Specialists Updates and Celebrations

Music (Prep)

Our Prep students have been learning about their third Element of Music for the year, “pitch”. They have been developing their ability to determine ascending and descending pitch changes between two notes. They can state whether the two notes played went low then high or high then low with different intervals of pitch.

Our focus has been on students learning to sing with an awareness of pitch. Students have worked on developing their solfege singing. Syllables and hand signs are assigned to the notes of the scale to help the singer mentally hear the pitch.

Students have participated in singing songs and playing games to enhance their singing skills and experience. 

We have been connecting the notes of the solfege to the marimba. Students have been working on solo and whole classes pieces on the tuned percussion instrument.

Environmental Education (Years 1 and 2)

The Year 1 and 2 students this week have been learning about parts of plants, including the roots, leaves, stem and flower. They also learnt about the life cycle of plants. They enjoyed learning about how fruit grows out of a flower! Students developed their understanding of the life cycle of bean plants and discussed why each stage is important, then created their own bean plant life cycle to show their learning.

Visual Arts (Years 3 and 4)

This term, the Year 3 and 4 students have enthusiastically embraced their Aboriginal Australian Art study unit. Our focus this week centred on exploring the works of Indigenous Australian artist Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, particularly his piece 'Two Boys at Wilkinkarra' (see attached image). Using oil pastels, the students created intricate, interconnected layers of circle and square shapes, diving deep into Tjampitjinpa's unique style. I aimed to introduce the students to an Aboriginal Australian artist renowned in the art world for a style outside of the traditional dot painting. This experience challenged their perception, showing that Aboriginal Australian artists are celebrated for a wide range of artistic styles. Their dedication and effort in producing these artworks have truly impressed me!

Physical Education (Years 5 and 6)

This week, in Years 5 and 6, we have been furthering our tennis skills when striking the ball. At the start of each lesson, we practised working on our individual tennis skills with a skilled challenge. We focused on striking the ball independently in different ways such as: keep-ups, flipping the racket, using the edge of our racket and even incorporating some soccer skills! We then practised being in the ready position and using a forehand strike to hit the ball from low to high over the net with a partner. Finally, we took part in some small rallies with a partner and had a competition to see which pair can score the most consecutive rallies in a row. Well done to all our children taking part!

Library (Highlights from Term 1)

In Term 1, Years 1 to 6 visited the library every week. During these sessions 2,588 library books were circulated. Classes with the most books borrowed were: 

The top borrowers for each year level: 

(There were no top borrowers for Year 1 as borrowing was very even across the year level)

The most popular books were: