Specialist classes

MUSIC - Mrs Lisa Scott (PLT Leader)

It has been wonderful getting to meet my new classes over the last few weeks and seeing so many smiling and enthusiastic students.  

In Music this term, we will be covering the following topics:

Prep students will explore familiar songs and nursery rhymes.  They will develop their skills in keeping a steady beat through singing, dancing and playing a variety of percussion instruments. 

Year 1 and 2 students will be developing their knowledge of beat and rhythm through a variety of ‘hands on’ practical music making activities and singing games. They will continue to develop their singing skills. 

Year 3 students will be focusing on how to play a variety of xylophones, glockenspiels, metallophones and marimbas in addition to learning about the instruments in an orchestra. They will develop techniques to play music in unison and in two parts. 

Year 4 students will be learning techniques to play the ukulele and will use these skills to play and sing along to a variety of music. They will also explore how the elements of music are used in a variety of different pieces to create effect.

Year 5 will experience playing the keyboard. They will be learning to play melodies and chords to accompany a variety of songs in whole class music making.

Year 6 students will further develop their individual skills in instrumental playing by choosing an instrument that they wish to study (Guitar/Keyboard/Ukulele/Marimba). They will unite as a whole class to perform songs to an audience. 

Additionally, the VSSS dance team are excited to be performing at the John Cain Arena on Saturday 14th September.

PERFORMING ARTS - Mrs Carmen Collins

Welcome to a new semester in the performing arts room!  It has been lovely to meet some new faces in the last few weeks and welcome back some familiar faces from previous years! 

This term the learning plan per year level is…

PREP – Students will focus on role plays with animals and fairy tales, whilst learning to use the learning space safely. Prep students will also undertake a unit based on the “Little People, Big Dreams” books; looking at famous people and bringing their stories to life in drama.

YEAR 1 – Students will be developing their knowledge of acting and performing, focusing on everyday situations and emotions from books. They will use finger puppets and masks to display these skills.

YEAR 2 – Students will continue to work on their acting and presentation skills, focusing on characters traits and emotions. They will be making and using masks and hand puppets to become new characters.

YEAR 3 – Students will use their acting skills to participate in drama games and skill development activities including improvisation and characterisation. They will be learning the elements of drama as we explore these areas.

YEAR 4 – Students will be challenged to refine their acting skills to include effective use of their voice, the space and how a character might move and act.

YEAR 5 – Students will explore the elements of drama through improvised and planned performances, learning that Performing Arts is a safe place to express your individuality and expand their comfort zone. Students had so much fun learning stage combat skills in the first few weeks - they enjoyed learning how to react to an imaginary punch and add a sound effect to make it look real!

YEAR 6 – Students will further develop their acting and performance skills using the elements of drama to perform improvised and planned performances. They will push their comfort zone boundaries to perform to the class in character, trialing voices, ways of moving and different costumes. Students were VERY excited to learn stage combat skills in the first few weeks and use pool noodles as their stage 'swords'!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - Mr Jeff Mcgann & Ms Tabatha Carter

Term 3 is another busy term with a number of sporting and athletic events for our students to experience.  In Term 2, students from Years 4 to 6 participated in the Hillsmeade Athletics event at Casey Fields. From the results gathered on the day, we have put together the Hillsmeade Athletics squad that will compete in the District Athletics on the 14th of August. The Divisional and Regional Athletics events will also be held this term.

Hillsmeade's interschool basketball, AFL, touch rugby, kickball and volleyball teams will be participating in several interschool games this term against other primary schools in our district. These teams will also participate in the Lightning Premiership event on the 13th of September. Hillsmeade's netball, AFL and T-ball teams represented the Narre Warren District and the Divisional finals in Pakenham in the second week of this term. The T-Ball team won their final and will now progress to the Regional competition in Mornington on the 13th of August.

During their physical education lessons this term our senior student will develop their skills in the games of volleyball, badminton and tennis. Our junior students will be exploring the various events held at the Olympics with a focus on their basketball and soccer skills. Students across all year levels will also be practising AFL football in preparation for the school’s Footy Day on the 16th of September.

ART - Mrs Andrea Garwood & Mrs Lainie Owen

Welcome to term 3! 

Prep students will be looking at primary and secondary colours. They will be experimenting with mixing paints to make new colours and creating an umbrella colour wheel picture. Using textured rubber plates and oil pastels, they will create a hungry caterpillar mixed media artwork.  They will also make a 3D Magiclay sculpture of their favourite things.

Year 1 and 2 students will learn about primary and secondary colours through a rocket line drawing.  They will be introduced to printmaking using paint rollers, stencils and acetate plates to create a variety of prints.  They will then use mini beast stencils to create a mixed media artwork. They will look at the artist, Deb McNaughton, and create 3D Magiclay sculptures.  Using textured rubber plates and oil pastels, they will create an underwater artwork with their own designed fish stencils. 

Year 3 & 4 students will begin the term creating graffiti names.  They will experiment with printmaking using paint rollers, stencils and acetate plates to create a variety of prints. Following this, they will make their own foam cut stencils to produce a print of a cityscape on a painted background. Looking at the artist, Vexx, they will create their own doodle style artwork.

Year 5 & 6 students will experiment with printmaking using paint rollers, stencils and acetate plates to create a variety of prints. Following this, they will make their own foam cut stencil to produce an Andy Warhol inspired print. Looking at the artist, Vexx, they will create their own doodle style artwork.

All students will be involved in developing a whole school collaborative artwork by decorating their own fish. 

DIGITECH - Mr Hardev Singh & Mrs Janelle Struth

Prep, Year 1 and 2: Students have been learning how to use QR codes to scan different activities and will further use this skill for the rest of the semester. They are also learning how to type on a keyboard through a range of activities, as well as looking at the function of different keys. 

Students from Years 3 and 4 have embarked on a journey to harness Microsoft Teams and MS Word, enhancing their digital literacy and educational experience. Through interactive lessons, they have mastered wellbeing tools within Teams, fostering a supportive online learning and personal growth environment. Digitech sessions focus on effective communication with teachers, ensuring a seamless exchange of ideas and feedback. Additionally, students have uploaded their assignments to hone their skills in creating and uploading MS Word documents, laying a solid foundation for their academic tasks.

Year 5 and 6 students embarked on a creative exploration through the digital world of Scratch programming. They began by animating their names, mastering the basics of block-based coding and advanced to developing a simple Pong game, acquiring essential concepts such as loops, conditionals, and variables. These sessions nurtured critical computational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Tailored strategies supported high-ability and ESL students, ensuring an inclusive learning atmosphere. Through hands-on activities, collaborative sharing, and reflective discussions, students gained a solid foundation in programming while unleashing their creative potential.

STEM - Ms Jemma Dunstan

It has been lovely meeting the students in the first few weeks of term. I am looking forward to continuing the learning journey in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths. 

In STEM, students will be asking questions, thinking critically and creatively and engaging in collaborative and independent tasks. 

Prep - Students will be making predictions and identifying different materials and their purpose. They will explore, build, then evaluate different materials and their suitability for purpose. 

Year 1- Students will have a chemical science focus; looking at how materials change. They will predict and experiment with heating different materials and cooling them to identify changes and reflect on why. 

Year 2- Students will have a physical science focus; looking at the way objects move and varying forces. They will identify how light and sounds are produced. 

Year 3 – Students will have a chemical science focus; looking at changes of state between solid, liquid and gas and the properties of each state of matter. They will be experimenting with cooling and heating different substances. 

Year 4 – Students have a physical science focus. They will be focusing on push, pull, gravity and friction and experimenting with these forces and others with various object in class. 

Year 5- Students have a chemical science focus. They will explore the properties of solids, liquids and gases and experiment with melting, freezing and evaporating to change materials. 

Year 6- Students have a physical science focus. They will be investigating different forms of energy, with electrical energy being the main focus. 

MANDARIN - Ms Wei Wang

Welcome to Semester 2 and welcome back to Mandarin! I am very proud to see our students making a positive start in Mandarin during the second half of the school year. It brings me great joy to see students ready for a small conversation in Mandarin when they see me from a distance!

This semester, junior students will continue to explore a selection of bilingual children’s rhymes and learn some basic nouns through the songs. Year 3-6 students will start to learn some common verbs and build up their conversational skills through scripted mini-dialogues. 

Prep students are focusing on basic greetings, thanks and goodbyes in Mandarin. They have been introduced to numbers up to 10. Their language learning journey has started with extensive exposure to texts in both Pinyin (Romanised pronunciation) and Chinese characters.

Year 1 students are extending their knowledge of numbers and colours and will learn to name some common pets. Singing along to children’s rhymes is a critical element in building strong speaking skills, particularly in the junior levels. 

Year 2 students will start practising a mini dialogue ("how are you") as a part of our roll routine. They will revisit common pets and extend this bank of words by naming some Australian animals. 

Year 3 students have revised basic numbers and are now learning to apply them to describe their age. They will learn a mini self-introduction to present their name and age to different audiences. Additionally, students will be introduced to a variety of fruits through a song and will gradually expand their food vocabulary to include sweets. They will incorporate the foods they like into their mini self-introductions and regularly practice these introductions during class speaking activities.

Year 4 students have revisited basic numbers and learned to use them in naming months (e.g., January is ‘the first month’ in Mandarin). They have also been introduced to the names of seasons. Through this topic, students are revisiting some challenging initial sounds (e.g., x and q). Additionally, they will explore seasonal features in weather, discuss survival needs and other needs, and learn to name various clothing items. Students will incorporate clothing words when describing their seasonal clothing needs.

Year 5 students have revisited the twelve months and are extending this knowledge to saying and writing dates. The main focus for Year 5 students is learning country names, nationalities, and sports through songs. They will apply these words in describing their own ethnic background and the sports they like.

Year 6 students will reinforce their Chinese character typing skills and apply this knowledge when using online dictionaries for their guided translation exercises. Students have started revisiting contents covered in previous years and will learn to write a small paragraph about themselves including name, age, gender, family, ethnic background, favourite food and sports, etc.