PREP

We've hit the ground running this term, and our Preps continue to impress us every day with their enthusiasm and growing independence.

In Literacy we have completed Stage 4+ and have now moved into Stage 5. Students have been learning the spelling rules for adding -s and -es to make plural words. We are also beginning to read and spell longer four and five-letter words, such as snap and twist, where the letters are still representing their most common sounds.

Over the coming weeks, we will begin introducing digraphs such as th, ch and sh. If these sounds appear in your child's home reader before we have explicitly taught them, please feel free to tell them the sound or word and continue reading. There is no expectation for them to know these independently just yet.

As we extend our number knowledge to 20, we are encouraging students to confidently read, write and make collections to 20. Please keep an eye on the maths goals in your child's home folder for simple ways to support their learning at home.

School swimming began today! While the swimming itself is often the easy part, we are also placing a strong focus on building students' independence by encouraging them to organise their belongings, change themselves and follow instructions throughout the session. The Preps often get extra hungry on our swimming days, so it is very helpful if you could pack some extra snacks on Thursdays!

Our school performance is coming up later this term. We ask that each child has a plain black T-shirt and black shorts to wear for the performance. We also plan to use this black outfit when we celebrate 100 Days of School, so having these items ready will be very helpful. Our '100 Days' celebration will likely be in Week 4 (Wednesday 5th August). Keep an eye on Dojo for more information.

A reminder to please check our Dojo post about sending in photos for our upcoming learning. We are looking for:

A photo with your child's father or father figure for Father's Day.

A special memory.

Photos for your child's personal timeline.

Our next prayer gathering will be on the Friday prior to Father's Day (September 4th). Your child's speaking park has been glued into their blue Home Learning book.

Thank you for your continued support. We are looking forward to another wonderful term of learning together!

Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Liza Alexander lalexander@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 1

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break. It has been lovely to see the students return to school ready for a fantastic term of learning.

In Literacy, we have been exploring the long /oo/ sound in ‘boo the goose’. We have also begun learning the spelling choice -le, as in ‘little poodle’, and students have been enjoying practising reading and writing words with these new sounds.

In Maths, we are finishing our final unit of place value, where students have been building their confidence reading, writing, ordering numbers to 120. We will then begin our third unit of Addition and Subtraction.

In Religion, we have begun our new unit exploring imagination, encouraging students to think creatively while making connections to their everyday lives.

A reminder for swimming each Thursday commencing today. Please ensure your child comes to school with their swimmers, towel, goggles (if needed), and a plastic bag for wet clothes.

The Year One Team

Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Abbey Hayes ahayes@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 2

We have had a great start to Term 3.

Swimming lessons start today and will continue until Week 8. Please remember to send a swimming bag with swimmers, underwear, a towel and slides or thongs with your child each Thursday.

In Religion, we have begun our new unit, 'Imagine'. We have been tuning into our learning by participating in a range of fun games and activities that encourage us to stretch our imagination. These experiences have helped students think creatively and prepare for the exciting learning ahead.

In Inquiry, we are exploring the topic of 'Special Places'. Students have been sharing places that are special to them and explaining why they are meaningful. Over the coming weeks, we will also investigate places that are important within our local community and across Australia, building an understanding of why these places are valued by different people.

In Literacy, we have been practicing writing recounts by retelling personal experiences in the correct sequence and including important details. Students have also been learning about the suffixes -er and -est, discovering how these endings change the meaning of words and using them in their reading and writing.

In Numeracy, we are building confidence in placing two and three digit numbers accurately on number lines. Students are developing their understanding of number magnitude and ordering, using number lines to estimate and compare numbers with increasing accuracy.

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

Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 3

Welcome back! Term 3, here we go! We hope everyone had a fantastic and relaxing winter break and is feeling refreshed for another exciting term of learning.

Last Friday, we held our Year 3 Prayer Gathering. It was wonderful to see the confidence our Year 3 students displayed, and we were so proud of the way they led the gathering. A big thank you to all the families who were able to come along and share in our NAIDOC Week celebrations with us. Following our Prayer Gathering, we enjoyed a fantastic morning of NAIDOC activities as a whole school. A special thank you to Lynne, our Art teacher, for all of the extra time and effort she put into creating such meaningful learning experiences for our students.

In Literacy and Inquiry, we are exploring Australia and its neighbouring countries. Students will be learning about the people, places and unique features of our region while developing their understanding of informative texts.

In Numeracy, we have been exploring number lines and using them to strengthen our understanding of numbers and mathematical thinking. We will soon begin our new unit on multiplication and division.

In Religious Education, we are learning about hospitality and exploring what it means to welcome, care for and serve others in our everyday lives.

A reminder that the Year 3/4 Football Gala Day will be held on Friday 31st July at Central Reserve. This is an introduction to AFL in a round-robin format against other Colac and district schools. We wish all participating students a fun and enjoyable day.

We are looking forward to another fantastic term of learning, growth and exciting opportunities together.

Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 4

Welcome back to a brand new term! We hope all of our Grade Four families enjoyed a wonderful, restful holiday break. We are so excited to jump back into learning, and we have an extra special reason to celebrate: a very warm welcome to Meg, who is joining our Grade Four team as a classroom teacher! We are thrilled to have her with us, and the students are already enjoying getting to know her.

Looking back, the final week of last term was certainly one to remember! Despite a very foggy top at Red Rock, our excursion was a hit, and we finished the term celebrating two of our very own. A huge congratulations to Adelaide and Maggie for taking out the St. Mary's Got Talent mantle with their spectacular performance!

In Mathematics, we are diving into our second decimals unit, shifting our focus to hundredths. To help bring these concepts to life, we are integrating money into our lessons to give the students hands-on practice. The next time you visit the shops, feel free to hand your child the coins/card and let them practice paying or calculating the change—it is a fantastic way to reinforce their learning in the real world! Our Literacy unit is taking a magical turn as we introduce Roald Dahl’s iconic book, The Witches, which is sure to spark plenty of great discussions and imaginative writing including a playful debate about whether their own classroom teachers might be witches in disguise…..

Looking ahead, our new topic in Religious Education is Hospitality—be sure to ask your child at home about how we can show hospitality to those around us! Humanities this term delves into geography where we will be looking at different habitats with a sustainability focus and an investigation into how humans can impact the environment around us.

Finally, a couple of gentle reminders: please send your child into school with an empty shoebox for an upcoming hands-on project in Humanities, and mark your calendars for Bec’s class prayer gathering coming up on Friday in Week 4.

We look forward to a fantastic term ahead.

Rebecca Gallagher rgallagher@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Meg Knight mknight@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5

It has been wonderful welcoming our Year 5 students back for Term 3. They have settled back into classroom routines quickly and have made a fantastic start to the term.

A reminder that student diaries and homework should be returned every Friday. Students are working towards an end-of-term reward for consistently completing their homework and having their diaries signed each week.

Our Year 5 School Camp will be held during the final three days of term, 16–18 September 2026. Medical information forms will be sent home shortly. We ask that you please read through the form carefully, complete it and return it as soon as possible. We are sending these home early to allow families plenty of time to organise any required information.

In Literacy, students have begun our Geography unit by exploring the diverse landscapes, environments and features of Australia and North America. Later this term, we will be investigating Europe, which links closely with our Humanities learning. We have also started reading our class novel, Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford, and students are already enjoying the story.

In Mathematics, students began the term learning about the first quadrant of the Cartesian plane, a topic they thoroughly enjoyed. We have now moved into multiplication and division, beginning with the doubling and halving strategy to solve multiplication problems efficiently.

In Religious Education, students have started our Integrity unit, exploring what integrity means and how we can demonstrate it through our words, choices and actions.

Rachael C.'s Prayer Gathering will be held on Friday, 31st of July. Families are warmly welcome to attend.

We are also looking forward to our Winter Sports at Colac Primary School tomorrow. Please ensure your child comes to school wearing their sports uniform and brings a drink bottle and any other required items for the day.

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

Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 6

Over halfway through our final year of primary school!

We’ve hit the ground running in Term 3, and it has been wonderful to see our Year 6 students return focused, motivated and ready to learn.

In Numeracy, we began the term by exploring Cartesian planes and learning how to plot and interpret coordinates. This week, we have moved into our Multiplication and Division unit. Students are working in flexible learning groups to ensure everyone is challenged and supported at their point of need. We've also been enjoying a fun and competitive warm-up game, "Get Out of My House," which has become a class favourite!

Our Humanities focus this term is Geography, with an emphasis on Asia. Students are investigating the geographical, social and economic characteristics of the region. This learning links closely with our Literacy program, where we are building our understanding of the continent of Asia before researching individual countries. Students will use this knowledge to write an informative report on a country of their choice.

On Thursdays and Fridays, we are completing a text study of A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning. Students have been thoroughly engaged by the story and are always eager to discover what happens next.

In Religion, we have begun our unit on Integrity. Students learned about Vincent Lingiari and the integrity and perseverance he demonstrated in advocating for Aboriginal land rights. This connected meaningfully with our whole-school celebration of NAIDOC Week last Friday and provided valuable opportunities for discussion and reflection.

We have also kicked off our Winter Sports competition. Students displayed outstanding sportsmanship and enthusiasm in last Friday's matches against Colac South West. We look forward to another great afternoon of competition this Friday when we take on Colac Primary.

Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Administration News