Mrs Leanne Schulz

Assistant Principal (Primary)

Our Primary students have had a remarkably industrious and enriching term, filled with diverse learning opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. The Year 3 students embarked on an exciting visit to the Melbourne Museum, where they explored fascinating exhibits and deepened their understanding of history and science. The Preps enjoyed a hands-on experience with a Marine incursion, sparking their curiosity about marine life and the ocean's wonders.

Looking ahead, the Year 6 students are eagerly anticipating their upcoming visit to Parliament, where they will gain invaluable insights into the workings of government and the importance of civic engagement. Meanwhile, the Year 1 students will delve into the past with the History Box incursion, bringing history to life through interactive activities and engaging stories.

Our students' hard work and enthusiasm for learning are truly commendable, and we are proud of their achievements and the rich educational experiences they continue to embrace.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Matrix

Spinning Wheel at Assembly

Congratulations to Emiliya G (3W) and Lyla G (2A) for winning the ‘spinning wheel’ at assembly. Many students have received tokens throughout the term for demonstrating exemplary behaviours and modelling the school values of respect, compassion, kindness, excellence, and honesty.

The following students were nominated by teachers for their behaviour to be on the random spinning wheel at assembly this week:

Fairview:

- Nitish G (PC)

- Yuvin S (PF)

- Arabella C (PH)

- Billie A (1B)

- Oscar B (1D)

- Flynn H (1R)

- Lyla G (2A)

- Esila B (2B)

- Harper A (2H)

Cumberland:

- Ranumi A (3A)

- Anhad K (3R)

- Emiliya G (3W)

- Emily F (4I)

- Kayden R (4M)

- Benaiah P (4N)

- Aabriana T (5A)

- Mikayla R (5M)

- Alejandra C (5T)

- Viraat B (6A)

- Isaiah S (6M)

- Luca H (6P)

Reminders…

Summer or winter uniform can be worn throughout the year; the uniforms are not to be mixed
Blazers are to be worn to and from school at all times (if it is is over 25 degrees you do not have to wear it home)
No leggings are to be worn under dresses
Parkas are PE uniform only
Jewellery is limited to a watch and a plain stud or earring (any religious reasons must be communicated by parents)
Only Aitken scarves and beanies are to be worn
Hair ties are to be navy, green or hair colour
No playing on iPads before or after school
No ball games in Year 2 area or anywhere near the Cumberland building before or after school-for safety reasons
Only lollypops are to be handed out as a birthday treat

Primary House Activities (Mr Tom Marks)

This term, Primary students have taken part in more fun house events and activities! Earlier in the term, students in Prep – Year 6 created house murals and paper roller coasters in our second House Battle. More recently, Year 1 and Year 2 students had the opportunity to play a trivia challenge, with Brodie house winning 30 house points for their amazing knowledge! We are currently having lunchtime Minute-to-Win-it challenges where students are having lots of fun playing different mini-games and competing for their houses.

Mrs Natasha Radley (Head of Year Prep)

This term has continued to showcase creativity and discovery by the Prep students.

They have made significant progress in all academic areas. A standout area is writing. The students have begun to be able to write sentences independently using a capital letter at the beginning and full stop at the end. Their reading skills have also improved and they are seeing connections with reading and writing.

Their Numeracy skills are also improving, with a focus being on counting and subitizing. The students enjoyed asking questions to collect data and create a basic graph. They really are learning a lot of life skills.

They continued to enjoy the guided inquiry play, where they have been able to choose activities to hone in on and develop skills in a certain area.

For Integrated Studies, students have been enjoying learning about sea creatures. They also had a chance to visit the Aitken College farm and compare farm animals to sea animals. A highlight was seeing the young calves that were at the College for a short period of time. They were very cute, and the students enjoyed visiting them.

The students are continuing to work on their social and emotional growth. It has been pleasing to see them forming firmer friendships and navigate their way socially. Through group work and structured play, students have been learning the importance of sharing, taking turns and respecting others.

Mrs Joanne Birchmore (Head of Years 1 & 2)

The onset of the chilly weather has not dampened the eagerness the Year 1 and Year 2 students have displayed. Their enthusiasm, concentration and love of learning has been amazing to watch.

The Year 1 students have been working on making connections as they read. They have discovered that connecting with the text allows the reader to demonstrate a greater understanding of what they are reading. In Maths the students have focused on showing different ways they can make numbers using hands-on materials. The students have developed great strategies using tens frames, unifix blocks and icy pole sticks to make numbers. Integrated Studies is still proving to be an exciting part of the curriculum for the students. They are continuing to increase their knowledge of how the past has shaped our lives. Another subject the students have shown a particular interest in is RVE. During their lessons they have been learning about parables and how these stories were told to help us understand important life lessons.

The Year 2 students have been working on learning about the life cycles of a butterfly and they have been thrilled to welcome two chrysalises into each classroom. We are hoping butterflies will soon emerge! Their biggest highlight has been working with the Year 11 Environmental Science students testing water samples and they worked out which method would filter water the most efficiently. It was fantastic to see the older students guide the Year 2 students and help consolidate their learning of the water cycle. Here is what the Year 2 students thought of this experience:

Kevin S - 2A

We learnt about how the water gets clean. We tried to solve it whether it would get clean with sand, pebbles or rocks. Our solution was sand was the best. We even learnt a new word called turbidity!

Joseph S - 2A

We met the Year 11 students and they taught us about turbidity. We tried sand, little pebbles and big pebbles and we put water in a tube with squiggly lines. Then we put sand to see if it was very good or poor at filtering water. The sand was very good. Then we tried big pebbles, and it was poor then the little pebbles were ok. We had a great time.

Bisman G - 2A

We went to the Science lab to test if our water samples were healthy. We used different materials to filter our water. When we tested our dirty water, the sand worked the best to filter it. The Year 11 students helped us. It was so much fun. I didn’t want to leave, I just wanted to stay longer, but we had to leave. The Year 11 students were very kind. They waved to us when we were lining up to go to class.

What great experiences our Year 1 and Year 2 students have had and will continue to have throughout the remainder of the term.

Mrs Anne Adams (Head of Years 3 & 4)

Our Year 3 and 4 students have had some wonderful experiences this term. Here are some comments from the students.

Varun A - 3A

I love the rubrics cube club. We play together on Friday lunchtimes. They have spare cubes if you want to have a go. At the end of each term we have a tournament and there is a winner. My best time is 2 minutes.

Raphael G - 3A

I go to Art Club on Thursday lunchtimes. I love it! For Mother’s Day I made a big and small love heart. Mostly we do art and craft. I go with Giselle and Elisa.

Antonio H - 3A

On Monday lunchtimes, I go to Minecraft Mondays. I have created lots of worlds such as lots of cars and buildings. The name of the world I am working on now is AAGHI. Each letter is the beginning of my name and my friends who are working on this.

Chloe D - 3R

I am in Millar and we were in the House battles. We had to make a roller coaster from paper, tape and a ping pong ball. It was supposed to be a freestanding rollercoaster. Our group managed to make one that stood up. The ping pong ball rolled down it really fast.

Isabelle H - 3R

We are learning about old and new Melbourne. As part of this, we went to the Melbourne Museum. I saw Phar Lap and an old house. You could go inside and see what things were like in the olden days. The beds didn’t have any sheets and were made out of wood. They looked really uncomfortable.

Reyon H - 3R

Healthy Harold came to visit. We got to see how the human body works. I was wondering where the heart was between your lungs. Harold was funny, because he didn’t listen to Vanessa his friend.

Jai C - 3W

I really liked seeing how Melbourne evolved. In the old days, traveling magicians used to charge money to people to see a slide on a projector. Everyone thought it was magic. One slide had a man playing a flute. To make his fingers move, the operator moved a slide to make a shadow on his hands to make it look like they were moving. It was fascinating.

Jack D - 3W

Our excursion to the museum was great fun. The highlight was the old movie theatre. The seats were very uncomfortable and the movies were in black and white. The people only had to pay about 20 cents to go to the movie theatre back then.

Emilija G - 3W

We caught a bus to the Melbourne Museum. We saw lots of different types of bugs and a horse called Phar Lap. He died from poisoning because he kept on winning. When we saw the bugs, they were kind of scary. My favourite was the colourful butterfies.

Max C - 4I

In the Minute to Win it house battles, we had to throw the marshmallows in the cup. The team with the most won. Cameron won overall.

Emily F - 4I

I love Art Club. Last week we drew with special paint markers. I drew cat drawings.

Haasya G - 4I

House battles were fun, we had to communicate and work together to come up with a really good roller coaster design. Cameron won and GO CAMERON!

Xavier F - 4M

At lunchtime I like to play sports with my friends. We play soccer at lunchtime but AFL footy is my favourite sport.

Tania G - 4M

I play GaGa ball on Tuesdays. We can play as a whole group and sometimes I am in for a long time. It’s fast and fun.

Owin G - 4M

I love Minecraft Mondays because I can do whatever I want. I like creating new worlds each week.

Sienna C - 4N

In Integrated Studies we are making dioramas, posters and videos to show our learning about what impacts the Earth. Our theme is about pollution and how this has impacted this earth. We are focusing on litter, air pollution and water pollution.

Olivia C - 4N

We play in the GaGa Ball pit on Tuesdays. It’s only for grade fours on this day. We decided to play with the boys and girls together. The rules are: you have to hit the ball with your hands, your can’t double hit it until it hits something else, if it hits your knees and below your are out, no kicking or punching the ball, when you are out, you have move out of the pit and not stay in, you have to keep your hand on the pit to start, if the ball goes over the pit you are out. It’s really fun!

Myron D - 4N

I love to play basketball at recess and lunchtime. I play with Christian, Neven, Jake, Ashar and some other boys from year four. We shoot hoops across the ring road where the basketball courts are. I am the second best player in Year four. Christian K is the first.

Mrs Jane Steenkamp (Head of Years 5 & 6)

Year 5

Over the Term, our Year 5 students delved into coding using the Blockly app to program Dash robots. Their task was to make the robots respond to "yes" or "no" questions with actions, lights and sounds rather than words, from their Year One buddies. The goal was to convince the Year One's that they were genuinely talking to the robots, while the Year 5 students discreetly controlled them from their iPads.

The project was a hit! Year 5 students learned basic programming skills and went through a process of testing and refining their code to ensure the responses were prompt and convincing. This hands-on experience allowed them to tackle problem-solving challenges and see the immediate results of their efforts.

The Year One's absolutely loved this activity as it was a great way to connect with their Year 5 buddies. One of the buddy classes even got to enjoy sharing a birthday celebration with a Year 5 student, making the experience even more memorable.

Working with the Year One's always fosters a sense of mentorship and collaboration. The Year 5 students did a great job and thoroughly enjoyed connecting with their buddies once again.

This is what a couple of the Year 5 students had to share about it:

Lily M - 5M

On Thursday last week we showed our buddies the Dash robot. My buddy Rosie asked George, the Dash robot, some questions like: Is George’s favourite colour blue & I would control my robot to say either an excited YES, normal yes, definite NO or normal no. For instance, I would control my robot by moving the controls so it would act out the word YES without saying it. My buddy was very curious and tried to look at what I was doing on my Ipad but I would keep hiding it from her. Overall, it was an amazing experience and we had lots of fun. After we had finished the lesson, we sang happy birthday to Vesna and that was the end of the day.

Shazelle O - 5T

In Year 5 we have been learning how to program Dash bots to interact with our buddy and make them think we're not controlling it but our buddies had limited questions like yes or no questions. My buddy Divleen had lots of fun. She asked questions like: “Do you like broccoli?” and “Do you like school?”

Year 6

Year 6 students have been delving into the fascinating world of data. They have explored how data can sometimes be misleading and the importance of critically analysing graphs to discern the true story behind the numbers. This skill is crucial in our data-driven world, helping students become savvy consumers of information.

In Integrated Studies, the focus has been on understanding the different levels of government and the legislative process. This unit is gearing up for an exciting excursion to Parliament House, where students will have the opportunity to role-play passing a bill, giving them a hands-on experience of how our government functions.

English classes have been buzzing with creativity as students put the finishing touches on their narrative pieces. They are learning the importance of editing and revising to elevate their work, ensuring their stories are polished and engaging.

House Sport is in full swing and is a highlight of the week as our Year 5 and 6 students eagerly compete with other schools each week in AFL, Soccer, Handball, and Netball. All teams have been playing well and making Aitken proud with their determination and great sportsmanship.

We also welcomed Healthy Harold last week, who provided valuable insights into what drugs are and their effects on the body. This visit emphasised the importance of making informed decisions to maintain health, safety, and wellbeing.

Cumberland Dance Party

Cumberland students, I hope you have your dance shoes ready!

The Cumberland Dance Party is not far away - on Friday 14 June from 6.00pm - 7.30pm. For those new to the school, or unfamiliar with this event the Parents and Friends Association hold a dance party for Cumberland students. This is held in Common Room 1 and is supervised by staff and the Committee. It is a fabulous evening where the kids get to hang out with their friends and dance to some great music.

If you would like to volunteer for this night or any other upcoming event. Please email pandf@aitkencollege.edu.au, these events can’t happen without your support.

Term 2 Assembly Roster

Important Dates

24 May	Prep Marine Life Incursion
31 May	Prep Water Watchers Incursion
4 June	Year 6P Parliament House
5 June	Primary Woodlands Division Cross Country (selected students)
6 June	Brett Lee - Cyber Safety Incursion Years 3-6 Cyber Safety Presentation for Parents at 7.30pm
6 June	Year 1 History Box Incursion
6 June	Great Book Swap (Cumberland building 3-6pm)
10 June	Kings Birthday Holiday
11 June	Year 6A Parliament House
12 June	Year 6M Parliament House
13 June	Primary AFL Gala Day (selected students)
14 June	Cumberland Dance Party
18 June	Aitken Live Junior Concert - CPA at 3.30pm
19 June	Aitken Live Concert at 7.30pm
19 June	Primary NMR Cross Country (selected students)
20 June	Last day of Term 2 for Students
21 June	Assessment Day (Student Free Day)

The Parent Room

The Art of Parenting