PRIMARY (F-6)

School Leaders Report - Kara

These school terms seem to go both slow and fast. This one has been a long one, 11 weeks, and it’s clear the children - and adults alike - are indeed ready for a brain break and physical reset. There has been much to celebrate this term:

• Learning new letters and their sounds
• Knowing that letters go together to make words
• Words make sentences
• Sentences have parts, and share a message.
• We can build a sentence to both inform and entertain the reader
• The English language is tricky!
• Numbers have a value
• They go in order
• We can put numbers together to solve problems
• Identifying, Measuring, Estimating, Calculating are skills that are transferable
• Maths is all around us if we look carefully enough!

I’m really proud of how our learners have risen to the challenges this term; children have grown and progressed, identified strengths and areas to practice, and staff have continued to model what it means to be a learner; continuously developing and aiming to be our best. The learning journey really is life long!

We wish Ivy all the best as she finishes up at St Anne’s today, beginning maternity leave for the arrival of a new baby. 

A reminder that Term 3 begins for students on Tuesday 22 July. Staff will be engaging in Professional Development on Monday 21 July.

Class Reports

Foundation

Learning Expo

Foundation students shared their learning from their recent inquiry topics with their loved ones yesterday. Their buddies also popped in to check out their work as well as their siblings from other year levels.

Foundation students have been inquiring into the food process and they had created some amazing dioramas as part of this inquiry topic. 

It is fantastic being able to share their amazing work! Great job Foundation students!

Goulburn Valley Water Education Officer Kristy visited the Foundation students last week to share her knowledge with our inquisitive students. 

The students began by learning all about the water cycle followed by GV Water’s water treatment process – how water gets cleaned before being safe to drink. 

It was so much fun when the students got the chance to play with the many props Kristy had which demonstrated all the ways we use water in and around our house.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with our Foundation students Kristy and instilling the very important message of making sure we save as much water as we can! 

Our buddies session every fortnight is a highlight. Last week the big buddies helped the little buddies make things for their farm diorama.

In Maths, the students have been reading and writing numerals to 20, learning to count on from 10, knowing before/after numbers and understanding larger and smaller numbers.

The Foundations used Godly Play in R.E. to help them explore their need for help throughout life. Students are beginning to understand that Jesus is also a sign of God’s love who helped others during his life.

Year 1 

Inquiry - How We Express Ourselves

Last week Year 1 students took part in a performance-based activity as part of their inquiry unit looking into How We Express Ourselves. The activity involved students working in groups, with one student reading passages from a book and the other students using their bodies and movement to express the actions detailed in the book. This included students becoming creatures such as snakes, frogs, kangaroos and birds.

Year 1 students explored poetry and storytelling through the poem "Forgiven" by A.A. Milne, which tells the tale of Alexander Beetle. Inspired by the poem, the students created their own Alexander Beetles, each one unique and imaginative!

We also enjoyed reading "The Day the Crayons Quit", sparking thoughtful conversations around emotions, fairness and creativity.

At lunchtime, many students have been enthusiastic participants in our Eco Warriors initiative, helping to clean up the school grounds and care for our environment. It's been wonderful to see their sense of responsibility and teamwork in action.

Wishing all our families a safe and relaxing holiday break, rest up and we’ll see you refreshed and ready for Term 3!

Kara’s literacy group has been working on /m/ /s/ /t/ /a/.

We have learnt that letters have a name and a sound. We repeat them out loud and say them independently. We have written the letters using correct letter formation, and written words in sound boxes, listening carefully to how many sounds, and we have practiced writing words on our own. We have used the letters to write many words, sounding out the initial, middle and final sounds before writing them correctly. 

Maliyah, Baani, Jeeva, Harjer and Shaan (pictured above) are working incredibly well, and having some great brain learning moments! We’re excited for next lesson when we get a new set of letters to learn and practice!

Year 2

Over the past fortnight, our students have been busy and engaged across all areas of learning. In Literacy, we explored Readers Theatre as part of our InitiaLit lessons. Students rehearsed in small groups and confidently performed their scripts for their peers, building fluency and expression.

In Maths, we began our second Place Value unit, now working with four-digit numbers. One highlight was using masking tape to create large number lines on the classroom floor, working collaboratively with a partner to build understanding.

In Inquiry, we wrapped up our unit How We Express Ourselves. Students enjoyed exploring different forms of expression through music, art, performance, and writing. They worked in mixed Year 1/2 groups to perform a Dreamtime story and created mini-books to recount a special memory or experience.

We wish all our families a safe, restful and relaxing winter holiday break. We look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for Term 3!

Year 3/4

Year 3/4 students attended the Alexandra Adventure Camp during Week 9 for three fun-filled days of new experiences and activities. The Flying Fox - a pulley system that took them over a lake to the other side - was a big favourite amongst students. The rock climbing wall was perhaps the most challenging activity at the camp. Standing ten metres high with three climbing elements, it is a great accomplishment to reach the top and many students did! 

One side of the rock climbing wall  is flat, the second side is for the more advanced with a difficult area to climb and the third side is a net. Great fun and quite the achievement! Then there was the fast paced adrenaline activity that got everyone’s heart racing: the Giant Swing. This was definitely a case of stepping out of your comfort zone! The Crate Stacking activity was a fantastic team building exercise that was also not for the faint-hearted! Everyone had to work together to create the highest crate stack for a team member to climb (while safely in their harness of course!). This activity was wonderful for promoting trust and confidence. Other activities included disc golf, volleyball, gaga ball, bocce, orienteering, archery and a low ropes course. 

It was wonderful to see students working together in teams, developing their problem solving and communication skills during our adventure camp. 

We’d like to say a big THANK YOU to our wonderful hosts at the Alexandra Adventure Camp! 

Year 5

Year 5/6 Mentos Experiment

The Year 5/6 students came together to undertake the Mentos and Coca-Cola experiment - a fun and visual demonstration of a physical reaction which results in an explosive fountain of coke coming out the top of the bottle when Mentos is dropped in. 

Students worked in groups to plan their experiment by identifying a purpose, forming a hypothesis, gathering materials, outlining a method, researching variables, and combining their observations into a conclusion and discussion. The groups had a variety of results, which led to some exciting moments and lively discussions.

Maths - Decimals

We’ve worked hard on decimals in maths the last couple of weeks. Identifying tenths and hundredths, drawing, labelling, comparing and ordering. Students have grasped the concept and shown moments of ‘ohhh’ ‘I get it now’. Students have connected decimals to our learning with fractions. And looked at real life examples such as money and units of time.

Stop Motion

Every few weeks we spend some time with the Year 1 students. This week we worked with 1LH on Stop Motion. Students were given a demonstration by Kara, and set the goal of ‘show an event taking place’. We used resources from around the space. Some examples were, trains driving in a circle, textas falling out of the tin, animals moving across the land.

We were so busy I forgot to take photos, but students worked collaboratively in pairs to share ideas and skills. For the first time, the Stop Motion movies were excellent. 

Hopefully we can continue this another day.

Visual Arts - Head Masks

The Year 5 students have worked incredibly hard over Term 2 in Visual Arts to produce these incredible Head Masks. The students began by first designing their masks, then moving onto construction which began with a cardboard base, followed by paper mache. Finally, the masks really came to life when students painted and decorated their masks. The results are incredible! Well done Year 5 students!

R.E - Sacraments

The focus for the past few weeks has been learning about the seven sacraments, their purpose, symbols and rituals in the Catholic Faith. Each student has chosen a sacrament as a focus to further research and present. Which you would have viewed at the Showcase.

English - Black Cockatoo & Dirran

For the past six weeks we have been reading our novels as a class which are a sequel; Black Cockatoo and Dirran which features Mia and her family that live in the Kimberley Region of WA. The Dirran (Red Tail Black Cockatoo), is Mia’s First Nations People's totem and must be protected by her. We have extended our learning to include a wider understanding of First Nation’s people history (the Story of Jandamara) and the Kimberley area of Australia. The students have really enjoyed discovering this information and choosing which way they could display it for our showcase.

Learning Showcase

The Year 5 students had a fantastic time showcasing all their learning from Term 2 to their families this week! What a great way to end the Term!

Year 6

Visual Arts - Head Masks

The Year 6 students have worked incredibly hard over Term 2 in Visual Arts to produce these incredible Head Masks. The students began by first designing their masks, then moving onto construction which began with a cardboard base, followed by paper mache. Finally, the masks really came to life when students painted and decorated their masks. The results are incredible! Well done Year 6 students!

Poetry

The Year 6 students have been learning all about poetry the last few weeks of term. ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ by Sara Teasdale, published during World War 1, imagines a peaceful world where nature continues its cycles without humans. It describes gentle rains, singing birds, and blooming trees, showing that nature doesn't care about human conflicts or presence. The poem highlights that life will go on even if people are no longer around. The Year 6 students were asked to create their own poem, imagining the world without something. 

A World Without Life 

By Lucy Taylor

The little girl with her balloon,Did not know of tomorrow’s doom.

She was having too much fun,To know what would come.

Tomorrow all life would disappear,Filling the world with anger and fear.

Tomorrow the world will be broken and black,It will look as if life is never coming back.

She did not know that the world would be without life,And just like everyone, if she did know she would be in strife.

So let her go in peace as she doesn’t need to know,Why should anyone dare to fill her free soul with woe?

A World Without Light 

By Jemma Daldy 

A world without light would be dark and cold,

It would cover us up like writing in bold.

In limp lightless streets not a lamp post would be a lite, 

It would be freezing cold and you might get frostbite.

The cold would creep up as if about to say boo!

And when it did we would sure loose a few.

Conciseness would grow in the confusing blank dark,

And to know when someone neared you’d stay quiet and hark.

Feeling a loss in a world of just plain black,

No one left home feeling a lack.

Even the moon did not shine in this world,

In all of this black not a colour swirled.

Social Justice Team

The Year 6 Social Justice Team are well into their colouring/drawing competition and already they have some amazing entries flowing in. If your child needs a new competition form, please see the Year 6 team. Drawings and colouring are due on the 8 August. 

Buddies 

This term we have had a fantastic time supporting our Foundation buddies. We have done many different things together including Mother’s Day crafts, Reconciliation Week activities, helping with dioramas, inside play, outside play and drawing portraits of each other.  

Reminders:

We remind all that the college opens at 8:30am. This enables educators time to prepare for their day ahead. We appreciate your support in helping our educators be successful. Yard duty staff begin at 8:30am to monitor play spaces before the school day begins at 8:55am.

Upcoming Dates

Please refer to the calendar on PAM for upcoming dates for activities and events.