PRIMARY (F-6)

School Leader Report - Kara

100 days of school! How time flies when you’re having fun! 

Our Foundations celebrated a big milestone in their education this week - 100 days! There was excitement as they arrived to school and paraded for their families, buddies and other classes. From all accounts the learning activities of ‘100’ provided all kinds of enjoyment, challenge and celebration! 

That too means the rest of us have completed 100 days of school this year, and looking back we can see just how much we have achieved. There is always something to celebrate and if we can't see it, we just aren’t looking hard enough! 

Next week students have a pupil free day on Wednesday 13 August as college staff spend the day at St Mel’s Primary School participating in the CES-lead Spirituality Day.  

As mentioned at assembly and on school communications, the St Anne’s College Athletics Day for Foundation to Year 4 will be held at the college on Friday August 22, and the Year 5 and 6 students will join the Year 7-12 students at McEwan Reserve on Thursday August 21. Keep an eye on PAM, and the school communication platforms for more information as the day approaches. Children will be invited to wear their house colour, so it might be a good time to check that clothes still fit or have a look around for something they can wear; eg. a t-shirt, hair ribbon, socks, hat, sweat band etc. 

Next Assembly: Week 6 – coinciding with Book Week Dress Up Day - the parade will form part of our assembly that day. 

Primary students and their families gathered for the first assembly of Term 3 on Monday this week. 

As always, one of our college values was in the spotlight – this week students highlighted ‘Respect Everyone and Everything’.

Laurel’s class shared what they have been up to over the first weeks of Term 3 and they have been very busy, from learning about pronouns in Literacy to rounding in Maths – well done Year 2 students! 

Class Reports

Foundation

What an exciting and busy time the Foundations have had this term. We have had 2 visits from our local Firefighters. They taught us what to do if there was a fire in our house and showed us their special clothes they wear. The students were asked to talk to their parents about where a safe meeting place would be if they had to escape a home fire. The students also enjoyed having a close look at a fire truck and holding the fire hose. 

Wednesday 6 August marked 100 days at school. The children came dressed as something related to 100 and were very excited to parade in front of the Grade 1 and 2 students, their buddies and their parents. The students had a fun day eating cake and doing special activities related to 100.  

On Wednesday we celebrated our amazing Foundation students reaching 100 days of learning, growing and smiling their way through school! From counting to 100, to dressing up as 100-year-olds and many other '100' themed outfits , it was a day full of fun, laughter and milestones. Their day started with a parade and a video commemorating their first 100 days where parents and students were invited to watch, and then continued on with a visit from the Shepparton News and lots of themed activities.

We are so proud of all the progress, friendships and memories made so far, and we can’t wait to see what the next 100 days bring!

Local Firefighters visited our Foundation students across two sessions. 

Students learned about who they can call on in the community for help; the difference between a good fire and a bad fire and how and when to call 000. They also practiced ‘get down low and go go go’ as well as 'stop, drop, cover and roll'. 

Students also got to see what firefighters wear to keep them safe as well as getting a chance to see their awesome fire truck and what is inside.

The best bit of all was getting a go at using the big fire hose!! 

Year 1 

Our Year 1 students have had a fantastic and engaging week! To celebrate National Lighthouse Day, they teamed up with the Year 5 students to design and build their very own lighthouses. In a separate activity, they paired up with the Year 3 students to read picture storybooks and then recreated parts of the stories through illustrations. It’s been a great start to the term, and we’re back into the full swing of learning.

Year 2

It’s been a productive fortnight in Year 2! 

In Literacy, students explored the spelling conventions of soft 'c' and soft 'g', as well as silent letters such as, 'k', 'b' and 'w'. We’ve also been enjoying reading the beautiful picture book, The Stone Lion, using it to investigate rich vocabulary and explore parts of speech, including personal and possessive pronouns, and possessive adjectives. 

In Maths, we wrapped up our second unit on Place Value and have now launched into our second Addition and Subtraction unit. Students began by solving doubles and near doubles using tens frames and number lines and building fluency with fact families. They then were able to apply this knowledge to solve two-digit addition and subtraction problems with growing accuracy and confidence. 

In Inquiry, we’ve kicked off our new unit, How We Organise Ourselves. Students brainstormed what they already knew about the structure and function of different organisations in our community. They then worked with their Year 1/2 peers to collaboratively create mind maps exploring organisations such as emergency services, schools and airports. 

Year 3/4

Literacy

Prefixes - By Emily

We have been learning about prefixes in literacy. 

Pre – means before

e.g. I previewed the movie.

Re – means again

e.g. I replayed my favourite movie.

Un – means not

e.g. I need to untie my shoelaces.

Mathematics 

In Mathematics our topic has been multiplication and division. We have been learning to use bar models, regrouping and MAB to help solve problems. We know that there is more than one method to solve a question. We also have been drawing place value charts on our whiteboards to help us understand non regrouping and regrouping.

By Isaac

STEAM - It’s been an exciting term in STEAM for our Year 3 and 4 students! This term, we’ve been exploring the world of sound and visuals through a creative and tech-rich lens. Students have been using their iPads to take photographs and record audio, with a particular focus on ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) and the sounds of the world around them. From the crunch of leaves underfoot to the fizz of bubbles, students are tuning in to the tiny details that make our environment so rich and interesting.

This exploration is part of a larger project where students will be developing their own animated story. They will use their collected images and sounds to bring their stories to life before taking it one step further transforming their story into a playable game! But it doesn’t stop there. Students will also be designing and creating their own merchandise inspired by their original characters and storylines.

We can’t wait to see the imagination and innovation that unfolds in the coming weeks!

Religious Education - Parables, By Catherine

In Religious Education we are learning about Parables. Parables are stories that Jesus told to teach people how to live.  We have looked at The Lost Sheep, The Sower and The Mustard Seed. The message from the parable of The Lost Sheep is that God loves everyone.

Year 5

We have been busy in Year 5. It has been enjoyable, fun and tiring. We have finished up our text ‘Waves’ about people who have migrated to Australia by boat over the years. We mapped out where these people were from across the world. We finished this unit by creating our own ‘Anthologies’ with the theme ‘Journey’. Bek is currently putting these together so that we can publish our own class book. We can’t wait to show you the finished product.

This week we began a study of Poetry. We looked at the Poem ‘I Wandered Lonely like a Cloud’ by William Woldsworth. We have discussed both the literal and inferential meanings of this poem and then had a go at writing our own poems. The students have then had a go at being writers themselves and creating their own poems, choosing a style they would like to use; such as Hiku, Acrostic, Diamante, Lune, Concrete/Shape etc. See some examples below:

In Maths we have started a unit on Angles and are practising using protractors. We have found angles within the learning space to look at. We now know and can identify the different types of angles; acute, right, straight, reflex, obtuse and revolution. 

In R.E this term we are learning about Sacred Stories. We have had many discussions about similarities and differences of the sacred stories we each hold in our own faiths and cultures which are very diverse in Year 5. We have been looking at stories from the bible and the messages they give us. We were lucky enough for Yasmin to bring in to show us her ‘Koran’ which has the sacred stories of her Islamic faith. 

Year 6

In English the Years 6 students are reading the novel Once by Morris Gleitzman. This story is about Felix a Jewish boy who escapes an orphanage to find his parents during World War 2. He faces many challenges and rescues a girl names Zelda along the way. The pair team up together. 

We are learning to write our own information report on Poland. Here are some examples of some sentences from our information report: 

Geography – The longest river in Poland is the Vistula River which flows over 1,047 kilometres. 

Poland's culture is rich and full of traditions.

Culture and Traditions – A tradition is taking of your shoes before entering a house. 

Art and Music – The most artistic city in Poland is Krakow, the city of literature. 

-Heli Chauhan & Lucy Taylor, Year 6 students

Congratulations Lucy!

A big congratulations to Year 6 student Lucy who put herself out there and entered one of her poems into the Furphy Literacy competition. Her work was awarded with a commendation.

Specialist

Term 3 begins our music units! The students have already showed their talents as we start learning about beat and rhythm. 

Grade 1 and 2 students have been demonstrating their singing skills, singing familiar songs and rhymes such as ‘The More We Get Together’ with accompaniment from the ukulele. We have been practising keeping a steady beat during a song, both with body percussion and our classroom percussion instruments. As we continue the term, we will start learning about songs and instruments from other countries and cultures. 

Grade 3 and 4 students have been learning about the ‘kodaly system.’ This is a special way of naming the length of notes using terms like ‘ta’ and ‘ti-ti.’ Be sure to ask your Grade 3 or 4 child what these represent! The students are also using percussion instruments to play 4 or 8 beat rhythms and are starting to play different rhythms at the same time as each other! They are learning how to focus on a steady beat, keep in time and not be distracted by an instrument playing something different to them. 

Grade 5 and 6 students are building on their knowledge of the ‘kodaly system’ with the introduction of ‘tika-tika’ - otherwise known as sixteenth notes or semiquavers! They are trying out increasingly more complex body percussion songs which include the notes they already know and rests. Using the classroom percussion instruments, students have split into groups to play a different rhythm each at the same time as each other. They have also begun learning how to keep a steady beat as another instrument plays – in this case it’s my ukulele! We have started to play songs together, with the students helping me to keep in time. 

Many of our Grade 3 – 6 students are involved in our school production of Aladdin Jnr! Please keep an eye out for when tickets are on sale. The show nights are Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September. Come on an adventure to ‘A Whole New World’ - it’s sure to be a fun night out! 

Reminders:

Parents/carers are reminded there is a very important process to follow if your student must leave the college at any time throughout school hours. Please ensure you follow these steps:

Parents/carers MUST provide a note to the front office, at the start of the school day, stating the following:

- Student Name

- Date of leave required

- The time the student must present to reception to take their leave

- If they will return to the college the same day, and if so what time they will return

- The reason for the leave being requested

- The parent/carer’s name and signature

Please note, students will only be permitted to be collected by their parent/carer unexpectedly and without a note if it is an emergency.

We remind all that the college opens at 8:30am. This enables educators time to prepare for their day ahead. We appreciate your support in helping our educators be successful. Yard duty staff begin at 8:30am to monitor play spaces before the school day begins at 8:55am.

Upcoming Dates

Please refer to the calendar on PAM for upcoming dates for activities and events.