PREP

It is hard to believe that next week is our last week of Term 3. A big welcome to Nhius who has joined our Prep classroom. We’re excited to have him as part of our school family and can’t wait to see all his wonderful learning and friendships ahead.

Today was our final swimming lesson. It has been wonderful watching the confidence of the children in the water develop over the seven weeks. The children are to be congratulated on their behaviour and organisation skills of undressing and dressing themselves at the pool.

This term we have been learning about ‘Places.’ We are learning that places are spaces that we use. Places can be special because of how we feel about them and what we do there. We have been talking about how our homes are a special place to us.

As this is the final newsletter for the term, we would like to wish Gemma all the very best as she heads off on maternity leave. We are so lucky to have had such a wonderful Prep teacher. Her care, patience and dedication have given our Prep students the very best possible start to their school journey. We will certainly miss her in our Prep classroom, but we’re excited for Gemma and Matt and can’t wait to meet their baby. While we will miss her, we know that we’re just as lucky to welcome Liza as our full time teacher. This will be a wonderful transition for all of us.

Here are what some of our Preps have said about Gemma-

Scarlett - I like writing sentences with Gemma and seeing her in the junior playground.

Neal - Gemma has been helping me learn to write sentences.

Henry W - Gemma has been very good at helping me to learn to write.

Machok - Gemma always helps me and she teaches me to be really good at reading.

Gemma Blake gblake@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 1

One more week of Term 3! What a busy and exciting time it has been. In Mathematics, the children have been exploring 2D and 3D shapes. We have been exploring our classroom and school to identify these shapes in the environment and encourage families to explore their own homes to see what shapes you can find!

This week in writing we have been identifying verbs and adverbs in sentences. We have been learning to pick the adverb that best fits our sentence.

Next week, we will be finishing our inquiry unit Changing Places. We will be investigating ways in which we can look after our world and celebrating the end of our unit by reading and watching The Lorax.

Today was our last session of swimming and we’d like to thank all of our families for their support. The children were so organised and did such a terrific job of attending these sessions.

We are very excited to let you know that on Monday, 13th October our Year 1 students will be heading off on an excursion to the Museum of Play and Art (MOPA) in Geelong. This will be a hands on, wonder filled day where children will explore, play, and discover in an environment designed to spark curiosity. The experience will launch our upcoming Inquiry unit on the senses, as well as the sources of light and sound, making it the perfect start to our new learning journey.

Thank you for a wonderful Term 3, we hope you all enjoy the holidays and have a restful time with your families.

Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rebecca Murray rmurray@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Judy Carr jcarr@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Paula Parish pparish@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 2

This week in Numeracy, our students have been finishing up their unit on Multiplication and Division. We are so impressed with the way they have been using arrays to support their problem solving—it’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow! Next week, we will begin our unit on Fractions. Students will be learning to identify halves, quarters and eighths of both objects and collections.

In Literacy, we have been exploring the different spellings of the /er/ sound (such as er, ir, ur). Students have enjoyed discovering new words and applying their knowledge in both reading and writing. We have also been working on using similes to make our writing more descriptive. The creativity the students are showing in their comparisons has been fantastic!

Our Inquiry unit has taken us on a journey around the world. Students have been busy designing their very own unique passports and working in small teams to research a country of their choice. They are gathering information to share with the class, and it has been wonderful to see the teamwork, curiosity, and enthusiasm shining through.

In Religion, students have loved engaging in Christian meditation. This has been a beautiful way for them to connect more deeply with themselves and with God, as well as a helpful time to refocus after break times. This week we have also been exploring the idea of respect—what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like. In particular, we have discussed how Catholic Christians show respect for people of other religions.

This week, we enjoyed our final swimming lesson of the swim program, which has been thoroughly enjoyed by all our students. As a reminder, the first Monday of Term 4 is a pupil-free day.

Our students have worked so hard during Term 3, and we wish all of our families a restful, safe, and enjoyable break.

Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Matt O'Dowd modowd@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 3

Can you believe we’re only a week and a half away from the holidays? This term might have been short, but we’ve certainly made the most of it!

In Religion, we’ve been unpacking the sayings “an eye for an eye” and “turn the other cheek.” The kids have had some really thoughtful (and sometimes funny!) ideas about what these could mean in their own lives.

Maths has taken a delicious turn with fractions, perfect timing if there’s pizza, cake, or even a block of chocolate being shared at home. Ask your child to show off what they know!

We’ve also loved hearing our morning readers bring stories to life for the class. Everyone who read did such a fantastic job.

And in writing, our most recent cold write showed just how much creativity and progress has blossomed this term. The ideas, imagination, and effort have been wonderful to see.

Jade LoRicco jloricco@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 4

Week 8 is just about done and dusted, with only one more week to go before the school holidays.

In Literacy, students have been diving into the world of poetry. We have studied a range of poems, with a special focus on Lord Alfred Tennyson’s The Eagle. Next week, students will take inspiration from this piece to create their very own poems.

In Math, students have wrapped up their unit on multiplication and division and are now exploring statistics, learning how to organise information into data displays. From there, they’ll move on to applying their addition and multiplication skills to measure and calculate area and perimeter.

In Inquiry, students are well into building their own class town. This project has sparked plenty of creativity and collaboration as they work together to decide how their town will function. We can’t wait to share the finished product with you at next term’s Learning Expo!

Today we also celebrated R U OK? Day. Students explored the keys to being a good friend and discovered how kindness, listening, and checking in on others can help build strong, supportive friendships. It was a wonderful reminder of how powerful small acts of care can be in our school community.

Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Susie Scott sscott@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5

Term 3 in Grade 5 has flown by; we have been very busy and have achieved a great deal in such a short amount of time.

This week in Literacy, we have finished reading the novel ‘Wonder’ by R.J. Palacio. This novel has been really valuable to explore as it brings up many common themes and challenges that our young people face today: friendship issues, choosing kindness, coming of age, popularity, self worth and identity etc. Next week, we will watch the movie version of this story as an end of term reward. We are finishing up writing information brochures on our chosen European countries this week, which also forms the assessment for our Inquiry unit on Geography.

In Maths, we completed a short unit of perimeter and area last week which culminated in the students designing a robot and calculating the perimeter and area of the different shapes that made up their robot. This week we started another short unit on transformations to finish up our term of learning in Maths.

In R.E., the students have made a brochure for their assessment that outlines elements of the 3 Abrahamic religions; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This assessment piece summarises our learning for the unit ‘Promise’.

Tomorrow we will be going to Elliminyt for Winter Sport and next Thursday we are making up a missed session of Winter Sport at Sacred Heart.

Once again, the Grade 5s should be commended for another successful term and we look forward to a strong finish to 2025 in Term 4!

Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 6

It has been another fantastic fortnight in Year 6. We welcomed the Melbourne Renegades, where students had the chance to meet the players, ask questions and even collect a signature or two. Preparation is also underway for our upcoming Prayer Gatherings (see dates below). The boys are continuing their work on the Good Man Project, while the girls are researching positive role models and the qualities that make them inspiring. In Literacy, students have begun researching an Asian country to form the basis of their own website, as well as enjoying Lemony Snicket’s A Bad Beginning through a range of engaging activities. In Maths, we have been learning about transformations and experimenting with tessellating patterns.

Important Dates

Friday 12th Sep – Year 6 JD Prayer Gathering
Friday 19th Sep – Year 6 KM/JH Prayer Gathering & Last Day of Term
Wed 15th Oct – Fri 17th Oct – Melbourne Camp

Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Katie Monaghan kmonaghan@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

The Marian News

Issue 14 · 11 Sep 2025

In this issue