Visual Arts - Prep & Year 1

In Weeks 5 and 6, our Prep students engaged in a fun and creative exploration of their inquiry, “Toys Have Changed Over Time.” Students learned that toys from the past and present can differ and used art to represent their ideas. They decorated and constructed their own toy boxes, carefully selecting and including a variety of toys. As part of this process, students thoughtfully applied their knowledge of patterns and shape, linking their learning in Numeracy to the creation and design of their boxes. Students also practised describing their creations, confidently sharing what was included in their toy boxes.

In Week 5, our Year 1 students concluded their inquiry into the central idea, “The Sun and the Moon move in the sky, causing changes on Earth.” As part of this learning, students deepened their understanding of colour by revisiting primary and secondary colours and creating colour wheels to distinguish between warm and cool tones. They then applied this knowledge to produce an artwork connected to their inquiry. Students demonstrated their understanding by thoughtfully selecting and using warm and cool colours, and confidently explaining how their colour choices represented their ideas.

In Week 6, Year 1 students began a new inquiry, “Emotions influence our thoughts, actions and interactions with others.” As part of this unit, students explored how to recognise and name different emotions. Through a drawing activity, they examined facial expressions and body language, creating “Emotion Faces” to visually represent feelings such as happiness, sadness, excitement, and worry. This work supported their understanding of how emotions can be expressed through art using line, shape, and facial features.

Grade 2 and 3 Art

Our Grade 2 and 3 artists have been exploring the central idea: “How colour and patterns in nature inspire creativity.” Through observing

the beautiful changes of autumn, students experimented with warm colours, leaf patterns, textures, and shape to create vibrant autumn artworks.

In Week 5, we were especially fortunate to welcome parents and families into the art room as part of our Education Week celebrations.

Students and their special visitors worked side by side to create and add autumn leaves to our giant collaborative tree. The room was filled with creativity, conversation, and connection as families shared ideas and worked together.

Our collaborative tree became a wonderful symbol of both the warm colours of autumn and the warmth of teamwork and community. Each leaf added a unique touch, showing how creativity grows when we work together.

Across Weeks 5 and 6, students continued exploring pattern, colour blending, and texture inspired by nature. We are so proud of the creativity, care, and enthusiasm shown by all of our young artists. Thank you to the families who joined us and helped make this experience so special!

Grade 4 Art

In week 5, Year 4 students have been exploring how the elements and principles of art can communicate meaning during important cultural events. Through their learning about Aboriginal art, students have been thinking carefully about the colours and symbols used to represent stories, nature, and connection to Country.

Students are also learning about the context and meaning behind National Sorry Day, developing understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through thoughtful discussion and creative expression.

In week 6, students began to work on their final portraits, sketching these on A4 cartridge paper. They reflected on their prior work by thinking about what style of portrait they wanted to develop, and kept in mind the materials they will be using. They also continued to develop their understanding to make thoughtful artistic choices about their portraits and how style can influence meaning in art. This learning further encouraged students to become more Reflective and Open-minded as they explored a variety of artistic approaches and perspectives.

Grade 5 and 6 Art

Over the past two weeks in Visual Arts, students have been experimenting with a variety of artistic mediums to determine which best suited their chosen portrait style and planned design. Through testing different materials and techniques, they considered how each medium could help communicate mood, detail, and artistic expression within their work.

Following this exploration process, students began their final portrait pieces by carefully constructing a strong foundation sketch of their chosen subject. They focused on applying the proportion and facial structure skills developed throughout the unit to create accurate and well-balanced compositions before moving into the next stages of their artwork.

Science Prep to Grade 6

Science learning has been buzzing with excitement in Weeks 5 and 6 as students across all year levels have been actively engaged in hands-on investigations and experiments. Our Prep students have been exploring the differences between living and non-living things, learning to identify their characteristics and understand what living things need to survive, such as food, water, and shelter.

In Grade 1, students have been investigating weather patterns, observing daily changes and discussing how weather affects our everyday lives.

Grade 2 students have been discovering the properties of materials and investigating how materials can change through heating, cooling, bending, or mixing.

In Grade 3, students have been learning about forces and experimenting with how pushes and pulls can change the direction and movement of an object.

Grade 4 students have been exploring the layers of the Earth and examining how the Earth’s surface changes over time due to natural processes such as erosion and weathering.

Grade 5 students have been conducting experiments with light and shadows, investigating how light travels and how objects can block light to create shadows of different shapes and sizes.

In Grade 6, students have been diving into their electricity unit, building and testing simple circuits while exploring how electrical energy flows. It has been wonderful to see students developing their scientific thinking skills by asking questions, making predictions, and reflecting on their discoveries

WELLBEING

Over the past two weeks in Wellbeing, students across all year levels have been exploring personal strengths in more depth and focusing on being brave, teamwork, resilience, and coping strategies.

Foundation

Over the past two weeks, Foundation students have been focusing on how personal strengths helps coping with fear. They have identified strengths such as bravery and caring, practised simple coping strategies like deep breathing and asking for help, and shared ideas through drawings and classroom displays as reminders to use kindness and their strengths every day.

Year 1

Year One students have been reflecting on acts of friendship and personal strengths. They have explored how it feels to be caring and kind, identified actions that make them feel proud, and practised coping strategies for scary situations, such as taking deep breaths or asking for help.

Year 2

Students in Year Two have been identifying and illustrating strengths such as helpfulness, bravery, and patience. They have also been exploring ways to cope with fear and anxiety, practising strategies that promote calm and brave responses, which were added to a classroom display as reminders of positive coping.

Year 3

Teamwork, respect, and apologising were key learning areas with the Year Threes. Through games and discussions, students practised working well in teams, showing respect to others, and making meaningful apologies, reflecting on the effects of their actions.

Year 4

In Year Four students have been exploring strengths, teamwork and resilience. They reflected on respect, how their strengths support positive relationships, and practiced recognising when they may hurt others and making sincere apologies.

Year 5

This fortnight, Year Five students have been focusing on stress management. They have been exploring what stress is, where it can occur, and how it feels in the body. Students have been reflecting on personal stressors, listening to calming music, and practising strategies to manage stress safely in different situations.

Year 6

Year Six students have been exploring how personal strengths support wellbeing and coping. They have reflected on qualities such as kindness, courage, and responsibility, and practised positive stress-management strategies like exercise, self-calming, social support, and planning. Students have also begun creating personal coping portfolios to manage challenges and support themselves and others.

MEDIA - With Mr. Howarth

Prep

In Prep, we are beginning to explore how television shows can be used to teach us things, not just entertain us. In particular, the show Ask the Storybots taught us how chocolate is made.

One

Having previously explored multiple Dreamtime Stories, the Year Ones are exploring the cultural stories about Lunar New Year and the story behind the creation of the zodiac animals.

Two

Year Two students are using their photography skills to represent different areas of the learner profile.

Three

Our Year Three students have begun creating a presentation titled, “Welcome to Saltwater”, where they take readers through a tour of the school.

Four

In Media, we have learned about Aboriginal and Australian history, including the Stolen Generations and stockmen working on cattle stations and connected it to our mentor text, Thalu.

Five

Our Year Five students have been creative, exploring the history of video game consoles and now designing their own futuristic consoles.

Six

Year Sixes are continuing with character design, taking detailed character briefs and backstories, then creating characters that visually represent those descriptions.

SPANISH

Prep to Year 2

During these weeks in Spanish, Prep to Year 2 students will be learning about Spanish-speaking countries around the world. Students will explore countries such as Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia while practising the pronunciation of country names in Spanish. They will also complete colouring and map activities to help recognise and identify these countries.

Year 3 to Year 6

Students from Year 3 to Year 6 will focus on learning the location of Spanish-speaking countries and developing their ability to identify them on a world map. Through interactive map activities and class discussions, students will strengthen their geographical understanding while learning more about the Spanish-speaking world and its cultural diversity.

Mandarin 中文

Mandarin With Miss Xiong and Miss Qiao

Mandarin classes continue to provide students with opportunities to explore Chinese language and culture through interactive and engaging learning experiences. Using the unique Accelerative Integrated Methodology (AIM), students develop confidence in speaking, listening, reading and cultural understanding through games, movement, hands-on activities and creative tasks.

Prep students have been learning about the Four Seasons (四季) in Chinese. They explored how to recognise and write the Chinese characters for spring, summer, autumn and winter by practising basic Chinese strokes. Students also learned seasonal vocabulary and pinyin, such as 太阳 (sun), 花 (flower), and 树 (tree) when learning about spring. Through colouring activities and classroom discussion, students enjoyed exploring the beauty of spring and summer while building their early Mandarin vocabulary and character recognition skills.

Year 1–2 students have been learning emotion words in Mandarin, including 快乐 (happy), 惊喜 (surprised), 伤心 (sad), and 生气 (angry). To support language learning and memory, students participated in a variety of engaging activities such as “Spin the Wheel” games, songs and movement-based learning. These interactive experiences helped students practise pronunciation and recall vocabulary in an enjoyable and supportive environment. Students also completed a range of tasks in their activity mats, developing their listening, speaking and early reading skills.

Year 3–6 students have been exploring traditional Chinese culture through hands-on cultural learning experiences.Students first learned about the art of traditional Chinese paper cutting (剪纸). They explored the cultural background of paper cutting and practised important techniques such as folding and cutting, before creating their own paper-cut artworks.More recently, students have been learning about Chinese hot pot culture. They explored different styles and flavours of hot pot, common dipping sauces and the cultural meanings behind this traditional dining experience. Students discussed how hot pot represents values such as togetherness, sharing and inclusiveness in Chinese culture. As part of this learning, students designed their own hot pot menus by using key Mandarin vocabulary related to hot pot ingredients and flavours, combining language learning with creativity and cultural understanding.

Considering the different language levels within classes, learning goals are differentiated to support student needs. First language learners are encouraged to further develop their literacy and character writing skills, while second language learners continue to focus on speaking, listening and pinyin development.

DANCE.

Throughout dance recently the Year 5’s have been working on tasks that challenge the students to think outside the square and to also work with fellow classmates they might not always interact with. The students were taught a various combination of steps that always lead them back to the same spot they originally started in. From here everyone was paired up with a fellow classmate they don’t normally associate with outside of the classroom and were presented with the challenge. Students were asked to change the order of the steps and combinations they were taught, but not change or alter the actual steps given. They were also allocated a time limit to which they had to finish the task making it even more challenging. The example given was to imagine this was a job requirement that had a deadline for the finished product otherwise they would lose that job, or not be eligible for that promotion etc. This also helped create urgency and pressure to deliver the results in the time required.

This task prompted so many important key elements that are used in the workplace and everyday life such as team work, communication, compromise, creativity, being open minded, time management, problem solving, being a risk taker, and staying focussed and not being distracted by your surroundings. Students experienced what it was like to work with others they don’t normally interact or associate with, and how to adapt to changes made while working with different people to achieve the common goals set out.

Physical Education

Last week students across all year levels participated in exciting rugby clinics run by the Melbourne Storm. Throughout the sessions, students developed their passing, teamwork and movement skills through a range of engaging drills and games led by experienced coaches. The clinics provided students with the opportunity to build confidence, demonstrate sportsmanship and enjoy being active in a fun and supportive environment. It was fantastic to see students enthusiastically getting involved and giving their best effort throughout each session!

This week, Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students have been enthusiastically developing their skills of bounce, throw and catch through a variety of fun and engaging games and activities. Through individual, partner and small group tasks and games, students have been practising ball control, hand-eye coordination and teamwork while building their confidence and resilience. It has been wonderful to see students encouraging one another, showing persistence and celebrating their successes during lessons. We look forward to continuing to build these important movement skills throughout the term while keeping students active, engaged and having fun!

Our Saltwater Athletics Carnivals concluded with the Year 6 carnival on 13th May. Students enjoyed a lovely sunny day, were incredibly well behaved and tried their best in all track and field events. Big thanks to the Year 6 staff and parent helpers for assisting the smooth running of the day and best wishes to students who will go on to compete in District Athletics next term.

During this week and for the remainder of the term, Years 3-6 students will participate in the exciting Quick Stix Lacrosse programme. Students will have the opportunity to learn and develop new skills in a fun and active environment. Throughout the sessions, students will practise important lacrosse skills including cradling, passing, catching and teamwork through a range of engaging drills and small-sided games.

Lastly, on 28th May, Saltwater College was represented by a number of students in Divisional Cross Country. Well done to Sarim, Zoe, Sai, Andre, Avery, William, Zoey, Emily, Zoe and Logan!

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