Reception class: Jess

Receptions Students Design and Build the Best Playground Ever!

Over the last few weeks, our Reception students have been working together to design and create the best playground ever! Through collaboration, creativity, and exploration, the students have embarked on an exciting journey to imagine and build their dream play spaces.

The process began with research, where the children explored existing playgrounds and took time to investigate our very own school playground. They also had the opportunity to think deeply about the elements that would make a playground exciting, fun, and safe. Armed with this inspiration, students donned their thinking caps and let their imaginations run wild.

In pairs and small groups, the students designed their playgrounds on A3 paper, sketching out their ideas and refining their plans. They then moved on to using a range of recycled materials to bring their designs to life. From cardboard and plastic bottles to fabric and timber, the students carefully considered which materials would provide strength and durability to their creations.

Throughout the project, it was incredible to see the students problem-solve, troubleshoot, and work together to overcome challenges. They took great pride in their work and were excited to see their ideas take shape. The hands-on experience of building something from scratch was both engaging and empowering for our young learners.

Next week, the students will have the opportunity to finish their creations and share their finished playgrounds with the rest of the school. We can’t wait to see their amazing designs come to life and celebrate their hard work and creativity!

Reception class: Kelly

We have had a wonderful time with Jess's Reception class in maths the last couple of weeks. The children have been collecting data, recording data using a bar graph and representing their data on fish. When collecting data, the children got in groups. They had a die and when they rolled the die and it landed on a number, it represented the colour of the scale for example: 1=yellow. Once completing 20 rolls, they counted how many they had for each colour. They then recorded their findings on a bar graph. Once completed, they collected their colour scales and represented their data on a fish. Please come and have a look down the hallway at Kelly and Jess's Reception wall.

Year 1 class: Jaya

What a wonderful year it has been! It’s hard to believe the year has already come to an end. I have been so proud of all that our Year 1 students have achieved. Their hard work, determination, grit, and growth throughout the year have been so incredible. We’ve been busy finishing off learning all our sounds and reflecting on the amazing learning and amount of sounds we have done! Recently, we’ve been applying our sound and word knowledge to write information reports about Australian animals. The students have learned lots of fascinating facts and focused on organising their ideas using headings and subheadings to help guide the reader. We worked on some artwork to go with our information reports about Kangaroos and the class did such vibrant, detailed pictures.

Christmas fun

This time of year is always full of excitement with Christmas, transitions, and end-of-year celebrations. On Monday, Buddy the Elf joined our class, who has been causing all kinds of mischief! Buddy brought us a Christmas tree to decorate, swung from the vines, and even roasted marshmallows over a tiny classroom ‘fire’—such a daredevil! We are looking forward to starting some Christmas crafts, enjoying a special movie day, and celebrating the fantastic year we’ve had at our end-of-year concert. It’s been a joy working with and teaching the amazing year 1s this year and I hope everyone has a wonderful, well deserved Christmas break!

Year 2 class: Samantha

End-of-Year Concert Rehearsals

The excitement is building as we rehearse for the upcoming end-of-year concert! The students are working hard to follow the steps, stay in time with the beat, and put on a fantastic performance for you all. Their enthusiasm and dedication are shining through, and we can’t wait to share this special moment with you.

Maths: Exploring Expanded Form

This week, we’ve been revising place value by exploring expanded form. To help us practise, the students created their own expanded form trains using colourful off-cuts of paper. Each "carriage" represented a different place value, making a hands-on and visual way to understand how numbers break down into thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones. The trains look amazing and have helped solidify this important concept in a fun and creative way.

A Visit from Mr Taffle!

Our classroom has been filled with laughter and curiosity thanks to Mr Taffle, our mischievous classroom elf. Each morning, we’ve been discovering what cheeky antics he’s been up to, from hiding in unusual places to leaving playful surprises. Mr Taffle has brought a wonderful dose of Christmas spirit and joy to our mornings.

The Final Big Write: Saving Christmas

Next week, we’ll be completing our final Big Write for the year, and it promises to be a fun and imaginative project! With Rudolph feeling under the weather, the students will create their own narratives about how Santa and his team can save Christmas. The creativity and ideas being shared already are inspiring, and I can’t wait to see the unique stories they produce.

Thank you for your continued support throughout this term. We’re looking forward to celebrating the students’ achievements and finishing the year on a high note.

Year 3 class: Stephen and Emma

It is with great sadness that we are near the end of our school year. It has been a great year with this bunch.... 🙂 (See photo of the "said" bunch)

Our final days are mostly spent doing revision of all past learning and also, gearing up for the school concert. We also enjoyed our combined class effort with Jess's reception students on Thursday to do some hands-on making Christmas art and craft tasks.

During our literacy lessons this fortnight we have been exploring poems written by Australian authors. Within these poems we have looked at language techniques that are used to create different effects and capture the reader. Students have focused on alliteration and created their own poems using this language feature. Following this they have created a drawing based on their imaginative poem which was exciting and entertaining!

Year 4/5 class: Alex

This fortnight in HASS students have been exploring the history and geography of Australia. They have unpacked the meaning of ‘diversity’ and reflected upon the cultural diversity of Australia. They have then applied this thinking to look at diversity among first nations groups in Australia. The used maps to identify the location of the Torres Straight Islands and have used the AITSIS Map of Indigenous Australia to reflect on the 250 Aboriginal nations of Australia. They located and identified the names of the Aboriginal land that each capital city of Australia is built on today.

The class then worked in groups to take a deeper dive into two Aboriginal nations – Eora and Nurungga. Each group delved into information about one aspect to compare the two Aboriginal groups. They compared and contracted the two nations and shared their understanding with the class. The aspects explored were the history of the people, connection to country, social organisation, first contact in the area with European people, food sources, tools, trade, shelter and clothing, and the environment.

Year 5/6 class: Sallie

The last fortnight has been a whirlwind of "finishing off" activities. I have enjoyed watching students present their given topic based on the "Australian Government". It was great watching everyone's confidence increase over the year. Most choose "Kahoots" (an online quiz) to test the class's knowledge of their topic.... some fun choices were given.

We have been working on a creative story and again interesting watching everyone choose a different genre and story line. I have limited the story to two pages - some have written theirs in font size 20 and others in font size 7.

Our 3 D Christmas designs were a real hit and we have now decorated them. Corinne was amazing at getting students designs into a printable product.

I think this is the last newsletter so I would like to thank all parents and care givers for their support this year .... wow hasn't it flown? Please have a fabulous break and enjoy this family time! I will see some of you next year and those with Year 6 students I love to hear how they are progressing so please stay in touch. Merry Christmas.

Indonesian: Ibu Susan

Last week in Indonesian the Reception children had the chance to eat tropical rambutan. Everyone tried them and some students loved them! Others decided rambutan are a bit too strange! They are very sweet and have a texture similar to lychees. I was very impressed with how willing the children were to try something different.

Science: Philippa

Books have gone home

I have sent home the science books. If you have can, take some time to look through the book with your child and ask them to tell you about a couple of things that they have learnt during the year.

Last Science Activities for the Year

Several classes made and tested 'Staw Rockets'.

The last lesson for Alex's class was on 'Micro-organisms' and included the book 'Do Not Lick This Book' by Idak Ben- Barak and Rainbow Scratch Paper drawings of bacteria and fungi.

Sallie's class demonstrated and discussed some fun science experiments to finish the year.

I have had a wonderful year of teaching science at Uraidla Primary School. Hopefully, the students learnt some interesting things and sometimes had fun too!

PE: Emma

Lower Primary

This fortnight in PE we have introduced skills associated with cricket. Our focus has been throwing towards a target, keeping our eyes on the ball and positioning our body for accuracy and speed. All games have encompassed running and pivoting between cones. PE stars this fortnight have chosen inclusive warm-ups that have encompassed teamwork and positive communication.

Upper Primary

Our PE focus in upper primary this fortnight has been developing our cricket knowledge and skills. Students have been using a range of targets to help improve their throwing, bowling and batting accuracy. We have discussed the basic rules of cricket and equipment needed and practised incorporating these elements within small team games. Students showed effective collaboration and cooperation during all activities!

Upcoming events
Tue 10/12	End of Year Concert
Wed 11/12	Volunteers Morning Tea
Thur 12/12	Year 6 Graduation
Fri 13/12	End of year Assembly 1:30pm
Fri 13/12	Term 4 Ends 2:10pm

Important dates