School News 

Prep

We've had a fantastic two weeks in Prep! The students have been exploring a variety of new topics, including identifying letters in words, reading common words, writing recounts, subitising, and recognising and writing numbers up to 10.

The students have been having a great time with PMP each Monday. This week, we introduced some exciting new activities: skipping ropes, rolling a ball to each other, balancing on a rope, and using rackets and bean bags to practice balancing. These activities are not only helping to improve their coordination skills but also providing a fun opportunity to connect with their fellow Prep classmates.

Last week, we participated in Clean Up Australia Day, and it was fantastic to see the students' enthusiasm as they worked together to help keep our school grounds clean and beautiful. It was wonderful to see their teamwork and dedication on the day!

Reminder: This Friday the 7th of March is a curriculum day, and Monday the 10th of March is a public holiday. 

Have a fabulous long weekend!

Kindest regards,

The Prep Team

Laina Brebner, Kayla Hartrick and Emma Wright

Grade 1 

Grade 1’s have been busy working in their classrooms learning a lot this term about their community and how they fit. We have enjoyed getting stuck into our literacy and maths and can’t wait to share some things with you.  

In reading we’ve been practicing our skills solving words. We have concentrated on using 4 strategies: blending; identifying the beginning, middle and end sounds in words; chunking; and flipping the vowel. 

In Writing, we finished writing our recounts and used the 5 W’s to add more detail to our writing. Ask your child to explain the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where and why). This week we began exploring letter writing and brainstormed who we could write to and the purpose of writing letters.

In Maths we have had fun learning about place value and playing games to do with tens and ones. We’ve had ‘imaginary dinner parties’ with guest and seating arrangements. We are enjoying working with different maths buddies each week and sharing our skills and knowledge or become great mathematicians. 

We’ve been thinking hard about the community groups we belong to and the benefits of these groups. We’ve discussed the rules groups have that are in place to keep us safe and so we can have fun.   

In Wellbeing we’ve had some interesting chats about The Zones of Regulation and have discussed what each zone can look like and feel like within our bodies. We have brainstormed and identified different tools we can use to bring out bodies back to the ‘green zone’.  

Don’t forget the short week tomorrow and next week. 

All the best from the Grade 1 Team

Sally Newton, Tim Huntington, Mel Layton and Ashleigh Wilson

Grade 2

What a fantastic fortnight it has been for our Grade 2 students! Over the past two weeks, our students have been busy exploring new concepts, developing essential skills, and growing in confidence across a variety of subjects. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights:

In Reading, our Grade 2 students have been diving into comprehension by practicing the art of making predictions before reading a text. Through engaging discussions, they’ve learned how to look at for clues on book covers, titles, and illustrations to make thoughtful guesses about what the story might be about. This practice helps sharpen their reading skills, as they anticipate key events and characters. It’s been amazing to see how these predictions spark curiosity and create a deeper understanding of the stories they read.

In their writing lessons, students have been discovering the unique features of diary writing. They’ve learned that diaries are personal reflections, often written in the first person, and typically include details about the writer's feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Our Grade 2 learners have had fun taking on the perspective of different animals, creating diary entries in the style of ‘Diary of a Wombat’. 

In Maths, students have been working hard on rounding and estimating. They’ve learned how to round numbers to the nearest ten, which will help them make mental calculations faster. Alongside rounding, students have also been practicing estimating quantities. This skill is essential not only in the classroom but also in everyday life, from estimating how many cookies are in a jar to figuring out how long it might take to travel somewhere. It’s been wonderful to watch students become more confident in using these mathematical tools to solve problems! Check out the photos of our students estimating numbers on empty number lines in the photo gallery!

We would like to wish all of our families a very happy long weekend and we will see you back school on Tuesday 11th March for another fortnight of enriching learning. 

The Grade 2 Team

Allie Harrison, Sarah Jones and Brendan Van Haaster

Grade 3 & 4

The Year 3 & 4 students have been enjoying making predictions and sharing their personal connections to texts read together as a class. We have been gradually developing our stamina by reading “good fit” books independently for longer periods of time. 

In Writing, we have been revising, editing and publishing pieces and students are excited to be sharing their portfolio samples soon! 

The start of our Friendology sequence has begun. Students are utilising their special coloured workbooks full of visuals and activities to follow our program this year. We are focussing on how to be a great friend to ourselves before we can learn to be a great friend to others. We’ve unpacked strategies to look after our well-being, like breathing and doing our favourite activities, to help us get back into the green zone. We can combat negative thinking and emotions with calming techniques and positive thinking that help both ourselves and our friendships thrive. 

The 3/4 Team

Damien Smith, Daena Hailey, Brent Smith, Claire Cripps and Nick Pagliaro

Grade 5 & 6

What a busy couple of weeks we've had in 5/6! 

Our Reading sessions have involved looking at emotive language both in written texts and online videos, learning how these words can create connections and influence the audience. We've also focused on identifying adverbial phrases to add depth and detail to our understanding of texts.

In Writing, we’ve been working on the skill of 'show, don’t tell', learning how to describe emotions and actions without directly stating them. We’ve also been busy editing and publishing persuasive pieces, honing our ability to present strong arguments and persuasive language.

In Maths we’ve been strengthening our number skills with rounding and renaming. We’ve also started exploring decimals, learning to work with them confidently in both practical and abstract ways.

We've started practising for our Summer Sports Day at the end of March by getting into our cricket, softball, tennis and volleyball teams to run through the necessary skills and rules of each. It's clear some students have a passion for interschool rivalry, and it's been lovely to see them encouraging and supporting their peers who may be less confident in this area. It's been a lot of fun already, so we can't wait for the fierce competition of the big day to arrive!

Last Friday we also headed down to Balcombe Reserve for Clean Up Australia Day. Our students did an excellent job of ensuring the local park was rubbish-free by the time they left.

Just a reminder that this Friday 7th March is a curriculum day and Monday 10th March is a public holiday, so we'll see everyone back next Tuesday. Have a wonderful long weekend!

The 5/6 Team

Llinos Poole, Rachel Boyle, Alarna Creed, Hayley Peirce and Erin Rennick