Specialist Team News

Performing Arts

The Curriculum Focus in Performing Arts

Prep: Students have been learning about the music element of pitch. They have been able to identify and sing different pitches on the treble staff and are learning the names of the symbols used in rhythm. Students have learnt to play Baby shark and Mary had a Little Lamb on the instruments.

Year 1: Students have shared their Character Rhythm Composition demonstrating their knowledge of the symbols used to indicate rhythm. They have been learning to read and play the notes of Funga Alafia and Kwa Heri on the keyboards and marimbas.

Year 2: Students have been learning about the Solfege method and the letter names that match with each pitch. They have learnt to read and play Do, Re, Mi, the Whacky Do Re Mi and Ebeneezer Sneezer on the keyboards and marimbas

Grade 3/4 – Students have been learning to play a C major, G major and A minor chords on bothe the keyboard and marimba. They have played along to a reggae and dance hall track and will begin working on play along songs starting with Ho Hey by the Lumineers.

Grade 5/6 –

Students have started reviewing chord playing on the keyboard and marimbas. They have also been learning about the major chord pattern and can play a 3 note chord including sharps for an A, D and E major chord on the keyboards. They have played the matching 2 note chords on the marimbas. Students have been playing Bob Marley’s song Three Little Birds.

Music Clubs

T Shirts 

Congratulations to Olivia A whose design has been selected by the Choir to feature on this year’s t shirt. We have started the process of getting T Shirts made for the 3 Music Groups. Information will be sent out soon on Compass about ordering a T Shirt for your child. Please don’t forget to indicate your child’s size when ordering. 

The cut-off date for orders will be Friday 24th May 2024.

*This year’s Choir T shirts will be made in the same colours as last year. For students who were in the choir in 2023, they may use last year’s T shirts for performances if you do not wish to purchase a new one.

Choir 

The Willy Primary Choir rehearse each Wednesday from the start of lunch for about 20 – 30 minutes        

Marimba Band 

The Marimba Band is currently working on learning and playing two French songs  for Bastille Day.

Rock Band

The Rock Band continue to work on their repertoire including two French rock songs for Bastille Day. 

Warm Regards,

Faye Ferry (Performing Arts)

Visual Arts

Wominjenka everyone. 

How lucky was I last week? I got to go with the Grade Fours to the NGV. It was so nice to be able to share the experience with them. introduce them to one of my favourite artists, Kaylene Whiskey. Kaylene’s work is bright, colourful and fun. It truly was a great day!

I read, ‘What is Texture?’, to the Preps, Grade Ones and Twos. Then they all experimented with texture and explored different materials to create rubbings.  While I provided a variety of things for them to use, they were then able to look for other things they could use around the room. It was really delightful to watch their little faces as they discovered something new to use. Several of the kids also told me it was the best day of their life. Who would have thought?

In addition to this the Preps revisited mark making, only this time we included pattern into the mix. They picked up the concept of pattern quite well. After experimenting, the kids  decorated a rashie top with patterns made of different marks. There was lots of chatter about their patterns as they did this.

Moving on from last week’s rubbing lesson, the Grade Ones experimented with different ways to create texture. This included mark making, combining colours and different types if lines. Next they get to use these ideas in their future artworks.

The Grade Twos are in the process of finishing off their diving pictures. Having drawn themselves snorkelling or diving they been adding the finishing touches to their work. This included adding dye, followed by sprinkling salt to add texture to their work. The salt effect certainly makes it look like little bubbles and movement in the water. The kids really enjoyed trying tob use the salt grinders to add the salt.

I’m sure most of you would have heard of, or seen the work of Pete Cromer. Pete is an Australian artist from country Victoria and the Grade Threes are looking at his work at the moment. Lots of them said they have cups, tea towels and drink bottles featuring his work. Pete’s work is collaged based, the kids have been busy experimenting with colour. They have mixed primary colours and added tints of white to create lots of different coloured paper in preparation for the sea creatures they are going to make.

Having visited the gallery, the Grade Fours engaged in some interesting discussions about what they saw and created a piece of art to reflect what they took away from the experience. They certainly made my heart smile. 

This week introduced the Grade Flours to the work of Ken Done. They described it as colourful, bright, full of shapes and kids like. So, their latest project is to create a Ken Don inspired Williamstown scene. They loved looking at different samples of his work. In time  we will get to see theirs.

Sea creatures & bird sculptures are the net big project for the Grade Fives and Sixes. They have started to plan their little critters, but until we have enough plastic bottles, they won’t be able to start. So, if you have any 1.25, 4 litre, large round milk, shampoo, liquid soap lor interesting shaped bottles, they would be much appreciated as we certainly need a variety of shapes and sizes. We currently have a small collection but not enough for six grades. In the meantime, they have been doing some observational drawing and have been busy drawing sea shells.

I’ve included a photo of the ANZAC display that is currently up in the Art Room, just incase you haven’t seen it. It certainly showcases the work all the grade created.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun, be happy and keep creating art!

JoJo (Visual Art)

Physical Education

Fortnightly Curriculum Spotlight in Physical Education – Term 2 Week 4

Prep

Students are encouraged to work collaboratively in pairs or small groups to complete movement-based tasks and challenges. This fosters not only physical agility but also cooperation and communication among the youngest learners.

Grades 1 & 2

The focus for our early primary students is on locomotor skills, utilizing different parts of the body. This exercise promotes physical coordination and awareness of body movements.

Grades 3 & 4

We are thrilled to introduce net and wall games, including Hot Shots tennis, aimed at enhancing hand-eye coordination. These activities are designed to engage students in dynamic and exciting ways, fostering both physical and strategic growth.

Grade 5/6

Students will delve into advanced game tactics in both invasion and cooperative games. This curriculum is structured to enhance strategic thinking and teamwork skills, preparing our students for more complex sports interactions.

Sports Achievements

On Thursday, May 9th, a team of 24 students from Williamstown Primary showcased their endurance and skill at the District Cross Country Carnival held at McIver Reserve in Yarraville. Competing in 2km and 3km races, our students displayed remarkable determination and sportsmanship. Their outstanding performance led to a victorious win at the carnival. Congratulations to the entire team for making the school community proud!

Following this triumph, top-performing students progressed to the next level, competing in the Hobson’s Bay Division Cross Country finals at Presidents Park in Wyndham Vale on Wednesday, May 28th. We extend our best wishes to these athletes as they continue to represent our school with excellence and pride.

Warm Regards,

Paddy Gallivan (Physical Education)

LOTE (French)

De Melbourne A Fromelles

Preps: A huge shout out to our Prep cohort who, so far, has completed five French sessions in FULL IMMERSION mode. It means that, to date, the Preps have no idea I can actually speak English because the sessions have been solely delivered in French! Yes, you heard right. They have been sen-sa-tio-nal with it all and have found their feet in the French room really quickly. They realised from the beginning that when asking a question or stating a fact in English, I always respond to them – in French. So, there has been next to no communication gap and they’re joyfully going with the flow, learning tremendously in the process. This is a fantastic achievement for our youngest Willy cohort as stepping into full linguistic immersion normally requires more than one session a week. 

We have been working on sound dissociation, focussing on graphs and diagraphs with their respective phonemes. By placing sound cards on the floor and calling one sound at a time in no particular order, they have been able to identify each one to re-create words such as b-on-j-ou-r (bonjour = hello), m-er-c-i (merci = thank you) and au-r-e-v-oi-r (au revoir = goodbye). This valuable activity has been helping them write their first French words in their personal French books (oh, they’re excited about those!). We will be continuing this sound-to-spelling practice throughout the term as we now embark on ‘L’Alphabet’ French song to discover all the sounds of the French alphabet. BRAVO les Preps!!!

***

As we commemorated the ANZACs on 25th April, Year 1s to 4s took this opportunity in the French room to highlight the unbreakable bond the ANZACs created with France back in July 1916 when they went all the way across the world to try and rescue the people of Fromelles, a small place in Northern France. This brave and altruistic response from the ANZACs has not been forgotten by the people of Fromelles, till today. As they say, we don’t have a lot of money but we have a big heart. We don’t forget and we want to say “thank you” to the soldiers and their descendants’. In the classroom, we took a virtual tour to Fromelles to see how the children of Fromelles pay their respects to the ANZACs to remember their sacrifice. This has imprinted in our Willy Kids’ mind that the connection between our two countries is extremely special and 108 years old.

Years 1 & 2: Students have began to increase their knowledge of French numbers with the fun ‘worm song’ up to ‘vingt’ (20) for easy number identification. They’ve also started practising the ‘-di’ phoneme made by clenching the facial muscles around the nose. They have been able to identify its pattern in the seven French days of the week by tapping on their nose every time to enhance pronunciation and location bearings which was foundation work to start creating the ‘La Semaine’ (The Week) song page in their French books.

Years 3 & 4: Students are tapping into their prior knowledge of French numbers and days of the week with verbal practise, linguistic and cultural discussions such as, ‘what is the first day of the week in France?’, something not everyone agrees with in Australia 😉 (it is Monday = lundi). They have now started creating an intricate Calendrier Meteo (weather calendar) where they’ll be recording and classifying, over the next two weeks, ‘les jours de la semaine’ (days of the week), ‘la date’ (numbers to make up dates), ‘les mois’ (months of the year) and various phrases to talk about the weather. With this, they will then be able to make sentences independently at the beginning of each session about today’s date and weather conditions.

Madame CRICRI 😊