Classroom News 

PREP

We have had such a fun time in Prep this term!

Milo Monkey’s Birthday Surprise Party was a hit! We had such fun meeting Milo, getting our photo taken, eating yummy party food and playing fun games. 

Next up, we celebrated a big achievement, our 100 days of Prep. It is hard to believe we have been at school for over 100 days now. We have had so much fun making new friends, playing with our buddies and learning so many new things. We could not be prouder of how all of the Preps have taken to school life and we look forward to the rest of the year with them.

Yesterday, we had our first ‘Wheels on Wednesday’. Just a friendly reminder you need to give permission on PAM for your child to do this. It is a scooter, skateboard or rollerblades (your child must be able to put these on and use them independently). NO bikes due to space and safety. If your child doesn’t bring a helmet they will not be able to participate. 

Next Friday, we are having our whole school Book Week celebration. We ask that your child dresses up as a character from a book - this can be very simple, so please don’t stress or feel as though you have to spend a fortune. All parents and friends are welcome to come to the parade on the courts at 9:30am. 

Here is what our Preps had to say about our fun events in Prep this term:

Rhea - Walking in and seeing Milo Monkey was my favourite part of his party.

Alex H - I liked playing pass the parcel at Milo Monkey’s Birthday party.

Harriet - I liked colouring my 100 days of school t-shirt.

Gemma Blake                gblake@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Elissa Rodger                erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au  

GRADE 1

Our swimming program is off to a fantastic start! The children are diving in with enthusiasm, learning new skills, and having a great time in the pool. A big thank you to our wonderful grown ups for supporting the children to have their bags organised and ready to go each day. If your child is not swimming, please let us know, they will still join us at the pool to cheer on their classmates.

This week, we’ve been busy collecting and representing data in lots of different ways. Students have been using tally marks, creating tally charts, and making pictographs to display their results. We have also been learning how to describe data, looking at what is most popular, least popular, or the same.

In Inquiry, students have been putting on their ‘town planner’ hats! They have been designing their very own towns, choosing a name, adding built features like roads and playgrounds, and including natural features such as rivers and parks. It’s been wonderful to see their creativity come to life!

Wheels On Wednesday was a lot of fun this week, just a reminder that permission must be given on PAM and that all children must have a helmet. Please remember to bring reading folders to school on Friday. This Friday is also our library day, books can be returned anytime during the week.

Leah Martin                  lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au 

Rebecca Murray         rmurray@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Judy Carr                        jcarr@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Paula Parish                 pparish@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 2

In Literacy, we have been exploring the suffix -ion and the different sounds it can make in words — /chun/, /shun/ and /zhun/. We have also looked at spelling rules to follow when adding -ion. For example, when a word ends in t, it often changes to ssion (e.g. discuss → discussion).

In Numeracy, we have been busy collecting data and representing it in different ways, such as graphs and tables. We have just begun our Unit of learning on Multiplication and Division and are beginning to explore arrays and the many ways we can label them.

Our Inquiry unit has taken us around the world as we study Earth’s continents, countries, and oceans. Students have enjoyed learning how our planet is connected and unique in different places.

We have been preparing for our upcoming class prayer gathering. Thank you for sending in your words of wisdom — we look forward to sharing them with the school on Friday in 

Week 5.

Next Friday is our whole-school Book Week dress-up day! This does mean we’ll be in costume for our prayer gathering, so we will ask students to remove any parts of their costume that may be distracting during the prayer gathering.

We loved our first session of Wheels on Wednesday! Prep to Year 2 students can use their wheels in the car park at first break. Please make sure all safety gear is brought to school for these sessions.

Swimming continues this Thursday. We have been enjoying these sessions, and have noticed students are extra hungry afterwards, so please remember to pack an extra snack on this day.

Coughs and colds are making their rounds. Please help us keep everyone healthy by keeping children at home if they are unwell.

Emma Roberts            eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Matt O'Dowd               modowd@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Amanda Delorenzo   mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 3

Can you believe we are almost halfway through Term 3? Time is flying! A big well done to Jade’s class on a fantastic Prayer Gathering last week. They sang beautifully and received many lovely comments from teachers. We’re looking forward to joining Deb’s class for their Prayer Gathering tomorrow.

Our Literacy block is going well. This week we learnt a new idiom, quiz your child on what “giving the cold shoulder” means! You might also like to test them on the difference between affect and effect. This tricky one has been popping up in our daily review for a while now.

In Maths, we are wrapping up our unit on Statistics and Probability and moving into Multiplication and Division. This can be a little more challenging, so students may bring home some extra practice at times.

We can’t wait to see all the creative costumes for Book Week next Friday. The effort families put in is always amazing, and the students absolutely love it.

Prayer Gathering:

Friday 15th August- 3DH

Jade LoRicco                  jloricco@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Deb Holland                   dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 4

Can you believe we are already in Week Four? Time is moving quickly, and the Grade Four students have been working hard across all areas of their learning. In Literacy, we have continued exploring Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. This wordless picture book has challenged us to read and interpret meaning through images alone. While it has been a complex task, the teachers have noticed real growth in the students’ ability to understand the story and explore deeper ideas each week.

There has been plenty of excitement in the classroom as many students have earned their pen licences. Their beautiful handwriting and consistent effort in their work have really impressed their teachers. We are so proud of their dedication.

In Numeracy, we have just begun our unit on multiplication. Students are working in different groups to make sure everyone is supported and challenged in ways that help them reach their full potential. So far, we have explored arrays and multiplying by powers of ten. In the coming week, we will move on to writing and solving worded multiplication problems.

Our Civics and Citizenship learning has focused on the difference between rules and laws, and how they are created. These conversations have helped students understand the role of rules in their own lives, as well as how laws work in a broader community context.

In Religion, we are exploring the concept of Respect and looking at the idea of justice through a Biblical lens. We have been comparing the messages in “an eye for an eye” and “turn the other cheek”, and thinking about what these ideas mean for how we show true respect in our world today.

Thank you for your continued support at home. It is wonderful to see the students growing in confidence and showing such enthusiasm for their learning as the term progresses.

Also don't forget it is book week next week! We are excited to see all the costumes and excitement!

Matt Absalom               mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au   

Maegen Potter             mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Susie Scott                    sscott@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5

The term is going quickly; as the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun! 

In Literacy, our Grade 5s seem to be really engaged in our novel study ‘Wonder’. The novel raises some really important themes around friendship, social pressure and spreading kindness. If you were to engage with your child in a discussion around the novel, I’m sure they’d have some interesting perspectives to share. We are also finishing up our Narratives this week that we based around a setting in North America which has tied in with our Inquiry unit on Geography. Bookweek is next week and we are excited to see what the Grade 5 students come up with for their dress up on Friday and we will also be reading some of the shortlisted picture books and doing art activities throughout the week. 

In Maths, the students are working hard on their multiplication and division strategies. This week, students have been practising formal methods for multiplication including lattice and the formal algorithm. At home, times tables and skip counting practise comes in really handy when doing this unit as it aids quick calculation of more challenging problems. You could also ask your child to show you how to use the lattice or formal algorithm for solving multiplication to see their understanding at home. 

In R.E., for our unit on ‘Promise’, we have been learning about the Old Testament and in particular the story of Abraham and Sarah and God’s covenant with them. 

Rachel Downard                rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rachael Cahill                    rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 6

It’s been an exciting and busy couple of weeks for our Year 6 students. They’ve braved the chill for Winter Sport, enjoyed the Trinity production of FAME, and showcased their talents in a variety of ways. Some students took on the challenge of the Australian Maths Competition, while others poured their creativity into the Write A Book in a Day event.

On top of all that, regular classroom learning has been in full swing. In Inquiry and Literacy, students have continued exploring the fascinating continent of Asia while honing their note-taking skills. We’ve also begun our new class novel, A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning, and in Maths, everyone has been working hard on mastering multiplication and division.

Great effort, Year 6s — keep it up!

Important Dates:

Friday 22nd Aug - Book Week dress up

Friday 12th Sep - Year 6 JD Prayer Gathering

Friday 19th Sep - Year 6 KM/JH Prayer Gathering & Last day of Term

Wed 15th Oct - Fri 17th Oct - Melbourne Camp

Jess Downard                    jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Jodie Hassett                    jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Katie Monaghan              kmonaghan@smcolac.catholic.edu.au