What's happening in our learning spaces?
FOUNDATION
After all the excitement with our 100 Days and 101 Days of School celebrations, last week was a lot calmer in the Foundation area. We have returned to our normal routine this week, and there has been lots of amazing learning!
As readers, we have been exploring Non-Fiction texts and their purpose. As thinkers, we compared Non-Fiction texts to Fiction texts and looked at the different features. As researchers, we looked at different Non-Fiction books, Information Reports and videos and located these features. Some of the features we explored include headings, subheadings, diagrams, glossaries, photographs and facts. We have been making lots of new discoveries and using these as part of our Inquiry and Writing learning.
As writers, we have been learning to write our own information reports. Using our knowledge of chickens, we have written individual information reports in our Chicken Observation Journals. As thinkers, we have included a title, an opening statement, and have also included information about the features of chickens, what they like to eat, where they live and other interesting facts. We have practised drawing and labelling a diagram of a chicken too! Check out our amazing learning!
Key Date Reminders:
Bully Awareness Week Prayer Friday 16th August
Book Week Author Visit Tuesday 20th August
Book Week Parade Friday 23rd August
Hot Food Lunch Friday 23rd August
Also, a friendly reminder to please ensure your child’s library books are returned to school prior to Library Day, which is held every Friday.
Have a lovely week,
Leanne Wenckowski, Alex Phillips and Alycia Marsico,
Foundation Team
YEAR 1/2
It has been yet another productive week of learning in the Year 1/2 cohort! With Science Morning and National Bully Prevention Week in front of us, we can’t wait to get stuck into some fun and engaging learning experiences this week.
As readers and writers, we have been consolidating different sounds. Each week, we have been brainstorming different words that follow specific spelling patterns, for example, last we looked at words that contained the igh trigraph. This week we will be focusing on the trigraphs, tch and dge. If you would like to support your child with spelling, below are some ideas to show you how you can do this at home:
As mathematicians, this week we are tuning in to the concept of Location. We will begin with focusing on positional language which are words to describe the position of a person or thing. Students will have opportunities to use words such as using the words: first, second, third from the left, second from the right and fourth last.
We will also explore directional language which are words that describe where something is in relation to something else using the words: under, over, left, right, forwards, backwards, left and right. To develop this understanding through stories, games and observe different maps on grids. We will be learning to make statements about objects and places on a map. For example: The seesaw is to the left of the swings. The pond is underneath the bridge.
Reminders:
- Science morning will take place this Thursday the 15th of August, 9-11am please notify classroom teachers if you would like to volunteer as soon as possible.
- This week is National Bully Prevention week, we will be wearing a touch of purple on Friday the 16th of August.
- A friendly reminder that Book Week is the following week so please start talking to your child about their costumes, if you haven’t already. The theme is ‘Reading is Magic’.’
1/2 Team
Vania Sparano, Vicky Karalis and Vivian Boggis
YEAR 3/4
As a faith community, our Year 4 and 5 students received their first Holy Communion last weekend. Congratulations again to all those who participated and a big thank you to Ms Gasbarro for organising the evening, as well as our wonderful photographers who captured these moments for us.
As inquirers, we have been learning all about space and developing our understanding of how it is all connected. This week, we have been focusing on Earth and the other planets in our solar system. Working collaboratively in groups, we have researched and created fact files on each of the planets. We collected information on each planet about their size, distance from the sun, length of their day, length of their year, atmosphere, temperature and the number of moons.
As mathematicians, we have been building on our multiplication knowledge and learning different strategies to help us efficiently solve problems. To help us explore this, Mrs Monaghan gave us all a single piece of grid paper and asked us to tell her exactly how many squares were on it. We surprised ourselves (and our teachers!) with how many different strategies we could use to find the correct answer.
Have a lovely week!
Year 3/4 Teachers
Belinda Panzarino & Sarah Hogan
YEAR 5/6
What a busy and exciting week it has been in Year 5/6! From engaging lessons to special events, our students have truly embraced every opportunity to learn, grow, and shine. As we begin a new week, Let's take a moment to celebrate the highlights of last week and look forward to what's coming up next!
On Tuesday, we welcomed one of our fabulous 5/6 parents, Sonia Hude and her team from the Origin Energy Foundation for an Incursion about solar lights. The students were enthralled as they learnt about the Solar Buddy initiative that provides much needed solar lights to young children in Ghana, to support them in completing their studies at home. We learnt about the role of sustainable energy solutions, as 789 million people around the world live in extreme energy poverty. Origin Energy provided our students with a small solar light that they then constructed and wrote a letter to the recipient of their light. We are so thankful to the team at the Origin Energy Foundation and Sonia for providing us with this exciting learning experience!
On Wednesday, 36 students from Years 3-6 attended the SSV Coburg District Athletics Carnival to represent our school in a range of track and field events. The day started with our track events as our 100, 200, 800 and 4x100 relay sprinters competed in their heats for a place in the finals before our field competitors stepped out to participate in their events! We are thrilled to announce that several of our students have advanced to the next round, thanks to their outstanding performances. For all who participated, your enthusiasm and effort were truly commendable, and we are incredibly proud of each and every one of you for doing your best! Go, St Fidelis!
Whilst some of the Year 5/6 students were at Athletics Day the rest of the 5/6 students took to the skies with their creativity and engineering skills during the Paper Plane Olympics! Our young engineers embraced the challenge, applying their knowledge and problem-solving to design and build the ultimate paper plane. The event was not only a fun-filled day but also an incredible learning experience. Students commenced the day using their problem solving skills with a range of Maths strategy games with Miss Zorzut and Mrs Monaghan. They then researched the construction of paper planes by watching the movie Paper Planes. Then the creativity and Olympics began. A big thank you to Mr Frazzetto for running this day!
Friday was another busy day to end our week as we attended Father Linh’s final Whole School Mass before he leaves for his new parish in Queenscliff. It was such a beautiful service, and we are so grateful for all Father Linh has contributed to our school community and the guidance he has provided our students throughout their faith journey, especially his involvement in our Year 6 students' Sacrament of Confirmation this year. We wish Father Linh all the very best from all of us in the SLA!
Throughout the week, our 5/6 students have managed to squeeze in some learning amongst all the excitement and special events! Our students have been exploring inferring during our reading lessons and expanding their descriptive language to write detailed settings in preparation for constructing their own narrative text this week. In mathematics, we are coming to the conclusion of our multiplication unit, having focussed on prime numbers, factors and multiples. We look forward to beginning our new unit of angles this week!
This week, our students will become mini scientists as it is SCIENCE WEEK! We will be engaging in a few experiments with our students to learn more about the scientific method and process. We can't wait to share with you what we learn!
We hope you have a wonderful week!
The 5/6 Team,
Olivia Sargent, Maddie Comrie & Bianka Zorzut