Classroom News
Foundation
Decoding
Students are spending this fortnight strengthening their Set 2 phoneme knowledge, with a strong focus on accuracy and long‑term recall. Through consistent daily practice, they are learning to recognise these sounds swiftly and confidently, allowing them to draw on them automatically during reading and writing tasks. They are applying these phonemes in a range of ways - blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds in short words - all of which are essential foundations for strong decoding. During Buddy Reading, students are working with levelled decodable texts, giving them repeated opportunities to read with growing fluency, expression, and confidence. These short, frequent reading sessions help students shift from sounding out each word to reading more smoothly and naturally. We are also continuing to develop students’ Heart Word knowledge. Being able to recognise these words instantly supports overall reading fluency and frees up mental space so students can focus on decoding unfamiliar words.
Text Construction
In Text Construction, students are learning to identify and create questions and statements. Using a familiar idea from our decodable text students practise writing both a question and a statement. Keeping the idea consistent helps them notice how meaning shifts depending on the sentence type. Students work with examples such as: “Where is Gus?” “Gus is with Mum.” First, students discuss possibilities together, sharing where Gus might be and how they know. Then they write their own versions independently. This routine helps them understand that statements give information, while questions ask for information, all while building early writing fluency and confidence.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, students are learning about numbers to 99, with a particular focus on the tens numbers such as 40, 60, 70, 80, and 90. Using hands-on materials like manipulatives and tens‑frame trains, students are exploring how these numbers are built from groups of ten. Students have been making and comparing different tens, noticing how each number grows as more tens are added. By physically building numbers (for example, creating 70 as seven full tens frames), they develop a stronger understanding of place value and how tens and ones work together. These experiences help students strengthen number sense, recognise patterns in the number system, and confidently talk about how numbers are formed.
Content Knowledge
During Content Knowledge lessons, students have been learning about Europe, exploring the landscapes, animals, and cultural traditions that make this continent unique. They were especially interested in the European hedgehog, discovering how it curls into a ball for protection and lives in gardens, forests, and meadows across Europe. Students also learned about the Eiffel Tower, discussing why it is such an iconic landmark, and explored the vibrant Venice Festival, noticing the colourful masks, music, and traditions that bring the celebration to life.
This week, we are beginning our learning about Africa. Students will be introduced to the elephant, an important animal known for its intelligence, strength, and family bonds. We will also explore the Nile River, talking about how it supports life, travel, and farming across several African countries. Finally, students will learn about the Sahara Festival, discovering how communities celebrate culture, music, and tradition in one of the world’s most dramatic desert landscapes. Together, these lessons support students in building a broad, connected view of global cultures and environments.
Junior School
Content Knowledge
In Content Knowledge, we have started our new unit, The Culture of Japan. Students have been learning about the islands that make up Japan and locating these on maps. In the coming weeks, we will continue exploring aspects of Modern Japan, as well as Japanese arts and traditions. Students have also been building their understanding of new tiered vocabulary words such as capital, peak, mainland and crane, helping them develop stronger comprehension skills when these words appear in texts and discussions.
Text Construction
In Text Construction, students worked hard to plan and draft their own persuasive writing pieces about their favourite season. They did a fantastic job using planning documents and the conjunctions because, but, and so to help organise and expand their ideas. Students also created various writing plans about which season is the best and why. Each day, they were asked to change which season they were giving reasons about in the plan, challenging them to think of an extensive list of convincing arguments. We are now moving on to information reports and learning how to organise factual information clearly and effectively.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, students have been working on counting collections in more efficient ways rather than counting by ones. Students have been practising grouping concrete materials into groups of 2, 5 and 10 and then using skip counting strategies to count these quickly and accurately. It has been wonderful to see students’ confidence and fluency with skip counting continue to grow. Students are now applying their place value and skip counting knowledge to addition and subtraction tasks.
Middle School
This fortnight, students have been exploring the fascinating history of Ancient China through our Content Knowledge lessons. They have learned about important dynasties, influential rulers, the Silk Road, the Terracotta Army, and the Mongol invasions.
In Text Construction, students have been strengthening their writing skills by using appositives, coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS), and subordinating conjunctions to create more detailed and engaging sentences. Students have also applied their historical knowledge to write informative paragraphs and captions connected to their learning about Ancient China.
In Mathematics, students have been developing their understanding of data and symmetry. They have collected, organised, and represented data using tables, column graphs, bar graphs, and pictographs, while also interpreting and answering questions about the information presented. More recently, students have investigated symmetry by identifying lines of symmetry, completing symmetrical designs, and creating their own symmetrical patterns.
Senior School
Content Knowledge:
In content knowledge, we have been reading the book Nanberry. Nanberry is a book set in the late 1700s about a young boy named Nanberry and how he was adopted by Surgeon White. We are only halfway through but we are finding the book very exciting!
By I.P
Text Construction:
We have been reading the book Nanberry. It is an amazing book, and the characters we have met are Surgeon White, Maria, and Nanberry. Naberry is facing a harsh virus, smallpox, and his whole family and clan has unfortunately passed away due to this blood thirsty virus. We have been summarising what we read each day, using our notes we take as we read.
By P.T
Maths:
We have been learning about fractions and how to turn them into improper fractions and mixed numerals!
By I.S
Physical Education
Over the past two weeks in PE, students have been participating in our AFL unit, where they have been developing their kicking, passing, handballing, and teamwork skills through a range of fun and engaging activities and games. It has been great to see students building their confidence and applying these skills in game situations.
Next week, we will begin our soccer unit, where students will continue to focus on teamwork while developing their kicking, passing, and ball control skills. We are excited to finish the term with a bang as students build on their skills and enjoy a variety of fun and challenging activities in PE.
We Are a SunSmart School
Our Sun Protection Policy has recently been updated to ensure it connects with our accreditation as a Sun Smart School. As part of this update, we will be monitoring the UV levels to determine when hats need to be worn. Hats will continue to be required from mid-August to the end of April, and whenever UV levels reach 3 and above. We have begun to share this improvement with students through our Morning Message and recommend students have access to their hat each day at school.