What's Happening
Foundation
Dear Foundation Families,
Last Wednesday, our Foundation students participated in the Healthy Mind dance incursion as part of our Inquiry unit, Healthy Habits. Through a range of fun and engaging movement activities, students explored how dance can support physical and emotional wellbeing while learning a choreographed routine together. We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, confidence and positive participation they demonstrated throughout the session. It was a wonderful experience and certainly something to celebrate!
Literacy
Over the next two weeks, we will continue focusing on words with four sounds (e.g. tent) and reviewing our Weird Words. In Writing, students are developing their understanding of recounts and learning how to structure their writing effectively. We are incredibly proud of the progress our Foundation students have made this term! Students have also been exploring narratives and learning about the structure of a story, including the beginning, middle, and end. Through reading and discussing a variety of texts, they are identifying key story elements such as characters, settings, problems, and solutions. This learning is helping to build their understanding of how stories are organised and preparing them for our narrative writing unit in Term 4.
Maths
For the remainder of the term, students will be learning about addition. This unit builds on our recent learning about part-part-whole relationships, where students explored how numbers can be made up of smaller parts. They will now use this understanding to solve simple addition problems and develop flexible number-thinking skills.
Our learning includes:
Finding different ways to make numbers up to 10 (e.g. 5 can be made with 3 and 2, or 4 and 1)
Using part-part-whole relationships to understand how numbers work together
Recognising small groups of objects without counting (subitising)
Solving simple addition and subtraction problems using hands-on materials and everyday situations, including money-related examples
Social Skills
Throughout the term, we have been exploring the Zones of Regulation, an approach that supports the development of self-regulation in children. Over the past few weeks, students have practised a range of coping strategies to help them manage their emotions when in the green, yellow, blue, or red zones. Some examples include going for a walk, drawing a picture, taking three deep breaths, counting to ten, mindfulness meditation and talking to a trusted adult.
Upcoming Events
Healthy Habits Rotation Day
On Wednesday 10th June, students are invited to come to school dressed in comfortable clothes or activewear. There is no need to bring anything additional for the day.
Needs and Wants Project
Beginning on Monday 15th June, students will be constructing a bedroom model as part of our Needs and Wants project.
We kindly ask each student to bring:
One shoebox filled with clean recyclable materials, such as:
Small boxes (to create furniture)
Old cloth or fabric (for bedding, curtains, etc.)
Lids
Toilet rolls
Any other useful materials for building a bedroom
At this stage, we will not be collecting any extra items beyond what your child brings. If you need assistance sourcing materials, please reach out to your class representative. This project will be completed entirely at school, so nothing needs to be constructed at home. However, you may like to chat with your child about how they could use their materials. Items can be brought in any time between now and the project start date.
Thank you for your continued support. We are looking forward to all the fun and learning still to come this term.
-The Foundation Team
Grade 1
What a fun and cosy start to winter we had on Monday 1st June! Students and teachers enjoyed coming to school in their pyjamas, creating a warm and snuggly atmosphere as we welcomed the first day of the winter season.
In Word Study, students have continued their reading and spelling focus on the "er" sound. This sound can be represented by several different spelling patterns, including ir (bird), ur (turn), ear (learn), and less commonly wor (word) and or (work). While these words are spelled differently, they all make a similar "er" sound. We encourage families to help students look for these spelling patterns in their readers and picture books at home.
In Inquiry, our Weather unit has focused on the water cycle. Students have been learning about how water moves through the environment and the important role it plays in our weather systems. This learning will link directly to our writing, as students begin researching and writing information reports about the water cycle.
In Mathematics, students have moved into subtraction, exploring the relationship between addition and subtraction as inverse operations. They have been using a range of strategies and tools, including number lines and part-part-whole models, to develop their
understanding and solve problems with confidence.
Grade 2
It’s hard to believe that we are over halfway through Term 2!
Literacy: Our Grade 2 students have been really enjoying our poetry unit so far and have produced some wonderful acrostic poems! Over the next couple of weeks, we will be exploring Diamante poetry. This type of poetry involves using interesting nouns, verbs and adjectives.
During our PhOrMes/Word Study lessons, students have been learning to read and spell words with c and g making their second sounds (c=s and g=j). C and g make their second sound when followed by the letters e, i or y.
Students were learning about subordinating conjunctions and practised completing sentences using words such as before and after to show when something happened. They also worked on creating their own sentences with two clauses, helping them develop more detailed and complex sentence structures.
Inquiry/Core Knowledge: As part of our core Knowledge/Inquiry unit ‘All Mixed Up’, students have been exploring some guiding questions ‘how does temperature affect matter?’ and ‘does heating and cooling change how things are stored in containers?’. Students were very excited to conduct an experiment involving ice cream this week!
Maths: This week, we wrapped up our unit on addition and subtraction. We practised solving problems using both addition and subtraction and explored how the two operations are connected. Students used a range of strategies to solve number problems and build their confidence and understanding.
Wellbeing: As part of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program students have been playing games to learn some of the ways they are similar and different from their peers. Students have also had the opportunity to act out an emotion by using facial expressions/body language and describing the difference between emotions we can feel.
Homework: Thank you for your support with homework: Regular reading aloud and a weekly Word Study/PhOrMeS worksheet. Optional online extras: ‘Nessy Reading and Spelling’ and ‘Sunset/Jetpack Maths’ (Essential Assessment).
Grade 3
Core Knowledge: Over the last two weeks, as part of our unit ‘We Are One’, students have been learning about sustainable practices and the traditional foods and tools of First Nations people. We enjoyed a visit from ‘Aboriginal Incursions’ who delivered a fun, engaging and educational workshop to help our students build a deeper understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through storytelling, performances, and hands-on activities. The workshop was led by experienced cultural leaders and entertainers, and blended traditional and contemporary experiences to foster respect and awareness.
Writing: This week we wrapped up our report writing unit which focused on native Australian animals. Students wrote an information report independently for assessment, successfully demonstrating their understanding of purpose, structure, and planning. Their main goals were to include a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences using different conjunctions to combine their facts, and include an introduction and conclusion following the GST/TSG structure. Hopefully they can tell you some interesting facts about all of the animals they’ve studied this term!
Word Study: This week, students have been learning about the Greek morpheme ‘bi/bio’. They have been using morphology to help with spelling by applying prefixes and suffixes to ‘bi/bio’, while building their vocabulary with words such as biologist, antibiotic, biodegradable, and microbiology.
Maths: Last week we completed our second addition and subtraction unit for the semester, and this week students have been learning to follow and create algorithms to generate number patterns and multiples. Further practise at home with number games involving adding and subtracting, doubling and halving, and building fluency with the hundred basic facts (practising learned strategies) will help consolidate and continue to build students’ knowledge and skills.
Wellbeing: Our focus on social skills and friendships continued this week with a lesson designed to help students learn the difference between a ‘Friendship Fire’ versus ‘Mean-on-Purpose’ behaviour. Students were able to review scenarios, practise, and put in place a ‘Mean-On-Purpose Proof Plan’, so that they can take action and confidently stand up for themselves when they encounter ‘Mean-on-Purpose’ moments.
Homework: Thank you for your ongoing support with homework. We have reminded all students to ask a grown-up to check their homework with them and help fix any errors before submitting. We will continue collecting diaries every Friday to monitor and reward home reading. Please remember to check and sign your child's diary each week. Thank you!
Grade 4
Our recent excursion to Healesville Sanctuary saw our Grade 4’s find out about the unique features of Australian animals that allow them to thrive and survive in their habitats. It was a wonderful day spent looking at the many different birds, reptiles and mammals and finding out more about their life cycles too. Our Grade 4 students are looking forward to the upcoming StarTime documentary making incursion in 2 weeks’ time. Students will showcase their presenting skills as they work on recording and editing a documentary about a plant or animal life cycle of their choosing. We cannot wait to see the finished products to conclude our work on this topic.
Literacy: The students have researched, planned and composed some outstanding explanation texts on various life cycles of organisms. They have been very busy publishing and creating posters to display their finished explanation writing. Students have also completed an explanation post-assessment. This is another piece of writing that the students do to monitor growth in their understanding of the structure and language features of this text type.
The students are eagerly working in small groups preparing their scripts for our StarTime documentary making incursion. They are making a documentary about the life cycle of an organism and are collaborating to write their speaking parts which will be used to make this. There is plenty of speaking & listening practice, reading, writing as well as cooperative learning with this project.
Our morphology lessons continue to look at a variety of Latin bases, their meaning and learning many words with these bases in them. The lessons are sequential, explicitly taught and incorporate review of the previous lesson and learning. The homework morphology tasks are also a review of what the students have been learning in class.
Numeracy: We have continued our work with length, perimeter and area. Our work with area has seen students learn about estimating the area of shapes and using formal units of measurement to find area too. Students continue to work on daily Mental Maths tasks which allow them to complete questions on a range of concepts such as the four processes, fractions & decimals, chance & probability and graphing. We strongly encourage our Grade 4 students to learn and practice their recall of all multiplication facts to 10x10.
Homework:
Reading 5 x week. Students should be recording their reading in their diary, and we ask if you could please sign these at the end of the week.
MORPHOLOGY task - ‘ge’
My Numeracy task - Fractions VC2M4N04
Multiplication fact practice.
Reminders:
StarTime incursion - This is an ALL-DAY incursion at school
Monday 15th June - 4D & 4P
Wednesday 17th June - 4B & 4MP
Grade 5
What another amazing few weeks we have had in Grade 5! We have continued our engaging learning across all areas of the curriculum and students have shown great enthusiasm, curiosity, and effort in their work. It has been wonderful to see students deepening their understanding, building their skills, and taking pride in what they produce each day.
Reading
Students are continuing their class novel Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. They are answering inferential questions to deepen their understanding of Molly, Daisy and Gracie’s experiences at the Moore River Settlement during the Stolen Generations. Students have also been working on strengthening their TEEC responses, with a focus on writing clear and well-developed concluding sentences that summarise their ideas effectively.
Writing
Students are completing a response writing task where they are structuring a full text including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. They are responding to Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi’s Bushfire Dreaming artwork. Students are focusing on using emotive and evaluative language to express their interpretation of the artwork, as well as incorporating figurative language to create more vivid and thoughtful descriptions.
Mathematics
Students have transitioned from fractions into learning about decimals and percentages. They are developing an understanding of how decimals represent parts of a whole, and how these connect to fractions and percentages. Students are learning to compare and order decimals, represent them on number lines, and apply their knowledge to real-world contexts such as money and measurement. They are also beginning to explore how percentages can be used to describe parts of a whole in everyday situations.
Word Study
Students have been continuing their work on the Latin roots ceed, cede, and cess, all meaning “to go” or “to move.” Through phoneme-based investigations, students have been breaking down and building words using these roots to understand how meaning is carried within word parts. This has supported their spelling knowledge, vocabulary development, and understanding of how words are constructed and connected.
Inquiry
What another amazing few weeks we have had in Grade 5! We have continued our engaging learning across all areas of Inquiry and have been deepening our understanding of important social and historical topics.
Wellbeing
Students have been learning about personal strengths and what makes each of us unique and special, linking closely to the Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program. Through this, they have been developing self-awareness by identifying their own strengths, as well as building social awareness by recognising and valuing the strengths of others. Students have engaged in discussions and activities that support positive identity, empathy, and respect, helping to strengthen a safe and inclusive classroom community.
Students also took part in Pyjama Day, coming to school in their PJs for a fun-filled day while raising funds for both our house points scoreboard and our charity drive supporting The Big Group Hug. It was a fantastic opportunity to build school spirit while contributing to a meaningful cause. See below for some photos from our day!
Grade 6
Literacy
Students have continued their study of the film ‘Hidden Figures’ this week, completing a series of questions in relation to the characters, events and storyline of the film. Students will complete their study of the movie by the end of the term.
In Reading, we have continued working on our ‘Astronomy: Space Systems’ unit. This week, students have considered the question ‘What are constellations?’. Students have learnt how constellations are named, why different constellations contain different numbers of stars and what makes a constellation circumpolar.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, we will be working on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages until the end of week 8. Students will be completing a pre-test on Patterns & Algebra this Friday in preparation for the start of this concept in Term 3.
Interschool Sport
Teams will be training during our Friday sports session this week. Our next round will be at home against Mentone Primary School on Friday 12th June.
Camp
Information will be sent home in the coming weeks about the Grade 6 Log Cabin Camp in Term 3 from Wednesday 27th August to Friday 29th August. If your child/children will not be attending camp, please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible.
Term 2 Dates
Please check Compass and Focus for further information on Term 2 dates for Grade 6 students.