Specialists Updates and Celebrations

Mandarin 

In Term 1, students will be learning about Lunar New Year, with a focus on Chinese New Year, including cultural traditions, stories, and simple greetings in Mandarin.

In Prep to Year 2, students will explore fairy tales, stories, and nursery rhymes through songs, actions, and role-play, building confidence with basic Mandarin words and phrases.

In Year 3 and 4, students will learn about the five senses and practise describing what they see, hear, smell, taste, and feel using Mandarin vocabulary and simple sentence structures.

In Year 5 and 6, students will learn about their local community and practise using Mandarin in everyday situations, such as buying and selling items at a market through role-play activities.

Visual Art 

Welcome back everyone! I’m so happy to be back for another wonderful year of Art at SMPS!

In Term 1, students will focus on the 7 Elements of Art. Each year level will concentrate on a different element, allowing students to develop a strong understanding and mastery of that specific focus. This structured approach is designed to build knowledge progressively, so that by the end of Year 6, students will have developed expertise across all seven elements. As students move through the year levels, the elements increase in complexity and require more advanced application of artistic skills.

Preps – Line

Year 1 – Shape 

Year 2 – Texture 

Year 3 – Value 

Year 4 – Colour 

Year 5 – Form 

Year 6 – Space 

Physical Education 

For the upcoming term, students will be taking part in a wide range of different units and activities depending on their year level.

In Prep, we will be focusing on the fundamental movements and skills needed for PE. We will start by understanding how we can move our bodies in different ways through movement (walking, running, jumping etc.). We will then develop these skills even further by using them in games and looking at space and opponents. After, we will focus on some key skills needed in PE based on throwing and catching.

In Years 1 & 2, we will focus on fundamental skills in PE. We will focus on moving our bodies safely in a variety of ways during different activities and games against opponents. This will include more developed skills like leaping and hopping. After, we will be focusing on our throwing and catching skills using netballs and learning how to share the ball in a team. Finally, we will develop our hand and eye co-ordination by learning how to bowl and bat in cricket.

In Years 3 & 4, we are starting this term by learning how to pass and receive in netball. Learning how to receive the ball correctly and pivot before passing. We will take part in a series of small-sided activities to develop our skills. After, we will be learning how to field and strike a ball during our T-Ball unit. This will include fielding and striking techniques. Finally, we will finish by developing our cricket techniques, learning how to use the correct bowling technique to hit the stumps and striking a moving cricket ball with the bat.

In Years 5 & 6, we will be taking part in some netball games, learning about the key skills and positions on the netball pitch. We will learn how to rotate positions and share the ball between the different areas of the court. After, we will begin practicing for our T-Ball Gala Day. Learning how to play the game and the different positions and rules, as well as further developing our fielding and striking skills. At the end of the term, we will be learning and developing our cricket skills. Learning how to bowl, field and bat in some small games. We will look at developing these skills individually, using the correct bowling run up and technique and batting techniques to play different shots. These skills will then be used in games to increase our understanding of competition and teamwork.

Music 

During Term 1, our Prep-Year 2 students are learning about beat and rhythm. They are learning about the concepts of these elements of music and developing there skills in these areas on instruments.

Year 3-6

During Term 1, our Year 3-6 students are learning about pop music. They will complete a unit of work that covers building an understanding of the characteristics and features of the genre, as well as look at how pop music is created and written. Students will learn various short pieces of music on a variety of instrument to build their practice skills. To tie our learning together, student will create their own piece of music with pop themes and stylistic references.

*Unit topics are separated into Prep–Year 2 and Year 3–6, however the learning content is different for each year level despite sharing a similar topic.

Library

What a wonderful start we’ve had to 2026 in the library! The Grade 1 to 6 classes have begun attending for their learning to learn session. This session covers library expectations, how to take care of the books, the library layout and borrowing rules. From February 16th classes will begin attending weekly library sessions.

Borrowing

Each student is allowed to borrow two books from the library to take home. Students may keep the books for up to two weeks. Students must have a book bag in order to keep their books safe. Students are welcome to return their books at any time to the library. 

Overdue, Lost or Damaged Books

If a student has an overdue book, parents will receive email reminders or a printed notice. Students with multiple overdue books will not be able to borrow new books until the overdue books are returned. If a book is lost or damaged, please contact Ms Zoe. 

For any questions or enquiries please contact Ms Zoe on Zoe.Danaher@smps.vic.edu.au