Specialist Update
Year 3 Italian
Our Year 3 students have been continuing to explore the Italian language and culture. Recently, they have been learning about some of Italy’s famous cities and discovering more about the country’s rich history and traditions.
In language learning, students were introduced to an interesting grammar difference between English and Italian. They were quite surprised to learn that Italian has seven different ways to say “the”, depending on whether a word is masculine or feminine, and singular or plural!
Students have also been learning to name and label different parts of the body in Italian, building their vocabulary in fun and engaging ways.
They have begun expressing their likes and dislikes using simple phrases such as Mi piace (I like it) and Non mi piace (I don’t like it). Most excitingly, students are now starting to have short conversations in Italian—greeting each other, asking Come stai? (How are you?), responding, and sharing something they like or don’t like.
It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they begin using Italian to communicate with one another.
OLP
In OLP, our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students have continued to build their skills in the Italian language through a variety of fun and engaging activities.
Students have been practising greetings and everyday Italian expressions, building their confidence in using simple words and phrases in the classroom. The Prep students have particularly enjoyed building famous Italian landmarks using LEGO, bringing their learning about Italy to life in a creative way such as making pictures with the felt boards. They also love singing and joining in with Italian songs, which helps them remember new words and phrases.
The Year 1 students have been enjoying incorporating Italian greetings into their role-play pizza shop, using simple phrases as they interact with one another.
Our Year 2 students have been painting Italian landmarks in preparation for next term’s role-play activities. They have also been developing their drama skills by participating in the play Goldilocks and the Three Bears, practising expression, movement and teamwork.
Sport
Our Grade 5/6 students have been learning about the sport of hockey, developing specialised skills and exploring offensive and defensive strategies during their recent lessons.
To support their learning, we were fortunate to have Hockey Victoria and Greensborough Hockey Club visit our school to run an exciting hockey clinic. Students had the opportunity to practise their stick skills, learn new techniques, and participate in a range of fun drills and activities led by experienced coaches.
The clinic was a fantastic way for students to apply the strategies and skills they have been learning in class while building confidence and teamwork on the field.
A big thank you to Hockey Victoria and Greensborough Hockey Club for taking the time to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with our students.
Innovation Technology
Year 6 Innovation Tech
Our Year 6 students have been diving into Media Arts this year, developing their skills in creating and presenting engaging media. This term, they’ve been exploring both stop motion and podcasting, using Lego and paper to bring their ideas to life and sharing their thinking through recorded conversations.
In stop motion, students have been revising how to use tripods effectively, understanding how keeping a camera still helps produce smoother, higher-quality films. They’ve also designed and built their own mini sets, using creativity and problem-solving to tell their stories frame by frame.
Through podcasting, students have discovered that recording a conversation takes practice and teamwork. They’ve been working on speaking clearly, using microphones effectively, and recording their ideas using programs such as GarageBand.
We look forward to sharing their fantastic final creations with you in Term 2!
Senior STEM Club
Our Senior STEM club has been super busy creating our Game Controllers and we finally have some finished products! Our students have collaborated with other club members to create and modify their own controller. Have a look at some of these amazing designs!
Senior ICT Club
We’ve had some of our largest numbers on record attending Senior ICT club and what a success it has been! Here are some of our creations and activities from this term:
Catholic Education Week Creative Arts Exhibition
Congratulations to our Year 6 students for their incredible work that was accepted into the Creative Arts Exhibition and achieved the ‘Highly Commended’ Award. What a fantastic opportunity to showcase the amazing work we do in IT at St Joseph’s.
Performing Arts
Our Year 5 students have been building teamwork and trust through a fun and engaging warm-up activity called ‘Parachute.’ Working together, students hold a large sheet with both hands and begin by creating gentle waves, gradually increasing the movement to lift it higher and higher. Staying connected at all times, they collaborate to move underneath the parachute without letting go, then travel in a circle, reverse direction, and sit together underneath while pulling the fabric in close. The activity finishes with a big team effort to lift the parachute high so it fills with air and billows towards the ceiling! This playful experience supports cooperation, communication and confidence as students learn to move and respond as a group.
Our Year 6 students have been exploring improvisation through a series of engaging group activities. Beginning in pairs and gradually working in groups of four and then eight, students used tableau (freeze frames) to create still images with their bodies. Through teacher modelling, students learnt how to use body shape, gesture and facial expression to represent ideas—such as transforming themselves into a connected ‘train’ with different parts working together. In small groups, they then applied these skills to create frozen images of objects like a chair, tree or bridge, before progressing to larger group challenges where they represented moving objects such as a helicopter or sailing ship for an audience to guess. To conclude, students participated in a reflective gallery walk, observing each other’s work and explaining their thinking using visual clues. This learning experience supports creativity, collaboration, confidence and the ability to communicate ideas through the body.
Visual Arts
The Year 5 students have been busy working on their sewing projects this term. Our theme, Italian cuisine, allowed students to choose an Italian food or beverage to design, draw, cut, and carefully sew together their felt creation using a needle and thread. We can’t wait for you to see these amazing creations at the Art Show in Term 3 (details to come)...
The Year 6 students have been working together on a large collaborative mural inspired by the recent Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy. They started by researching different winter sports and looking at how artists show movement and action.
Using gelli-plates, students had fun experimenting with paint and various objects to make patterns and texture to create interesting papers. They then made their own Olympic athlete figures, cutting and assembling them to show their athletes in action.
It’s been great to see everyone’s ideas come together to create a bright, detailed mural that really captures the excitement of the Winter Olympics. It is displayed proudly in Green Village if you wanted to check it out!
