Round the classes  

Reception - Katie: 

The Reception class have been very busy finishing off learning our final sounds for the term. We have also be learning how to orally finish a story started by someone else. In maths we have been learning about equal sharing and how to share objects evenly amongst a group of people. We have also just started learning about statistics and were able to make our first graph on Monday. We have also been busy preparing for the Uraidla Show with the kindy and really enjoyed our excursion to Old Tailem Town with Stephen's class. 

Reception/Year 1/Year 2 - Jaya & Kelly:

In Week 7, on Friday, Jaya’s Reception/1 class and Kelly’s Year 1/2 class were very excited to head off on a joint excursion to the Adelaide Zoo. It was a fantastic day of fun, discovery, and learning, and we were lucky to have such wonderful parent helpers supporting us along the way.

The day began with a special Zoo learning session, where we sang songs, listened to a story about a blue-tongued lizard, and even had the chance to meet one up close! We explored different animal furs, discovered the purposes of claws, and learnt how native Australian animals protect themselves in the wild.

In small cross-class groups, students investigated an animal they had chosen in the lead-up to the excursion. They worked together to answer questions, observe animal features, and explore the animal enclosures. We learnt about habitats, diets, and how different animals care for themselves. It was especially exciting to see so many animals out and active during the day.

A massive thank you to our parent helpers for making this day possible. It was a truly awesome experience and a valuable part of our animal inquiry this term.

Year 2/3 - Emma:

What an engaging and enjoyable finish to the end of term 3 we’ve had! Something that has been a focus and improvement throughout the year is our ‘zone check-ins’ and self-regulation practices. Each morning, we identify how we are feeling and what zone we are in, followed by tools that may help if we need to regulate some tricky emotions. A valuable tool to build our class culture and enable everyone to feel a sense of belonging within the class is our morning class discussions. During this time, students feel connection with each other whilst they share something they are grateful for. Everyone always has something insightful to contribute!

Students have started a ‘Pobble’ booklet for their writing task this term. This program involves a different writing prompt each day. The writing prompt comes in the form of an imaginative picture with story starters, word banks, questions and array of helpful suggestions to help students unlock their creative minds. This has certainly been a highlight each day for the class!

In maths, we have started our unit on fractions and have used all the ways possible to relate it to delicious food partitioning! During our HASS lessons, we have looked at the meaning of Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags as well as our country’s emblems and symbols.

I am very much looking forward to spending the rest of the year with the class. We have established such a positive learning environment, with everyone reaching their learning and class goals!

Year 3/4 - Stephen:

The class was joined by Katie's Reception students for an enjoyable and amazing excursion to Old Tailem Town last week - see the pictures below.  The students explored many aspects of colonial Australian life, including housing, farming machinery, motoring and old civil services such as Police Stations and GP clinics.  The excursion was one part of the students' learning of Australian geography.  

Another aspect of geography that was covered was centred around sustainability.  We shared the picture book The Windy Farm by Doug Maccleod and Craig Smith.  This story was used as a springboard for a STEM task where the students collaborated with each other to make wind farms.  The students continue to explore what sustainability entails.  See the pictures of some of the wind farms.  The students also enjoyed recording gratitude clips for various special people in their lives.

Year 4/5 - Rachael:

The 4/5s have had some great opportunities recently. We were lucky to participate in a session with Australian volleyballer Chris McHugh who represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold at the Commonwealth Games. Students learnt about his inspiring journey from his entry into the sport in Year 3, his dedication and training regime, his experience with injury and setbacks, goal setting and generally positive outlook on life.    

Our excursion to Oakbank School was a great success. A highlight for students was the pottery session, where students familiarised themselves with the feeling of clay and learnt about different techniques for working with it. Each student had an opportunity to make a pinch pot, which is currently drying before being fired in the kiln and returned to us next term! Students also loved the experience on the farm of collecting, cleaning, drying and stamping eggs ready for sale at the butcher in Balhannah. It was a great chance to experience a high school setting and the different opportunities available.

Year 5/6 - Sallie: 

Year 6 camp is such a great way to finish of the term. The weather is perfect, and the students are up for all sorts of hikes and exploring. We are having fun doing new things. This group gets up so early... every day before 6....I will sleep for a week when I get home.  I have heard that the lovely Year 5s who are back at school are doing well and everyone is impressed with how they are working independently (I am looking forward to reading their poems - 5 days of poetry was one of their challenges). Happy holidays everyone...rest up before another busy busy term!