Grade Prep,1, 2

Preps on Excursion

Preps and the Greenhouse

The preps recently planted some Cress (fast growing, edible herb) in our brand new Greenhouse. We were fascinated with the process of planting in coco peat, in little pots that then sat in wet gullies. Hydroponics for 6 year olds! We loved checking in on the Cress and it grew like a mini forest. Next we harvested and then had a try of it in ham and cheese sandwiches. The prep students were hands on throughout the whole process.

Grade One

In Term 4, we had the opportunity to visit the Jirrahlinga Dingo Conservation & Wildlife Education Centre in Chewton. This was an amazing chance to revisit some of the learning we had done in Term 1 in our Biological Science unit as well as learn lots of new things about our incredible Australian wildlife. We all had the opportunity to get up close and personal with so many interesting and amazing animals. The dingoes even sang for us!

In Term 3, to celebrate the Olympics we held our very own Potato Olympics. We had to create our athlete by bringing in a potato and decorating it. We gave them names and personalities. We did some maths to find out how high, how round and how much our potato weighed. Then we took them outside and put them through their paces in a range of events designed to test their mettle.

We participated in an online session with Ecolinc and Ashleigh who took us through the process of designing a new sleigh for Santa using our knowledge of push and pull. We needed to think about: if our sleighs would be moved using a push or pull, where Santa would sit, where the presents would be stored and some safety or special features for Santa. Once we'd perfected our designs we made models using recycled materials to bring our designs to life. We worked through the challenges of attaching different materials, making our sleighs strong enough and giving them some pizzaz! What a clever bunch of future designers and engineers we have in the Grade 1 cohort!

Grade 2

Early in Term 4, our Grade 2 students visited some iconic locations around Bendigo as a part of our local history excursion. They took a ride on the Talking Tram, got a tour of the Bendigo Military Museum, visited Kerri (our former KESO) at her new art gallery "Dumawul" and enjoyed some lunch under the rotunda in Rosalind Park. The students were also very excited to visit and see some of the locations mentioned in our class novel for this term, "Bendigo Gold" by Heather Smith. 

Recount of the Day

Written by Zara 2F

At 9 am I went on the bus and sat next to Reese. 

At 9:30 am I had a toilet break. Mrs Fullard and Mr Janssen checked the old toilets. The toilets were a bit stinky.

At 9:45 am I went to the Shamrock Hotel. There was a massive staircase. Mrs Fullard talked to the nice receptionist and told him that 2F have been reading a 'Bendigo Gold' book. He told us about the old model of the hotel. It was unique.

At 10 am I went to Dumawal Art Gallery. It was awesome. I found out we were the first students to go there and Kerri (KESO) works there.

At 10:45 am I went to the playground. It was pretty fun and awesome. 

At 11 am I went to the Military Museum. My guide was Michael. He was a student at our school (many years ago). I learned that some soldiers had to sleep standing up.

At 11:45 am I had a snack at the BENDIGO sign. I met the other grades. The sign was really colourful. I put on some sunscreen because it was HOT!

At 12 pm I hopped on the tram. It wasn't any old tram. It was a talking tram.

Massive thank you to our 2024 Junior House Captains! You have done an amazing job this year and represented the Junior School extremely well. Some of your highlights have been:

• Dressing up in crazy costumes at whole school assemblies
• Participating in ridiculous house challenges at assemblies. Where does Mr Smyth come up with those ideas?
• Being role models for our weekly Healthy Bodies program 
• Being role models for all the Prep - 2 grades.
• Leading our Grade 2 House Challenges e.g. Nudel Carts
• Reading out the house points on a Friday afternoon over the speaker 
• Collecting the eggs daily from the Green Nest
• Hosting the 2024 Christmas Concert 
• Counting all the money raised from the Christmas Concert
• Purchasing the toys for a local charity