SCHOOL OF WONDER

Term 4! We’ve certainly hit the ground running!

It’s been a fast paced start to the term with incursions and swimming lessons. Children have had opportunities to transfer their learning into various settings and demonstrating the college values and learner assets as they go.

Term 4 is a hat wearing term. It’s been pleasing to see many hats being worn at break times and in PE. Please support your child's success by naming their hat in clear, easy to read writing. Then when it is located it can be easily returned.

The Year 1/2 students have ‘Wheels Wednesday’ this coming Wednesday. Children are encouraged to bring a bike or scooter AND helmet to school. Bill from Safer Cycling will be visiting to discuss road safety, while learning mentors will be leading some activities in the college bus lane. A previous communication has been emailed to Year 1/2 parents/carers with further information about this day.

The Year 3/4 students will be walking to the local park in the coming weeks, identifying forces in our community. A notice regarding this activity has been added to the Daily Messaging on PAM. The Annual General Permission form that was sent at the beginning of 2024 covers this short excursion.

We look forward to the continued fun in the SOW this term!

-Emma & Kara, School Leaders

Students in the SOW took part in swimming lessons at Aquamoves all week this week. Here are some photos of the joyful moments in the swimming pool participating in very important lessons to assist with water safety. 

This week is all about water safety in Foundation! The students participated in swimming lessons at Aquamoves this week, developing their swimming skills and water safety knowledge. Back at school students have been diving deeper into their understanding around water safety at home, the pool, the beach and lakes, rivers and dams through an interactive program by Lifesaving Victoria.

The Year 1/2 students have had a busy start to Term 4, exploring the concept of force with a focus on push and pull. They were thrilled to engage in fantastic hands-on learning experiences, thanks to the experts from Task Works who brought these ideas to life. In Week 2, the focus shifted to water safety and swimming, where students have been learning essential swimming skills and important ways to stay safe around water.

Maths

Children in Year 1/2 began investigating measurement last week. Children measured themselves onto strips of paper, then using informal units such as blocks, books, icy pole sticks. They then compared the size to their partner using language such as smaller, bigger, longer, shorter.

TASK WORKS

The Year 1/2 students participated in a Learner Assets incursion of the best when Task Works visited the College last week.

The students were entertained throughout the session as they moved from one task to next successfully completing each in a team.

The tasks included: disassembling and reassembling a train, Bob the Robot and a GoKart; designing, testing and completing a marble run; using a magnetism board with 1000 steel balls and magnets to chase them around; using a friction board to swivel and hover on; and the Buzz Wire Game to test the hand/eye coordination.

The session was all about forces and push/pull effect. Students explored how things moved and joined all while using their Learner Assets: collaboration, communication, self-manager and thinker.

CONNECTING SWIMMING LESSONS TO OUR LEARNING

The Year 1/2 children have been participating in swimming lessons at Aquamoves this week. The children were given the opportunity to connect what they have been doing at swimming back to their learning.

Some children opted to create drawings or paintings based on what they had seen – one student did an incredible self-portrait demonstrating how he had learned to put his head underwater this week.

Other students went for more 3D-inspired creations, using arts and crafts, Lego and building blocks to create swimming pools. A team of children created a miniature version of Aquamoves itself – perhaps some future builders and/or architects!! 

Maths

Children have been playing maths games to strengthen their number fluency with numbers and enhance their collaboration skills. These games provide a fun and engaging way to build confidence in math while encouraging teamwork and problem-solving. 

Inquiry

Children have started engaging with our new inquiry topic, "How the World Works," focusing on forces. They began by attempting to build a bridge capable of supporting a toy car. Children worked collaboratively to plan, design and build a bridge. Some students were successful and found when you scrunched up the newspaper it became stronger.

Children have also explored the concept of friction and observed how a car moves across different surfaces. By testing various materials, we were able to see how the texture of each surface affects the car's speed and distance travelled. Surfaces with more friction, like carpet, slowed the car down, while smoother surfaces, like tile or wood, allowed the car to move faster and farther. Children completed a 3, 2, 1 to organise their learning. 

The next SOW Assembly will be held on Monday 21 October, 2024. All parents/carers are welcome to attend. 

Please support our staff, and remember that drop off for children is from 8:30am. This is when staff are on duty. Prior to this any staff onsite are preparing for the day ahead, duty of care requirements mean children onsite require supervision and doing this takes staff away from their important preparation time.

Kara McCann & Emma O’Keeffe - School of Wonder Leaders

kmccann@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

eokeeffe@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

We are committed & dedicated educators

Teaching and Learning:

Our aim as Educators is always to improve student learning outcomes for all our learners. We continue to strive to improve our professional practice to ensure that our learners get the very best learning opportunities and outcomes. Our SOW team works collaboratively to provide thought provoking learning experiences to our learners. Our learner assets (collaboration, communication, self-management, thinking and researching) are life long skills that set our young people up to life long learners and to continually question, explore and challenge their thinking. Please direct any teaching and learning inquiries to Kara McCann kmccann@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

Wellbeing:

Wellbeing is a holistic term that encompasses all aspects of a student's life, including their physical, social, mental and emotional state. It is often defined as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships and experiences at school.

Wellbeing at St Anne’s is driven by the themes of doing our best, allowing everyone to succeed. Please direct any wellbeing inquiries to Emma O'Keeffe eokeeffe@sackialla.catholic.edu.au