Classroom News

Foundation: Mrs Fleming

On Monday our Foundation students celebrated 100 Days of School! It was a day full of smiles, laughter and wonderful memories as we recognised just how much our youngest learners have grown since their very first day.

The celebrations included some fantastic dress-ups, a parade, plenty of fun activities based around the number 100, biscuit decorating and, of course, some cupcakes to mark the occasion. It was wonderful to see the joy and excitement on the students' faces as they celebrated together.

The first 100 days of school are such an important time, filled with new friendships, growing confidence and incredible learning. We are so proud of everything our Foundation students have achieved and thank our families for the support and encouragement they provide each day. Together, we have helped make these first 100 days a memorable and successful beginning to their school journey.

Some of our Foundation boys have been enjoying their NELI sessions with Emma, where they have been building their vocabulary through fun and engaging learning experiences.

Recently, the group put their new vocabulary into action by sowing some seeds together. They carefully followed the steps, talked about the process using their new words and are now patiently waiting to see what begins to grow. It has been wonderful to see the students applying their learning in a hands-on way while developing their language and communication skills.

The Foundation students have been enjoying learning about the Bible and discovering how its teachings help us to live with kindness, love and friendship.

Last week, during Religious Education with Mrs Hill, the students explored the importance of friendship and what it means to be a good friend. They then brought their learning to life by creating little friends out of playdough. It was wonderful to hear the thoughtful conversations around the tables as students worked together, shared ideas and proudly created their unique artworks.

Grade 1/2: Mrs McKiernan & Mrs Tyler

This fortnight, we have been building on our previous learning about suffixes by focusing on the -ed suffix. Students have explored how adding -ed to a verb shows that an action has already happened (past tense). Through reading, writing and word-building activities, we have practiced spelling and using -ed words correctly in sentences. 

In Maths, we have now finished our learning about 2D and 3D shapes and are beginning our unit on multiplication and division. Students have explored these concepts through hands-on activities, using equal groups, repeated addition, arrays and sharing. This will help build a strong understanding of how multiplication and division are connected. 

And I think we can all agree that our Science unit on Sound was a BLAST! After making string telephones and investigating how different musical instruments produce sound, students had the opportunity to design and create their own musical instruments using a variety of everyday classroom materials and natural items collected from the school yard. It was wonderful to see their creativity, problem-solving skills and scientific thinking come to life as they explored how sound is made and changed.

Grade 1/2: Miss Wooden

We are excited to share that Term 3 is off to a fantastic start! We recently celebrated our Grandparents and Special People Mass, and it was wonderful to see so many visitors in the church and classrooms. The presence of our special guests made the day even more meaningful for our students.

In our literacy sessions, we've been focusing on some tricky words such as "together" and "many." Our writing has taken a creative turn as we've been composing stories about a cubby house, which the students have thoroughly enjoyed.

In mathematics, we wrapped up our unit on shapes. A big congratulations to Huxi for doing remarkably well! We have now embarked on a new journey into multiplication and division, where students are working hard to create equal groups and practice skip counting by 2, 5, and 10.

Our science topic on sound has also been a hit! Students had a blast creating instruments and exploring various ways to produce sound, enhancing their understanding of this fascinating topic.

In Religion class, we've been discussing how to live like Jesus and the importance of spreading love in our community. 

Overall, it has been a busy and enriching start to the term, and we can't wait to see what the coming weeks will bring!

Grade 3: Miss Taylor

It has been another busy and exciting couple of weeks in Grade 3, we have truly hit the ground running in Term 3!

One of our highlights was our Water Week incursion, where we learnt all about how precious water is and the small changes we can make at home to help save water. The students enjoyed discovering just how much of a difference simple actions can make, and there were lots of great discussions about ways we can all do our part to look after our environment. Students have also been working hard on their Water Week coaster competition designs... we can't wait to see how they turn out!

We also had a fantastic time celebrating Pyjama Day! It was wonderful to see everyone arrive in their cosiest pyjamas, and it certainly made for a day of fun (and warmth!)

Another very special event was our Grandparents' Mass. It was lovely to welcome so many grandparents and special friends into our classroom after Mass. Together, we played games, coloured in, chatted and, most importantly, proudly shared all of the wonderful work we've been completing this year. Thank you to everyone who came along and made the afternoon so memorable for our students!

Our NAPLAN results were recently sent home. We are so incredibly proud of every single one of our Grade 3 students. They showed such resilience, determination and a positive attitude, and should all be proud of the effort they put in. We loved being able to celebrate their fantastic achievements with them!

The learning certainly hasn't slowed down! We've continued our exciting Science unit with even more hands-on experiments as we investigate solids and liquids. In Maths, we've moved on to our new topic of angles. We've been exploring the different types of angles, finding them all around us and learning how to identify and compare them.

We're also looking forward to our Years 3–6 Waranga Athletics Carnival on Friday 7th of August. We know our students will do an amazing job representing St Pat's, and we can't wait to see them giving everything a go, cheering on their peers and showcasing their wonderful sportsmanship.

It's been a fantastic start to the term and can't wait to see what the rest of the term has in store for our Grade 3s!

Grade 4/5: Mrs Stock

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR)

Over the past fortnight, students have been participating in our Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) lessons, with a focus on help-seeking. We explored the importance of trust and courage, discussing what it means to ask for help and why it can sometimes feel difficult. Students identified trusted people they can turn to for support and considered who they can thank for helping them. It has been wonderful to see students actively involved in role-playing different scenarios as they practised having help-seeking conversations in a safe and supportive environment. These practical activities have helped build students' confidence in recognising when they need support and how to ask for it respectfully.

Conversation starters at home:

• Who are three trusted adults you could go to if you needed help?
• Can you think of a time when you showed courage by asking for help?
• What are some problems you can solve on your own, and when is it important to ask an adult for support?

• Is there someone you would like to thank for helping you recently?

   

Looking ahead...

Over the coming weeks, our RRRR lessons will focus on Gender Norms and Stereotypes. Students will explore how gender stereotypes can influence the way people think, act and are treated, and how using inclusive language and actions helps everyone feel respected, valued and included. They will also learn about equality of opportunity and discuss why everyone should have the chance to participate, achieve their goals and be themselves, regardless of gender.

Grade 5/6: Miss Rasmussen

It has been another busy couple of weeks in Grade 5/6!

We continue to be enthralled by our class text, Once by Morris Gleitzman. Felix has now told Zelda the heartbreaking truth about her family and has learnt that the other children living with Barney have also experienced the loss of their families at the hands of the Nazis. The story continues to prompt some thoughtful conversations in our classroom.

In Writing, we are continuing to develop our explanation texts about Poland. Students have been researching and writing about Poland’s landscape, flora and fauna, as well as its relationship with Australia.

In Maths, we have wrapped up our unit on angles with a fun, hands-on challenge! Students made and used clinometers to measure the height of objects around our school that would normally be difficult to measure. This was a great way to put our understanding of angles into action. We have now moved on to decimals, with a particular focus on rounding decimal numbers. This has been a tricky concept and one we have had to work hard at, but we are slowly becoming more confident!

We also participated in our latest Inform & Empower session, which focused on consent in the online world. Students explored the importance of asking for and waiting for consent before posting photos, videos or information about someone else online. We also discussed when and how to seek help if something is posted online that makes us, or one of our friends or peers, feel uncomfortable or upset.

A highlight was welcoming our grandparents and special people to St Patrick’s for our Grandparents and Special People’s Liturgy. We loved having so many special people join us for the celebration and then visit our classrooms afterwards. It was a lovely opportunity to share our learning spaces and spend some special time together.

Finally, we are looking forward to the Waranga Athletic Sports and a great day representing St Patrick’s!