Primary School News

Head of Primary, Tracey Rogers

There has been much to celebrate across the School this fortnight. I am sure Ms Virgo’s contribution will have highlighted the joy of Founders’ Day this year. After all the excitement on Friday during the day, we also had the P&F Disco that evening. Held across three sessions, the DJ had students engaged and dancing throughout the night. Our gratitude is extended to the P&F for their organisation of this event and to staff for their attendance and support on the night. 

Family Event – Mystery of the Mathematical Menace!

On Monday 4 September, we have a wonderful opportunity for families to attend a fun afternoon of mathematical problem-solving and challenge. Presented by Scitech as part of our work with the Lighthouse Maths Program, this event is suitable for students in Years 2-6. Families are invited to book a spot using the link below. 

Date: Monday 4 September

Time: 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Location: Upper Primary Building here at JWACS

This is a family event and students attending will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

To book a spot for your family, register here using the link or QR code. 

https://www.trybooking.com/CKVJH

Bullying No Way Day – Friday 18 August

From our Arts and Culture Captain, Anna Williams and Wellbeing Captain, Emma Fenn we hear about the activity across the School on Bullying No Way Day for 2023. 

Theme for 2023: Growing Connection.

This year at JWACS we have painted a tree outside the library and students from Years 2 to 12 have made leaves to put in a particular branch depending on who they are connected to. These are friends, family, school and community. Connection is important to help us feel a sense of belonging and know there are people to help us.

Speakers’ Challenge

On Tuesday 8 August, our Year 3 and 4 Junior Speakers’ Challenge finalists competed at the Inter-School competition held at Wesley College. Yashpreet Kaur and Nicholas Jacobson both represented the School well and were awarded the Bronze medal in their respective rooms. Nicholas persuaded the audience ‘Why Fremantle Dockers is a religion!’ and Yashpreet spoke on ‘Types of Birds’. Both students were humorous and engaging in their delivery. We are very proud of their effort.

Our Years 5 and 6 School Finals were held on Thursday morning. Students are commended for their efforts and courage. Our winners, Sophie McCabe and Violet Heather, will compete in the Inter-School competition at Scotch College later this term. 

There is always so much happening in classrooms and around the School. Our Primary Coordinators have contributed a little snapshot of what is happening ‘around the grounds’ in Primary. 

Around the Grounds…

Learning Enrichment Centre (LEC)

Students in LEC literacy support have been working on creating suspense and scaring the reader through the Talk for Write writing program. Finn, Anthony, Emily and Noah have learnt how to create suspense by first reading and memorising the model text, “Lara and the Haunted House.” 

They have practised the skills of suspense writing by describing a setting in detail and predicting what might happen, as well as creating and describing their own scary characters. 

Next week, we will have a go at writing our own stories to scare the reader and create suspense. Stay tuned!

Little Wollies

The Little Wollies students have been exploring their senses through their Who We Are unit of inquiry. The children have engaged with experiences; playing with different sensory items such as slime, tasting juice and toasted marshmallows, using binoculars, and listening to music. The children have also used the fire pit to talk about how our senses keep us safe. 

Kindy

In Kindy, the children have been learning about the concept of living and non-living through their Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry. The children have been exploring the environment to notice the changes around them with the change in the Noongar seasons. The Wombat Class has been noticing the birds in the playground and designing a bird bath. The Bandicoot Class has collected natural materials and cleaned up the rubbish in the garden areas and the Wallaby Class has been tuning into their feelings.

Pre-Primary

Our Pre-Primary students have begun the term learning about food production as part of their How We Organise Ourselves unit of inquiry. Last Friday, they enjoyed an incursion from BeeEducated where they learnt about the bee lifecycle, the importance of bees, pollination and honey. The children have also had the chance to make fresh apple juice.

Year 1

The Year 1s have been exploring their imagination through their How We Express Ourselves unit of inquiry. They have tuned into what our imagination is using different stories as case studies. They have also been developing their use of descriptive language through engaging in different hands-on experiences such as cooking and sensory play.

Year 2

In Year 2, the students are learning all about friendship. Through their Who We Are unit of inquiry, they have begun their U R Strong Friendology program to learn about being a friend to themselves as well as others. They have been given the challenge of making a Calm Down kit at home to help themselves when they feel sad, angry, worried or over-excited. Through play opportunities, they have also explored the concepts of fairness and compromise, and begun developing a bank of problem-solving strategies to help them when conflict arises. 

Year 3 

The Year 3 students have been very busy with their learning in Term 3. The students have enjoyed learning their multiplication tables and finding out about the countries close to Australia. This work has helped the students learn more about Geography and our proximity to Asia. The Sounds Write lessons have been helping the students with reading and writing skills and knowledge. 

Year 4 

In Year 4, the students have been participating in the Where We Are in Place and Time unit of inquiry. The students have enjoyed studying exploration and discoveries as part of the History curriculum. The classes are also excited by the new direction they are taking with their How We Organise Ourselves unit of inquiry. This will involve the classes looking at communities and how to be a good citizen. 

Year 5 

In Year 5, the students have just completed their Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry, which focused on conflict. The classes generated some amazing generalisations that summarised what the students had been learning about over the last few weeks.  These generalisations linked to both the Humanities and Science areas of the curriculum. The teachers were very impressed! Year 5s have also been sharpening their problem-solving skills with Lighthouse Maths challenges.

Year 6 

In the Year 6 classes, it has all been about the PYP Exhibition! The students have enjoyed attending their mentor meetings, giving them the chance to meet and interact with staff from across the entire school. The students are currently looking into what action they would like to take as a result of the global issues they have been exploring. 

Take care.

Mrs Rogers