PREP

We are 100 Days Brighter in Prep!

Yesterday our Prep students celebrated 100 Days of School with the theme “100 Days Brighter!” The children looked absolutely fabulous in their bright and colourful outfits, filling our classroom with smiles and sunshine.

We had an exciting day packed with fun activities all centred around the number 100. The children enjoyed colourful hairspray, face painting, creating delicious 100s and 1000s fairy bread, and completing a range of hands-on activities that celebrated reaching this special milestone.

It has been wonderful to reflect on just how much our Prep students have achieved in their first 100 days of school. They have grown into confident readers, are now writing, developing their mathematical thinking, and building important social and life skills every single day.

We are incredibly proud of everything our Prep students have accomplished so far and look forward to continuing to help each child grow, learn and become even brighter in all areas of their lives throughout the rest of the year.

Over the past two Mondays, we have enjoyed visits from Sue from Colac Otway Rotary as part of the Read for Rotary program. During the visits, Sue has shared wonderful picture books with the class. She will return next Monday to read the final book and each child will have the opportunity to choose their favourite story. Sue will then return later in the year and the children will receive a copy to take home and keep. The children have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories and we are very grateful to Sue and Colac Otway Rotary for supporting our young readers.

Just a reminder for your child to be practicing their Prayer Gathering speaking part, which has been glued into their Home Learning Book.

Upcoming dates:

Friday 28th August - Book Week Dress Up

Thursday 3rd September- Final swimming lesson

Friday 4th September - Prep Prayer Gathering - Theme: ‘Father’s Day’

Thursday 10th September- School Production

Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Liza Alexander lalexander@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 1

This week in Year One, we are thrilled to welcome back Josh Garner for his final placement! Josh will be working with us over the next four weeks, and we are so excited to have him as part of our team.

Classroom & Program Highlights

Swimming Program: The students have been doing a fantastic job! It has been wonderful to see them organizing their belongings independently and, most importantly, having a great time at the pool.

End-of-Term Production: We’ve been practicing our dances diligently. The children are putting in incredible effort, and their enthusiasm is wonderful to watch!

Mathematics: Our class has been exploring pictographs using data collected from student surveys. The children loved choosing their own categories and surveying their classmates! Next week, we will begin our new unit on Multiplication and Division.

Literacy:

Phonics: Students have been learning to identify and use the 'oi' and 'oy' digraphs in reading and writing.

Narrative Writing: We are continuing our study of the fable The Hare and the Tortoise. The children have been busy writing their own versions of the story, and later this week, we will focus on editing and refining our work.

Upcoming Events & Reminders

Year 1 Leah Prayer Gathering
- Date: Friday, 14th August
- Details: Readings will be sent home this week. We warmly invite all of our families to join us and share in this special prayer gathering!

Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Abbey Hayes ahayes@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 2

It has been another wonderful few weeks of learning in Grade 2! Our students have been busy exploring new concepts across all learning areas, showing curiosity, enthusiasm and a willingness to challenge themselves. It has been lovely to see their confidence continue to grow, and we are so proud of the effort they bring to the classroom each day.

Maths

Over the past few weeks, we have wrapped up our Statistics unit. Students had a fantastic time collecting data and representing it using pictographs and column graphs. They explored the strengths of each graph type and discussed which they preferred when presenting their own data. It was wonderful to hear students confidently explain their thinking and justify their choices.

This week, we have launched into our new unit on Multiplication and Division. Students will be learning how to share collections fairly into equal groups, create arrays to represent multiplication problems and continue strengthening their skip counting skills to help them find the total. We're looking forward to lots of hands-on learning as students build their confidence with these important mathematical concepts.

Literacy

In Literacy, our young authors have been continuing to develop their narrative writing skills by applying their understanding of the Story Writing Circle. Together, we explored the story of The Frog Prince, identifying each stage of the story and discussing how understanding the structure helps us plan and sequence our own writing.

Students have also begun incorporating transition words into their writing, helping their stories flow more smoothly and making it easier for readers to follow their ideas.

During LLLL, students have been learning about the different graphemes that make the /j/ sound and investigating how adding the suffix -y changes a noun into an adjective—for example, turning mud into muddy. It has been wonderful to see students beginning to apply this new learning in both their reading and writing.

Humanities

Our History unit has continued to spark lots of thoughtful discussions as students learn about important places and why they are significant to different people and communities. We have explored places such as Sovereign Hill, Port Arthur, Flagstaff Hill, Uluru and Parliament House, considering what makes each place special and why they continue to be important parts of Australia's story.

Religion

In Religion, students have been learning about the Parable of the Sower, one of Jesus' well-known parables. Through this story, Jesus explains that God's message is like seeds scattered onto different types of ground. Just as seeds grow best in rich, healthy soil, God's message grows when people are open to listening, learning and living according to His teachings. Together, we have reflected on what it means to be "good soil" by showing kindness, making thoughtful choices and caring for others in our everyday lives.

Health

This term in Health, students have been exploring the feelings of fear and worry, while learning practical strategies to help them face challenges with courage and confidence. We have discussed situations that can make us feel fearful and shared ideas such as taking deep breaths, using positive self-talk, asking for help and taking one small step at a time. It has been lovely to see students openly sharing their ideas and encouraging one another as they build resilience.

Other News

Production rehearsals are in full swing, and the excitement is certainly building! Students are becoming more confident with their dance routines each week, and it has been fantastic to watch them grow in confidence as performers.

A huge thank you to families who have already started organising costumes. As a reminder, Matt's class will be dressing in a 90s theme, while Deb's class will be wearing grunge-themed outfits. If you are having any difficulty sourcing an outfit, please reach out as soon as possible—we are more than happy to help.

Our students have absolutely loved beginning swimming lessons this term! It has been wonderful to see so many smiling faces as they build their confidence in the water and continue developing valuable swimming and water safety skills.

Parents and carers are very welcome to attend swimming sessions. If you would like to assist your child in the change rooms, please ensure you have presented a Working With Children Check and completed the required paperwork at the school office before doing so. We are incredibly proud of how independent our students have been with changing so far.

Finally, Book Week is just around the corner in Week 7, and we can't wait to celebrate our love of reading together. We look forward to seeing the wonderful costumes, sharing some fantastic books and enjoying all of the exciting activities planned for the week.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support.

The Grade 2 Team

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

Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 3

We have had another fantastic fortnight of learning in Year 3, with students continuing to challenge themselves and build on their knowledge across all learning areas.

In Literacy, we are taking a deeper look at our Inquiry texts and using them to develop our sentence-level writing skills. Students have been exploring strategies such as single paragraph outlines and scrambled sentences to strengthen sentence structure and support their understanding of how to write informative texts.

In Numeracy, we have begun our new unit on multiplication and division. Students are using arrays to help solve multiplication problems, which will help develop a strong understanding as the foundation for these concepts.

In Religious Education, we are continuing our Hospitality unit by exploring the story of The Last Supper and discussing its significance, as well as the messages of welcome, service and community that it teaches us.

In Inquiry, we are continuing our exploration of Australia and its neighbouring countries, while developing our understanding of geographical concepts and the features that make places unique.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the Year 3/4 Football Gala Day last Thursday. It was wonderful to see so much improvement throughout the day, along with excellent teamwork, sportsmanship and enthusiasm. Well done to everyone involved!

Due to a timetable change to accommodate Junior Swimming, our weekly sport session will now take place after first break on Thursdays.

We are looking forward to another wonderful fortnight of learning together.

Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 4

Welcome to another exciting month in Grade 4! Our classrooms are buzzing with energy as our students dive into brand-new learning adventures.

In Literacy, our Grade 4s are continuing to dive into The Witches, sharpening their reading comprehension and analyzing how the author brings characters to life.

Over in Maths, we are tackling multiplication and division using a variety of strategies to help students find the methods that work best for them.

Excitement is also building in Humanities, where students have chosen their habitat research projects! Classrooms are filled with curious minds investigating everything from the Great Barrier Reef and tropical rainforests to rugged deserts and high mountain ranges.

In Religion, students have been learning about Saint Mary MacKillop’s inspiring life, with Bec’s class eagerly preparing to lead an upcoming prayer gathering in her honor. We’ve also been exploring the theme of hospitality, connecting how we can welcome others in our daily lives to the ways Jesus showed hospitality during the Feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership at home—working together makes all the difference in helping our students thrive. Stay tuned for dates on upcoming class projects and events!

Rebecca Gallagher rgallagher@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Meg Knight mknight@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5

It's hard to believe we're already nearly halfway through the term! It has been another busy few weeks in Grade 5, with students continuing to work hard across all learning areas and in school life in general which is SUPER busy!

Concert rehearsals are now well underway, and students have been enthusiastically practising their performances. More information regarding costumes will be sent home shortly.

A reminder that camp medical forms are due back as soon as possible. Thank you to those families who have already returned them.

On Monday, our Grade 5 students enjoyed a fantastic excursion to Barongarook Creek. The students represented our school beautifully, demonstrating excellent behaviour and a high level of engagement throughout the day. A special thank you to Trey and the team at the Colac Otway Shire for providing this valuable learning opportunity.

In Literacy, students are planning, drafting and designing persuasive posters highlighting a natural wonder in North America. They have been working through the writing process step by step, focusing on creating persuasive and informative texts.

In Mathematics, we are wrapping up our unit on multiplication and division. Recently, students have explored divisibility rules and practised formal methods for solving larger multiplication problems, including both the standard algorithm and the lattice method. We will conclude this unit next week.

In Religious Education, we are continuing our learning in our Integrity unit. Students have been exploring Laudato Si', Pope Francis' encyclical on caring for our common home, and examining its key messages and goals. Next week, we are looking forward to welcoming Sara Page, who will work with our classes to further explore the Laudato Si' goals and support students in auditing how our school is living out these important principles.

In Humanities, students are continuing to build their understanding of Geography through engaging learning experiences that they have been thoroughly enjoying.

We have had many students absent over the last couple of weeks of school due to a few bugs floating around the Grade 5 area. Thank you to parents for being vigilant in keeping sick kids home to stop these viruses from spreading and we encourage this to continue where practical.

Lastly, during this week’s staff meeting, staff raised concerns around toys/fidgets being regularly brought into school, particularly Ooshies at the moment. Toys are discouraged from being brought to school due to many factors and this applies to Ooshies too. Fidgets/squishies are becoming very popular and there are some students on learning plans who benefit from small, handheld, soundless fidgets to help them throughout their day. However, some students are bringing in fidgets that are impractical or that are not a part of their learning needs and these are becoming problematic. We ask that all toys, fidget, squishies etc that are not part of an individual student’s learning plan, remain at home please.

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to another exciting few weeks of learning!

Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 6

Another few busy weeks in Grade 6!

We have continued working through our Multiplication and Division unit, and it has been wonderful to see so much growth across the cohort. Several students are well on their way to becoming Times Tables Masters - an important skill to continue developing, especially as they prepare for the transition to secondary school. Selected students also participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition yesterday, and we look forward to hearing how they went.

In Literacy and Geography, we have continued our exploration of Asia. Students recently completed an exciting "Amazing Race" challenge before comparing the geographical, social and economic characteristics of a range of Asian countries. Throughout these learning experiences, students have been consolidating The Writing Revolution strategies to strengthen their writing and deepen their understanding of the texts and information they are exploring. We have also been thoroughly enjoying our class novel study of A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, with students eagerly anticipating each new chapter.

In Religion, we have been exploring Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', reflecting on what it means to be people of integrity by caring for our common home. This important message has encouraged students to consider how their everyday actions can contribute to caring for God's creation and living out our faith.

On Wednesdays, the Grade 6 students have been taking part in our "Marvellous Melbourne" challenge as we prepare for camp. Each week, students explore some of the exciting places we will be visiting and complete a range of fun challenges to familiarise themselves with each location. The students have been incredibly engaged, and the excitement for camp is certainly beginning to build!

Have a great weekend!

Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Administration News