From the Classroom

News from 5/6

As we approach the end of Term 3 the 56s continue to demonstrate incredible resilience and capacity to cope with change. 

Digital Learning 

Our trial of G-Suite and Google Classrooms has, despite expected hiccups, proved successful and most students have enjoyed the opportunities that digital learning has opened. If you have not already done so I strongly encourage to to log in with your child and explore the amazing work they have been doing. 

Zoo Excursion

On Wednesday the grade 5/6s went to Melbourne Zoo for the day. This experience was intended as a culmination of our inquiry into Adaptations and as a celebration of the great work we have been doing throughout the term. The excursion was a wonderful experience for all who attended. I am so proud of our students, who were ALL exceptional ambassadors for Marlborough Primary School.

I would also like to extend a MASSIVE thank you to all the parents who supported us on the day and also to those who volunteered but were unable to attend. The number of volunteers we are getting for these and other programs across the year are testament to the strength of the community at Marlborough and these contributions have a huge impact on the student experience. 

Homework

Please encourage your child to continue reading for 20 minutes per day throughout the holidays. Reading should be framed not as homework but rather as part of our daily practice. Reading can take many forms (novels, magazines, news articles ect..) and should aim to build a love of literature. 

What's happening in 3/4

What a term! The 3/4 students have completed some amazing work this term. We have named the chickens and held a vote, learnt about animal life cycles, adaptations, physical and behavioural traits of organisms and completed a variety of tasks using money; planned a party, adopted a pet and gone shopping.

Our final writing task for the term was to create a persuasive poster to persuade a principal of all the great things Marlborough Primary School has to offer. 

Some persuasive reasons included:  

We need YOU to be our new principal.

Can you help us?       (Lachie)

Secondly the teachers are professional, kind and advanced. They can do things very easily. Thirdly there is no dangerous equipment and there is good first aid. You won't get hurt at all. (Jobe)

Marlborough is a small school and if you are looking for a principal job you're in the right place! Our community is friendly, welcoming and kind! (Elise)

I believe that all the plants, trees and flowers are beautiful. They are also never overgrown. I also believe that they are also good for games like hide and seek. (Lily)

The teachers are wonderful at MPS and always listen to the students and fellow teachers, so they would be great to work with. (Zephyr)

Our playgrounds are safe and don't break. This means kids are safe at our school. You won't have to deal with lots of injuries. (John)

Thirdly our school is full of kind, wonderful, amazing and smart students like Alaric, Heidi and many others. They are always helping each other and also make sure no one gets hurt. We are a lovely school that cares for each other. (Kan)

This term we completed our novel study on the book "Nim's Island'. Students completed weekly writing tasks, looked at unfamiliar vocabulary, read excerpts aloud and had some really informative discussions about the different characters in the text. 

We look forward to a great term 4.

The Adventures of 1/2s

The Grade 1/2 sleepover was a night to remember, filled with laughter and fun. It started with games outside on the basketball courts and then a big game of duck duck goose before dinner. As the sun dipped below the horizon and the heavens opened up, the aroma of sizzling burgers and sausages filled the air, marking the start of a delicious BBQ dinner ending with tasty sprinkles and ice cream. After dinner, it was time for games. The highlight of the evening was the scavenger/treasure hunt, where the students were divided into groups, each armed with a list of tasks to complete/find using great teamwork and an iPad to take photo evidence of completed tasks. As they completed each task on the treasure hunt they could collect a letter. Once the tasks were complete the groups worked together to solve the letter puzzle with the 8 letters that created the word ‘TEAMWORK’. The winning team got mini-trophy's and a big round of applause. The grade 2’s then watched ‘Sing’ a movie with yummy popcorn. As part of the Camp Fun Day activities the next day, students in Foundation to Year 2 had fun reading stories and learning new games led by our Year 5 and 6 students.

Our final writing learning task this term is an information report, with a focus on students chosen animal. Each student has enthusiastically selected an animal from the animal kingdom. With curiosity as their guiding light, they have delved into the realms of research, gathering information about their respective animals' habitats, diets, facts and unique characteristics. Armed with colorful textbooks from epic books, and eager minds our grade 1/2's are now in the process of crafting and finalising their informative reports that not only showcase their writing skills but also deepen their understanding of the natural world.

We hope you have a wonderful break and e cant wait to see you back in term 4! 

Your teachers, Mr Watson, Mrs Lindsay and Mrs Turner. 

Fantastic Foundation

In Literacy we have been consolidating our phonemes and revising skills in segmenting sounds and blending them to read words. We have come to the end of our unit 'Facts are Fun' on non-fiction texts and students have created their own non-fiction text a flip book about their chosen farm animal. They selected an animal, listened to read aloud books to do research and then illustrated and wrote their flip book.

In Maths, we are spending this week learning about money and how we use it to pay for items. This unit is very hands on with students exploring the use of money through role play. In the recent weeks we have been learning about sharing and how we start with a lot and then the amount is shared. Students have used the chant "One for me, One for you." we used hands on materials to share pretend lollies, ice-creams and toy teddy bears.  

In our Inquiry unit we have been learning about how living things help us and we spent time planting seedlings in the school vegetable patches. This will become a responsibility for Foundation students who will water and tend to the patches. Thank you to the kind families and staff who volunteered their time to help prepare the vegetable patches, donated gardening equipment and gave their time to support students.