Specialists

Week 5 & 6 Updates

Performing Arts

Prep students have been exploring the piano keyboard and learning to identify the notes C, D, and E. They've started with call-and-response activities using paper keyboards, and now they’re working on the real keyboards. To help them remember the notes, we've been using colour coded icy-pole sticks — red for C, orange for D, and yellow for E. One of the highlights has been a fun and energetic music quiz game, where students look at a picture of a piano key and race to find the correct answer. It's been a great way to learn through play.

Grade 1/2 students have been diving into their keyboard lessons with enthusiasm! They began by labelling their sheet music and practising on paper keyboards to build confidence. Now, they’ve moved on to the real keyboards, where they've been working hard and enjoying the chance to play their pieces. It’s been wonderful to see their skills and confidence grow with each lesson.

Grades 3-6 students have been working hard on practicing their pieces. It's been great to see students working at their own paces, collaborating with peers and myself as needed for support. At the end of practice sessions, we have been engaging in a whole class performance forum where students have an opportunity to share what they're working on and give/receive feedback.

Physical Education

Interschool Sport

Interschool Sport will continue on Fridays this term for the 5/6 students selected. If you have any questions with match scheduling please contact Vicky at the front office.

Students have started Netball this week across all year levels. Please if you can watch a Netball game on YouTube to help get some familiarity for our students.

Cross Country

Cross Country Championships was on Wednesday Allie and Ava from 4A, Claire, Ethan and Xavier 6A and Keiko from 6B competing. It was an amazing day!

Spanish

PREP

During this fortnight, Foundation students have continued learning numbers from 1 to 5 and reinforced their colour knowledge through fun activities such as counting stones, colouring, and movement games. They have also been practising simple expressions like “gracias” and “de nada”, and following daily routines in Spanish including greetings, the weather, and the days of the week. Learning remains playful and hands-on to support their first experiences with the language.

GRADES 1–2

Students in Grades 1 and 2 have continued to develop their physical description skills by combining adjectives like grande (big) and pequeño (small) with numbers up to 10. One of their favourite warm-ups has been jumping while counting in Spanish — a fun way to stay active and warm during these cold mornings! Through games such as memory cards and “gratitude races”, they have practised linking colours and numbers in meaningful ways. They’ve also reinforced basic greetings and classroom routines in Spanish through songs and playful learning.

GRADES 3–4

In Grades 3 and 4, students have been reviewing how to describe people using physical traits such as hair and eye colour, along with adjectives for size. They’ve also practised using numbers up to 20 to talk about age and quantities. Activities like “Stand up if it’s you!”, bingo, and matching descriptions with images have supported their speaking, listening, and reading skills in Spanish.

GRADES 5–6

Students in Grades 5 and 6 have taken their personal descriptions further by learning to say their age, describe themselves and others using hair, eye colour and other physical traits. They’ve consolidated the use of numbers up to 20 and a wide range of adjectives through activities like bingo and “match the description”. These tasks have helped them combine vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension in fun and practical contexts.

TRY IT AT HOME!

Ask your child to show you what they know in Spanish: Can they count from 1 to 10 or 20? Can they tell you the colour of an object in Spanish? Try playing a simple game by pointing at objects around the house and asking “¿Qué color es?” or “¿Cuántos hay?” — a fun way to practise Spanish together!

¡MUY BIEN!

Seño Patricia

STEM

It’s been a fantastic couple of weeks in STEM, full of creativity and impressive progress across all year levels!

Our Prep to Grade 2 students have been busy bringing their ideas to life, moving from the planning phase to the exciting stage of building their prototypes. They’ve shown wonderful persistence and imagination, using their plans to guide them as they construct prototypes. We’ve been focusing on improving prototyping techniques, especially making strong joins using tape—an essential skill for young designers!

In Grades 3 to 6, students have been exploring the properties of materials to inform their design decisions. With a sustainability focus, they’re working towards creating board games that are fully biodegradable. It’s been inspiring to see their curiosity and critical thinking as they investigate which materials will best balance durability and environmental impact. Their thoughtful discussions and testing have laid a strong foundation for some very exciting design work ahead.

On a personal note, I’m very excited to share that I’ve been offered a two month secondment with the Department of Education - a fantastic opportunity that I am looking forward to. That said, I will miss being part of our wonderful school community. There are not enough words to describe how proud I am of our students and all they’ve achieved in STEM over the past few years. Sadhbh O’Donovan will be teaching STEM while I am away and I know she will do an amazing job. Please give her a very warm Sunny welcome!

Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to hear about what you have been up to when I am back!

Visual Arts

Wow week 6 already…There has been so much amazing work begin produced in the artroom a;l the student continue to inspire and create such amazing pieces of work.

Over the last few weeks

Preps:

Our Preps have been busy exploring the wonderful world of insects! They’ve been creating adorable worms and ants using a variety of techniques like weaving, threading, and painting. These tiny creatures are already looking fantastic and will make a delightful addition to our Art Show.

Prep students have also been learning all about the seasons, with a special focus on autumn. We had some great discussions about what changes happen during this time of year. The children explored different types of autumn leaves and plants, and gave their best effort to draw them with lots of detail.In our next session, we’ll be learning about warm and cool colours and how to choose the best colours for our beautiful autumn leaf paintings

1/2:

As part of our current inquiry unit, the students have been learning all about different animals and the places they live (their habitats).During our Art sessions, we connected this learning with our upcoming excursion to Werribee Zoo. The students took a close look at the new elephant enclosure at Werribee Zoo and compared it to where elephants live in the wild, as well as the enclosure at Melbourne Zoo.Inspired by what they learned, the students used watercolour paints to design and create their own version of an elephant habitat. They then made a beautiful elephant using collage techniques and added it to their artwork.The results were wonderful! creative, colourful, and full of thoughtful detail!

3/4:

The Grade 3/4 students began their Art Show journey by learning about Eastern long-necked turtles home to our very own Kororoit Creek. Inspired by this local wildlife, they used weaving techniques to create beautiful turtle artworks. It was a challenging task, but every student gave it their best and achieved wonderful results. I’m incredibly proud of their hard work and perseverance!

This week, our students have started creating their very own 3D sculptures! They’ve begun the first stage of the process by designing and cutting out their templates. Next, they'll start building the structure and bringing their creative ideas to life. We can’t wait to see their amazing sculptures take shape!

5/6:

In the senior grades, students have been linking their art with literacy through a text called Free Diving, which features stunning illustrations. We’ve been exploring different watercolour techniques to create unique backgrounds, inspired by the book’s artwork. Students then sketched images connected to one of three themes: the ocean, loved ones, or scenes from the book. They then added their detailed sketches to their painted backdrops.