, recognising, making, and ordering numbers using a range of materials and hands on activities. These activities have given students opportunities to explore basic place value concepts.

Activities have included

rote counting forwards and backwards to 5, 10, 20, 50,100
one to one correspondence when counting objects up to 5, 10,20
connecting number names to numerals with groups of objects to numerals 5, 10,20, 50,100
recognising how many is in a group without counting 2-5 ( subitising)
making and counting models of numbers 5, 10, 20, 50 100 using bead frames, counters, bundling sticks, tens frames and pictures.

TIME

Students have participated in activities related to time. As always the content covered varied according to the students’ point of learning and activities have related to:

identifying day and night
identifying events that take place at different stages of the day
identifying familiar events with in the day using a visual schedule
identifying days of the week in sequence
using a calendar to identify the date and determine the number of days in each month
naming and ordering months and seasons
connecting days of the week to familiar events and actions
telling o’clock time
telling the time to the half hour
using am and pm to solve simple time problems

Integrated Unit - Weather

Students continue to investigate the weather and how weather can affect their lives. PLB have loved learning about Spring. They have explored the different kinds of weather, clothing, and the food and produce that is enjoyed in Spring. One of PLB’S favourite activities was making a ‘Grass Caterpillar’! They used stockings, potting mix and grass seeds to make their caterpillars hairy and then decorated them with pipe cleaners for antennas and googly eyes. They placed their caterpillars out in the garden where they got lots of sunlight. Each day PLB went out to the garden to water their caterpillars and see if their hair had grown. PLB was so excited after a week to see how hairy they had become!

Social Competencies

In the area of Personal Learning, Lower Primary have been focusing on collecting resources that are required to achieve a set task. Classes used Picture Communication symbol cards to list the items needed on the class chart, collect these and take them to the tables to commence work. At the completion of the task, or when directed by the teacher to pack up, students are required to put away their things, clean the table, push their chair in and come back to the circle. Student’s ability to undertake these skills is monitored by the teachers and reminders and prompts given as required.

Speech Program

Throughout the year the prep students have been a part of the cooking program supported by Nicole our Speech Pathologist. This program aims to develop students’ ability to follow instructions and visual schedules. Students develop important social skills such as sharing, turn taking and waiting through the cooking process. It's a good way for students to be introduced to, explore, experience and taste new foods.

To help develop these skills at home, you can encourage your child to help you cooking in the kitchen too!

Kath Moore

Campus Principal

Lower Primary

Issue 14 · 25 Oct 2018

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