SCHOOL OF WONDER

Wow, Week 4 - we are here already! Time flies when there’s great learning happening in our spaces. 

Kara and I have been incredibly impressed with the environmental focus this term by our very own eco-warriors; an initiative that involves participating in clean-up efforts to keep our beautiful school clean. 

A reminder to families that the heat is certainly upon us now, so we do ask for your support in reminding children about keeping their hats in their lockers so they’re ready to grab-and-go at recess, lunch and during P.E classes. 

Enjoy what has been an eventful few weeks in the School of Wonder - happy reading! 

-Emma & Kara, School Leaders

The first School of Wonder Assembly was held for Term 4 this morning, led by Nikea’s Foundation class. The students did a fantastic job at public speaking and reading, each contributing to running the assembly in some way.

There were learning updates from the Foundations, Years 1/2 and Years 3/4 which demonstrated it has been a jam-packed start to Term 4. There’s lots planned this Term so please ensure you are staying up to date with upcoming events, excursions and incursions via the PAM calendar.

The children also heard from the Community Action Team who encouraged them to sign up to become eco-warriors this Term. Last Term there was a whopping 60 students who became an eco-warrior and we expect there to be just as many this Term.

Congratulations to the SOW students for another fantastic assembly!

We are very excited to announce we have a published author in the School of Wonder! Year 1 student Hannah was the very worthy winner of GV Water's Water Week competition – A Watery Adventure.

Students were required to write a story for the competition and the winning stories were selected to be published. Congratulations to Hannah! Her book – The Thirsty Cat - can be found at the Shepparton Library and Hannah also got the incredible experience of recording herself reading the book to create an audiobook.

Hannah was presented with copies of her book and a special prize-pack.

When Menley in Year 3 went for a walk with her Dad to post a letter in the Shepparton Fire Brigade's letterbox, she never would have dreamed that Sam the Fireman was going to turn up to her school and hand deliver a thank you pack to her.

Sam was in his office at the Shepparton Fire Brigade- CFA when he saw Menley post a letter in the letterbox out the front. When Sam made it to the letterbox, Menley and her Dad were gone. He opened the letter to read "𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭...."

Sam knew he wanted to acknowledge Menley's kind gesture, so he made his way out to St Anne's College today with a gift for Menley.

Well done, Menley, what a great community member you are! And thank you Fireman Sam for making Menley's day.

We invite the parents/carers of Foundation to Year 2 students to an information session on Monday 11 November from 8.30am to 8.55am at St Anne’s College Kialla in the Black Box prior to the SOW Assembly. The session will focus on providing an introduction to Initialit which is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. 

InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school (Foundation to Year 2) and it is designed to be delivered to whole classes by classroom teachers. 

InitiaLit takes a holistic approach to literacy instruction incorporating instruction in systematic synthetic phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. This integrated approach, which addresses each of the Five Big Ideas of Reading, ensures that children are given all the tools they require to learn to read successfully. 

Families are welcome to attend the session for further information, please join us for the ‘Intro to Initialit’. 

Inquiry - Author Studies

Foundation students are inquiring into how stories are a form of expression. Students are engaging in an Author study, exploring different authors and their styles and how our ideas can be expressed in different ways. They have investigated authors Lynley Dodd and Julia Donaldson. After reading Donaldson's "Jonty Gentoo" they students brainstormed the different places they would travel too before writing about it. Students have also learnt how to write facts about the animals featured in the books they have been studying. 

Maths

In maths, the children learnt to share a number of items amongst two or three groups. The key words they students have been studying are: share, how many each?, equal, equal shares, shared between. They have been given number stories to draw and solve. 

Wheels Wednesday 

The program was a fantastic opportunity for our Year 1/2 students to engage in Bike Ed, where they learned about proper road rules and bike safety. It was wonderful to see them take on new challenges and practice safe riding habits. Additionally, we tied this into our push and pull inquiry, allowing students to explore the forces involved in movement through hands-on experiences with their bikes and scooters.

Measurement

The children have been learning about units of measurement for length, mass, and capacity. There have been lots of hands-on learning experiences using a range of materials to measure various objects.

The Year 1/2 students joined in with the Year 5 students to take part in tennis drills on Friday last week. It was a fantastic opportunity for the Year 5 students to showcase their leadership skills, guiding and supporting the Year 1/2 students through the activities.

Inquiry

Students dove into the wonders of physics by exploring the forces that shape our world! Through exciting, hands-on experiments, they uncovered how gravity pulls us down, friction slows us down, and forces make things move. With simple machines like ramps, pulleys, and levers, students saw first-hand how these tools help us lift and shift with ease. They also explored the magic of magnets, discovering how invisible forces can attract or repel objects. This journey into science encouraged curiosity, teamwork, and problem-solving as students learned how the world works through gravity, friction, force, magnets, and simple machines.

Reading

In Reading, students embarked on an inquiry into words and their meanings! Through focused vocabulary lessons, they picked out interesting words from the text, explored their meanings, and brainstormed synonyms. With each new discovery, they crafted sentences using their new-found vocabulary, strengthening their understanding and language skills. This engaging journey into words empowers students to deepen comprehension, build confidence in language use, and become curious, thoughtful readers.

Religious Education

In this impactful project on local and global service, students turned their compassion into action! They created eye-catching billboards and wrote heartfelt letters to address both local and international institutions, sharing their ideas on supporting those in need and encouraging a spirit of service. This experience helped students grasp the importance of kindness and generosity while expressing their commitment to making a difference in their communities and beyond. Their powerful messages highlight the significance of caring for others through local and global service.

This term, the SOW children have explored some fascinating topics about our world in Science. Here’s a peek into their learning journey:

Foundation: Our youngest learners have been curious investigators, observing how our weather changes and discussing the role of the sun. They’re discovering the many ways sunlight supports life and brings warmth, light, and energy to our world.

Year 1/2: These children have explored water - one of our most essential resources. Through a sensory activity, they tasted fresh, bottled, and spring water, comparing their different qualities. It’s been a hands-on way to appreciate water’s role and availability in our everyday lives.

Year 3/4: Our older children have delved into the wonders of space, learning about the Earth's rotation and how it leads to night and day. They’ve also started exploring the relationship between the Earth, moon, and sun to understand these regular cycles better.

We’re excited about how these explorations build understanding and inspire our SOW children to think about our planet and its systems. 

The next SOW Assembly will be held in Week 6 on Monday 11 November, 2024.

The Statewide Transition Day is on Tuesday 10 December, 2024

Please support our staff, and remember that drop off for children is from 8:30am. This is when staff are on duty. Prior to this any staff onsite are preparing for the day ahead, duty of care requirements mean children onsite require supervision and doing this takes staff away from their important preparation time.

Kara McCann & Emma O’Keeffe - School of Wonder Leaders

kmccann@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

eokeeffe@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

We are committed & dedicated educators

Teaching and Learning:

Our aim as Educators is always to improve student learning outcomes for all our learners. We continue to strive to improve our professional practice to ensure that our learners get the very best learning opportunities and outcomes. Our SOW team works collaboratively to provide thought provoking learning experiences to our learners. Our learner assets (collaboration, communication, self-management, thinking and researching) are life long skills that set our young people up to life long learners and to continually question, explore and challenge their thinking. Please direct any teaching and learning inquiries to Kara McCann kmccann@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

Wellbeing:

Wellbeing is a holistic term that encompasses all aspects of a student's life, including their physical, social, mental and emotional state. It is often defined as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships and experiences at school.

Wellbeing at St Anne’s is driven by the themes of doing our best, allowing everyone to succeed. Please direct any wellbeing inquiries to Emma O'Keeffe eokeeffe@sackialla.catholic.edu.au