Classroom News
PREP
The remainder of the term is certainly a busy one, with lots of exciting events and opportunities planned for our students and families. We look forward to sharing these special moments with our community over the coming weeks.
Wellbeing Week and Book Week
Next week, we will be focusing on wellbeing and exploring ways we can look after ourselves and others. Throughout the week, the children will be discussing kindness, including the difference between being mean on purpose, mean by accident, and bullying. We will also explore ways to manage our feelings and participate in wellbeing check-ins.
Alongside Wellbeing Week, we will be celebrating Book Week. The children will enjoy reading a range of shortlisted books and participating in fun craft and classroom activities inspired by the stories.
On Friday 28th August, children are invited to come dressed as a character from a book. At 9:00am, we will hold a Book Week parade in the courts, and families are very welcome to come along and enjoy seeing the wonderful costumes.
Prep Prayer Gathering – Father's Day
A reminder that our Father's Day Prep Prayer Gathering will be held on Friday 4 September at 9:00am.
Following the prayer gathering, we invite families to join us in the Prep classroom for a short 15-minute visit. The children are very excited to share some of the special classwork they have prepared in celebration of Father's Day.
School Performance
Our School Performance will be held on Thursday 10th September.
As a reminder, children will need to wear a black base consisting of black shorts and a black, short or long sleeved top. We have organised the remainder of the costumes to help our children look amazing on stage!
Further details regarding the School Performance can be found on Class Dojo School Story.
Home Learning and Literacy
On Monday, we ask that children please bring their Home Learning Books to school as we will be adding new learning. We will begin Stage 6 of Little Learners Love Literacy. The children will be introduced to new digraphs and will begin learning a new list of Heart Words. We look forward to building on the wonderful progress the children have already made with their literacy learning.
We are looking forward to a wonderful and very busy few weeks ahead and thank you to our families for your continued support and enthusiasm.
Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Liza Alexander lalexander@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 1
It has been an exciting couple of weeks in Year One. The students have been working hard in all their learning.
We have been very busy practising our dances for the upcoming production! The students have been putting in a fantastic effort learning their routines and are becoming more confident with each rehearsal. We can’t wait to see all of their hard work come together on stage!
In Maths, we have begun exploring Multiplication and Division, with a focus on making equal groups and sharing collections. The students have enjoyed using hands-on materials to build their understanding.
Phonics: This week, we have been learning about the /a-e/ spelling pattern, as in plane. Last week, we focused on /oo/, as in oops, as well as the tricky words could, would and should. The students have been working hard to recognise and use these spelling patterns and words in their reading and writing.
Persuasive Texts: Students have been learning how to share their opinion and support it with reasons in their writing. They have enjoyed writing about different topics and using persuasive language to convince their reader.
Upcoming Events & Reminders
Year 1 Abbey Prayer Gathering:
Abbey’s class will be leading our Prayer Gathering on Thursday, 27th August. The students are looking forward to sharing this special gathering with our school community. We warmly invite our families to come along and join us.
Book Week & Wellbeing Week:
Next week is an exciting one, with both Book Week and Wellbeing Week. Throughout the week, students will take part in a range of wellbeing activities focusing on kindness, friendship, looking after ourselves and caring for others.
We will also be celebrating Book Week with lots of opportunities to enjoy books, stories and reading. Our Book Week Parade will be held on Friday morning, and students are encouraged to come dressed as a favourite book character. We can’t wait to see all of the wonderful costumes!
Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Abbey Hayes ahayes@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 2
Matt's class have been busily preparing for their Prayer Gathering this week, where they will be exploring the theme of the Common Good. Deb's class have been investigating the similarities between the parables of Jesus and Aesop's Fables, looking at the messages and lessons that these stories can teach us.
We have continued our learning about special places in Inquiry. Students have been investigating what makes a place special and considering why some places are important to individuals, communities and the wider Australian community. We have also been exploring why special places should be cared for and protected for future generations.
In Literacy, we have been using the Story Circle planning format to help us plan and write our own stories about a lost rabbit. Students have been working on developing their characters, setting and sequence of events to create engaging stories. We have also been refining our editing skills and learning to carefully reread our work to check for spelling, punctuation and sentence structure.
We have been learning how to create arrays to represent addition, subtraction and multiplication number sentences in Numeracy this week. Students have been developing their understanding of how numbers can be organised into rows and columns and using these arrangements to make connections between different number sentences.
We are counting down to our Book Week dress-up day at the end of next week! We are also continuing to practise hard for our upcoming school production. There is lots happening in our classrooms at the moment, and we are very excited about all that is coming up!
Reminders:
-Please pack an extra snack for your child on Thursdays as we are having lots of hungry tummies after swimming each week.
-Your child will need a black base of black shorts/pants/leggings and black top for underneath their costumes for production (please contact us if there are any issues).
-Book Week dress up day is next Friday! All families are welcome to come to our parade in the courts after prayer gathering.
Matt O'Dowd modowd@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 3
We have another exciting few weeks ahead in Year 3, with plenty of learning and some special whole school events to look forward to!
Week 7 will be Wellbeing Week, with a whole school focus on wellbeing and a range of activities taking place each day. We will also be celebrating Book Week throughout the week, with special activities incorporated into our Literacy sessions. This year’s Book Week theme is Symphony of Stories, and we are looking forward to celebrating the wonderful world of books and reading together. The week will finish with our much-loved Book Week Parade on Friday on the courts — always a highlight on the school calendar!
We are also very excited for tomorrow’s excursion to the Wetlands and One Movement. Please refer to the PAM form and recent Dojo posts for further information and reminders about the day. We can’t wait for a fun day of learning, exploring and being active together!
In Numeracy, we are continuing our multiplication and division unit, with our current focus moving towards division. Students are exploring a range of different strategies to help them understand and solve division problems confidently.
In Literacy, we are continuing to apply sentence-level writing strategies to our key Inquiry texts. We are exploring appositives, developing questions, scrambled sentences and transitions to strengthen our sentence structure and support the development of our writing.
We are looking forward to another busy and exciting fortnight ahead in Year 3!
Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 4
Our Grade 4 students are heading off this Friday for an exciting joint excursion with the Grade 3s, where they will split into two mixed groups to rotate through leadership activities at One Movement and wetland habitat exploration at the Elliminyt Wetlands for our Humanities unit. Students will need to wear their sports uniform, and as the weather can be unpredictable, please ensure they bring weather-appropriate attire such as a jacket or raincoat. This trip also marks the start of our Wellbeing Week and leads right into next week's Book Week, themed Symphony of Stories. We have plenty of engaging book activities planned, ending in our highly anticipated Book Parade at the end of next week—be sure to check Class Dojo for some helpful costume pointers! Beyond Book Week, excitement is also building as we head into the final weeks of practicing our dance for our upcoming concert happening in Week 9. Back in the classroom, we are continuing to work hard on our multiplication and division unit with a special focus on division this week, while our Literacy reading of The Witches has taken a wild turn as the main character was just transformed into a mouse!
As always thank you all for your support,
Mandy, Meg & Bec
Rebecca Gallagher rgallagher@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Meg Knight mknight@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 5
This term has flown by already, and the students have been eagerly practising for our school production. Our actors and dance captains have been working especially hard, and we thank all students for the wonderful effort, enthusiasm and commitment they have shown.
In Numeracy, we have finished our unit on multiplication and division. Students explored a range of algorithms to solve problems before applying these strategies to worded problems. We have been so pleased with the progress they have made and the confidence they are showing. We have now moved on to area and perimeter, with students focusing this week on calculating perimeter, using the perimeter formula and exploring where we might use these skills in real-life situations.
In Literacy, students have completed their persuasive posters about a natural wonder in North America. They researched their chosen natural wonder, developed persuasive arguments and then published their finished posters using Canva. The students have learnt so much throughout this task and are very proud of their final pieces. We look forward to sharing their wonderful work with families!
In Religious Education, we explored the song From Little Things Big Things Grow and discussed the important messages within the song. Students used dialogue to explain how its message connects with integrity and our responsibility to care for our common home. It was wonderful to hear the thoughtful connections students made between the song, our faith and the choices we make in our everyday lives.
In Inquiry, we have been taking a closer look at Spain this week. As part of our learning, students researched the weather and climate of different parts of Spain before presenting their own weather reports to the class. They really enjoyed taking on the role of weather presenters and adding their own creative flair to their reports!
A reminder that Winter Sports will take place next Friday here at St Mary’s. All students are required to bring a change of clothes for it, as they will be in their book week costumes.
Camp is also quickly approaching! Please keep an eye on PAM for upcoming permissions and information. If your child requires any medication to be administered while on camp, including medications such as Panadol or Nurofen, a doctor’s letter will be required to support this. If there is any medical, wellbeing or other information that we need to know to best support your child while away, please let us know as soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
We have lots of exciting things happening over the coming weeks and look forward to sharing them with the students!
Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 6
Another few busy weeks in Grade 6!
We have continued working through our Multiplication and Division unit, and it has been wonderful to see so much growth across the cohort. Several students are well on their way to becoming Times Tables Masters - an important skill to continue developing, especially as they prepare for the transition to secondary school. Selected students also participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition recently, and we look forward to hearing how they went.
In Literacy and Geography, we have continued our exploration of Asia. Students recently completed an exciting "Amazing Race" challenge before comparing the geographical, social and economic characteristics of a range of Asian countries. Throughout these learning experiences, students have been consolidating The Writing Revolution strategies to strengthen their writing and deepen their understanding of the texts and information they are exploring. We have also been thoroughly enjoying our class novel study of A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, with students eagerly anticipating each new chapter.
In Religion, we have been exploring Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', reflecting on what it means to be people of integrity by caring for our common home. This important message has encouraged students to consider how their everyday actions can contribute to caring for God's creation and living out our faith.
On Wednesdays, the Grade 6 students have been taking part in our "Marvellous Melbourne" challenge as we prepare for camp. Each week, students explore some of the exciting places we will be visiting and complete a range of fun challenges to familiarise themselves with each location. The students have been incredibly engaged, and the excitement for camp is certainly beginning to build!
Have a great weekend!
Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au