News from our Specialists
ART
Prep
This term Prep students will explore a variety of exciting art techniques, experimenting with chalk, pencil, paint and mixed media to create imaginative artworks. They will develop their drawing skills by learning about pencil pressure and creating their own goofy dinosaurs, colourful butterflies and imaginative scenes inspired by the story Behind the Red Door. Students will also explore colour mixing, line and texture while creating foil fish, torn-paper watermelons and rainbow line popsicles. Throughout the term, students will be encouraged to use their imagination, experiment with different materials and celebrate their creativity as they continue to grow in confidence as young artists.
Grade 1/2
This term Grade 1/2 students will explore a range of exciting art techniques and materials to create imaginative and colourful artworks. They will develop their drawing skills by experimenting with pencil pressure and creating their own Plantzilla characters inspired by the book Plantzilla. Students will also explore portrait drawing by tracing their school photos, as well as using paint, pastels and mixed media to create picnic scenes featuring watermelons and ants, and colourful hanging jellyfish. Throughout the term students will have opportunities to share their ideas, celebrate their finished artworks and discover new ways to express themselves through art.
Grade 3/4
This term in Visual Arts, our Year 3/4 students will finish their dry pastel wish artworks, which will be displayed alongside their writing at next weeks Writers Festival. Students will also explore printmaking techniques, creating colourful insect and bug artworks using oil pastel transfers and watercolour paints. They will learn how to mount and present their finished artworks, developing an understanding of how to display their work thoughtfully and professionally. Students will share and discuss their artworks, reflect on their creative choices and use the work of other artists as inspiration for their own ideas and artistic development.
Grade 5/6
This term in Visual Arts, our Year 5 and 6 students will be getting creative with some exciting sewing and design projects! Year 5 students will be designing, sewing and creating special Squishmallow-inspired gifts for their 2027 Prep buddies, complete with their own custom-designed packaging. Our Year 6 students will be creating their very own graduation bears, with each bear reflecting their individual personality, interests, hobbies and strengths. Students will design and construct their bear’s outfit, accessories and hair, using a range of materials and techniques, including sewing, painting and construction. Both projects will looks a various textile techiques and encourage students to develop their creativity, problem-solving skills and confidence while creating something special to keep or share with others.
LOTE Mandarin
Prep
Prep students will continue exploring the topic of Greetings and Classroom Language. They will extend their communication skills by learning how to apologise and respond appropriately using “I’m sorry” and “It’s ok.” in Mandarin. Students will also practise greetings for different times of the day, including “Good morning”, “Good afternoon” and “Good night”. They will further develop their understanding of everyday classroom language by learning instructions such as “Please sit down”, “Please stand up”, “Please be quiet” and “Listen to the teacher, please”. Through puppet role-plays, songs, dances, storytelling, movement games and interactive classroom routines, students will practise recognising and responding to familiar Mandarin expressions of colours, numbers in meaningful contexts.
Grade 1/2
Year 1/2 students will continue exploring the topic of 2D Shapes. They will learn to describe shapes using colour vocabulary and sentence structures such as “red circle”, “blue square” and “yellow triangle”. Students will practise asking and answering the question “What shape is this?” using the response “This shape is a…”. They will apply their prior knowledge of numbers and shape names to identify, describe and compare different shapes in Mandarin. Students will strengthen their ability to recognise and use familiar Mandarin vocabulary through hands-on activities such as creating a Shape Monster, colour-and-shape sorting challenges, guessing games, shape hunts and collaborative drawing tasks. These activities will also reinforce their understanding of numeracy, including shapes, colours, sides and corners, while encouraging them to communicate their observations in Mandarin.
Grade 3/4
Year 3/4 students will continue exploring the topic of Feelings and Emotions. They will consolidate their understanding of a range of emotions, including happy, sad, excited, scared, angry, embarrassed, sleepy, confused and surprised. Students will learn to ask their teachers and classmates “How are you feeling today?” and respond using sentence structures such as “I am happy” and “I am sad”. They will extend their conversations by asking “What about you?”, “Why?” and responding with “Because…” to explain their feelings and experiences. Students will practise expressing emotions, listening to others and giving simple reasons for how they feel through interviews, role-plays, emotion-card games, storytelling, songs and collaborative discussions. They will also reflect and explore age-appropriate strategies for managing their feelings, showing compassion to their classmates. These learning experiences will help students develop greater confidence in speaking Mandarin while strengthening their emotional awareness and interpersonal communication skills.
Grade 5/6
Year 5/6 students will continue exploring the topic of All About Me. Building on their previous learning, students will focus on sharing an experience that made them feel proud of themselves. They will develop sentence structures such as “I am proud of myself because…” and learn to explain what happened, how they felt and why the experience was meaningful to them. Students will share stories about personal achievements, challenges they have overcome, acts of kindness or memorable school experiences. They will practise asking follow-up questions, expressing opinions politely and listening respectfully to different perspectives through guided storytelling, partner interviews, group discussions and collaborative activities. Students will also reflect on the question “What can we learn from each other’s stories?” to recognise how personal experiences can demonstrate qualities such as perseverance, courage, kindness and teamwork. They will work collaboratively to prepare a bilingual poster or visual presentation featuring a personal story, key vocabulary and supporting illustrations, before sharing their experiences with their classmates. These activities will strengthen students’ speaking skills of Mandarin, build confidence and encourage positive peer connections.
Music
Prep
There is so much fun to be had in Term 4 for our Prep students in Music!
They will be exploring musical concepts such as tempo and dynamics, and will learn how to express these ideas using instruments, including the marimbas. They will also learn some simple, interactive, marimba songs, to play as a class band.
Students will also be deepening their understanding of rhythm. They will listen to, clap and create rhythm patterns, and explore writing rhythms that they hear and make themselves.
Later in the term, students will start to write, sing and play their own simple melodies – making their own music with their voices and instruments! They will continue exploring musical concepts through songs, dance and games, having so much fun sharing their love of music with their friends and classmates!
Grade 1/2
There is so much singing, composing and music-making happening for our Grade 1/2 students in Music this term!
Students will be composing and singing their very own melodies using 'do', 'mi' and 'so' pitches, and will experiment with writing their compositions using a modified stave with three lines.
Students will also begin learning the fundamentals of rapping and discover how rapping connects to rhythm. They will experiment with rhymes, beats and spoken rhythms before creating and writing their own raps. Later in the term, students will put their raps to music, turning their ideas into songs.
Alongside their composing, students will play a variety of songs on the marimbas and explore how Boomwhackers can be used to create music together. What a wonderful way to end the year!
Grade 3/4
Grade 3/4 will be doing so much singing, storytelling and music-making this term!
Students will be learning a new folk song and discovering how songs can tell stories through their lyrics, melody and mood. They will explore the meaning behind the song and experiment with different ways to perform it as a group.
Throughout the term, students will develop important ensemble skills, learning how to listen to one another, keep a steady beat and perform together as a class band! They will also integrate different musical elements, including vocals, percussion and marimba, to make their music really shine!
Students will create ostinatos using cups, composing and rehearsing their ostinato with their peers. They will then explore improvisation, experimenting with creating their own musical ideas before writing short compositions to play and share with their friends and classmates.
Grade 5/6
There is so much creativity and collaboration happening for our Grade 5/6 students in Music this term!
Students will be working together in small groups to plan, create and film their very own music video. They will explore what makes an engaging music video, including lip syncing, filming, movement and musical storytelling.
Students will develop their choreography skills as they create the dance component of their video. Using school iPads, students will practise simple video production and editing skills, including filming short scenes, trimming clips, adding titles and combining footage to create a polished final video. This project will give students the opportunity to share their ideas, show off their creativity and celebrate the culmination of another year of music learning!