Specialists News
1/2 Buzzing with Excitement!
Our Year 1/2 students were buzzing with excitement during our recent bee incursion! We were very lucky to welcome a beekeeper (Mary) from Backyard Honey, who introduced us to the fascinating world of bees.
The children were captivated as they observed a live hive through its clear viewing panel, giving them the opportunity to safely watch the bees at work. We learnt about beekeeping, the important role bees play in our environment and why it is so important to protect and support our bee populations.
The children were fascinated to discover how bees work together in their hive and were particularly excited to taste three different types of honey, noticing the differences in flavour and texture.
It was a wonderful hands-on learning experience that helped the children develop a greater appreciation for these incredible little creatures and the important role they play in our world. A very big thank you to our wonderful beekeeper for sharing her knowledge and helping our students become true little bee experts! Students also went home with a little jar of honey, which by the sounds of it has quickly being devoured.
Another bonus of the incursion was enjoying the use of our outdoor classroom environment. Ourdoor classrooms provide a varying space to our normal learning rooms, encouraging children to interact with the world around them whilst providing creative, reflective and calm spaces to learn in.
Before our Bee Incursion, we prepared our menu for the week 'Monkey Toast'. Simply put, Money Toast is toast spread with honey, sliced banana and a springle of cinnamon. The children thoroughly enjoyed preparing their own pieces of toast and gobbling them down before they met the bees.
3/4 Garden incursion
Week 9 also provided Year 3/4 with an incursion from Farm My School. Farmer Isobel came and spent an hour with each of the classes, where the students learnt about the benefits of food scraps and how we can make good soil from scraps as well as grow new produce. All the children had the opportunity to build a pot of goodness and we hope to hear some positive harvesting stories in months to come.
With watering back on and plants starting to grow, we hope that our kitchen garden space can be utilised more as another learning space for all classes. There are many benefits for the children to learn in an outdoor classroom.
Outdoor classrooms support stress relief. Natural surroundings lower stress hormones and reduce anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues. Being outside can encourage more focussed attention to learning tasks when children experience time outside, whilst also supports restoring their focus and increasing attention espeically for children who can find inside classroom work activities challenging.
Outdoor classrooms provide a calming atmosphere, as an open learning space provides children with a quiet place to decompress and regulate their emotions.
St Augustine's students are so fortunate to have this corner in the school, to learn and support healthy wellbeing whilst also observe nature around them while working on their activities or relaxing in their lunch breaks..
In our final week of kitchen garden for this Term, Year 1/2's prepared two types of pizzas, Kale and the other potato and rosemary. Normally pizza loves to be smothered with a tomato sauce, however this week students have explored pizza topped with a vegetable and cheese and found it was actually delicious. As these children enjoyed their Kale chips last year, there was no hesitation to place kale on the pizzas.
We had limited time in the garden, and wanted to complete the signs that we have been making. To acknowledge the Parable we learnt in Term 3 - Parable of the Seeds, we have created some colourful tiles that are to be displayed on the back fence. We hope that while you spend time in the garden that they provide you with some reflection and prayer time.
Italian News : Pinocchio
As part of our School Concert, the Italian group (students from 5/6J & 5/6 PJ) have continued to work incredibly hard to bring a short scene from the story of Pinocchio to life on stage.
Students spent time behind the scenes rehearsing short lines, movements, songs and practising their musical instruments, building their confidence and preparing for their performance.
It was wonderful to see them share their talents on stageand perform with such enthusiasm and pride. I am so proud of their hard work and dedication!
Behind-the-Scenes Photos: A little glimpse behind the scenes
The Big Transformation!
Italian – Learning Together
Our Prep students have been working together as a team to construct sentences about their family members using given Italian words.
It was fantastic to see the students reading each word in Italian, working collaboratively and building sentences together.
Excellent achievement by our Preps! We are so proud of their enthusiasm, teamwork and growing confidence in Italian!
Sport:
Divisional Athletics Day - 8/9
Our school recently had four students participate in the Divisional Cross Country event at the Keilor Athletics Track. The students were Bonnie from Year 4 and Aria, Yorke & Lachlan from Year 6. Reaching this level is a magnificent achievement and always has very challenging competition along the way! We congratulate all the students who qualified and competed at this event. In addition to Bonnie and Yorke who progressed through to the Regionals stage! This will take place later in October and we wish them all the best for this event.
Year 5-6 Summer Gala Day - 13/9
Students in Years Five & Six competed in the Summer Gala Day in Volleyball & Volleystars. Volleyball took place at Footscray City P.S. and Volleyball was held at Yarraville West Primary P.S. The students practiced their skills for these in Physical Education classes as well as opportunities to play in the hall during lunch and recess times. The Year Fives and Sixes enjoyed playing the two and worked well in preparation for the day and on the actual Gala Day! There were some fantastic examples of great sportsmanship, teamwork and competitiveness which made for a fun day overall. Well Done to all students and we also thank the teachers and parents/guardians for their assistance on the day.