Around The Rooms

Senior Team

It has been wonderful to welcome back our Grade 5/6 students to the Senior Team. We have had a strong focus on our routines and expectations. 

Homework

To commence the year the only homework task for the Senior students is the completion of nightly reading and filling in their reading diary. Students have been given a list of prompts to assist with quality entries. This is building on the reading strategies work we are doing in class and encourages students to demonstrate their comprehension of a text as well as the amount they have read. 

Camp

Grade 5/6 camp is coming up at the end of March as we look forward to heading to Rose's Gap in the Grampians. Families should have received an expression of interest form to indicate if their child will be attending and we would appreciate if these could be returned ASAP as this allows us to confirm costing with both the camp and bus companies. 

Challenge Cup 

The senior grades have loved the opportunity to participate in competitive team based games and challenges as they get to know their new classmates for 2025. The competitive spirit has been strong as has the wonderful community values our students display. 

Middle Years

Term 1 in the Middle Years has got off to a fantastic start! Students have been very busy learning the routines and expectations of their classrooms and we are very proud of how everyone is settling in. We really look forward to chatting with families at Parent/Teacher Interviews (on 28th Feb).  All students are busy setting goals this week, for Maths, Reading and Writing, but especially for Personal Learning; helping to meet challenges and maximise strengths for student success! We look forward to sharing student goals with you when we meet. 

We look forward to meeting/greeting our families at our Open Afternoon, this Thursday. Classrooms will be open for families to visit (3:15 – 4:30), and we very much look forward to sharing our learning spaces with you. 

Homework has gone home this week for the 1st time with an initial focus just on getting home reading happening really well. Many students are doing a great job with their reading diaries by bringing them in regularly and completing them properly. Students may bring books home from the classroom or school library to read for their nightly reading. Alternatively, students’ own books from home may be read. Please check to see if the book is a ‘good fit’ book or make a note in the diary so we can help students pick a better fit book the next day).  We are continuing our focus on fluency, and you will see a fluency text pasted into the homework book each week. Students will have read the text at least twice before taking it home. We want students to be reading the same text several times during the week, focusing on improving their automatic decoding of words, and use of expression, each time. Give feedback after each reading: “I like how you used the punctuation to guide your expression.” “You read accurately and self-corrected when you noticed an error"...

Families are asked to provide a suitable pair of (clearly named) headphones for their child/children and send them along to school, and we are seeking helpers for our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program cooking sessions.

3/4N is in the last 2 sessions on a Wednesday (odd weeks)

3/4A is in the 1st 2 sessions on a Tuesday (odd weeks)

2/3M is in the 1st 2 sessions on a Tuesday (even weeks)

Junior Years  

Wow…the first three weeks of the year have flown, and we are so proud of all of our Junior students. We welcomed 18 new Preps to the school this year and it has been wonderful to see how well they are settling into the routines of school. Our 1/2 students have come back ready to learn and have shown independence and enthusiasm as they begin each day. 

The beginning of the year is always a great opportunity to set our class routines and expectations. Getting this right from the start means that we are able to maximise our teaching and learning time. Across the team, there has been a lot of learning taking place inside and outside the classroom. Sounds are being unlocked, new words are being taught and our mini whiteboards are getting a lot of use. Students are enjoying practising counting and they have loved the chance to use chalk or play dough to show numbers in different ways. 

The Prep students have had the opportunity to meet and spend time with their Grade 5 Buddy, and we look forward to watching their relationships with their buddies grow over the next year. 

This year, our 1/2 students will begin participating in the Stephanie Alexander Garden Program. The students will be working out in the garden on a fortnightly basis, and they are all looking forward to this hands on learning experience.