Teaching and Learning Areas
Foundation
The Preps are having an exciting Term 4. We had a wonderful time at the Hispanic Day!
In writing, our young writers have been honing their poetry skills especially acrostic poems. They have been learning about all different types of poems and experimenting writing poems about topics that interest them.
During reading sessions, students are exploring a variety of engaging texts. Currently, we have been focusing on summarising and how when reading it can help our comprehension skills. Teaching summarising skills to early readers enhances their comprehension by encouraging them to identify key ideas and main events in a text, which fosters deeper understanding. Additionally, summarising helps develop critical thinking skills.
In mathematics, students are learning about ordinal number. They particularly enjoyed creating their own races, participating in bug hunts and playing engaging games relating to first, second etc. Teaching ordinal numbers helps them understand the concept of order and sequence, which is essential for everyday activities such as following directions and organising items.
We invite you to enjoy the photos capturing all the fun and learning from this term!Warm regards,Lexie, Arwen, Joe and Rosa
Grade 1/2
Welcome to Term 4!
So far in Literacy, we have focused on persuasive texts. In Reading, students have learnt about the structure and purpose of this type of text. They have focussed on identifying persuasive language and played games to practise using this to convince others of their opinion about different topics. In Writing, students have been creating persuasive texts of their own, including the structure and language features learnt in reading lessons.
In Maths, students have been playing various games that focus on place value to revise and extend their understanding. These interactive activities make learning these concepts engaging and fun.
Our Integrated Studies topic this term is, ‘Healthy Bodies and Minds’. Here, students will learn the benefits of eating different fruits and vegetables. They will also explore different messages for a healthy lifestyle.
We also celebrated diversity by exploring different Hispanic countries. Each class focused on a specific country, engaging in a range of activities that culminated in a vibrant parade on Wednesday, 16th October. The students enjoyed dancing, eating delicious food like empanadas, and celebrating the rich cultures of Hispanic communities.
We are very excited about the Dinner/Sleepover, which is coming up in Week 3. If you wish for your child to attend, please ensure you have provided consent on Compass and return all medical forms to your child’s homegroup teacher by Monday 21st October.
Thank you!
1/2 Team
Grade 3/4
Welcome back 3/4 families and carers,
Everyone was excited to see the walls up as we came back from the break. The teachers are especially pleased with the result and have agreed we immediately noticed more focus from students.
Thank you to all who have brought waste and other items from home to use in our upcycling project that will take place over the course of the term. The Sustainability Market is likely to be held in Week 9 but the exact date is to be confirmed. Students will spend time every Tuesday afternoon to work on their upcycling creations - whether it is designing, marketing or deciding the value of the product to sell. The funds raised will go towards buying coloured bins for the whole school. We are hoping this will make it easier for students to know if it is for recycling or general waste as the bins contain helpful images on the sides.
During reading and writing lessons, students spent the end of last term analysing advertisements for various persuasive features and were given the opportunity to make their own advertisements. They created posters and film ads using their knowledge of salience and camera angles. This term, we are currently writing persuasive letters on a chosen War on Waste topic. Students will try to adjust the language used in the letter to suit the audience. For example, a letter to the Principal or local council will use formal language with no slang or contractions whereas a letter to a peer or family member may be more casual. In addition, students this term will be taking part in ‘Rocket Writing Mondays’ where every Monday is an opportunity for students to write a text of their choice using prompts in order to build their writing stamina.
In Mathematics, students rounded off Term 3 with a week on Angles. Grade 3s were introduced to the types of angles such as a right angle, acute angle and obtuse angle while the Grade 4s used protractors to find the size of various angles including reflex angles. This term, students have begun a unit on Chance and Probability. This has involved a lot of fun chance experiments such as coin tosses, rolling dice, spinners, bottle flipping, marbles in a bag and drawing from a deck of cards. Soon they will begin Fractions and Decimals which will be our main focus for this term.
We hope students have transitioned well into Term 4 (even with daylight savings!) and are excited to spend the last term of 2024 seeing lots of learning and fun.
From the Grade 3/4 team (Daisy, Elena, Keerththana, Jennah, Lina, Stefanie and Thomas)
Grade 5/6
Welcome back to Term 4!
We cannot believe that we’re already in Term 4. The students have settled back into routine and classes very well and we are so excited for the months ahead.
In PBL this term, we are learning about the Sustainable Development Goals as a part of the Global Citizenship unit of work that we began last term. The students have already learned about girls’ education across the globe and the impacts of fast fashion. This week, they are learning about how global hunger happens and the things we can do to try and help those who are experiencing hunger. Later in the term, the students will pick a cause they want to support and raise awareness and money for that cause.
In maths this term, the students are learning about volume, capacity, and mass, understanding how to measure and compare the amount of space an object occupies, how much it can hold, and how heavy it is. After that, students will be learning about chance and probability. During which, students investigate the likelihood of events happening, using concepts like "certain," "possible," or "unlikely.” They will also be representing these outcomes as fractions, decimals and percentages.
In literacy this term, students are engaging with a poetry unit, where they explore different elements that make poetry vivid and expressive. They are learning about imagery, using descriptive language to create mental pictures for the reader. Additionally, similes and metaphors help students compare things creatively, while personification gives human qualities to nonhuman objects, bringing writing to life. They also study rhyme schemes to understand patterns in poetry, and experiment with alliteration, where the repetition of sounds creates rhythm and emphasis.
This week the students have enjoyed celebrating many Spanish speaking countries on Hispanic Day which was a day filled with dancing, singing, delicious food and cultural learning. Thank you to Dani who helped to make the day very memorable for the students.
Next week, the Grade 6s who will be going off to Coburg High School soon will have the opportunity to participate in a ride to Coburg led by Costa and Maria. It will give the students an opportunity to see the school and practise road safety for getting to school next year.
5/6 team :)