Classroom News

Foundation: Miss Hart

Welcome back to Term 2! We are raring and ready to smash out yet another awesome term in Foundation. There has been no rest for the Foundies as we jumped straight back into learning.  

In Literacy, we are continuing to learn about letter sounds and enhancing our literacy knowledge by introducing word reading and sentence reading. We have met the following characters/letter sounds this term: 

Ollie Otter ‘o’ 

Cody Camel ‘c’ 

Danny Dingo ‘d’ 

Along with learning these sounds, we are learning how to correctly form these lowercase letters. 

This term we will begin our first writing unit, ‘The Nursery Rhyme’ unit. This unit follows the nursery rhymes ‘Jack and Jill’, ‘Little Boy Blue’, Mary had a Little Lamb’ and ‘Incy Wincy Spider. This unit focuses on oral descriptions, sentence level writing and narrative structure. We will also revisit rhyming, syllables, identifying initial and final sounds). In our first lesson, we described the characters Jack and Jill and drew pictures to match the described setting in the story. 

In Maths, we have started a new topic, Part-Whole, where we start with a group/whole and break this number up into two or three parts. Over the past few lessons, we have been working with numbers to five and then extending to use numbers to ten. When partitioning we are pulling apart our numbers into two or three parts. To help this learning process we are using a variety of materials to see how numbers can be physically partitioned; we have been using counters, bears, and other equipment around the classroom.  

Cross Country was an absolute HIT in the Foundation classroom! There was not one Foundation student who didn’t try their absolute best on this day. I am absolutely SO proud of them and their efforts. The Foundation students set themselves a goal to ‘try their best’ and ‘encourage others’ and they SMASHED it! An extra congratulations to Freyah for coming first in her race and Oscar for coming a close second this his brother Jack. 

Foundation: Grade 1 Miss Emmett

We are so excited to be back for another fantastic term of learning at St Patrick’s Tongala! Our classroom has been full of curiosity, creativity and fun as we dive into new topics and build on everything we’ve already learned. 

This week, we explored how a new Pope is chosen. We learned about what happens when the Pope dies, the special meeting of Cardinals called the conclave and how they gather in the beautiful Sistine Chapel to make their decision. To help us imagine what it would be like to be Michelangelo painting the ceiling, we turned our classroom into an art studio! We lay under our tables and drew on paper stuck underneath. Our arms were sore after just 15 minutes. Michelangelo painted the ceiling for four years! It was such a fun and creative way to learn about history, faith and art all at once. 

In Literacy, we’ve been practising our letter formation and working hard to write neatly. We’re learning to form each letter correctly and to use our lines and spaces carefully. Our writing is getting clearer every day, and we’re feeling proud of how far we’ve come! 

In Maths, we’ve been learning about part-part-whole numbers. We’ve played fun games to help us remember our friends to 10, which is a really important skill for when we start doing addition and subtraction later on. 

We also had a very exciting incursion this week called "The Big Flush", presented by Goulburn Valley Water. The session was interactive, educational, and loads of fun. Students discovered how water travels from our toilets and drains through the wastewater system and learned why it's so important to only flush the right things. There was laughter, learning, and a few giggles at the toilet talk! 

We’re looking forward to a term full of discovery, creativity and growth. Thank you for supporting us in our learning, we can’t wait to share more of our adventures with you! 

Grade 2: Miss Wooden

We have got straight back into it this Term with so much learning and events on all ready!! Here's a glimpse into what's been happening in our class:  

Literacy: Exploring new diagraphs, making connections with a text, noun groups, character descriptions and expanding our vocabulary. The students have loved reading ‘The Lost Girl’ and ‘The Super Speedy Sloth’. 

Numeracy: Representing, comparing and ordering 4-digit numbers. Shout out to Lottie, Matilda and Heidi as they showed a great understanding of addition and subtraction while I was away! 

Inquiry: We have been very excited to begin our new inquiry topic about design and how we repurpose natural resources.  

A big shout-out to all students who participated in the recent cross-country event! Their enthusiasm and sportsmanship were truly commendable. Congratulations to Harlow and Linc for winning the Grade 2 girls and boys racers. I was really impressed with everyone finishing the entire 1km lap in under 15 minutes!! 

This week we also participated in an ‘Inform and Empower’ incursion with Ollie Online. Martin and Ollie lead the students to learn valuable skills to navigate the digital world responsibly. The session covered topics such as protecting balancing screen time and green time and limiting screen time before bed. 

I was incredibly proud of the classes performance during our Holy Week Mass. They demonstrated confidence and grace, contributing positively to the atmosphere and setting a wonderful example for their peers. Their dedication and effort were truly commendable considering the small amount of time they practiced. 

Grade 3: Mrs Stock

Our Grade 3 students have made a fantastic start to Term 2, returning ready and eager to learn! We are so proud of their performance during our whole school Holy Week Liturgy — they did a wonderful job remembering all the actions we practised back in Term 1.

Last week, we enjoyed a very engaging (and entertaining!) Water Flush incursion. There were plenty of laughs as we learned about all the strange things people mistakenly put into toilets — a great reminder about looking after our environment!

This week, our students showed great determination and effort during the whole school cross country event. Congratulations to Will coming third and well done to everyone who participated!

In the classroom, we have begun our new Maths unit on Fractions. Everyone is off to a great start and demonstrating a solid understanding of these new concepts. In English, we are coming to the end of our class novel Off We Go Around Australia and will soon begin our new text, Yirra and Her Deadly Dog Demon, which we are all looking forward to.

Grade 4: Miss Dove & Mrs McKiernan

We have had a great first two weeks back for Term 2 with so many exciting things happening already, including our Holy Week celebration, Inquiry tuning in, The big flush incursion and Cross Country. Students have returned excited to share all about the camp they went on at the end of Term 1! 

In English, students have been reading and exploring their novel, Leo and Ralph. They have been learning the process of writing their own narrative including the purpose, structure and language features. They have planned and written their character and setting introduction and an action paragraph.  Everyone has had some great ideas. In the coming weeks, we will plan and write the problem and resolution paragraphs, I can’t wait to read their finished stories! 

In Maths, we have started our decimals unit. So far, we have been learning to identify, represent and write tenths and hundreds in decimal format, place them on a number line and order them from smallest to largest. 

We have started our Inquiry unit where students have been learning about food and fibre production. We have had great discussions about the process involved in where our food comes from and the process it goes through before we buy it. Many students had a great understanding due to their lives on the farm or their parents' occupations, it was great for them to be able to share their knowledge with the class. 

Students showed great resilience during Cross Country, it was beautiful to see everyone have a go, try their best, and support and encourage their peers.  

Student writing about some of our recent events: 

Cross country was on Tuesday and it was lots of fun. When I competed, I was very puffed and I came 3rd. We had to run 2k and it was at Brose Oval. We all cheered for each other, it was very fun. At the start I felt nervous but in the end I had a red hot go and it was so fun, I’m glad I had a go. I was in the 9/10 age group, we versed the grade threes. My twin sister Sophie came second and my friend Maddi came first, Charli came fourth. First it was all year 3/4 boys then it was 3/4 girls, that was the race that I was in. I had lots of fun, my parents were there to cheer me on. Lots of parents were there to cheer their kids on. I loved it so much, it was the best, I had a great time. Written by Phoebe 

Camp: On the last two days of term one we went on camp. I was in a cabin with Mads, Lani and Phoebe. We were in two groups for the activities. The activities we did were the giant swing, a zipline, archery and animal find. We also went on a walk where we saw a dog and sheep, one was called Shawn. We also did a hut building competition, my group did not win. We also got free time where we could go to the games room or go on the trampoline or play giant checkers, play basketball or play gaga ball. For dinner the night we got there, we had lasagna and for dessert we had banana and chocolate cake and ice cream. Written by Daphne 

Grade 5-6: Miss Rasmussen

As Term 1 came to a close, our Grade 5/6 students took time to reflect on their favourite moments from a jam-packed start to the year. From sporting events to excursions, books to buddy time – there was no shortage of memorable experiences! Here’s what stood out most to each student:

• Toby – Team Tennis and Boys to the Bush
• Parker – Team Tennis and watching War Horse
• Cyril – Boys to the Bush and the disco with DJ Gee Gee
• Colman – Team Tennis with friends and Boys to the Bush
• Zeb – Boys to the Bush and the disco
• Hugh – Winning Team Tennis and Boys to the Bush
• Cabe – Team Tennis and the Swimming Carnival
• Jack – Boys to the Bush and Drama
• Dusty – War Horse movie and books, and making pizza at Boys to the Bush
• James B – Watching War Horse and eating gnocchi
• Jim – Swimming Carnival and reading/watching War Horse
• Riley – Reading/watching War Horse and Toby’s dancing
• Hamish – Swimming Carnival and watching War Horse
• Denzil – Team Tennis with friends and making gnocchi
• Archer – Watching War Horse and visiting the Kinder
• Ella – Eating gnocchi and Swimming Carnival
• Isla – Meeting my buddy and reading/watching War Horse
• Charlotte – Swimming Carnival and watching War Horse
• Lil – Reading How Was That Built? and April Fool’s Day
• Xavier – April Fool’s Day Daily Review and trying to tape Miss Ras to the chair!
• Angie – Learning punctuation (especially dots!) and Kinder visits

It’s been a term filled with laughter, learning, and loads of unforgettable memories. We can’t wait to see what Term 2 brings!