Fortnightly Classroom Update

This week has been very busy in Prep. On Monday, the students shared morning tea with the Year 3 students and are looking forward to taking part in their first School Athletics Day on Friday. 

The Prep students are continuing to actively engage with our Little Learners Love Literacy program and are now moving onto Stage 3 + 4 letters, sounds and heart words. 

During Mathematics, the students have been learning to partition and combine collections up to10 using part-part-whole relationships. They will continue to build their confidence and fluency in this area throughout the rest of this term. Next week, they move onto learning about 2D shapes. They will be sorting, naming and creating familiar shapes and recognising and describing familiar shapes within the environment. It would be wonderful if you could practise looking for, and naming shapes, when you are out and about in the environment. 

In the past couple of weeks, the Year 1 students have enjoyed preparing for Mother’s Day. 

During Writing lessons, the students brainstormed ideas on how to describe mums, and utilised their creativity to make a bouquet of flowers, which included six sentences about their mum. They also worked hard to practise their readings and songs for the Mother’s Day liturgy. They led the liturgy with such reverence and enthusiasm, truly making it a special experience for all those present. 

In Mathematics, the students have concluded the unit on Counting and Place Value, and they enjoyed partitioning 2-digit numbers using concrete materials. We look forward to our next topic of Measurement. 

In Year 2 this fortnight, we have continued our learning about prefixes and suffixes. So far, we have explored the prefixes pre- and re-, as well as the suffixes -ed and -er. 

In Mathematics, we have been developing our understanding of place value with 4-digit numbers. This week, we will move on to revising addition and subtraction strategies, focusing on adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers. 

In Religion, students have been learning about stewardship and our responsibility to care for God’s gift of creation.

The Year 3 students recently enjoyed a special morning tea with the Foundation students as we celebrated their First Reconciliation. It was a wonderful opportunity to come together as a school community. 

In Literacy, we have been exploring Finding Our Heart and learning about the Uluru Statement. These rich learning experiences are helping students deepen their understanding of identity, connection, and the importance of listening to and learning from First Nations voices. 

In Maths, we have recently completed our learning on fractions and decimals and are now exploring measurement and patterns. 

We are also very excited for Friday and are looking forward to participating in our Whole School Athletics Day. We hope to see many families there cheering us on!

This fortnight, Year 4 has been actively engaged in a range of exciting learning experiences across the curriculum. In Mathematics, students have begun exploring length and area, developing their measurement skills through hands-on activities and problem-solving tasks. In Literacy, we have been reading Uncle Xbox and participating in thoughtful discussions about Indigenous perspectives and themes presented throughout the text.

In Inquiry, students have been investigating rocks and minerals found within the Earth, while also examining how volcanoes are formed and the impact they can have on the environment. In Religion, we have been learning about the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church and discussing their importance within the faith community.

We are also looking forward to several exciting upcoming events, including Athletics Day and our school camp to Angahook, which will provide wonderful opportunities for teamwork, resilience and creating lasting memories together.

Over the last two weeks, Year 5 students have been very busy both inside and outside the classroom. 

In Literacy, students have been reading Dirrarn and researching the life of Jandamarra, an Aboriginal leader from the Bunuba people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This learning has linked closely with themes explored throughout the novel helping students deepen their understanding of Aboriginal Australian history and culture.

In Mathematics, students have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes and designing accurate nets using precise measurements to construct their own models. 

During Inquiry lessons, students have been exploring solids, liquids and gases and enjoyed working alongside Year 6 students to become scientists through hands-on experiments investigating states of matter.

In Religion, students have been discussing belonging within the Church community. Today, students attended Parish Mass and learnt about St. Matthias the Apostle as we celebrated his Feast Day on 14 May. 

Students have also enjoyed beginning their new Friday sport rotations and are looking forward to Athletics Day this week.

Over the past two weeks, the Grade 6 students have been engaged in a range of exciting learning experiences across Literacy, Inquiry and Mathematics. 

In Literacy, students have been exploring the history of pearl diving in Northern Western Australia through our class novel Free Diving, learning about the hardships experienced by Aboriginal people and writing personal responses to the text. 

In Inquiry, the Grade 5/6 students have been investigating solids, liquids and gases through hands-on experiments, while in Mathematics students have been strengthening their understanding of fractions by learning to simplify, convert and compare them. 

It has been wonderful to see students continuing to develop their leadership skills while showing persistence and confidence in their learning.

Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students have been practising using directional language such as forwards, backwards, left and right to guide a bee to its hive in preparation for coding Bee Bots. To finish the session, students had time to explore their Bee Bots, learning how they work, how to code them, how to clear the code and how to work collaboratively with a partner.

Year 3 students have been programming their Ozobots using specific colour codes to create different speeds. Students explored six speed settings: super slow, slow, cruise, fast, turbo and nitro boost. A key challenge has been ensuring their lines are the correct length and width, requiring students to work with precision and consistency.

Year 4 students have completed the planning stage of their Scratch game projects. Working in pairs, students selected a game style: Catch, Jumping, Shooting or Pong, and identified a sustainability issue for their game to focus on. Students are excited to begin coding after camp. 

Year 5 and 6 students proudly presented their playable arcade games, designed to be fun, fair and reliable while using only recycled materials. Students enjoyed showcasing their creations, exploring each other’s games and celebrating the creativity and teamwork demonstrated throughout the project.

In Prep we have enjoyed practising our colours through games such as Colour Bingo. They have completed writing activities to begin reading and writing the colours in Italian. We have also started to answer with Si (yes) or No when asked in Italian which colour we like.

Years 1/2 have continued to complete sentences they are writing to express their likes and dislikes in Italian. They have begun to use these language skills to express their opinion about foods. They have been introduced to the word mangiare (eat) to help them describe in a sentence what they like to eat e.g. Mi piace mangiare la pizza. (I like to eat pizza)

In Years 3/4 the students are developing their confidence in asking for classroom items by its colour. They have participated in speaking activities and games that allow them to practise this, ensuring that they are placing the nouns and adjectives in the correct order. They are also improving their skills in recognising if a noun is masculine or feminine and ensuring the adjective matches its gender.

In Years 5/6 the students have learnt about the spelling and sound of the hard C in Italian. They have continued to practise sentences that describe pain in a particular part of the body. They have enjoyed the challenge of reading scripts, especially when tested for speed/fluency and accuracy.

Students in Prep are enjoying participating in a fun costume hat drama activities. Sitting together in a circle, they have been exploring  the different colours, textures and styles of the hats and discussing who might wear them. Using their imagination, students stepped into the circle to become a character, changing their voice, facial expressions and body posture to match. This engaging activity encouraged creativity, confidence and expressive performance skills while providing plenty of laughter and fun.

The Year 1/2 students have explored how Aboriginal Dance represents the movements of some Australian animals like the kangaroo, goanna and snake. They have practised the movements and compared them to how they have represented these animals in their original dances. They have then looked at how dancers can use a range of movements with a particular body part or section of their body such as the upper body. They have experimented with a variety of movements as they performed to music.

After learning about dances that have limitations, the students in Year 3/4 had a go at learning the basic moves of an Irish Jig and the Middle Eastern Dabke. Both of these have limited movements but still challenged the students' skill and timing. This week they began to experiment with using as many body parts as possible as they worked on an imaginative dance. The students pretended to be stuck in a bubble and used as many body parts as possible to clean all sides of the bubble to the rhythm of the music.

In Year 5/6 we have looked at the dances of the 1930s and 40s as well as the 1950s. The students worked in groups to present a dance from the 30s or 40s including Swing, Mambo, Conga and the Big Apple. After exploring the influence of Elvis Presley the students explored popular dances of the 1950’s and learnt how to do the Hand Jive.

In Prep, students will be developing their fundamental movement skills with games and activities focusing on running and dodging.  Preps will continue to refine their racing standing starts and strong running past the finish line in preparation for the Athletics carnival. They will also continue to develop their throwing and catching skills in the Frisbee Unit.

The Year 1/2 students are continuing to improve their fundamental movement skills in throwing, running, leaping and dodging. They are preparing for the Athletics carnival with practice in standing starts, strong running past the finish line, long jump leaps and tennis ball throws using the shotput technique. Students will continue the Frisbee Unit with focus on catching using the crocodile “snap” method, throwing and working on their accuracy.

Year 3/4 students will continue preparing for the Athletics carnival with a focus on their take off and sprinting techniques for track events and shot put and long jump skills development. Students are also working on a Netball Unit where they are developing their passing, catching, correct movement and teamwork skills while learning the rules and positions of netball.

Students in Years 5/6 will continue preparing for the Athletics carnival with a focus on developing field event techniques. Students are also working on a Netball Unit where they are developing their passing, catching and correct movement and while learning the rules and positions of netball. Students are being encouraged to work with their teammates to be inclusive and develop strategies to maximise the team’s strengths.

Our students have been very busy creating wonderful artworks.

Foundation students have been experimenting with black painted lines and primary colours in their Piet Mondrian-inspired artworks. They are exploring shape, colour and composition while creating bold geometric designs.

Years 1/2 students have been creating vibrant cityscapes inspired by Paul Klee using collage techniques. Their artworks showcase imaginative buildings, interesting patterns and creative use of colour.

Years 3/4 students have been busy continuing their water coloured abstract artworks. They have been experimenting with colour blending, layering and expressive painting techniques.

Years 5/6 students created paper sculpture animals inspired by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. Students are exploring texture, form and sculpture techniques while constructing their imaginative animal creations.