From the Classroom
News from The Seniors
In English, students will continue reading The One and Only Ivan. Over the next fortnight, they’ll be learning to ask and answer deeper questions about the story and share their opinions using evidence from the text. They’ll also experiment with literary devices to make their writing more engaging and use appositives to add extra detail to their sentences.
In Maths, students will explore balanced equations and find the value of missing numbers. They’ll continue working with line graphs, learning how to represent and interpret data, and take part in hands-on activities to explore different types of angles.
In Inquiry, students will continue to develop their understanding of ethical decision-making and financial literacy. They’ve already examined needs and wants, how marketing can influence what we buy, and how one choice can affect another.
Middles News
In English, Middle A continues to read 200 Minutes of Danger and are thoroughly enjoying the excitement and suspense in each story. As they read, they are investigating the features of narrative structure and characterisation, exploring how authors build tension and bring characters to life. They are also discovering how short stories can cleverly link and weave together to create a connected reading experience.
In Middle B, Students are beginning a beautiful new book, Sea Country by Patsy Cameron and Lisa Kennedy. In this story, Patsy Cameron generously shares the stories and traditions from her family’s seasonal island life in Tasmania. It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to appreciate storytelling, culture, and the natural world around us.
In Maths, Middle A students are continuing to explore addition and subtraction using a range of strategies to build their confidence and accuracy. They have been practising the jump strategy, estimating answers, using number lines, and working with MAB blocks to model their thinking. These strategies are helping students deepen their understanding of number relationships and develop flexible problem-solving skills.
Middle B, Students are beginning a new topic on division. They are learning that division is about sharing and grouping equally, and they are using a variety of strategies and concrete materials to explore these ideas. Through hands-on activities with counters, arrays, and number lines, students are developing a deeper understanding of how division connects to multiplication.
In Inquiry, we are continuing to study The Moon, Earth and Sun. They have been exploring how these celestial bodies move and interact, and how their movements create patterns we experience every day — such as day and night, shadows, and the changing seasons.
As part of their hands-on learning, students have created their own sundials to investigate how the Sun’s position in the sky can be used to tell the time. Taking their sundials outside gave students a real-world connection to what they are learning — they discovered how the Sun’s movement affects the length and direction of shadows throughout the day.
Juniors Tell All
It has been an exciting start to the term in the Junior Unit as we dive into the wonderful world of narratives. Junior A have begun exploring story structure through the text It’s a Miroocool! Students are learning to retell a story by describing its main events and using time connectives to show the order in which they happen. They have also been practising how to make sentences that make sense by selecting appropriate vocabulary and organising their ideas clearly. As part of their reading and discussion skills, Junior A have been using clues from the front cover and the language within the story to make predictions and build their understanding of new words in different contexts. The class has thoroughly enjoyed listening to and sharing opinions about various stories.
Junior B are also exploring narrative features with the engaging text How to Catch a Star. They have begun creating and recreating stories, focusing on key narrative elements such as characters, settings, and plot. Like Junior A, they are learning to retell stories by describing the main parts and using time connectives to help sequence events. Students have loved sharing their imaginative ideas and building confidence in expressing their thoughts about the stories they read.
In Mathematics, both Junior A and Junior B have been continuing to work on our division units. This has been made especially fun through hands-on activities where students have shared animals into paddocks, split REAL lollies evenly and into groups, and even shared ice cream scoops with friends to explore fair sharing. These practical tasks have helped students develop a strong understanding of dividing objects equally while enjoying playful, real-world learning.
In Discovery Learning, our Juniors have been absolutely captivated by our brand-new space station setup the past two weeks. Students have had the chance to dress up as astronauts, explore rocks from other planets and asteroids, moon dust and let their imaginations launch them into outer space. From navigating pretend missions to discovering new planets, the space station has opened the door to rich, creative play while encouraging teamwork, problem-solving, and curiosity about the universe beyond our classroom.
