Learning and Teaching
Visual Art Term 4
Junior students have been having fun with Lego using the blocks to print with ink. They have layered their shapes to build castle designs using a variety of sizes, considering placement on the page and structures found in historic castles like arches, turrets, spires, gates and brick walls. They have added drawings of imagery to enhance their design like kings, queens, knights and even dragons.
The Juniors have also been drawing flowers from observation using blending and harmonious colours with pastels. They are currently taking this further using acrylic paint and primary colours to create secondary colours and value ranges in the petals of drawn flowers.
The Senior students have been making ceramic creations using the pinch pot technique to build bodies and heads for a Bobble Head Design. Next they joined arms, legs, facial features and details to enhance their designs. They are currently painting these, creating any colour they need using only three primary colours, and applying this carefully to the dried design over an undercoat of paint. These will be finished with a final top coat of gloss.
Christmas is coming! All levels have had the option to enter a Christmas Card Design Competition for our local member for Casey, Cassandra Fernando. So many wonderful designs were submitted and delivered to Cassandra’s office last week. Fingers crossed one of our talented students will be selected to have their design printed on Cassandra’s annual Christmas card.
Katherine Slater
Visual Arts Teacher
kslater@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au
💻DT Update💻
This term in DT the students have been having a focus on keyboard skills. All students have been participating in different keyboard skill based games with a focus on efficient and effective typing. Over the term it is clear to see that the students are building their confidence in locating the letters on the keyboard with more speed. Remember, these activities can also be accessed at home via the student portal if you would like to continue practicing these skills!
As well as keyboard skills, the students have been learning about STEM! This has been linked to the current Inquiry focus of chemical science and the concept of change.
Juniors
This term the juniors made balloon rockets. Using rope, a balloon and some straw they created their first rocket, and measured the distance it traveled. After two attempts, the group came together to discuss what was working well and what change they could make to have the biggest impact. As a group, they had to decide if changing the string to a smoother one or the balloon to a long skinny one would be the most effective. Once the decision was made, they got to launch their rocket to measure the results to see if their new rocket was more effective. The discussion the students had after this activity was incredible, as they began to consider factors such as friction and aerodynamics and how it impacted this project.
The juniors participated in their second STEM activity this week where they learned about solids and liquids with the challenge of melting a block of ice as quickly as possible. In their groups they had to decide on two items that they could add to their ice, out of salt, sugar, bi-carb soda, water and warm air, to see what would be the most effective. Using an iPad stopwatch, they timed their progress.
Through this project, the students discovered that salt, warm air and water changed the ice the quickest as all three of these methods change the temperature of the ice which causes it to melt at a faster rate!
Seniors
The seniors have been taking part in their own rocket challenge, but their focus is researching, designing and then creating a rocket that is powered by either a solid, liquid or gas. The students have been enthusiastic in their design process and it has been fantastic to see their collaboration in action. Next week the students will be putting their designs to the test and will be building and launching their rockets. We can’t wait to see all of their hard work pay off!
The seniors have also been continuing their coding skills, this time through the use of the mBots. Their work in Term 3 in block coding has definitely paid off, as the students quickly grasped the concept of how to code their mBots and began to challenge themselves to incorporate sounds, changing colours and even sensors into their codes. Some students also began trying to work through obstacle courses and creating games with their mBots such as 1 vs 1 soccer!
Taryn Bartlett
Digital Technology Teacher
tbartlett@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au
SPORTS NEWS
SWIMMING
Next week is the last week of swimming. I would like to thank all our staff for their organisation and commitment that helps the swimming lessons to run smoothly. I would also like to thank the instructors at Casey Race. They were extremely organised and everything ran like clockwork. Finally a big thanks to our Junior parents who were able to come and assist in the change rooms after the swimming lessons.
A reminder to all parents you are most welcome to come and watch, however we ask that you do not take photos or videos at the pool and only parents I have spoken to and debriefed are allowed to assist in the junior change rooms after the swimming lessons.
A reminder to parents that our last swimming lessons next week will be our usual swimming program.
Details are as follows:
Monday 20th November – LS1 Seniors, LS1 Juniors, LS2 Juniors
Tuesday 21st November – LS3 Juniors, LS3 Seniors, LS2 Seniors
Parents please note this will be a combined water safety/fun lesson. However unlike other years students will not need to bring old clothes to wear in the pool.
Any Junior parents that help in the change rooms if you are not able to attend please let your home group teacher know or myself.
Students will need to wear their bathers under their sports uniform and bring a plastic bag with their towel, undergarments and thongs. Students will wear thongs to and from the pool to make changing easier and then put their socks and shoes back on once they return to school.
Swimming timetables have been uploaded onto the Operoo permission form as an attachment. Please print it off and ensure you have it available at home as swimming days change for the different Learning Spaces. Timetables are now in PDF format and can be downloaded on mobile phones. I will place reminders in Morning Reminders, the newsletter and through our app each week. We would like students to come ready for swimming each week, without placing the extra burden on the office staff of having to ring parents to bring swimming items because students have forgotten them.
GRADE 5 BIKE EDUCATION
Grade 5 Bike Education will continue next Friday November 24th. Grade 5 students will need to bring their bicycles and helmets to school and leave them in front of their Learning Space. If it is raining heavily that morning please leave bikes at home. A reminder if they are riding to school, students must wear their helmets and walk their bikes on school grounds. Student bikes can remain in the Bike Shed for the duration of the Program which is until Week 10, Friday 8th December.
JUNIOR NETBALL CLINICS
We are excited to inform Junior parents that this term, as part of the Sporting Schools Program, which is funded by the Australian Government, we have been fortunate enough to receive funding. We will have a netball coach organised by Netball Victoria come to SFS to conduct netball clinics with our Junior students.
This is a great way for students to continue to improve their interpersonal skills, goal setting, self-management and resilience skills, as well as learning and developing new skills in a sport they may never have experienced before. Some students may discover that netball is a sport they would like to take up after school.
The students will participate in 4, 55 minute sessions. The clinics will take place in Week 9 and 10. Below are the netball clinic details for each Learning Space, so that you ensure your child is wearing their sports uniform for the day and brings their hat and drink bottle. Reminders will also be placed on Morning Reminders as well as in the Newsletter.
Week 9
Monday November 27th – LS1 and LS3 Juniors
Tuesday November 28th – LS3 and LS2 Juniors
Friday December 1st – LS2 and LS1 Juniors
Week 10
Monday December 4th – LS1 and LS2 Juniors
Tuesday December 5th – LS3 and LS2 Juniors
Friday December 8th – LS2 and LS1 Juniors
Junior parents please ensure you have acknowledged the notification on Operoo and that your child’s profile is up to date.
If at any stage you have any queries or issues please do not hesitate to contact me on gfaiola@sfslynbrook.catholic.edu.au
Giuliana
Sports Coordinator