Primary School
R.E.S.P.E.C.T at GSG
This week, our whole-school value is Respect, and in Early Childhood, we explored what this looks like in our everyday learning. For our youngest students, respect begins with understanding personal space − keeping our hands and bodies to ourselves and noticing when someone needs room. We have also been discussing the importance of respecting other people’s belongings by asking before using something and taking care of shared resources.
Another important focus has been respecting everyone’s right to learn. This means using quiet voices when appropriate, listening when others are speaking, and understanding that our choices can impact those around us.
We have also been talking about how learning looks different for everyone. I shared the example of children trying to look over a fence − some may be tall enough to see straightaway, while others might need a step to help them succeed. This helped students understand that fairness does not always mean everyone gets the same thing; it means everyone gets what they need to learn and grow. Respecting these differences helps us build a caring and inclusive classroom community.
In Primary School, we discussed how we show respect to our families, our school community, our friends and the environment. We look at what respect looks like the GSG way – opening the doors for staff, listening while someone is speaking, greeting people when we see them, respecting our learning spaces and playgrounds and, most importantly, respecting everybody’s right to learn.
Kindergarten
We are all loving our Wild Space adventures so much. It has been gorgeous to see the children begin to form great friendships. There is something very special about watching friendships form so naturally. Last week, one little friend found themselves well and truly stuck in the squelchy sand and, without hesitation, two others rushed over to help. What followed was even more beautiful … they then decided to take turns getting “stuck” so someone else could be the rescuer! It was such a joyful moment of teamwork, problem-solving and laughter. These are the moments that reflect the heart of the early years. The care shown wasn’t prompted; it was authentic and heartfelt. The Wild Space continues to be a place of connection, confidence and community, and we couldn’t be prouder of the kindness growing within our group.
Pre-Primary
Have you ever heard of a colour monster? The story of the colour monster has been helping the Pre-Primary classes investigate emotions and how to show feelings. Learning about emotions and how we can show them helps us to develop emotional self-regulation. We have practised moving our faces to show happiness, sadness, surprise, anger and fear. We have also learned that colours can be used to represent feelings. We created our own colour monsters and feeling monsters to portray a feeling. Next, we will be developing a toolbox of strategies to help us when we are feeling BIG emotions.
Year One
Wilba and Wilma, our class wombats, have been excited to start visiting the homes of the Year One students. What fun they have had so far with Oscar, Hudson, Ermen and Connor, and what beautiful recounts (written and oral) we have seen and listened to. We can’t wait to hear what adventures they got up to with Sylvia and Lucas! The new ‘Learning through Doing’ Mathematics programme has provoked some interesting questions from the Year One class. The programme is mostly practical in nature and is helping the students with the tricky concepts of teen numbers (ending in ‘teen’) and tens numbers (ending in ‘ty’). We all think that twelve should be renamed ‘twoteen’ and twenty should become ‘twoty’!
Year Two
The adventures continue in Year Two as we received another letter explaining that there had been a sighting of footprints down at the Wild Space and the class has been lucky enough to have been asked to design and build a trap for the dragon down there. We ventured to the Wild Space last Friday to look at what materials were available in our natural environment and to see if the footprints were still there! This fits perfectly within our Design Technologies Unit, and we will be busy in the next few weeks looking at structures, designing plans and gathering ideas and materials. Don’t worry, even with all this excitement, we have also been very busy with our Mathematics, learning to skip count in two, five and ten and looking at place-value of numbers. We have been reading daily and completing our spelling as well as looking at liquids and density through some fun experiments in science.
Year Three
This week in Year Three, we began by building 3D verb sculptures using colourful construction paper. Students twisted, flipped, wove, interlocked and overlapped strips of paper, sparking discussions about action verbs and helping us bring movement into our writing. In HASS, we continued our inquiry into how our small choices can have a big impact, especially when working together as a class community. Students thoughtfully explored how their actions affect others and what it means to be a responsible and caring group member. We finished the week with a Science walk through our garden spaces, where students observed, recorded and took photos of a variety of rocks and soils. We are very blessed to learn in a school environment with such a wonderful range of natural elements to explore and enjoy.
Year Four
Our Year Four Physics programme has been ramping up, with Science lessons moving from non-contact forces, such as magnetism and gravity, to the more hands-on fun of normal and applied forces. We have tested bridge designs to share loads and adjusted forces to improve our putting on Mr Carman’s professional putting green. We haven’t told anyone, but all our force experimentation is leading to an explorer-themed arcade game project at the end of the term, where students will design and build their own physical arcade games that harness forces for fun. I guess the cat is out of the bag now.
Year Five
In Year Five we’ve dived headfirst into our portal stories. Unlocking the secrets of crafting irresistible openings that hook readers from the very first line, and dropping hints and clues along the way to foreshadow trouble ahead, because every good story needs a little tension building behind the door…
The best news? Our imaginations have blasted off into a whole new dimension as we plan our own thrilling space-themed portal stories. Expect mysterious gateways, cosmic twists and adventures that are truly out of this world. You never know when a portal to another galaxy might open in our classroom!
Year Six
Year Six has explored explanation texts and broken these up into parts using a model text. We have begun editing our own cold tasks and look forward to writing our hot task in the next couple of weeks. In Science, we wrapped up our volcano experiment and will begin looking at earthquakes after the long weekend. Our Mathematics has moved from place-value to fractions and how they represent parts of a whole and help us describe quantities that aren’t complete numbers. Understanding numerators and denominators builds strong Mathematics foundations, supports problem-solving skills and prepares learners for decimals, percentages and more advanced mathematical concepts in school and beyond.
ECC Briefing
The following superstars have worked exceptionally well and received a Star Award for their outstanding efforts.
Kindergarten A: Hugo Walls
Kindergarten B: Billy Buxton
Pre-Primary A: Amelia Mead
Pre-Primary B: Alby Sedunary
Year One: Lucas Perera
Year Two A: Ava Ray
Year Two B: Harry Bolithio
The following students have stood out for their ability to show respect.
Kindergarten A: Wesley Pyle
Kindergarten B: Pearl Hobbs
Pre-Primary A: Sofia Marche
Pre-Primary B: Pearl Hobbs
Year One: Kennedy Coleman
Year Two A: Kobi Finaughty
Year Two B: John Stone
Year Three to Six Briefing
Congratulations to the following students who were rewarded on Monday for consistently showing the school value of Respect.
Year Three: Ava Smart
Year Four A: Aurora Leslie
Year Four B: Finn Mears
Year Five A: Harriet Stan-Bishop
Year Five B: Stephanie Forgus
Year Six A: Edward Yeboah
Year Six B: Brodie Pyle
Congratulations to both Year Four classes for winning the Brag Award. This week the focus was on tidy hats and bags. On a tie breaker, Year Four B (Mr Carman’s class) took home the trophy and icy-poles. Next week the leaders are looking for classes wearing their uniforms correctly each day.
Upcoming Events
Week Four
Friday 27 February, Assembly, Year Four A, Mr Hardey in the Multi-Purpose Sport Complex, 9.00am, all families welcome. Tea and coffee available from 8.45am.
Week Five
Monday 2 March, Labour Day Public Holiday (Whole School Closed)
Friday 6 March, YearThree to Six Interhouse Swimming Carnival, ALAC 9.00am to 2.30pm (House Shirts and House swim caps, please).
Week Six
Wednesday 11 March, NAPLAN testing starts for Year Three and Year Five
Week Seven
Harmony Week
Monday 16 March, NAPLAN testing ends for Year Three and Year Five
Tuesday 17 March, school photos
Tuesday 17 March to Wednesday 18 March, da Vinci Decathlon, selected Year Six students
Friday 20 March, school photos
Have a wonderful weekend.
Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary and
Mrs Hayley Ranger | Head of Early Childhood