Infants and Primary

INFANTS

A huge welcome back to our wonderful school for 2024! Everyone – students and staff – were all excited to catch up with each other and are all happily back into the swing of school life. We warmly welcome all students and their families back to school, including some new faces in our Infants Department.

This year, our Infants teachers and classes are: Ms Nat Downey (Year 2/3), Miss Emily Friend (Year 1), and I will be teaching Kindergarten. We are excited to welcome some new staff to our K-6 team. We have Phoebe Wood joining us who will be teaching across our K-6 classes, as well as Charlotte Groves who is taking the Year 3/4 class – they are both awesome additions to our staff. 

Our Infants teaching team also includes Rose Arber (Yindyamarra), Heather Shore (teaching across our classes), Lauren Crokett (Library), Carol Harpley (Intervention support) and Denise Corkhill (Learning support). If you have any questions at all, please reach out to your child’s teacher by contacting them through the front office.

In our Infants Building, we are lucky to have a number of super support staff working with students and staff, and your children will get to know these people well as the term progresses. Gill, Jaimee, Charmaine and Kelly are working in our classrooms, as well as Mary and Theresa providing administrative support.

A great day was had by all at our Swimming Carnival today – so fantastic to see such great swimming and effort by our students, all having a great time in and out of the water. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents and friends who were able to join us to watch, cheer and help out on the day.

In the coming fortnight, we welcome all families to our ‘Welcome BBQ’ on Wednesday 21 February. Before this BBQ, all families are invited to attend a ‘Meet and Greet’ with teachers. This will be a chance to meet Infants and Primary staff, and to find out more about the day to day routines and expectations of school, to ask questions and chat with other families. We hope many of you are able to join us for this, followed by a sausage and some cricket – more details to follow shortly.

Kindy

Congratulations to all Kindergarten students (and their families!) for successfully navigating their first week at school! They are all looking very grown up in their new uniforms and are quickly becoming familiar with the routines and expectations of school. Our Year 6 buddies have been a huge help with this adjustment – assisting their buddies during lunch and recess breaks, playing with them and guiding them in the playground – thank you to them all.

Our Kindergarten students have hit the ground running and are already learning sounds and skills to help them with reading and writing as well as showing off what clever mathematicians they are. They all had a great time joining in the games and activities during the Swimming Carnival, and then back at school, having an extra long break while having the playground all to themselves.

Year 1

Welcome back for 2024!  

Year 1 students have been very busy settling in to their new classroom space and developing a classroom environment that is calm, tidy, and full of kindness. Students worked with me to determine the type of classroom environment we wish Year 1 to become, and we are finding out how we can achieve this.  

In week 2, Year 1 began working on their first English unit for the year. We are reading a story called ‘Our Island’, written by Alison Lester. Students are considering how authors and illustrators use strategies to convey their context in stories, and how we can relate to these stories through our own contexts. We have also been exploring the use of nouns, verbs and adjectives. 

In Mathematics classes, students have been learning about the dispositions of a mathematician and developing strategies to help them become resilient and brave during these lessons. We have been exploring the numbers 1- 10 and learning about different representations of numbers.  

Throughout week 2, students engaged in water colour paintings, creating a colourful piece to cover our ‘free drawing’ books in. See photos attached. 

On Wednesday of week 2, we attended the whole school Swimming Carnival. Students engaged in games in the little pool such as crawling through an obstacle course, relay races, collecting ping pongs and free play. Kindergarten and Year 1 then walked back to school to enjoy an afternoon of relaxation, play and zooper doopers.  

In week 3, we will begin sending home home-readers. Along with these books will be a booklet to record what is read at home. At each 25 nights of books read at home, students will receive a special award at the next school assembly. If your child does not already have a home reader folder, please send one as soon as possible so that these things can be sent home. 

I am looking forward to a fabulous year in the Year 1 classroom and I know the students are too! If you need to contact me, please call or email the school.  Year 1 will have their Library lessons on a Thursday afternoon. Please send a library bag on Thursdays for your child to start borrowing.

Year 3/4

Welcome to 3/4! I’m so excited to be at Boorowa Central, and can’t wait to work with all the students in the 3/4 class this year, along with Miss Wood, Mrs Shore, and Mrs Crockett. 

In Literacy, we have already started our book study of “Fantastic Mr Fox” by Roald Dahl. This story encourages students to think about narrative and all the features of imaginative texts - including character and setting. Students have been working hard to bring these features into their writing as well. Spelling and grammatical concepts will be taught using the Sound Waves program, a program students are familiar with from previous years at Boorowa Central School. 

For Mathematics, students will be working in level-specific groups to improve their understanding of mathematical concepts including number sense and operations for problem solving, such as addition and multiplication. 

In 3/4, we are lucky to be able to visit the library each Wednesday, to borrow new and exciting books to build our reading stamina. Sport will take place each Friday, and students are to wear sport uniform on this day. 

I love hearing from families, so if you have any questions or concerns, or even just want to have a chat about how your child is settling into the new school year, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email. My email address is Charlotte.Groves2@det.nsw.edu.au

Here’s to a great year in 3/4, and plenty of chances to grow, improve, and learn new things! 

Miss  Groves

Year 4/5

Welcome to the 2024 school year for our Year 4/5 class! I look forward to working with 4/5 this year, and together with Mrs. Shore, Mrs Crokett, and Miss. Wood, we're gearing up for a term full of exciting learning opportunities.

This term in English, we're diving into "The Thing About Oliver." It's a story that I believe will not only capture our students' imaginations but also offer deep insights into family dynamics and the challenges of personal growth. We'll explore narrative structures, develop our critical reading and creative writing skills, and learn to express our thoughts and feelings through literature. In spelling, grammar, and comprehension activities we'll work on targeted spelling strategies to build vocabulary and tackle challenging patterns. Grammar sessions will emphasise the importance of sentence structure and the use of language, enhancing written and verbal communication. For comprehension, our focus will be on developing the ability to analyse and understand texts, aiming to improve critical thinking and reading skills. These components are integral to fostering a comprehensive understanding of English literacy.

For Mathematics, we're introducing a differentiated Math Mentals program. It's designed to meet our students right where they are, pushing them to stretch their understanding of number sense, place value, and decimals. I'm particularly excited about how this program will help each student develop at their own pace, ensuring that everyone can build a strong mathematical foundation.

Our library day is on Wednesday, which is a great opportunity for students to explore new books and authors. And let's not forget about sports on Friday, which will keep us active and teach us the importance of teamwork.

I'm looking forward to a fantastic year ahead with our Year 4/5 class. Here's to a year filled with growth, discovery, and plenty of fun learning experiences!

Please feel free to reach out to me through Compass for updates on our class's progress or directly at my email, matthew.rowley12@det.nsw.edu.au, with any questions or concerns you might have.

Mr Rowley

Yindy

Welcome back to 2024! The students of Yindamarra have thoroughly enjoyed their break and were excited to return and explore the flourishing Binowee garden and the produce. The garden has produced succulent   tomatoes and large yellow zucchinis, while the strawberry patch is thriving. Students are enjoying the harvest and are looking forward to the upcoming strawberries.

Miss Arber

Amali Bush - Boorowa Junior Sportsperson of the Year

Boorowa Central School year six student Amali Bush capped off an impressive year on the sporting field by being awarded the Boorowa Junior Sportsperson of the Year at the Australia Day Awards. Amali was nominated by the school for her outstanding efforts across a multitude of sporting pursuits, but notably Athletics where she was the Cowra District PSSA Champion and represented the Western Region PSSA at the NSW State Athletics Championships at Homebush. Well done Amali!

Jason Stuart

Assistant Principal Primary