Year Three - Spotlight on Learning

Dear Families,

Congratulations to all our Year 1 and Year 3 students and families who participated in today’s Mission Fundraiser for the St Gianna Orphanage. Students enjoyed doing laps around the basketball court with their Year 1 buddies. There were fun times being had, not only walking around but having breaks at either the Bubble Station or Music Station or doing the Obstacle Course, and of course participating in this worthy cause with their families. This Mission Fundraiser fits in beautifully with Jesus’ mission of Service, one of the Pillars of the St Thomas the Apostle School, stating in Point 4 of our Catholic ethos - “4. Community and Service: The Catholic ethos emphasizes the importance of community and service to others. Schools engage students in social justice initiatives, and volunteering activities to instill a sense of responsibility and solidarity with those in need.’

As well as this, we have had a heartfelt letter from the Sisters of the Nativity - the inspiration behind the idea of the St Gianna Orphanage. Part of this letter reads:

Grades One and Three Students,

Our kindhearted grades One and Three students of St Thomas the Apostle, on behalf of all

the Sisters of the Nativity, I sincerely thank you and appreciate your thoughtfulness. Your

message to us is God sent. We are delighted to hear that you are interested in our

Orphanage project. The foundation for this Orphanage was laid 8 years ago . . . We shall be most grateful to receive financial assistance from you towards the starting of this important mission of caring for vulnerable children in our local community. Our Orphanage will have the capacity of accommodating 50 children from infancy to 14 years of age. . . 

I pray that God will bless your Mission Month activities and guide you to achieve your aim.

You are always in my prayers.

Thank you.

Yours in Christ,

Sr Mary Olofu (S O N)

Thank you again to all families for your generous donations - as you can see your money is definitely helping those in need and is most appreciated. The final date for collection of all money will be next week Friday 6th December.

A reminder that next Tuesday 3rd December, our annual Christmas Carols will be happening. There will be an afternoon session from 12:00pm - 1:00pm on the steps of playground two. There will be another session in the evening. This session goes from 5:30 pm to 8:00pm and includes a family picnic after the event. On Tuesday children are welcome to wear Christmas colours all day! 

Our Learning Focus for this week, Week 8  . . .

Mathematics: In Maths this week, students have been learning about Mass and Capacity. Some of the key words in this unit include analogue scales, mass, scales, grams and kilograms. Students began by looking at how to read analogue scales identifying grams and kilograms (below is an example of these). Students used different items in the classroom to measure their mass formally. As a rich task at the end of this week, students used the idea of grocery store items to apply their learning about mass. You can help students learn more about mass by getting them to estimate and weigh some of the pantry items on your own kitchen scales as well.

English:  In Reading students have been reviewing and revising many concepts learnt throughout the year. Some of these have included common, proper, concrete and abstract nouns, homophones such as main/mane and heel/he’ll/heal, etc, silent letters in words and the difference between sentences and fragments. In Writing, students looked at a different type of letter-writing in the form of a postcard by planning and drafting a postcard for their 2025 teacher. Students also learnt about appositives where a noun or noun phrase is inserted into a sentence to describe a particular noun. For example in the sentence 'Uncle Kev, the joker of the family, was always a big hit with his nephews and nieces' 'Uncle Kev' is the noun and 'the joker of the family' is the appositive because it describes who Uncle Kev is.

Religious Education:  As we are getting closer to the end of the year, students have started to learn about Advent, the first season of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. The meaning of the word ‘Advent’ and why this word is used to describe the coming of Jesus was explained to students in Session One. In the second session, students learnt about the significance of each candle. In the first week of Advent, we light a purple candle - purple is a colour of royalty and represents the significance of Jesus being born. The first candle is the Candle of Hope - the hope that the coming of Jesus represents to all Christians and the world. Students participated in a community Advent Prayer Service to celebrate this first week, so that they experience all four weeks of Advent before the end of the year. The official first Sunday of Advent begins this Sunday 1st December.

Integrated Studies / Music:  In Lesson 7 in the Amplify Music Programme, students explored the tone colour of singing voices. This meant that they were able to identify and describe the tone colour of different voices, followed by representing tone colour graphically and visually.

Auslan:  In Auslan this week, students reviewed Units 8A, 8B and 8C by completing some assessment tasks to show their understanding and learning.

Reminders

Tuesday 3rd December - Carols Afternoon Session: 

Gates open 11.45 Singing starts at 12pm

Tuesday 3rd December Carols Evening Session and Family Picnic: 

Gates Open 5:30-8pm (Singing @ 6:00pm)

Friday 13th December - Last Day of Formal Classes

Monday 16th December - No Formal Classes - Clean Up Day