Specialist Team News

Performing Arts

The Curriculum Focus in Performing Arts                                                                                          Prep Students are improving their chord playing on the ukuleles. They are able to play 3 chords which has enabled them to play some fun songs. They really enjoyed playing Katy Perry’s song Roar.

Grade 1/2 Students have been continuing to read and play some popular songs using body percussion to start the lesson. They have been playing songs with 3 chords: Am, C and F and learning to switch fingers smoothly from one chord to the next. Students are also beginning to try playing 2 note chords on the marimbas as well.

Grade 3 & 4 Students have been continuing to read and play some popular songs using body percussion to start the lesson. They have worked on remembering the correct finger positions for different chords including a C7 chord and how to play it on the ukulele and marimba. 

Grade 5 & 6 Students have been trying out some popular songs using body percussion. They have played along to a number of popular songs using the chords: Am, C, F and Dm on both the ukulele and marimba.

Music Clubs - Dates to Note

Sunday Nov 12 – Choir at Williamstown Botanical Gardens (Please wear Choir T shirt)

• Arrive by no later than 10.40am.     
• Performance at 11.00 - 11.30am 
• Entry for performers is at the Osborne Street Gate next to Bateman House (not at the Main Gates on the corner). 
• A member of the Friends will be at that gate from 10.30am to meet and greet choir members and direct them to the assembly area on the Flagstaff Lawn which is near the works area. 
• A marshal will be at the Flagstaff Lawn to ensure all the group has arrived by 10.45am and help with assembling them. The marshal will then lead the choir to the performing area on the Blue Gum lawn in time for them to set up and start singing at 11.00am. 
• After performing students will go to the labelled Child Collection Point. They will be supervised by Faye until collected. 

Sunday 26th Nov – Seaside Fair 

Choir – Arrive by 10.15.                      Performance at 10.30 – 10.50am

Marimba – Arrive by 1.45pm. Performance at 2.00 – 2.20pm

Rock Band – Arrive by 2.15pm.      Performance at 2.30 – 2.50pm

Friday 8th Dec – Choir to perform at Williamstown Community Christmas event at the Commonwealth Reserve Rotunda at 4pm

*Monday 11th Dec – Afternoon Bands Performance at 3.30pm. (*NB change of date).

Warm Regards,

Faye Ferry (Performing Arts)

Visual Arts

Wominjenka, and greetings from the Art Room. 

Even though it has been a short fortnight, the Art Room has continued to be a busy place with students across the school finishing their projects. The Grade Threes and Fours have been ironing their bunting to set the fabric paint and some of the Five Sixes have been finishing their collages and attaching their sea creatures. Those that have finished these projects have begun working on painting rocks for our collaborative rock collection that will become part of the Kitchen Garden. The kids are really excited about this and I am enjoying seeing the variety of designs they are creating.

The Preps’ poppy art is now on display in and around the office, just in time for 

Remembrance Day. Some of the Grade Twos have also added their bit to the displays. If you get a chance pop by the office and sneak a peek.

With lots of projects now finished, it’s time to start displaying the work around the school in time for the Seaside Fair.

Stay happy and keep creating art!

Jo Jo (Visual Art)

LOTE (French)

‘Salut, bonjour’

Preps

Our youngest cohort has been singing their way through the last two weeks, joyfully and wholeheartedly. To the tune of ‘Frere Jacques’, the Prep ‘Salut, bonjour’ song has been a big winner in the classroom. Students have read, written and matched the French lyrics so as to harness the vocabulary. I gave them a big challenge by deconstructing the song which they then had to put back together, engaging their bilingual brain potential to build upon understanding in their mother tongue while driving parallel meaning in the target language. They have been so successful at it that they’re now ready to jump onto our next song ‘Un, deux, trois, allons dans les bois’.   

Year 3s & 4s

Students have now completed their cognitive French number building chart and are well and truly exploring the creative ways to use it in order to understand the process for number creation in French. Our Willy students are very lucky to be able to approach French numeracy that way as it is not commonly taught. What a difference it makes to realise how easy maths can be in a foreign language and a great way to develop language fluency and confidence! They can now play basic number games with great speed and a clear understanding of how it all works. In the next two weeks, we are going to continue introducing a variety of numeracy activities and games to harness these new skills.

Year 5/6s

Our senior students are now getting proficient at their number building skills in French. With individual and group practices of Les Maths En Francais, they are now able to translate extensive equations into full French sentences. For example: 

1.            58 + 39 = 97        cinquante huit plus trente neuf égale quatre vingt dix-sept

2.            72 x 2 = 144        soixante douze multiplié par deux égale cent quarante quatre

This takes practice and focus to remove the guess work out of the equation in the target language. Importantly, it allows students to build on their native language numeracy skills and strengthen those while involving the neuroplasticity of the brain to think and convert into the second language. Our students have continued playing French Snakes & Ladders for numeracy autonomy and are about to be introduced to the fast thinking pace of French Bingo. As they’ll continue to ace their mathematical skills, they will also be working on creating a French role play which will see them through the end of the term. 

Madame CRICRI

Physical Education 

Fortnightly Curriculum Focus in Physical Education – Term 4 Week 6

Prep: Beginning to anticipate the next step in familiar physical routines.

Year 1 & 2: Performing movements under, over, through and between objects, people and equipment.

Year 3 & 4: Working cooperatively with team members to maintain possession in a game by passing to other players and listening to team-mates.

Year 5/6: Exploring and performing the duties and responsibilities of different roles for a range of physical activities.

Sport

Two weeks ago on October 26th, 3 Boys/Mixed and 2 Girls lacrosse teams from Williamstown Primary competed against other schools in our District in a Quick Stix lacrosse competition. The day was run in a Round Robin format with 18 Boys/Mixed teams and 14 Girls teams competing. In windy conditions, all teams battled away and made all of Willy Primary extremely proud. Congratulations to the Boys/Mixed Gold team and the Gold Girls team who have progressed through to State finals on Friday December 1st. Good luck to all involved!

Warm Regards,

Paddy Gallivan (Physical Education)

Kitchen Garden

During term 4 our grade 1 and 2 classes have been having their Kitchen Garden classes. Term 4 is a great time to be out in the garden and the students have enjoyed exploring the garden and all of its wonderful new growth. Both classes have been cooking in the science room with the support of some amazing parent helpers and grade 5-6 students.

Our grade 1 students are learning about how our food gets to us, with a focus on wheat, fresh produce, dairy and eggs. 

Our grade 2 students are learning about the importance of pollinating insects and animals to the production of fruiting plants. You may have noticed the start of our large scale insect hotel in the indigenous garden along Giffard St. We are looking for lots of bits and bobs to fill it including pinecones, seed pods, logs, bricks, straw. These will make excellent homes for insects we hope to entice into our hotel. 

I would like to extend a huge thank you to the parents who have been able to volunteer their time so far this term or who have donated items for our garden. This program really relies on the support of our community. Volunteer call outs for our cooking sessions happen once a fortnight so please look out for emails in your inbox regarding this.

Warm Regards,

Kate Fedele (Kitchen Garden)