Learning Area News
Foundation News
Literacy
In Literacy, we have been learning the sounds ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘qu’ and ‘ee’. Students have been practising blending these sounds to read words such as quick, chop and queen. In Writing, we have been constructing short, simple sentences based on stories we have listened to in class. Students have been recalling facts from informative texts.
Numeracy
In Numeracy, we have been learning about subtraction through subtraction stories. Students have used hands-on materials, such as counters, to model and solve subtraction problems. They have also enjoyed creating their own subtraction number stories and sharing them with their peers.
Religion
In Religion, our focus has been 'Our Bible'. Students have been exploring a variety of Bible stories and developing their understanding of the Bible as a special and sacred book for Christians.
Inquiry In Inquiry, we have been learning about Visual Arts. Students have explored the importance of colour in artwork and how colours can be used to express different emotions and feelings. We have been investigating a range of visual art techniques and explore how visual art is expressed across different cultures.
At home you could reinforce learning by:
- Read a story with someone at home. Talk about what happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the story.
- Practise writing all your letters using lower case letter formation.
- Create your own number story and draw a picture to match. For example, there were 8 bees. 3 flew away. How many are left?
- Write the below sentences independently:
- Zack will do the quiz.
- A bee can buzz.
- The man fed the big dog.
- The hens sat in the sun.
Ensure your sentence begins with a capital letter, ends with a full stop and has spaces between your words.
Year 1 News
In Literacy, students have been learning about spelling using 'y’ as in puppy and ‘ey' as in key. We have also been exploring the diagraphs 'oy' and 'oi'. Our tricky words are kind, find and thought. In writing we have been learning when use is and are in our sentences.
In Numeracy, students have been learning to measure and compare the length of various classroom objects using informal units, including paperclips, Unifix blocks, and icy pole sticks.
In Religion, our topic has been Daily Life in Jesus' Time. Students have been making connections between Jesus' life and their own experiences. They have explored how people lived during Jesus' time and enjoyed playing traditional games, such as marbles, similar to those that children may have played in Jesus' day.
In Inquiry our topic is 'Visual Arts'. Students have been exploring a variety of art techniques from different cultures, gaining an appreciation for diverse artistic traditions and creative expression.
At home you could reinforce learning by:
Literacy
- Find words in your take home reader with the diagraph 'oy and 'oi'.
- Practice putting the tricky words, kind, find and thought into sentences.
- Listen to your child read their reader each night.
Numeracy
Measure and Order Objects -Choose 4 objects from around your home.
✅ Draw each object.
✅ Guess (estimate) how many informal units eg. spoons or toy cars long it will be.
✅ Measure each object using the same informal unit.
✅ Write your measurement.
✅ Put the objects in order from smallest to largest.
Example:
- Pencil ✏️ = 3 toy cars long
- Book 📖 = 5 toy cars long
- Water bottle 🍼 = 6 toy cars long
- Cushion 🛋️ = 8 toy cars long
Smallest to largest: ✏️ Pencil → 📖 Book → 🍼 Water bottle → 🛋️ Cushion
Remember: Use the same measuring object each time and place it end to end with no gaps.
Year 2 News
In Literacy, during spelling, we have been exploring two-syllable words that have a closed first syllable such as 'picnic', 'dentist' and 'insect' as well as two-syllable words that have an open first syllable such as 'human', 'hotel' and 'apron'. Tricky words that we are focussing on are 'through', 'every', 'only', 'surprise', 'where' and 'there'.
During grammar, the students have been continuing to learn about noun groups. A noun group is made up of a noun along with other words, such as a, an, and the, that add more detail and make writing more interesting and descriptive. For example, 'the cute, cuddly puppy' or 'a big, slippery fish'.
During comprehension, the students have been reading texts and using the strategy of finding the main idea. Students are encouraged to use handy hints from the text to help them to understand the main idea. These hints might include using the title and picture, reading the first and last sentence and finding repeated words within the text.
In Mathematics, the students have started a new topic of Measurement, using informal units to measure mass and capacity. This topic has allowed students to be 'hands on' with their learning by using classroom objects to measure mass on balance scales. The students have compared and ordered various objects, using terminology such as heavier, lighter and equal.
In Religion, our focus has been ‘Daily Life in Jesus' Time. Students have been exploring what life in Nazareth was like at the time of Jesus and where possible making links to their own life experience. The students participated in a Godly Play session involving Jesus' family as well as playing a traditional game of marbles similar to what Jesus would have played in his childhood.
In Inquiry our topic is 'Visual Arts'. Students have been exploring a variety of art techniques from different cultures, gaining an appreciation for diverse artistic traditions and creative expression. This is a topic that has been really engaging for our students, it has been great seeing their enthusiasm and creative flair.
At home you could reinforce learning by:
Literacy
- Practice using the Tricky words 'through', 'every', 'only', 'surprise', 'where' and 'there' to write a sentence containing one or more word.
Listen to your child read their reader each night. When reading, students could practice using ‘finding the main idea’ strategy to retell what the text is about.
Numeracy
- What can you find that is lighter than a pen?
- What can you find that is bigger than a potato but lighter than it?
- What can you find that is heavy but small?
- A book is on one side of a balance scale, and two objects are on the other side so the balance scale is equal mass. What might the two objects be?
Year 3 News
Year 4 News
Year 5 News
How can we experience God in our lives? What do you imagine God to be like? In our Religious Education study, we have been exploring the theme Made in God's Image. There are many qualities that we develop over a lifetime that shape our identity and espouse the living God in our lives. Just like the Good Sarmatian we can be caring, respectful, kind, loving and willing to do good.
We have introduced our new novel as a part of English, Tom Appleby Convict Boy by Jackie French. In this novel we are transformed from one era to another, as Thomas Appleby reflects on his life as young lad thrown into the chaos of life in 1700's England. At the age of eight, working as chimney sweep, he is convicted of stealing and sentenced to deportation to Botany Bay. A home learning activity that would support our study would be to discuss and research what life would have been like as a convict in the early settlement days of Australia. We will be working on an information text exploring the facts of early settlement.
What is an angle? Can you ask your child to name three angles and how we measure them? Our study in Mathematics has been angles and we have been drawing shapes with a variety of qualities e.g. a quadrilateral, a polygon or a triangle. Does a circle have angles?
The Silk Road was instrumental in the distribution of resources across the world. In our Humanities study, the Search for Resources we have been leaning about the establishment and development of the Silk Road over time. We know that Australia has many resources that are essential to the way we live our lives. As the unit progresses the children will be completing a project on a resource of their choice. to help them with this you may discuss with them what resources are and what they might choose research.
Next Friday, August 14, we are off to Melbourne on our much-awaited excursion to Science Works and the MCG. In science we have been studying Manipulating Light, and we will be participating in the Lights, Energy, Action experience in the Lighten Theatre. There we will learn that there are many kinds of energy, which all fit into two categories; working (kinetic) and stored (potential) energy. That heat, sound, light and electricity can make things move and that energy can be transformed from one form to another.
Just a reminder that we will leave school at 7:00 a.m. precisely and will return to school at 6:00 p.m. It will be a long day so please pack extra food for the children to eat.
Looking forward to an exciting fortnight of learning.
Remember READ each night - read with, read to, and hear them read. The more we read the better we get.
The Fabulous Year Five Teaching Team
Year 6 News
