Specialists News
St. Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Somerville Road, Yarraville
Week 1: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Our Prep students have been patiently waiting all year for their first Kitchen Garden experience, and what a way to begin! We certainly experienced some beautiful weather for our very first class together!
This term, our Kitchen Garden activities will be inspired by some favourite children's stories. We began with the much-loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
The children had a wonderful time mashing, spreading and decorating their very own caterpillars, creating both a sweet and a savoury version. Our sweet caterpillars were made using rounds of bread spread with cream cheese and strawberry jam. For our savoury caterpillars, the children spread cream cheese and added grated and sliced cheese, tomato, cucumber and their own freshly mashed avocado.
There was plenty of creativity involved as the children used cucumber slices or halved blueberries for legs, sultanas for eyes, and blueberry or cucumber pieces for mouths. Dried apricot slices became the caterpillars' antennae, bringing their delicious creations to life!
Once our caterpillars were ready, it was time for a picnic in the Kitchen Garden. The children helped set up the picnic rug, remembered to remove their shoes, and, after saying a prayer, enjoyed their well-earned feast together.
After our picnic, we shared the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar before heading out to investigate the garden. The children finished their first session by getting involved in some very important gardening jobs, including raking, digging and watering.
It was a wonderful introduction to Kitchen Garden, combining storytelling, creativity, food preparation, sharing and caring for our garden. We look forward to many more delicious adventures with our Prep students this term!
Week 2: Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas
Our text of choice this week was Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey, which inspired us as we prepared some deliciously moist banana cakes! Everyone had a role to play, from mashing the bananas to pouring and mixing the ingredients. There were plenty of eager little chefs in the kitchen!
Once our cakes were in the oven, we practised our kitchen cleaning routine. Students learnt how to wipe down their own benches (rather than sweeping the crumbs onto the floor!), wash utensils and bowls, take food scraps to our worm hotels in the garden, and dry the cooking equipment.
What seems like second nature to us adults is not always so simple for young children. Teatowels and cleaning cloths can all look the same to little learners, so an important part of our Kitchen Garden program is developing these practical skills and learning to care for our shared space. We are discovering that cooking doesn't finish when the food goes into the oven; cleaning up is just as important!
Hopefully, all this wonderful practice will encourage a few extra little helpers at home after dinner, too!
With the Spring sunshine warming our beautiful garden, we popped on our hats and headed outdoors for some gardening fun. After enjoying a picnic with our freshly baked banana cake, it was time to get stuck into our gardening jobs!
With the warmer weather, there is always plenty of watering to do, although the children sometimes decide they need a little watering themselves, too! Alongside caring for our existing plants, we planted some seeds that we will nurture and observe over the coming weeks. We are hoping to spot our first little sprouts next week before eventually transplanting our seedlings into the garden beds, ready to grow and, hopefully, harvest later in the term.
There is something special about watching children care for their garden and discover the joy of growing something from seed to harvest, while observing the changes in nature and reflecting on the beauty God provides for us to enjoy.
Week 3: The giant Jam Sandwich
Today’s theme was based on the story book “The giant jam sandwich’ by Vernon Lord. What seems like the most basic recipe - jam sandwiches, turned out to be a triumph for preps.
They eagerly spread the butter over their pieces of bread, them lovingly spread the home made strawberry jam. I was impressed by how many children wanted to cut their sandwich and they did a great job too.
Though we were going to make a giant sandwich to align with the story, in order to keep personal sandwiches separate, I wrote their names on serviettes and then we wrapped them ready to take outside to eat.
Sadly the weather wasn’t the best picnic weather - hot and windy so we headed to the cool of the classroom and enjoyed a picnic on the rug. My story book seemed to go missing this week in the classroom so I had sourced a good version on You Tube and we sat to watch the story whist enjoying our delicious sandwiches. Some preps ate three whole sandwiches and then finished their lunch box contents as well.
The children were so happy with themselves and thought it was the best sandwich ever!!
To finish I had created a colouring in sheet with items we would use or see on our usual picnic in the garden, and a giant picture of the jam sandwich. They coloured these in beautifully.
Another week where the simple things (and ideas) are often the best.
Italian
Pinocchio Concert Featured in Il Globo
We were delighted to welcome Barbara Manzini from Il Globo to our school on Friday 16 October to interview students about their involvement in our Pinocchio Concert, part of our whole-school production, Symphony of Stories.
Our students spoke enthusiastically about their experiences, sharing their favourite moments and what they enjoyed most about being part of the performance. They were so engaged and confident during the interviews that Barbara commented, “I could listen to you all day!” What a wonderful compliment to our students!
The article, featuring student interviews and photographs from the performance, is expected to be published in the Italian newspaper in November.
We look forward to sharing the article with our school community once it is published!
Miss Paglianiti
Italian Term 4
Prep – Che tempo fa? (What’s the weather like?)
Students will explore Italian weather vocabulary and learn to describe the weather using simple Italian phrases. They will create weather pictures and practise answering Che tempo fa?
Years 1/2 – Le Stagioni (The Seasons)
Students will learn the four seasons in Italian and explore the weather associated with each season. They will use simple Italian phrases to describe seasonal weather and create their own seasonal posters.
Years 3/4 – Progetto di Ricerca: Ciao Italia! (Research Project)
Students will explore Italy through a research project, discovering its culture, landmarks, food and traditions. They will present their findings using a combination of English facts, Italian vocabulary and creative illustrations.
Years 5/6 – Understanding Grammar: Reading Comprehension
Students will strengthen their understanding of Italian grammar and sentence structure through reading comprehension activities. They will develop their vocabulary, practise interpreting written texts and build confidence in understanding Italian.
Miss Paglianiti
The Arts Term 4 🎄🎨🎶
Term 4 is filled with Christmas creativity, colour, music and festive fun in Visual and Performing Arts!
In Visual Arts, students are exploring the wonderful world of famous artists while creating their own Christmas-inspired masterpieces. Prep students are making colourful Eric Carle collages, Years 1–2 are designing vibrant Kandinsky-inspired ornaments, Years 3–4 are celebrating an Australian Christmas through the bold and expressive art of Ken Done, and Years 5–6 are creating patterned decorations and 3D lanterns inspired by Yayoi Kusama.
In Performing Arts, students are spreading Christmas cheer through singing, music, dance and drama! They are exploring Christmas songs, discovering composers and songwriters, playing instruments, creating dance routines and bringing festive characters and stories to life. Across all year levels, students are developing creativity, confidence and teamwork.
Sport/Physical Education
Regional Athletics Event - 20/10:
On Tuesday 20 October, Bonnie from Year 4 & Yorke from Year 6 participated at the Western Metropolitan Regionals Athletics Event. This took place at the Keilor Park Athletics Track. Bonnie & Yorke had qualified all the way up from our School Athletics Day to Districts and Divisionals to reach this incredible level of competition! The two students again performed extremely well and they are very proud of their results, as is everyone at St Augustine's! Congratulations to Bonnie and Yorke on outstanding achievements.
Upcoming Event - Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival on 13/11
A reminder that this event is on Friday 13/11 which is in week 6. Please refer to nForma for full details. We look forward to a great day ahead at the Sunshine Leisure Centre!
Kingsville Netball Club:
Physical Education:
The Grade Preps have been working on their fundamental motor skills through fun class activities and small group rotations. In their rotations, they have been practising basketball/ball bouncing, using skipping ropes to prepare for steps/jumps, throwing /catching using a beanbag and tennis racquet and soccer kicking.
Year Ones & Twos have also been practising their fundamental motor skills altogether and within group rotations. They have been working on basketball dribbling, using skipping ropes to step/jump over, exploring throwing & catching skills with a beanbag and tennis racquet and soccer kicking.
Students in Year Three & Four have been participating in warm up games such as 'Everybody's It Dodgeball' & 'Yoshi' which they have become accustomed to. The students have been practising their throwing and catching of a frisbee to then use in mini games of Ultimate Frisbee.
Year Fives & Sixes have been enjoying warm up games to start their lesson such as 'Yoshi' and smaller games of Dodgeball. The students have been working in pairs and groups to practise their frisbee throwing and catching as well as competitive games across the hall and Senior Yard.