Specialists Programs
Specialist Programs Term 3
Visual Arts
Foundation
Students will continue to build on and refine painting and drawing skills then use these to create collages inspired by artists such as Henri Matisse. Students will investigate ‘Paint Sticks’ while creating a work inspired by Melbourne artist Anna Blatman. Students will continue to create using directional drawing skills, following instructions to create a dancing cow.
Year One and Two
During Term Three there will be a particular emphasis on the students being both artists and thinkers. The students will be encouraged to give thought to their artwork before they take action and weigh up the possible outcomes of the different opportunities that can be explored when developing their art. Our artist study will focus on Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Students will create their own Yayoi inspired sculpture.
Year Three and Four
As we prepare for the end of term Art Show, students will continue to develop their printing and painting skills. Students will become more confident discussing how artworks are made and how the choice of materials can influence the meaning of artworks. Students will experiment with 3D creations using clay and egg cartons to produce nature inspired creatures.
Year Five and Six
During this term students will continue to consolidate their painting and drawing skills to create pieces for our end of term art show. Sheree Smith inspired the students creating their abstract painting using paint sticks and acrylic paint.American pop artist , Keith Haring will inspire the students to create their own moving pictures that will depict various Olympic sports.
Deirdre Cosgrave dcosgrave@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Performing Arts
Prep
This term, the Preps will begin to explore music through the concept of sound and silence. They will revisit the story of Peter and the Wolf, which we were so lucky to have watched last term at the Round, and explore how the instruments and music help to tell a story and create emotions for the audience. Students will experiment using their voices, movement and instruments to create music and express their ideas. They will be introduced to a number of tuned and untuned percussion instruments and will learn to sing and play simple songs together.
1/2
Students in Grade 1/2 will explore the elements of music, focusing particularly on rhythm, tempo and pitch. They will revisit the story of Peter and the Wolf, which we were so lucky to have watched last term at the Round, and explore how the specific instruments and music are used to create mood, movement and character. The students will practice their aural skills by taking part in echo rhythm and singing, listening to short melodies and rhythms and echoing them back. Through this process, students will be introduced to the language of solfege, where syllables are used to represent the different pitches being sung. Students will also be exposed to music from different cultural groups, as they learn to sing and play songs, such as the African call and response song Kye Kye Kule, and Japanese folk song, Haru ga kita. They will rehearse and perform songs using their voices, movement and instruments.
3/4
This term, Year 3/4 students will explore the elements of music through listening, singing, playing and connecting different styles, cultures and eras of music. Students will develop their aural skills by listening to and imitating sounds, pitch and rhythm patterns using their voices, movement and body percussion.They be exposed to songs from various cultures, learning to sing and play tuned and untuned percussion instruments along with them, following simple notation. Students will experience music and share their feelings through shared discussions, movement and reflection.
5/6
This term, Year 5/6 students will complete their dance unit from last term, where they will continue working together to create dance sequences and combine these into a dance routine to be performed in front of an audience. They will then focus on further developing their skills in Music. Through listening to a wide variety of music genres and styles, students will connect with music from different cultures and eras, working to identify the purpose and meaning in music and discover how the elements of music are used to convey these meanings. They will learn to sing new songs together and play different instruments as accompaniments, ensuring that they keep in time and follow notation as part of an ensemble.
Amanda Hill - Performing Arts Teacher
ahill@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Chinese
Prep Overview:
In Term Three, students will explore festivals and celebrations, learning the legends and culture of various Chinese festivals. Students will be discovering how and why people celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in particular ways. Students will also learn to use Pinyin to read and spell names of major festivals. They will further learn to trace and write simple characters and match characters to the meanings and sounds of familiar words.
Year 1/2 Overview:
In Term Three, students will explore festivals and celebrations, learning the legends and culture of various Chinese festivals. Students will be discovering how and why people celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in particular ways. They will further compare Chinese and Australian festivals, focusing on the similarities and differences between Chinese and Australian contexts, language and culture. They will be learning to use basic sentence structures to introduce customs of Chinese festivals and use their own language to retell traditional legends and stories.
Year 3/4 Overview:
In Chinese this term, students will be focusing on festivals and celebrations. They will be learning to name festivals in China and in Australia and to understand how and why people celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in particular ways. Students will also learn to use structured sentences to ask and answer date and time questions, comparing similarities and differences between solar calendar and lunar calendar. Students notice how cultural differences may affect understanding between people. They can explain why Chinese is a globally important language.
Year 5/6 Overview:
In Chinese this term, students will be exploring festivals and celebrations, understanding how cultural beliefs could affect people’s way of celebrating festivals in China and in Australia. They will also discover how cultural festivals affect interaction between people with different cultural backgrounds and community enhancement. They will learn to use pinyin and characters to produce short informative and imaginative texts to introduce customs of various festivals with understanding.
Elina Li - LOTE Teacher
Email: eli@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
Physical Education
Prep
This term will begin by celebrating the Olympic Games, where students will begin the term learning about the sport of basketball as they develop their passing, catching, dribbling and shooting skills. Following the Olympic theme, we will then look into sports such as badminton and hockey before finals fever hits and the students practice their kicking, marking and handballing skills. We will continue to work on their teamwork skills, of winning and losing with respect and to have fun learning new skills and playing games in PE.
Year 1/2
Our Year 1/2 students will be learning about the sport of basketball and developing their throwing, catching, dribbling, decision making and shooting skills. Continuing on with the Olympic theme, they will then transition into sports such as badminton, hockey and rugby 7s before AFL finals fever hits and the students work on their kicking, marking and handballing. As we play and practice these skills, the students will work on implementing them into modified games, as they work on their skills and teamwork.
Year 3/4
The Year 3/4 students will begin the term learning about basketball and the skills and strategies that they will use to be successful in the game. Students will have the opportunity to choose to participate in the District Basketball Gala Day. Following basketball, the students will continue with Olympic themed sports such as badminton, hockey and rugby 7s before AFL finals fever hits and the students work on their kicking, marking and handballing. Practicing their skills through modified games, students will develop strategies within gameplay, communication and teamwork skills.
Year 5/6
The Year 5/6 students will begin the term learning about basketball and the skills and strategies that they will use to be successful in the game. Students will have the opportunity to choose to participate in the District Basketball Gala Day. Following basketball, the students will continue with Olympic themed sports such as badminton, hockey and rugby 7s before AFL finals fever hits and the students work on their kicking, marking and handballing. Practicing their skills through modified games, learning will have a specific focus on positive sportsmanship, transitioning skills into game play and developing offensive and defensive strategies for greater team success.
Michael van Rooy - PE Specialist