Specialist News

EAL Centre

Over the past two weeks, our EAL Centre has been buzzing with excitement as we celebrated Science Week (Week 4) and Book Week (Week 5).

During Science Week, each year level explored science through age-appropriate learning experiences. Foundation students discovered the seasons, learning about the changes we see in our environment throughout the year. 

Year 1 and 2 students investigated how plants grow and carried out a fascinating experiment using mung bean sprouts. The beans were first soaked and then kept moist in different parts of the classroom to test where they would grow best. Through this hands-on experiment, students observed how light, water, and air play an important role in plant growth, and they recorded their findings through drawings and simple sentences. 

Students in Years 3–6 engaged in reading a variety of science-themed books to explore the wonders of the universe, planets, the moon, and space. They created their very own science posters and booklets, recording their learning in different ways such as making predictions, drawing pictures to demonstrate their thinking, exploring new vocabulary, and writing reflections about what they had learnt.

The following week, our EAL learners embraced the joy of stories during Book Week. Students explored a wide range of books, celebrating the power of reading to inspire imagination, build connections, and develop language skills. Across all levels, we celebrated the idea that books can take us anywhere—from magical lands to scientific discoveries—while helping us grow as readers and thinkers.

A highlight of Book Week was the launch of our brand-new Reading Zone in the EAL Centre. Thanks to the generous donations of books from our wider Melbourne community, we now have a welcoming space dedicated to nurturing a love for reading. The Reading Zone has already become a daily feature of our lessons, with students spending 10–15 minutes enjoying books and practising a new reading strategy each week. This initiative is already strengthening literacy skills and fostering a lifelong passion for reading among our students.

The celebrations in Weeks 4 and 5 truly showcased how learning in the EAL Centre combines curiosity, creativity, and community spirit.

Visual Art 

During this term, students in Years 3 to 6 are exploring the art of animation using the Stop Motion Studio app in Visual Arts.

Our Year 3 and 4 students listened to the Aboriginal Dreamtime story of Bunjil the Eagle and learned about Bunjil’s connection to Bunurong Country, which stretches from Clayton to the Mornington Peninsula. Inspired by this, they created landscape paintings of Bunurong land and designed their own eagles using patterns influenced by Aboriginal artists. They are now bringing their artworks to life by animating Bunjil flying over their landscapes.

Meanwhile, our Year 5 and 6 students took inspiration from the Japanese animation Ponyo. After developing storylines on a storyboard, they built their own ocean settings, characters, and props using clay and cellophane. They are now producing imaginative short films full of colour and creativity.

We are excited to share a selection of their wonderful work below!

Performing Arts

In Performing Arts, students have been having fun reading scripts and practising their drama skills to create characters. 

The children in Years 5 and 6 have been workshopping scripts and analysing them to see how the playwright is getting a message across to the audience. Their next challenge is to create their own plays.

Students in Years 3 and 4 have been exploring The Jungle Book movie and seeing if they can make some dramatic connections between the movie and their classroom mascots.

In Years 1 and 2, students have been reading picture books and working together to turn them into scripts. 

Foundation students have been reenacting favourite stories such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas. 

On September 12th, students from Foundation to Year 2 will be visiting Hamer Hall to listen to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. They have been listening to some of the pieces of music they will be hearing. Foundation students have been focusing on volume and noticing how quiet through to loud music can change how they are feeling. Years 1 and 2 students have been using listening grids to help them recognise different elements of the music.  

And of course, there has been dancing. During the last week of term, we have the Australian Ballet visiting the school to work with students in Years 3 to 6. Students will have lessons for one hour a day over three days. On the fourth day, they will perform and watch a performance by the Australian Ballet representatives. This is an amazing opportunity for our students. It is a free incursion and is only made available to 12 schools in Victoria this year.

The students who are participating in the Victorian State School Spectacular 2025 are getting very close to performance day. They have worked hard all year and are ready for this challenge. Tickets to the evening performance are sold out, but there are still some available for the afternoon session. The VSSS is an amazing experience for students, one they will never forget. 

Girls from the school have received a notice from the Australian Girls’ Choir inviting them to audition to join the choir. Auditions will be held here, on Friday 10th October. If you are interested, please register online. 

Physical Education

By Khadijah

On 27th of August, the year 5/6 girls went to Waverly Netball Centre to play netball. The coaches split us up with students from Brandon Park, so some of the players could have someone from their school. We played against each other and tried our best. At the end we met their mascot, took pictures and they gave us merchandise, a ball, scrunchie and some posters. We had lots of fun running around the court, cheering each other on and celebrating each goal.