School of Foundations
A message from the HOS
Learning in Action in SOF!
Over the past few weeks, our school has been buzzing with opportunities for learning, connection, and fun. From the joy of Book Week parades and Book Fairs, to the inspiration of Author Visits, and the important messages from Healthy Harold, each event has enriched our students’ learning in unique ways. We also thank the many parents who joined us for the recent Information Night on Building Resilience. These experiences, both inside and outside the classroom, continue to strengthen our community and nurture a love of learning in our students.
Healthy Harold Incursion – K–6
Over recent weeks students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have enjoyed the visit from Healthy Harold and the Life Education team. The sessions were fun, interactive, and designed to match the age and stage of each class.
Children explored a variety of important topics including:
- building friendships and understanding feelings
- making safe and healthy choices
- the importance of looking after our bodies and minds
- developing confidence, resilience, and positive decision-making
The program encouraged students to think about their wellbeing in everyday life, with each class engaging in conversations and activities suited to their level of understanding. Meeting Healthy Harold was a highlight for everyone, and the students came away with valuable lessons to support their health and happiness.
A Visit to the Farm for Kindy
Kindergarten had a wonderful day out at Golden Ridge Farm on Thursday. The excursion provided rich, hands-on learning as students made meaningful connections to their Science (Living World) unit. They explored the needs, features and life cycles of animals, deepening their understanding of how living things grow and change.
We love seeing our students engaging so enthusiastically with these opportunities to learn, explore, and grow.
MTSS Focus: Respect for OTHERS
As you are aware, each fortnight we shine a spotlight on a specific social skill that helps us demonstrate Respect at school.
This fortnight, our focus will be on speaking appropriately, playing fairly, and respecting our peers—whether we are learning together in the classroom or playing together in the playground. This links directly to our RELATE Pillar, reminding us of the importance of respecting others in all that we do.
These are valuable life skills that we intentionally nurture with our students, helping them grow into kind, respectful, and responsible members of the community—both now and in the future.
We encourage families to continue these conversations at home and find everyday opportunities to reinforce respectful behaviour.
Our Mascot Monkey is a friendly reminder to all SOF students that we work together to show Respect for self, others, and the environment.
We look forward to sharing more of our learning with you in the next The Net. There is much planned! Enjoy the week ahead!
Nicole Emerton SOF Head of School (Acting)
Kindergarten
English
Kindergarten students have been learning how to write their own stories, with a special focus on using adjectives to make their writing more interesting and descriptive. They have also been exploring how to create a problem in their story and think of a solution, helping them develop clear and engaging narratives. Through shared reading and writing activities, students are building their confidence as young authors while learning to bring their ideas to life.
Mathematics
Over the last few weeks, Kindergarten have been exploring 2D shapes inside the classroom and outside. The students have been learning about different types of 2D shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles and triangles, their features (number of corners and sides) and their area.
Religion
This week, the students explored the meaning of church and what it means to belong to it. Together, they unpacked the scripture passage from Mark 16:14–15, where Jesus tells his disciples to “go out into the world and proclaim the Good News.” Through this, the students reflected on how the church is not just a building, but a community of people called to share God’s love with others.
Book week
In week 5, St Luke’s celebrated Book week. The Kindergarten students enjoyed celebrating by participating in our annual book parade. It was fantastic to see so many different characters come to life!
Stage 1
English
Stage 1 had a wonderful Book Week celebrating the theme Book and Adventure! Students enjoyed exploring a variety of texts, taking part in the exciting Book Parade, and were captivated by a shadow puppet show all about Australian wildlife. It was a fabulous week filled with stories, creativity, and adventure!
Mathematics
In Weeks 5 and 6, our Mathematics focus is on representing multiplication and division through equal groups and arrays. Students are learning to share objects into groups to represent division, identify the number of groups and the number in each group, and describe and record arrays using equal rows and columns. They are also using counting strategies, such as skip counting, to find totals. These activities are helping students build a strong understanding of multiplication and its connections to real-life situations.
Religion
In Religion, Stage 1 have been learning about what it means to be a part of and belong to God’s community. We have been exploring the important sacrament of Baptism. We have also read about the Baptism of Jesus in the Bible passage Luke 3:21-22. Students discovered the special role Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, played in Jesus’ Baptism through exploring scripture, reflecting on different artist representations of this event and the practice of a Lectio Divina. Students also created their own representation of this event by drawing Jesus and John in the river with a dove, representing the Holy Spirit coming down upon them.
Healthy Harold
We were lucky enough to have Healthy Harold come to visit us over the past few weeks! Stage 1 helped Harold overcome his fear about his own Athletics Carnival and learned all about how to prepare physically and mentally for important events in our lives by talking about resilience and how to overcome challenges and strategies to manage our feelings and emotions.
Stage 2
English
In Week 3, Stage 2 was thrilled to welcome author Dr. Cameron Seltzer. He shared his stories with us, explained the inspirations behind his ideas, and described the research involved in writing his book series. We had the exciting opportunity to become authors ourselves by embarking on adventures and defeating villains. Students also took part in a fun quiz about theme parks, which inspired Dr. Cameron’s writing. To conclude the visit, he guided us through drawing one of his characters. Stage 2 thoroughly enjoyed the experience and gained great insight into the world of storytelling.
Stage 2 is currently engaged in learning about persuasive texts. Students have been developing arguments on various topics and forming their own opinions. They are being challenged to identify persuasive language in texts and consider how to effectively incorporate these techniques into their own writing.
Maths - Diagons
In Maths, Stage 2 students have been exploring area, learning how to measure and compare the space occupied by different shapes. Using square centimetres and square metres, students have estimated, measured, and compared the area of rectangles, right-angled triangles, and even creative shapes like robots and picnic rugs!
Through hands-on activities, games, and real-life challenges—including measuring spaces around the school—students discovered that shapes can look very different yet have the same area. They also strengthened their problem-solving skills by connecting multiplication, factors, and area formulas. This engaging approach has provided a practical insight into how maths applies to everyday life.
PDH (Health)
This term, students have been exploring ways to build confidence and develop a positive sense of self-esteem. Through activities, discussions, and group work, they have learned how to celebrate their strengths, set personal goals, and support one another. These important skills help students feel empowered, resilient, and ready to face new challenges with a positive mindset.
PE (Sport)
This term in PE, Stage 2 students have been developing their soccer and netball skills through a variety of energetic activities. They have been practising dribbling around cones, passing with accuracy, and shooting goals, while participating in relays to build speed, fitness, and teamwork. Students have been applying these skills in modified soccer games and netball matches, where effective communication, cooperation, and fair play have been essential for success. It has been wonderful to see students’ confidence grow as they encourage one another, and play with enthusiasm and great energy.
Book Week
Last week, we celebrated the joy of reading during Book Week! Students dressed up as their favourite book characters and took part in special story sessions and engaging reading activities. It was a fantastic opportunity to inspire a love of books and ignite imaginations across the school community. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the creative costumes and sharing in the excitement of storytelling together!
Stage 2 students were very lucky this term as “Healthy Harold” van run by Life Education Australia, has visited us and we have been learning how to keep ourselves safe and healthy online, how to eat healthy food and how to keep our eyes and brains safe when we use ipads and devices as part of our PDHPE learning.
We have also learned new things about our brain, our heart and our body during our incursion.
