Specialists

Performing Arts

Our Prep students have been revisiting rhythm as they prepare to begin writing their own musical pieces. They have been practising listening to, reading and playing a variety of rhythms, building their confidence in recognising and reproducing rhythmic patterns.

Grades 1/2 have also been strengthening their rhythmic skills by listening to, reading and playing four-beat rhythms. Students have now begun taking the next step by creating and writing their own rhythmic patterns, putting their musical knowledge into practice!

Grades 3/4 have been building on these same skills, exploring four-beat rhythms through listening, playing, reading and composing. They are also preparing to take their learning one step further by transferring their rhythms onto the musical stave and developing them into melodies.

It has been wonderful to see students building on their foundational music knowledge and taking on new challenges as they grow into confident young composers!

Our Grade 5/6 students have been working incredibly hard, getting into things as they prepare for their upcoming production of Slinky Malinki! There has been so much happening behind the scenes, with students busy memorising lines, practising dances, blocking scenes, rehearsing stage positions and preparing props and costumes. 

Bringing a musical production to life takes an enormous amount of teamwork, commitment and perseverance, and it has been fantastic to see the time and effort our students are putting into making this performance special. We can't wait to share all their hard work with our school community and see it all come together on stage! 

Physical Education

Spanish

Preps

The Preps have continued their Term 4 unit: La Pequeña Oruga (The Little Caterpillar), using the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar to review numbers and colours from Term 1 and begin learning how to name fruit in Spanish. They have used actions to practise the sentence, "La Pequeña Oruga comió mucha fruta," (The little caterpillar ate lots of fruit) and the sentence starter: "La Pequeña Oruga comió..." (The little caterpillar ate...). 

They reviewed their first sentence, "La Pequeña Oruga comió una manzana," and learnt the new sentence, "La Pequeña Oruga comió dos peras" (The little caterpillar ate two pears) and their pronunciation is so impressive! 

The Preps also practised mixing colours and shading. I was so impressed with their hard work and beautiful pictures! Look at Prep B's gorgeous work!

Grades 1 and 2

Students in grades 1 and 2 have learnt more garden vocabulary their term unit: El Jardín (The Garden).

They used the sentence starter: "En el jardín veo..." (In the garden I see...) and reviewed vocabulary learnt in weeks 2 and 3:

-el árbol (the tree)

-la planta (the plant)

-las plantas (the plants)

-la flor (the flower)

-las flores (the flowers)

-la mariposa (the butterfly)

-la araña (the spider)

They learned new vocabulary:

-la mariquita (the ladybird)

-el caracol (the snail)

-la telaraña (the spiderweb)

Students used prior knowledge from their Term 3 unit "Bajo el Mar" to make connections in linguistics. Students practised turning singular nouns to plural in Spanish using feminine and masculine nouns. Amazing!

Students practised their best listening skills to follow a guided drawing step-by-step with Señorita Vargas of Incy Wincy Araña. They look so cute! Check out the arañas in 1A!

Grades 3 and 4

Students in grades 3 and 4 have continued the new unit: La Escuela (School).

They revised items found in a pencil case and played "Around the World". 

Students learnt how to ask where items are in the classroom. They learnt the difference between asking where something is depending on the definite article: el, la, los and las.

"el" and "la" are singular and use the question:

"¿

I was very impressed with the focus students displayed in their bookwork, adding detail and showing their creative flair.  Their pronunciation was also very impressive and they learned one of my favourite Spanish words to say: "sacapuntas" (sharpener).

Grades 5 and 6

Students in grades 5 and 6 began their new unit: Todo Sobre Mi (All About Me).

Students created a list of information about themselves in Spanish, including:

-Nombre (Name)

-Edad (Age)

-Comuna (Area/Suburb)

-Escuela (School)

-Nacionalidad (Nationality)

-Cosas Favoritas (Favourite Things)

They then used this information to create full sentences about themselves and presented to the class. I am very pleased with how hard most students worked and engaged actively to follow instructions in Spanish.

STEM

This fortnight in STEM most classes have begun working through the design process. We’re mainly looking at the ‘investigate and define’ stage, where we’re learning about our topic and some background knowledge before we begin making our own designs. 

The Grade 4, 5 and 6 students have been learning about boardgames, in particular the types of rules and how they can contribute to fair gameplay. We’ve also looked at United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which we’re going to link our boardgames. The boardgames will have a  theme that raises awareness about a social, environmental or economic issue. 

The Grade 2s and 3s have begun learning about First Nations watercrafts. We’ve been sketching and labelling First Nations bark canoes and have been unpacking the sustainable practices used to craft watercrafts and the construction steps used by First Nations peoples. 

The Preps and Grade 1s have been learning about algorithms and coding. We’ve learnt about sequencing instructions and have had a go at using Scratch Jr to make character sprites move on the iPads. 

Visual Arts

Preps: Sunflowers from Around the World

Students have been exploring the beautiful sunflowers of Europe, inspired by the famous artist Vincent van Gogh from the Netherlands. Van Gogh was known for his bright colours, bold brushstrokes and expressive paintings of sunflowers.

Students created their own sunflower artworks, experimenting with warm colours such as yellow, orange and red to paint their flowers. They practised drawing simple shapes, adding green stems and leaves, and creating textured soil and backgrounds to complete their compositions with oil pastels. 

They also learnt about the continent of Europe and the country of the Netherlands, making connections between art, artists and places around the world. 

Grade 1/2: Exploring Ghana Through Art

This term, our Grade 1 and 2 students are travelling to Ghana in West Africa through Visual Arts! Students are learning about the beautiful Kente textiles traditionally associated with Asante and Ewe communities in Ghana.

Students are exploring the bright colours, geometric shapes, repeated patterns and weaving techniques found in Kente textiles. They will then create their own Kente-inspired paper weavings, carefully weaving colourful strips over and under to create unique patterns and designs.

Through this hands-on activity, students are developing their skills in pattern, colour, cutting, weaving and collage, while learning that textiles can be an important part of a culture and its traditions.

Grade 3/4: Colourful Piñatas from Mexico

Grade 3/4 students have been exploring the vibrant art and traditions of Mexico, a country in North America. Inspired by traditional Mexican piñatas, students created their own colourful hanging animal artworks, including llamas, using bright paper strips, bold patterns and playful shapes.

Students experimented with paper collage techniques, carefully cutting and layering strips of coloured paper to decorate their lamas. Through this project, students discovered how piñatas are used in Mexican celebrations and explored how colour, pattern, shape and texture can communicate cultural traditions. They developed their cutting, layering and composition skills while learning about the connection between art, celebrations and communities around the world. Our finished artworks are full of personality, colour and creativity, celebrating the lively visual culture of Mexico!

Grade 5/6: Jungle Wonders

Grade 5/6 students have been exploring the lush jungles and tropical rainforests found around the world, discovering the incredible plants, animals and vibrant colours that make these environments so unique. Inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of these habitats, students created their own mixed-media jungle artworks featuring detailed, hand-drawn animals of choice surrounded by colourful tropical flowers and oversized leaves.

Students experimented with watercolour backgrounds, collage techniques using recycled book pages, and bold line work to bring their jungle scenes to life. They explored how layering different materials, shapes, patterns and textures can create depth and visual interest in an artwork.

Through this project, students celebrated the amazing biodiversity of jungles around the world, from the rainforests of South America to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, while developing their drawing, painting and collage skills. . 

As we work towards bringing our Art Show to life, students will be busy creating and completing their final artworks. Over the next nine weeks, students will create at least three more artworks that will become part of our wonderful exhibition.

Framing Fridays

To help us prepare for the Art Show, we will be holding Framing Fridays on:

Friday 13th November

Friday 20th November

Friday 27th November ...From 1.50pm onwards

Parents and carers are warmly invited to join us in the Art Room to help with framing students' artwork for the exhibition. 

Art Show Set-Up Helpers Needed

I will also be looking for some wonderful parent/carer volunteers to help us transform the school into an exciting Art Show exhibition.

Set-up days:

Tuesday 1st December

Wednesday 2nd December

Thursday 3rd December

If you are available to help on any of these days, please reach out to me via email and let me know which day/s and times you are available. Every helping hand will make a huge difference.