What's happening in our learning spaces? 

FOUNDATION NEWS

Welcome back to Term 4! Monday morning was filled with lot of smiles and laughter as we all shared stories about our holidays. Everyone is excited to be back at school and ready for all of the exciting learning opportunities planned for this term. It was a busy start to the term, with two incursions and GEM Day. 

As inquirers, we tuned in to our inquiry question, ‘What’s good for me?’ by activating our prior knowledge about the people and actions that help keep us healthy and safe. We identified members of the community, such as doctors, firefighters, paramedics, lollypop people and SES volunteers, as well as things such as drinking water, exercising, going to the doctor, eating fruits and vegetables and brushing our teeth. 

We began exploring the role of Firefighters in keeping us safe, what to do in a fire and how first aid can also help keep people healthy and safe. On Wednesday we had a very special visit from the Brunswick Fire Brigade, who helped us to find out about good fires and bad fires, smoke alarms and the actions we can take when a fire starts. As communicators, we had to go home and make sure our families had established a safe meeting point if there is ever a fire in our home.  

On Thursday, St John Ambulance visited us, and we learned about age-appropriate first aid skills. We learned what to look out for, how to respond, and how to send for help in a medical emergency at home when no other adult is available.

As thinkers and writers, we unpacked our new thinking and recorded some of our discoveries and wonderings. Check out some photos below of our amazing experiences and reflections!

As part of The Resilience Project, we celebrated our very first GEM Day. The letters GEM stand for Gratefulness, Empathy and Mindfulness. As a school, we gathered together for Whole School Prayer, which focused on GEM. Our families were invited into the learning spaces to participate in a Resilience Project lesson and identify things we are grateful for as a family. Throughout the day, we had time and opportunity to make glitter jars, participate in a yoga session, create a mascot, and enjoy mindful colouring. The fun reached new levels after lunch, when the entire school participated in games and activities where we collaborated in teams. Our very first GEM Day was a great success!

This week, FLW is also leading their very first Whole School Prayer. Please join us in the hall at 9 a.m. for this very special occasion! 

It is a very busy term, so here are some key dates to remember…

• Fire Ed Victoria (2nd Visit)- Wednesday 16th October
• FLW Whole School Prayer- Friday 18th October
• Socktober/Hot Food Day- Friday 25th October
• School Closure Day and Melbourne Cup Day- Monday, 4th November and Tuesday, 5th November
• Art/STEM Show- Thursday 14th November
• School Athletics Day- Friday 22nd November 
• Christmas Carols and Christmas Picnic- Thursday 12th December

Have a wonderful week!

Leanne Wenckowski and Alycia Marsico, 

Foundation Team

Congratulations to Holly from FLW, who won First prize at the recent Melbourne Royal Show. Holly decorated gingerbread people in the Junior Cookery Competition Prep-Grade 2 age group. 

Well done, Holly, for being so creative with your decorating skills!

YEAR 1/2 NEWS

Welcome to Term 4! Time has flown, and we can’t believe that it's the last term of the year! We look forward to the term ahead, which will be filled with lots of experiences and exciting learning opportunities for all. 

As readers and writers, we have been exploring suffixes. These letters are added to the end of a base word to change its meaning. Below are some examples. You may like to continue consolidating these at home by writing word lists, creating a memory card game, placing words into sentences orally or in writing or even identifying these words in texts.  

As mathematicians, we have tuned in to the concept of time. Over the past week, we have explored the analogue clock. We began by learning how to draw the numbers on the clock face. Then, we were introduced to how the hour moves closer to the hour. We also discovered how the minute hand moves around the clock for each hour. This week, we will learn how to read o’çlock and half-past times on the analogue clock. We encourage all families to engage their children in reading the time at home to consolidate their new learning. 

This term, we are exploring the big question, ‘How can I help myself and others?’ Last week, Alycia from St John’s Ambulance visited us to discuss the importance of first aid. She explained the process of following the First Aid process:  

She explained how to check for danger and showed us how to check for a response. We looked at a phone and how to call 000. We learnt how to converse when calling emergency services and why it is important to know our home address. 

Our GEM Day was a fantastic day to reflect on the importance of showing gratitude and empathy and practising mindfulness. Through the Resilience Project, we will continue to discuss and engage in these throughout the learning week. 

Reminders:

• Thursday, 17th of October - Maths Games Day 

1/2 Team

Vania Sparano, Vicky Karalis and Vivian Boggis

YEAR 3/4 NEWS

The last week of Term 3 was certainly a busy one! On Tuesday, Mrs Monaghan facilitated her fabulous Maths Games Day. As collaborators, students were placed in teams to solve various problems. The day began with outdoor physical maths activities, like human bingo, making shapes with our bodies and estimating time. After recess, our minds were tested in many Strategy Games, including Kaooa, Five Square and Kano. After lunch, we engaged in problem-solving questions, and only the correct answers were awarded points. The winning team on the day was Felix, Jacob, Clara and Asha. Thank you to all the parents for helping us on the day and Mrs Monaghan for being the best Maths teacher!

On the second last day of Term 3, we paraded our favourite Footy, Soccer and Sports colours and devoured yummy hot dogs and juicy jam doughnuts. To commemorate the end of another engaging Inquiry journey, the Year 3/4 students engaged in a day of showcasing their learnt knowledge about our solar system. Students collaborated in groups to respond to intriguing ‘What if…’ scenarios and present their findings to the whole cohort. Mrs Panzarino and Ms Hogan were impressed with how students demonstrated various learning assets, particularly researchers, communicators and collaborators. 

To conclude our Inquiry unit of Term 3, ‘How is it all connected?’, the Year 3/4 students presented their learning to the community. Students displayed their written information reports on the Earth, their loose-parts artwork on the Earth’s rotation and orbit, their curious ‘What if…’ scenarios, and a reflection on themselves as learners. Thank you to our wonderful family community for coming along to our Celebration of Learning. 

Have a lovely week!

Belinda Panzarino & Sarah Hogan 

YEAR 5/6 NEWS

Welcome back from the holidays! We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable break. It's been a fantastic start to the term, and we’ve jumped straight into some exciting learning activities.

This week, in numeracy, students explored the concept of time and learned how to read and interpret timetables. We worked on building confidence with both digital and analogue time, and students practised applying their new skills by solving real-world problems related to schedules and daily routines.

In Literacy, we’ve started our unit on persuasive techniques by examining how advertisements influence us. The students enjoyed identifying persuasive language, emotional appeals, and other strategies used in different media. These new skills will help as we move toward writing our own persuasive pieces in the coming weeks. The students were also introduced to our Whole Class Novel study, “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate. This novel explores the themes of friendship, freedom and imagination. 

We look forward to sharing our insights about the text with you. 

We’ve also begun our new inquiry unit, which poses the big question: "How Can We Change the World?" We started by looking at different artworks and artists who have attempted to make an impact with their work, and the students are excited to explore how they, too, can use creative expression to make a difference in the world. 

We participated in a special GEM day on Friday, which focused on gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness. Students engaged in activities designed to help them reflect on what they are thankful for, practice understanding the feelings of others, and develop techniques for staying mindful and calm in their everyday lives. It was a wonderful opportunity to support the well-being of our students and foster a positive learning environment. We thank our students for their leadership and being positive role models to encourage the younger students during GEM Day, we are so proud of them.

We’re looking forward to another great week ahead filled with more learning and creativity!

The Year 5/6 Teaching Team

Olivia Sargent, Madeline Comrie and Bianka Zorzut.