Term 1 Lower Primary

As term 1 comes to an end, the Lower Primary staff would like to congratulate all our students on the great start they have made to the year. From our first year students through to those who have been with us for some time, it is the improvements in confidence and personal best performance that stand out. We have talked a great deal about school rules and expectations over the term and we are very happy to see our students trying hard to make wise choices, and to cooperate with their friends and teachers both in the classroom and playground. Each student has worked hard, and tried their best to show Respect, Responsibility, Learning and Safety over the term. As I have moved in and out of classrooms and in the yard I have watched as our students use the strategies and specific language that has been taught when they interact, communicate and resolve issues or with each other and their teachers. To reinforce this, I have given “surprise” Student Expectation awards to students who are displaying these expectations in their learning, their play or interactions.

SOCIAL COMPETENCIES

Social skills are embedded in all learning but are also taught explicitly by our social competencies’ teacher and class teachers. Sessions focus on everyday social interaction skills through educational activities, games and role plays. This term students have done a great deal of work in the area of personal learning. The inside classes have looked at things they are good at and the things they find challenging. As part of these sessions students have discussed ways they can help themselves and have come up with lots of strategies they can use when things get hard. Some of these strategies include:” I can ask people to help me, this is team work, I can go over instructions, I can stay calm, I can use chit chat in my head “. The remaining students have worked on identifying and collecting the things they need to complete a specific task such as paper, pencils, paste, scissors or whatever is required for a specific task. 

LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE AND WRITING

LPG, LPH, LPI made volcanos as a Language Experience activity. They added baking soda, vinegar and food dye and waited…….much to everyone’s delight there was a reaction, it exploded. This is some of the writing that came from LPG's experience

Nate- “Volcano got lava on it. It was fun.” 

Shahab- “ Me in the sandpit. Volcano boom!” 

Vihaan- “ I made a volcano in sandpit.” 

Shiv- “I make the volcano.” 

Scarlett- “Volcano”

Karrarali- “Volcano, sandpit” (using his communication device)  

OUR COMMUNITY AND THE DISCOVERY CENTRE

The integrated unit “Our Community” is guiding students to discover many interesting facts about the community and those who work within it. Students have listened to stories, watched video clips, participated in role play and dress up activities amongst many other activities to develop and support their understanding of the jobs people do. Most classes visited the Discovery Centre where they were able to dress up as a favourite community helper and pose in front of the green screen with workplace backgrounds to make the experience even more authentic.  There were teachers, fire fighters, doctors, nurses, polices and soldiers dress ups available. As you will see in the photos, the results are most impressive and very realistic. Students were also able to explore the Cardboard City where they discovered a police station, hospital and post office and the community helpers which belonged in each of these buildings. Along with this, students built their own buildings from Lego. The inside classes LPA, LPB, LPC took part in movie making sessions as part of their elective type program on Friday afternoons at the Discovery Centre and created a movie about Community Helpers which will be posted on our Facebook page next term.

So many interesting activities to explore and to stimulate students’ curiosity and learning.

PREP CLASSES AND A VISIT TO THE CONCORD CAFÉ 

In the Prep rooms students explored the community helper occupations of veterinarian and dentist through hands on role play in their very own Vet Surgery and Dental Surgery. Students were supported in their play by teachers and the speech therapist Nicole. They role played different characters of receptionist, veterinarian, dentist and patient. Students followed cue cards with questions and phrases such as ‘How can we help you today?’, ‘My turtle had a sore foot’, or ‘My tooth hurts. I need to see the dentist’. This week, the students explored their final community helper for the term - a ‘cafe worker’. They went on an internal excursion to the Bundoora Campus, to visit Brooke in the Concord cafe. Students ordered a snack and drink from the ‘cafe worker’ community helpers and enjoyed their snack in the new Concord cafe. 

FAMILY BBQ

The Family BBQ was the first of the special events listed on the Lower Primary calendar. Whilst it is something that has occurred over many years it is still one of the most important of our events. This BBQ is our way of welcoming our new families to the Concord Community and our “old” families back for a new year. This event, in terms of getting together, takes on even more significance given the challenges that were presented to us during 2020 and helped parents reconnect with the Lower Primary community in a fun and relaxed way.

It was wonderful to see families getting to know each other and their children’s school friends. The jumping castle along with the face painting, tattoos, hair spray and a variety of playground equipment kept everyone happy and we did not hear any complaints about the BBQ either! Their Care also came along to support the BBQ by providing some art activities for our students and to meet our parents. This really was a great way to start the year and we thank all families who were able to attend. We hope you felt welcomed, and that you did take the opportunity to make contact with other parents. 

SWIMMING

This term LPB and LPC have completed their swimming block and LPA and LPD have undertaken two sessions of their allocated six. A highlight was our last couple of lessons where students had the opportunity to practise survival skills, sitting dives and becoming more familiar with deeper water as we ventured into the big pool.  Practising independent dressing skills and caring for personal belongings is also an integral part of the program. 

BIKE EDUCATION

Bike Education has been a huge success and a favourite activity for students. This term the Bike Ed program has been delivered to LPD and LPE.  Every Friday students ride in small groups and are instructed at their own level, but are also challenged to take risks and try new skills. Areas that are worked on include: braking, pedalling, steering and maneuvering, scanning, stopping safely and push starts. The program has been very successful this term with several students moving from training wheels to riding unassisted on two wheels. There are students who have had limited opportunity to access a bike and for them just being able to sit on a bike and pedal is a huge achievement. The students are always keen to have their individual time on the bikes. Please look out for our photos and videos of some of our achievements from this term on Facebook. 

FRUIT PROGRAM

Our “Fruit program” continues and is very popular with our students. This school funded initiative enables us to purchase seasonal fruit and vegetables for our students each week from a local business.  Student helpers are responsible for assisting and delivering the fruit and vegetables to classrooms.  Platters are prepared in classrooms and students are encouraged to try a variety of different fruit and vegetables. Some of these fruit and vegetables have also been used in class cooking programs. The feedback from staff is that the students love the fresh fruit and vegetables and that many of them are tasting and choosing to eat fruit and vegetables that are new to them. The program is more comprehensive than just supplying fruit and vegetables because students are also being taught the benefits of healthy eating habits.

STORY BOX LIBRARY 

We are happy to let you know about an education resource that is available to your child at home as part of our school subscription – Story Box Library.

Your child can watch favourite stories, read aloud by fabulous storytellers, at home as well as in the classroom.

Reading aloud to children, in particular by diverse and engaging storytellers, greatly

improves language and literacy skills, especially in the early years of a child’s development.

Story Box Library is committed to supporting and engaging the practice of storytelling. It is intended for use as a complementary form of delivering the precious experience of being read aloud to, in order to improve children’s lives. Connecting children with literature through the complementary medium of film, providing a vibrant, interactive experience via a diverse range of storytellers sharing the best of our local children’s picture books.

To access Story Box Library at home:

1) Visit www.storyboxlibrary.com.au

2) Choose Log In from the top right corner of the screen

3) Log in using the username and password provided below

4) Enjoy the library of stories on any device with internet connection

USERNAME: HTSO

PASSWORD: HTSO 

Please note the following features:

● Story Box Library regularly adds new stories, so is an ever-growing library

● Content is aimed at Prep/Foundation through to Year 6 students

● includes a range of short films to inspired by our stories, creators and storytellers

● Resources are provided for each story, including Classroom Ideas, Activity Time and

Student Task Sheets – all designed to assist at-home learning

● Captions can be turned on or off for each story

● Story Box Library is a safe online space free from advertising

END OF TERM CELEBRATIONS

Today was a celebration of a great term. These celebrations started with a whole school assembly at the Bundoora Campus where LPA, LPB and LPC, performed a dance item to the song “ What Does the Clock Say?” a parody of the song “What Does the Fox Say?”.  The number song linked Performing Arts to the Mathematics unit of Time currently being studied in the classrooms. Students moved like parts of a clock; ticking hands and swinging pendulums, and related actions to parts of the day; school time and bed. Clocks that where made as learning tools were worn around their necks like “old school” rappers, helping them ask the question to the audience … What Does the Clock Say? Thank you to Suzanne for her input into this item. 

The assembly was followed by a day of fun activities which included an Easter Hat Parade where students showed off the hats they had made as part of their learning program and a hunt where students found many little surprises that had been left for them. What excitement! What a happy and fun day it was! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

A big pat on the back to all the wonderful Lower Primary students and staff. I am very proud of you all and look forward to a happy and productive term 2.

Happy Holidays and stay safe

Kath Moore