Specialist News 

Term 1 in Auslan was a big one! In the last couple of weeks the students in the senior classes have been leaning to ask for help through sign when they are injured in the playground. 

The grade 1/2 class has been learning more signs that will assist them in communicating their feelings and the Foundation students are starting to master the school oath, which they will have the chance to practise with the other students at assembly. 

We as a school have also been learning so many new signs that help us communicate with each other. Here are some that we are using in the classroom.

Performing Arts 

Over the last 3 weeks we have made great progress with our recorder skills. I have been impressed with the extra practice and determination that many of our students have displayed in learning to read and play music. We can now play several simple tunes and getting better at playing together as a recorder ensemble. The junior classes have been building up their repertoire of songs from different cultures, learning folk dances and practicing their rhythm, beat and tempo by playing rhythm sticks, cups and drums. 

Next term we have our FIGATROLL performance on Friday, 26 April.  This children's opera of The 3 Billy Goats Gruff will be a performance not to be missed. 

Do you want your child to learn the guitar? 

Next term we have an independent guitar teacher (Glen Vinton) offering to teach private music lessons to students during the school day. Glen works in several schools within our network and comes highly recommended. The lessons are 30 minutes in duration and are $25 per lesson. Glen will be giving a presentation to students on Friday 19th April from 2.15 - 2.30pm. Parents who are interested in their child learning guitar can pick up an Expression of Interest from from the office after this date (19th April). 

Visual Arts

In the art room over the past few weeks, the students have been diving even deeper into the world of colour.

Year 1/2's have been learning about artist Kinda Khalidy, who is known for turning her artwork into textiles and sold through famous brands such as Gorman, Vans and Nordstroms. The class is creating their own abstract art using inspiration from Kinda Khalidy’s works. I would love to wear some of these designs on a dress or a pair of shoes one day!

Grade 3/4's have been exploring monochromatic colour schemes, and warm and cool colours. Through their artwork they have been experimenting with different art techniques such as stencil making and using a protractor to make circles.

Grade 5/6’s have also been delving deeper into colour theory, their focus on using complementary colour schemes in their artwork. They have been learning different methods of using reference pictures to create artwork; one way they achieved this was through grid drawing. I think you will agree that these look amazing!

Foundation students have been explicitly introduced to some new processes and techniques used in the art room. They have continued to explore proper brush handling and techniques, pencil grip and scissor techniques. They have also been developing their fine motor skills. Foundation students have been working following directions and multiple step instructions to create guided self portraits.

PE/SPORT

What a way to conclude the term with Summer Lightning Premiership.

This year, we decided to focus our resources into one sport - Volleyball along with the introductory modified game of Volleystars. Bittern has a rich history in volleyball, with the girls team just missing out on the 'State Finals' a couple of years ago.

The approach paid off, with the girls team just missing out on being declared the winning team (big things to come next year with most of the side being Grade 5's) and the boys team crushing everything in their path to become District Champions.

Next stop for the boys is to compete for Zone Champions later in the year.

I am super proud of all the efforts by students to learn a brand new game and skill sets.

Special thanks to the support from Mr Durrington and Jemima and Georgia attending at short notice.