Prep

Hi Prep families,

We are finding it hard to believe that we are already in Week 3. It feels like the Preps have always been here. We are so pleased with how well they have settled in and how they are focusing hard on their organisation skills and independence.

In Literacy, we have started learning the letter ‘f’ and that sound in which it makes. We have been exploring the formation of letters and identifying the letters in our names. We have been looking at the main features of books including the title, author and images. In writing sessions the students have been attempting to write their own sentence starters.

In Mathematics, we have been having fun counting from 0-20 and have been practicing how to correctly write numbers. The Preps are enjoying participating in group work and hands on activities to help deepen their knowledge of numbers to 10.

In Religion, we are learning the importance of prayer and getting used to using the sign of the cross. Students have been sharing their special intentions and prayers with God and their classmates. We are excited to be visiting St Mary’s Church this week to explore what we might see in the Church.

Looking forward to meeting with parents at the Parent/Teacher chats on Monday 17th of February.

Have a lovely week,

Hayley and Jessica

Juniors

1/2 Homeroom News

Wow! Here we are again!

Firstly, we would like to welcome back all our wonderful families and friends to the new school year. We hope that you all had a wonderful and safe holiday and are feeling relaxed and ready to conquer the new year ahead.

We have hit the ground running as always and are very excited to be working with you all this year for another wonderful year of learning.

This term we will begin focusing on looking at how we can look after ourselves - mind, body and spirit. We will be conducting the immersion stage of our Inquiry on Friday. Students will participate in a first aid course and explore different ways we can keep our bodies, minds and spirits healthy. On Monday we will also be participating in a cooking session with the emphasis on healthy food and discussion about how food makes us feel.

In English we are beginning to look at fact vs fiction. How can we differentiate between facts and fiction? What are some common features of a non-fiction text? We will continue these ideas over into our writing by exploring information reports and work towards creating our own.

In Mathematics, we have started a unit on place value. Students are beginning to use place value language such as ones, tens and hundreds. We are working towards showing place value in a variety of different ways, such as through pictures, numbers and concrete materials. This unit is a great way to start our Maths journey this year and we would love it if you asked your children to explain their thinking. Explaining our thinking is a large focus area for us this year!

In Religion we are looking at images of God and exploring how God made us all in his image. We have begun by drawing our own images of God as well exploring the different ways we can pray and meditate to communicate with God.

We have begun sending home readers this week. Students are expected to read for 15 minutes each night and get their diary signed off and brought to school each day in their zipped reading pocket. All notes that are sent home and are being returned to school should be placed in this reading pocket.

Thank you to those parents who have already sent their emails to their child’s homeroom teacher. If you are yet to do so, can you please send this through. Thanks also to those students who have brought in their art smocks. If you haven’t done so yet, please send this to school as soon as you can.

Students have received a few important notices, such as the short walk forms and permission to photograph form. If you have not received these or are yet to send them in, can you follow this up with your child’s homeroom teacher and hand these in as soon as you can.

Parent helpers will begin in homerooms after the parent information session has been hosted at the beginning of March.

We are looking forward to another fun filled term of learning and meeting you all at the parent teacher interviews on Monday the 17th February.

Have a great week,

Jenna, Bethany, Tania, Renee and Jason

Middles

Hi families,

What an amazing (and busy) start the 3/4s have had this year! The 3/4s have shown great leadership and independence in their transition to 3/4.

Assembly

The 3/4s will be running assembly this Friday, it would be fantastic to see as many parents in attendance as possible as the students present their learning about Cyber Safety to the rest of the school.

Literacy

In Literacy we have written a simple recount that was clear and succinct, in the form of a postcard. Each student wrote about their adventures on their holidays and shared this information with a teacher from the Middles team. We have begun discussing ‘What Makes A Good Reader’ in the classroom and have been practicing independent reading skills everyday.

Maths

In Maths, we have begun our first topic of Place Value and have focussed on identifying odd and even numbers, partitioning numbers into place value columns of thousands, hundreds, tens and ones. The students have explored how whole numbers can be ‘busted’ into many creative combinations. We saw a lot of creative mathematicians! Starting next week students will continue their mathematics learning in workshops.

Religion

In Religion, both classes have set up their prayer spaces, written class prayers for whole class prayer time and created a personalised prayer square to create a whole class prayer cloth.

Inquiry

This terms Inquiry topic ‘Who Am I?’ will begin with an immersion morning next Monday. Next Friday the Grade 3s and 4s will be travelling to the National Gallery of Victoria to experience the culturally diverse artworks on display. If you have not sent back your child’s permission form please do so as soon as possible.

Design Technology

The 3/4s have been working on a Friday with Ms Sally. Last week the students were introduced to the Sphero’s and have begun to learn the skills to block code the Sphero’s movement. We look forward to working with Ms Sally to use these skills to solve real life problems.

The Middles Team

Chloe, Carla, Stephen L and Vicki

Seniors

Hi Senior families,

Welcome to the 2020 school year! We have been busy settling into our classrooms and setting up routines and expectations.

The students have started place value workshops for Mathematics. All students undertook the pre test and were allocated a workshop group. The pre and post tests will be sent home at the end of the unit. Make sure to ask their students about their learning and have them explain their thinking.

Our inquiry unit is called ‘Walk this way’, our immersion activity will be The excursion on the 21st of February. The senior school will be visiting Federation Square, The National Gallery and Botanical Gardens on Friday the 21st of February. Please make sure all notes are returned to classroom teachers. Thank you to the parents that have volunteered to join us on the day we will contact parents if needed.

We look forward to meeting you all on meet the teacher night this Monday the 17th.

Thank you,

From the Senior Team

St Mary's School

Issue 2 · 12 Feb 2020

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