Primary Specialists
Prep Art
As we reach the end of a wonderfully creative year in Prep Art, I want to share how incredibly proud I am of all our little artists. Watching their confidence grow, their imaginations expand, and their skills develop has been a joy. From bold brushstrokes to tiny details, messy fingers to big smiles, they’ve approached every project with enthusiasm and curiosity.
We’ve had so much fun exploring colour, texture, shape, and storytelling through art, and each child has blossomed in their own unique way. Their achievements, both big and small, have made this year truly special.
Thank you, parents and caregivers, for your support, encouragement, and for sharing your amazing children with us each week. Wishing you all a happy, restful, and safe holiday break. I look forward to more creativity and joy in the new year!
Visual Art - Grades 1 & 2!
As we wrap up the year, our Grade 1 and 2 students have been bursting with creativity in their final two weeks of Visual Art! The classroom has been filled with colour, imagination and festive cheer as students
explored a range of Christmas-themed projects.
Our young artists created bright and imaginative Christmas hats, sparkling decorations, and thoughtful Christmas cards for family and friends.
They also enjoyed some free drawing time, giving them the chance to show off everything they’ve learned this year.
Throughout these activities, students demonstrated their growing confidence and skills in using lines, patterns, shapes, colour, and texture. It has been wonderful to watch their ideas come to life on the page and in their 3D creations.
I am so proud of the creativity, enthusiasm, and artistic growth our students have shown. What a joyful way to finish the year!
Well done, Grade 1 and 2 artists! 🌟
Grade 3 & 4 Art
Over the past two weeks—and in our final Art sessions for 2025—our Year 3 and 4 students have explored how to create their own festive Christmas landscape scenes, bringing together all their Term 4 learning on landscape layout and design. Students worked with watercolour backgrounds and a selection of Christmas-inspired patterned papers, cutting and arranging their own Christmas trees to collage onto a mountain range. As they worked, they thought carefully about where to place each shape to create balance and interest. They particularly enjoyed experimenting with textures, patterns, and colour, and were proud to see their Christmas landscapes come to life.
Students also followed a guided Christmas snow globe tutorial, where they were given the opportunity to use their own student voice by drawing a landscape or image of their choice inside the globe.
Christmas Tree Competition – Please Vote!
Our Year 3 and 4 students have also been entered into the Christmas Tree Competition at Pacific Werribee. Their creativity and teamwork are proudly showcased in our school’s beautifully decorated tree on display at the plaza.
We kindly encourage our families to head down to Pacific Werribee and cast a vote for our students. The school with the most votes will win a share of $8,000—an incredible opportunity for us!
Thank you for supporting our young artists and celebrating their hard work. please make your way to Woolworths to vote!
Here is information of our entry of Pacific Werribee’s website:
https://pacificwerribee.qicre.com/Articles/Christmas/School-Christmas-Tree
As we wrap up the final weeks of Art for the year, we would like to wish all our families and students a safe, joyful, and restful Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to welcoming all our artists back, refreshed and ready to learn, in 2026.
Spanish
This term, students across the school explored a range of cultural celebrations and language skills in Spanish. From counting activities to cultural traditions such as El Día de los Muertos and La Navidad, everyone participated with enthusiasm and creativity.
Prep – Year 2
Students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 learned about:
Numbers 1–10 (Números del 1 al 10)
The cultural celebration El Día de la Muerte / Día de los Muertos
Christmas (La Navidad)
To support their learning, they:
Played Bingo using numbers in Spanish
Coloured a calavera (decorative skull)
Completed a colour-by-number Christmas tree
These hands-on activities helped students reinforce vocabulary while learning about important cultural traditions.
Year 3 – Year 4
Students in Years 3 and 4 strengthened their Spanish number skills and cultural understanding through:
Bingo with numbers 1–20 (Números del 1 al 20)
Reading a Spanish text about El Día de la Muerte and answering comprehension questions
This allowed students to practise reading strategies while engaging with cultural content in Spanish.
Year 5 – Year 6
Students in Years 5 and 6 extended their language skills by:
Playing Bingo with numbers 1–20
Completing a reading comprehension activity about El Día de la Muerte in Spanish
Answering written questions to demonstrate understanding
Their work showed excellent effort in both vocabulary and cultural learning.
Certificates for Everyone!
All students from Prep to Year 6 received a Certificate of Participation for taking part in our Spanish Bingo activities. ¡Muy bien hecho!
Mandarin 中文
As Term 4 comes to an end, our Mandarin classrooms have been full of colour, excitement, and creativity！
From Prep to Year 6, students have explored five of China’s most important traditional festivals. These include Spring Festival, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival. They are not only key cultural celebrations in China but also official public holidays.
Throughout the term, students learned why these festivals are celebrated and how people in China enjoy them each year. We used stories, hands-on activities, music, videos, and games to bring the learning to life. It has been a joyful cultural journey, and I am very proud of everyone’s curiosity and enthusiasm.
Prep：Our youngest learners were introduced to traditional Chinese culture through music, movement, and lots of playful activities. They pretended to paddle dragon boats and learned about zongzi, which are rice dumplings eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. They also joined in rhythm games while learning new words such as “mooncake” and “Double Ninth.” These music-based lessons gave them a gentle and fun start to Mandarin. They helped students build confidence while keeping their curiosity alive.
Year 1 and Year 2：Students in Year 1 and Year 2 enjoyed learning through creative tasks. They made origami zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival and created moon-phase wheels for the Mid-Autumn Festival. They also wrote thank-you leaves to show love for their grandparents when learning about the Double Ninth Festival. Through these hands-on activities, students gained a better understanding of the meaning behind each celebration. Along the way, they learned useful Mandarin phrases and happily practised greetings such as “Happy New Year” and “Happy Double Ninth Festival.”
Year 3 and Year 4：Students in Year 3 and Year 4 explored the reasons behind each festival and learned when these celebrations take place during the year. They enjoyed learning Mandarin characters related to special foods and traditions. Students coloured words such as “mooncake,” “rice dumpling,” and “red envelope” for Spring Festival. They also practised saying greetings such as “Happy New Year.” Many students compared these Chinese celebrations with their own family traditions, which helped them understand culture in a more meaningful way. With the support of videos, games, and group work, students built a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.
Year 5 and Year 6：This term, our senior students explored both the cultural meaning and the timing of each festival. They learned key vocabulary such as “red envelope,” “rice dumpling,” and “mooncake,” and used these words in class discussions and sentence building. Students watched short videos, read texts, and reflected on how people in China celebrate with food, family time, and special customs. Many students shared thoughtful comparisons between Chinese traditions and their own cultural backgrounds, which led to rich and engaging conversations.
Across all year levels, students explored Chinese culture through language, craft, storytelling, music, and games. Younger students learned simple greetings and key words through creative activities. Older students explored deeper cultural meanings and practised using Mandarin in full sentences. Students also connected their own experiences with the topics they learned, which made learning more relatable and memorable.
It has been a warm, inspiring, and enriching term in Mandarin. Students have shown curiosity, creativity, and a growing appreciation for Chinese culture.
DANCE!
As we come to the end of a very successful and heart filled 2025, we would like to congratulate and acknowledge everyone that’s participated in dance at Saltwater for this year! From our dance extension and Wakakirri dancers taking out their second consecutive National Award for Wakakirri this year, to the VSSS dancers and our two principal dancers lighting up John Cain Arena in front of 10,000 people, to our Year 6 students having the largest group in Saltwater history of 70 students perform together in one massive dance performance for their Year 6 graduation, as well as our year 4, 5 and 6 classes doing an amazing job and blitzing all their classes throughout year! We also had a great year with our Year 7 and year 9 Enrichment course students from our Secondary campus.
Adding to all of this also is 3 weeks of intense Christmas Carol rehearsals for the whole school, and working with everyone’s amazing routines and concepts ready to perform on our new stage! Let’s not also forget our Wakakirri students performing for our Secondary schools first ever Ted Talk presentation this year, yet another great performance by all students involved!
Everyone has definitely raised the bar again this year, and has set the standard very high for what awaits us in 2026! I know many students are eager to return to challenge themselves and each other next year, and to see what else we can achieve and how high we can go. To say we are beyond proud of all of the students who participated in any area of dance this year is a huge understatement. They have achieved all of our combined goals that we initially set out at the beginning of the year, while doing so in a professional, polished, uplifting, and positive manner!
I would like to acknowledge and send out a massive THANK YOU to ALL the supporting staff who helped with Wakakirri and VSSS this year, we couldn’t have done it without you! You personify and represent exactly what teamwork is all about, and set an amazing example of this to all of our students along the way….THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
CONGRATULATIONS again to ALL of our students for an absolutely epic year and for all you’ve achieved! We are so proud of you and can’t wait to see what the new journey of 2026 and beyond holds for you all! Keep smashing it and reaching for those goals and dreams!! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year!! Enjoy your break everyone, and we will see all you in 2026!! :)
Thank you!
Mr H.
Wellbeing
Grade 1 + 2
During our final weeks of school, Grade 1 and 2 students have been enjoying a variety of festive learning experiences during Wellbeing. The students have been working on Christmas cards and taking part in fun end-of-term activities.
These activities allowed students to express their creativity, practice fine motor skills, and enjoy time together as a class community. The classroom has been filled with excitement, laughter, and holiday cheer as we celebrate the end of the term.
We are very proud of all the growth our students have shown this year.
Grade 3 – 6
As we come to the end of the school year, students in the Grade 3–6 Wellbeing class have been engaged in a fun and meaningful project that encouraged creativity, confidence, and self-expression. Students worked on developing their own talents by creating funny videos, creative ideas, and unique presentations that reflected their individual strengths and interests.
During one class session, students were given dedicated time to plan, create, and practise their presentations. In the following week, they had the opportunity to present their work to the class, building confidence in speaking, sharing ideas, and celebrating one another’s efforts.
It was wonderful to see students supporting each other, showing courage, and taking pride in their work. This project was a great way to end the year by focusing on positive wellbeing, creativity, and community.
We are very proud of the effort and growth shown by all students and wish everyone ahappy, safe and relaxing break.