Specialists

Performing Arts

This fortnight in Performing Arts, students have continued developing their understanding of the elements of drama, with our focus now turning to the final element: action.

Prep students recapped all three elements of drama - character, place and action - through a variety of fun and engaging group games.

Grades 1–6 put their knowledge into practice through fairy tales. Students explored familiar stories and unpacked what a story needs in addition to the elements of drama. Working in groups, they planned, rehearsed and performed their own short plays.

It was wonderful to see students collaborating, sharing ideas and working outside their comfort zones as they brought their performances together. There was plenty of excitement, laughter and applause as students took to the stage and shared their work with their classmates!

Choir

Our choir students had a wonderful experience performing as part of the Boîte Schools Chorus at the Town Hall. This year, the chorus explored 'Akoma – The Heart', learning and performing 10 songs from Ghanaian musical traditions.

Our students worked incredibly hard throughout the project and represented our school beautifully, demonstrating Courage, Commitment, Collaboration and Connection. 

A special highlight was seeing some of our students take part in the mid-show play, Anansi and the Talking Melon, giving them the opportunity to showcase their acting and storytelling skills alongside their singing.

A huge thank you to Virginia Nelson for her support throughout the project, and to Greg Dickson and Miss Nguyen for coming along on the day to support our students.

I am so proud of all they achieved! A video of the performance is available below for families to enjoy.

Physical Education

This fortnight in PE, all classes have been busy developing their soccer skills! Students have been working on their passing, dribbling, shooting and teamwork, while putting their skills into practice through a range of fun games and activities. It has been fantastic to see students building their confidence and working together on the field.

We have also had some exciting opportunities for our students to represent the school at District events.

Last week, our District Basketball team competed against Our Lady’s Primary School. Our team played an excellent game, coming away with a fantastic 19–9 win! Even more impressive was the outstanding sportsmanship shown throughout the game. Students supported one another, played fairly and represented our school with pride. Well done to everyone involved!

We also had students representing our school at District Athletics, where they had the opportunity to compete alongside students from other local schools. It was wonderful to see our students challenge themselves, demonstrate their skills and cheer each other on throughout the day.

A big congratulations to all of our students who have represented the school in sporting events recently. Your effort, teamwork and sportsmanship have been fantastic to see!

Spanish - Español 

Preps

Students in Prep have continued to learn new vocabulary through song in our unit "¿Cómo Está el Día Hoy?" (What's the Weather Like Today). Students started singing along to the next part of the song: "Hay mucho viento" (It's very windy) and "Hace sol" (It's sunny). 

Preps created displays for the school following instructions in Spanish!

They followed instructions: 

Colorear (Colour in)

Cortar (Cut)

Pegar (Paste/glue)

The Students created beautiful leaves blowing in the viento using streamers. We can't wait for everyone to see them!

Years 1 and 2

Students in years 1 and 2 continued learning new sea creatures in our unit "Bajo el Mar" (Under the Sea). They have continued to identify multiple sea creatures in Spanish only with my actions as a prompt which is impressive in itself... but, they have now started recognising gendered nouns in Spanish using "el" and "la". The students were so surprised to find out that there are four ways to say "the" in Spanish!

This week, students made medusas (jellyfish) out of paper plates and streamers following all instructions en español! 

They followed instructions: 

Escribir el nombre (Write name)

Escribir la clase (Write the class)

Colorear (Colour in)

Pegar (Paste/glue)

The medusas look so beautiful hanging up in the Spanish Casita.

Years 3 and 4

Students in years 3 and 4 have continued on with the unit: La Hora (The Time). They have learnt to tell the time in Spanish to the hour, half past, and now quarter past as well.

Students have been practising reading the time, saying the time in full sentences in Spanish, and translating it into digital time.

Students made their own worksheets for their peers to complete using the times and vocabulary taught.

The students have also been exposed to the next part of the unit to the song and video: "¿Que hora es?" (What time is it?) They have even started singing along without the teacher's prompts!

¡Trabajo Superestrella! (Superstar Work)

Years 5 and 6

Students in years 5 and 6 continued with our unit: Español en Conversación (Spanish in Conversation). The students learned about gendered nouns, the order of sentences when adjectives are added, and adjectives matching the gender of the noun.

Students also learnt about the 4 different ways to say "the" in Spanish including:

Masculine singular

Femenine singular

Masculine plural

Femenine plural 

Students then started putting sentences together using this knowledge and their lists of cognates and learnt to use the verb "quiero" (I want).

Such an impressive 2 weeks of learning, they keep blowing me away with their engagement and participation. 

¡Trabajo Superestrella! (Superstar Work)

STEM

Over the past 2 weeks in STEM, grades have been continuing on with Digital Technologies blocks, with some classes shifting their focus to the Data, Information and Privacy portion of the curriculum.  

The Preps and Grade 1s have been learning about symbols that can be used to represent information. We explored the different signs and symbols around the school, locating exit signs, fire extinguisher symbols, and other common symbols like the First Aid symbol at Sick Bay and the ‘Danger’ symbols on the construction areas. For Science Week, the Preps and Grade 1s learnt about taxonomy and classifying species. We played a whole cohort species sorting game, finding species that are the same as ours, species that are similar to ours, and slowly grew our groups including other species with different similarities, finishing finally with two of the ‘kingdoms’, the Animalia and Plantae kingdoms. 

The Grade 2s and 3s have begun a lesson sequence called ‘Organising Data’. In this block students explore different types of data and investigate how data can be organised and transformed using spreadsheet software to solve problems.

For Science Week, the students learnt about the 5 key things that plants needed to survive: air, water, light, nutrients and space. We talked about how plants in close proximity to one another have to compete for resources, so plants have evolved to different ways to help disperse their seeds. Some seeds float so they can get carried away by rivers and oceans, some plants have seeds that get digested by animals and spread through the droppings and other seeds have features that help them get carried by the wind. 

We then made some paper helicopter seeds to replicate the sees that twirl away from their parent plants and wrote some scientific facts that we know to link it to the Science Week the of: Seeds of Science, Nurturing Knowledge for All.

In Grades 4 and 5, the students are continuing with the ‘User Interface’ lessons. This fortnight, students have used story boards to plan out the visual layout of an application that can be used to solve a problem. They’ve mapped out how the user navigates the application and have begun using Google Slides to create their user interfaces. 

Unfortunately, due to the weather, the Grade 4 & 5 students had their Science Week block postponed. We were going to be doing some planting around the school grounds, but the heavy rain on Wednesday was unsuitable for such an activity! I’ll be confirming a new date for the activity so the students can still participate as intended in a few weeks time. 

The Grade 6s have continued their work with Scratch and have designed their own 2D game that they’ll be creating over the next few weeks. Students have unpacked the elements of coding that will be required to make the game function and have explored how they can make the game accessible as well. Students will need to make the characters (sprites) move in 4 directions, avoid obstacles, collect some form of item to increase a score and have an event that triggers the end of the game. 

For Science Week, the Grade 6s worked in groups to design some possible garden elements that could be used around our school oval space. We titled the activity ‘Leaving a Leaf Legacy’ and challenged students to create some native patches of ecosystem that can help regenerate the Western Volcanic Plains grassland that historically used to cover the land in which our school was built. We wanted to them to be able to contribute to the school environment so that there can be a physical part of the school that they can be proud of for years to come. 

This term we’ve also set up a STEM club, which is a puzzle club. Students Grade 4-6 are welcome to spend their lunch time on Mondays in the STEM room quietly working on jigsaw puzzles. 

A big thank you to the STEM Leaders for their help crafting some club rules and designing some posters that we’ve displayed to advertise the club and outline the rules for those attending.

Visual Arts

Preps:

This week preps travelled to Mexico in North America as part of our Around the World learning. Students are exploring the rich and diverse cultural traditions of Mexico, including the use of bold colours, geometric shapes, patterns and symbols in Indigenous art and design. Inspired by the strong visual language found in Mexican art, students are creating their own radial artworks, where lines, shapes and patterns begin at a central point and repeat outwards in a circular design. Through this project, students are developing their understanding of line, shape, pattern, colour, symmetry and repetition. Next week they will add to their wonderful pieces by experimenting with mark-making and printmaking techniques. 

Grade 1/2:

Claude Monet: Japanese Footbridge 

This week and next Grade 1/2 students are travelling to France in Europe as part of our Around the World learning, exploring the work of famous French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. Students are learning about Monet’s love of nature and his beautiful garden at Giverny, including his famous Japanese Footbridge and water-lily pond. Inspired by Monet’s Impressionist style, students are experimenting with colour, light, texture and brushwork to create their own garden scenes. Through layering paint, using short dabbing and brushing techniques, mixing colours and carefully adding details, students are learning how artists can capture the feeling and atmosphere of a place rather than simply painting exactly what they see. This project encourages students to explore their creativity while developing their understanding of colour, line, shape, texture, space and painting techniques, all while discovering how art can connect us to people, places and cultures from around the world.

Grade 3/4:

Oceania: Tapa Cloth 

Grade 3/4 students have begun exploring Tapa Cloth, a traditional bark cloth made across the Pacific Islands, including Tonga and Fiji in Oceania. Students have been learning about how tapa is carefully created from the bark of trees and how traditional patterns can communicate ideas, represent nature and hold cultural meaning. Inspired by the geometric designs found on tapa cloth, students have created their own artworks using repeated patterns, lines, shapes and symbols, exploring motifs such as triangles, diamonds, waves, leaves, stars and flowers. Through this project, students have developed their skills in pattern-making, composition, repetition and design, while learning about the importance of tapa as a cultural treasure used for ceremonies, celebrations, gifts and special occasions. Most importantly, students are developing an appreciation for how art can connect people to their culture, stories, traditions and identity.

Grade 5/6:

African Animals 

Grade 5/6 students have continued developing their Amazing African Animals artworks, inspired by the rich patterns, colours and visual traditions found across Africa. Students completed their constructed animal portraits and then painted their masks using bold colours and intricate patterns, including dots, lines and geometric shapes. Many students also incorporated animal-inspired features, exploring the powerful connection between animals, symbolism and storytelling in African art. This project challenged students to think creatively while developing their skills in construction, pattern-making, painting and design. It was fantastic to see the individuality and creativity in each artwork, with every piece reflecting unique ideas and thoughtful artistic choices.