Specialist News 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION NEWS

A busy Term 3 at SMPPS! Put the dates in your calendar:

Thu 08 Aug: SMPPS Athletics Carnival Prep to Yr 6 Lakeside Stadium

Fri 16 Aug: Year 3 & 4 Soccer Gala Day

Fri 06 Sep: District Athletics - selected students

Thu 19 Sep: Year 5 & 6 Basketball Gala Day

Dear Parents and Carers, 

What an exciting time it is for our students and athletics with the Paris Olympics in full swing! Our mini-Olympians are busily preparing for our Athletics Carnival next week and the weather looks like it's going to be kind to us on the 8th August. 

Thank you to those who have already signed up to help. For this event to run smoothly we require parent volunteers to assist. The events we still need help for are the year 3-6 events of discus, shot put, long jump, triple jump, high jump, hurdles, 100m sprint and 800m running event.

If we don't get enough volunteers, we may have to forfeit some events. 

Please use the below link to sign up to help:

We need more volunteers for the Year 3 - 6 events, please sign up via the link:

PERFORMING ARTS NEWS

Costumes Prep to Grade 4

You should have received a message this week from your class teacher(s) about costuming for the performance. Costumes will be a mix of your child's own clothes, parts of their uniform and a special item from the Costume Team. Please bring in named items to your teacher from next week until Friday 23rd August. Your teachers will keep them until after the show. Any issues let us know.

Also, please look at the donations list here and the volunteer list here.

Thank you for your support of Performing Arts!

Lisa Paech

STEM NEWS

In STEM we have been designing and coding a platform game using Scratch, a block coding website where you can create games, music and stories. We created a game called Flappy Chicken similar to the popular game Flappy Bird but our own design with our creativity and minds involved. Coding also involves maths and a good understanding of what every block does. You need to also have an open mind to deal with a TON of problem solving and tiny errors throughout the game. We added music to our code to give the user more excitement and a better experience in general.

Some code we used:

•  forever block- repeats a code you put inside it.
• x y coordinate- position of character on screen.
• if, then and else- if this happens then something else triggers.
• distance travelled block- tracks the distance of how far your character has travelled.

by Laith and Ziggy from 5C

EXPLORING THE NIGHT SKY IN GRADE 1

In our STEM class, Grade 1 students have delved into the wonders of the night sky. They eagerly shared what they know about the moon, stars, and galaxies, and expressed their learning through creative representations using oil pastels and paint.

To continue the exploration at home, ask your child: Can you find out why the moon changes shape?

SPANISH NEWS

Spanish Apps

At the end of last term, we explored a collection of apps to practice and have fun in Spanish. Some parents and tutors have shared how much the students have enjoyed these apps. These free apps, provided by the Australian Department of Education, are called Polyglots. They can be found on Android and Apple devices. They require my email and password, but if you send me a message at Antonio.cantocastello@education.vic.gov.au, I’ll be happy to share the login details with you.

In addition to Polyglots, there are other free language apps to support your child's Spanish learning:

Fun Spanish: Uses games, songs, and interactive lessons to make learning Spanish enjoyable for young children.

Duolingo: Offers fun, game-like lessons for building vocabulary and grammar skills.

These apps can help reinforce what your child is learning in class while making language practice enjoyable and convenient.

Kind regards,

Señor Toni Canto Castello 

Spanish Teacher & Prep / Year 1 STEM Teacher