It’s been an exciting and busy term in Lower Primary!

Our students have been actively demonstrating the expectations Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be a Learner, and Be Safe. These expectations are essential in creating a positive and collaborative learning environment and Lower Primary staff and students consistently celebrate and encourage each other to model these expectations in their daily activities. Assemblies have been a great opportunity for us to revisit these expectations, set weekly goals, and assess our progress. Recently, our focus was on Be Safe, with students aiming to use safe hands during tag. We reviewed our progress and acknowledged improvements, while recognizing there’s still work to be done.

This term, we started a new Discovery Unit "Weather". Our students have engaged in hands-on activities to learn about various weather conditions and their effects. They explored everyday weather patterns and examined extreme conditions like floods, heatwaves, storms, and fires. As a start to this unit, students visited the Discovery Centre to experience simulated extreme weather scenarios, including a rainforest fire and a flooding area. They also had the chance to sit under a storm cloud and relax in a small forest setting. To further support the learning around extreme events students engaged in a range of experiments that included creating a tornado in a bottle, an erupting volcano, a thunderstorm event and frost. Students were totally absorbed in these experiments especially the extreme end results!

Book Week was another highlight, with students dressing up as their favourite storybook characters. This event is always a hit, bringing lots of excitement to Lower Primary. From superheroes and princesses to pirates and the very hungry caterpillar, our students enjoyed a fun filled parade of costumes. A big thank you to Helen, our Library teacher, and Alix, our Performing Arts teacher, for making Book Week so memorable.

We also had soccer activities with DOC Football Academy coaches during lunchtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These sessions focused on basic drills, ball control, and teamwork, providing a fun and engaging experience for our soccer enthusiasts. These sessions are a favourite for our students. We are looking forward to more workshops next term!

Our Primary Sports morning was a celebration of team work, social interaction and school spirit where students from all year primary levels enjoyed a range of sports activities at the Watsonia Campus. It was great to work alongside out friends from Upper Primary, Hosted by Kaboom Kids Sport, students participated in various movement and dance activities, rotating through stations focused on different motor skills. Our Lower Primary students were enthusiastic participants, and we appreciate the support of parents who joined in the fun. Special thanks to everyone who helped organise this event!

The Father’s Special Persons Morning/Afternoon was a wonderful occasion, with many family members joining us. Students created special gifts and cards for their dads or other significant people in their lives. The day included a range of fun classroom and yard activities, such as making BBQ sauce and participating in sensory and PMP circuits. It was a pleasure to see our students sharing these experiences with their families.

Finally, as football fever takes over, we celebrated with a Footy Parade at our final assembly. The parade always reflects the passion students and staff have for their football teams. Everyone cheered and showed off their favourite foot team colours and marched to their team songs. It certainly was a lively, loud and enjoyable event to celebrate the end of term.

Overall, it has been another term of learning, experimentation and community spirit. Congratulations to our students and staff for their hard work and achievements. Here’s to more great learning opportunities and experiences in term 4.

Kath

LPA, LPB, LPC - Primary Sports Day

LPA, LPB and LPC thoroughly enjoyed participating in our Primary Sports Day hosted by Kaboom Kids Sport. We started the day by participating in a group warm up where we got to show off some of our best dance moves. We then worked hard to rotate through 16 different activity stations where we practised our throwing, kicking, balancing, striking, catching and gross motor skills. The day finished with a fun freeze game. It was so much fun and we especially loved the music for moving and packing up. We also loved seeing some of our old friends who are now in Upper Primary. A great physical and active day was had by all.

LPD, LPJ, LPK - Father's Day, Special Persons Day activity

The Preps had a fantastic time celebrating Father's Day with their dads and special people. The afternoon kicked off with fun, Father’s Day-themed games and a story, setting the tone for a memorable event. Dads and their children then enjoyed a series of sensory activities at different stations, including water beads, shaving cream, and water play. To wrap up the day, the students proudly presented their special Father’s Day gifts to their dads, ending the celebration on a heartwarming note. Everyone had a wonderful time!

LPE, LPF, LPG - Book Week

Lower Primary students celebrated Book Week in August. We had a dress up day and were enchanted by fairies, super heroes, wizards and countless book characters. The students paraded their outfits in front of their friends and danced up a storm, giving hi 5’s to everyone in their path. A highlight for the students was seeing the staff dressed up too!

It was a great day celebrating literature and enjoying books.

LPH, LPI - Discovery Centre

Grade 1 students from LPH and LPI have been exploring the weather and changing seasons in their Integrated Studies unit, which culminated in an exciting trip to the Discovery Centre! They had a blast dressing up in outfits for each season, learning how weather affects what we wear and do throughout the year. They also learned about the impact of various weather patterns, such as forest fires, typhoons, rain, and flooding, on both the environment and our daily lives.

Specialists

In the ART Room, students have been developing their visual art practices by constructing a range of craft projects. They explored colours, black and white contrasts using silhouettes based on the Paris Eiffel Tower and sparkles to create a fireworks effect. Other Olympic activities included making the Olympic flame and Olympic gold medals. Students also created several sea creatures including, paper plate sharks, cellophane jelly fish, and egg carton crabs. In the art room garden, students enjoy the spring plants growing, making mud pies in the dirt and feeding leftover fruit to worms in the worm farm. Safe and happy holidays to all from Kris.

Performing Arts

Throughout Term 3 in the Performing Arts program, students explored global cultures through dance and music in celebration of the Olympics and Paralympics. They danced on the Bridge of Avignon in France, played the tambourine and performed the Tarantella in Italy, sambaed in Brazil, boot-scooted across the USA, engaged in fan dancing in China, Bollywood danced in India, and drummed on the djembe in Africa.

Looking forward to more dancing in Term 4 when production rehearsals ramp up ready for our big show Movie Magic on November 22nd.

PE

In PE this term, students have enthusiastically participated in gymnastics, with a particular focus on yoga. Throughout our sessions, we explored various poses, including the Turtle, Eagle, and Tiger poses. The Tiger pose emerged as the favourite among students, showcasing their creativity and flexibility.

Our term culminated in an exciting excursion to "Jets" Gym in Diamond Creek. This visit allowed students to explore the gym's facilities and engage in various physical activities. They had a wonderful time navigating the different rooms and trying out new equipment, which reinforced their skills and confidence.

Overall, it has been a term filled with learning, fun, and physical development. We look forward to continuing this journey in the next term!

Happy and Safe holidays

Lower Primary

Term 2

Issue 3 · 19 Sep 2024

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