From the Assistant Principal's Desk

AMADEUS

We are drawing near the end of our first year of delivering the SCS Amadeus Music Education Program and we believe it has been a very successful year for all our Year Three to Six students. In addition to teaching a knowledge and appreciation of music, the Amadeus program helps to develop important Executive Function skills in our students such as: responsibility, organisation, time management, sustained attention and persistence.   

The program was named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, possibly the world’s greatest classical composer. Mozart was a child prodigy who began playing the piano and the violin at the age of 3, composed his first symphony aged 8 and his first opera when he was just 14 years old. He was raised a Catholic and his faith inspired him all his life. So it is very fitting that the SCS Music program is named after him.

The Amadeus Program gives equal opportunity to all our students in Years 3 to 8 to learn either a string, woodwind or brass instrument and be part of an ensemble. Research tells us that learning and playing music together strengthens neural pathways in the brain and can significantly improve academic success and student engagement. 

The students have made excellent progress over the year with learning their instruments and they are ready and eager to showcase their developing talent to a real life audience, that is you, our school community. It is a well known fact in education that students are highly  motivated, engaged and rise to the challenge when their projects have a real world purpose. And to quote one of our outstanding music tutors “Music needs to be cool”. And what could be more cool than entertaining an appreciative audience. 

To this end, last Thursday morning, all our musicians were invited to entertain our families and friends as they arrived to drop off their children to school. We had a relaxed, fun atmosphere and the children thoroughly enjoyed showcasing their new skills. 

Your next opportunity to be entertained will be at the Amadeus End of Year Concert on Friday 24 November at 9:00 a.m.

YEAR TWO POETRY

This term Year 2 have been exploring and creating poetry. They have looked at a variety of different styles of poems: Sensory poems, Haikus, Diamante, poems with rhyming couplets and this week they are focusing on Limericks.  

Like Haikus, Limericks have specific rules about which lines must rhyme and how many syllables are in each line. The students are rising to the challenge of the rigour involved in identifying rhyming words and counting syllables. Enjoy some of their early attempts at writing Limericks in pairs and triads, below. They are getting better and better at creating Limericks each day. 

A big dog and a skinny cat

Went to find a big, fat rat.

Went into a fight

All through the night 

And rolled past a colourful hat. 

By Lily, Elsa and Colette

There was a man called Dan

Who lived in a tiny can

He ate worms that squirmed 

That was the money he earned 

But he couldn’t afford a fan. 

By Malachi and Marcelo

I saw an asteroid go

Although it was very slow

The spaceship was cold

And it was so old

I miss my planet so.

By Cate, Ethan and Sofia

HIGH SCHOOL HUB

Just a reminder that High School Hub is an online platform available to our Year 6 students and their parents to assist the students to transition easily and effectively into High School which is a new and quite different learning environment. The Hub provides you with access to lots of information through 20 different modules. You do not need to explore all the modules, only the ones that interest you. Here is a small sample of some of the topics:

• Ace Your Homework
• Friendships & Getting Along
• Home Study Area
• Packing Your Bag
• Study & Exams

Today, during class, the Year 6 students had a brief explore of the High School Hub platform and the notebook that goes with it. Some students requested a copy of the notebook so they could start using the modules at home. Some time may be available for working on the modules at school however it is a resource for home and for discussion with parents.

The website is www.highschoolhub.com.au/login

Username: staidansmaroubra

Password: Frog23bus#

Have a wonderful fortnight

Warm regards,

Robyn Green