Today, the staff and our Grade 5/6 boys’ basketball team will face off against each other. While the game doesn’t start until 2:00 pm, I’ll call it now: although the 5/6s did great, they lost gallantly – their first loss this year! A big thank you to all the staff for risking torn ACLs and giving up their bone density to play against the students. The Grade 5/6 boys are undoubtedly the most naturally gifted athletes we’ve seen at Newlands. I’m going to assume that Raul and I are the joint MVPs. If any of this information is incorrect, we’ll amend it in next week’s newsletter.

This week, our Grade 1/2 and 3/4 incursions took place (well, later today for 3/4!). The students have been talking non-stop about how fun it was, bombarding me in the playground to tell me all the amazing things they did. A big thank you to the teams for organizing such great activities that support collaboration and teamwork.

We also kicked off our first NAPLAN tests for Grades 3 and 5 this week. I want to thank the teachers for creating an environment where the students could perform their best, and to the students for giving it their all. There are two more tests next week before we’re free from NAPLAN for another year.

It hasn’t just been NAPLAN this week—here’s what else has been happening in the classrooms:

Foundation

Paula’s class was sitting on the floor having a snack before recess while practicing their Spanish vowels. Though they didn’t share their food with me, they were happy to share their highlights from the week:

Izzah: "I like when we sit on the floor and show whole-body listening."
Clyde: "We’ve been practicing writing letters and words."
Sophia: "Maths has been fun because we’ve been counting with number lines and counters."
Oliver: "I like marking the roll because we get to touch the whiteboard."
Billie: "I liked playing bingo this week, learning the letter ‘efe’ (f)."
Lucas: "I love maths and enjoy doing 'facts on fire.'"
Aurelia: "I love playing outside and seeing my Grade 6 buddy."
Gabriel: "I love learning all the letters because it’s going to help me read!"

1/2

On my way to the Art Room to visit 1/2D, it felt like I was watching a real-life version of BMX Bandits as the students raced around the school on their bikes. They were having an absolute blast, and it was great to see so many students sporting helmet hair! In the Art Room, the students were working with clay to showcase their pottery skills. Cooper mentioned that clay is awesome because you can make so many shapes and objects. Will’s monster and Finn’s dinosaur foot looked incredible! The students will be exploring clay for the rest of the term, and they’re all very excited about it.

3/4

Layla sat next to me to tell me all about what 3/4C is doing in Spanish Numeracy. She showed me how they’re using arrays to solve distributive multiplication problems. It was impressive to see the students being exposed to algebraic concepts so early in the year. Vera shared that her favourite thing about Spanish Maths with Angelica is the combination of 'Spanish' and 'Maths.' It makes complete sense!

5/6

While the Grade 5s were tapping away at their computers during NAPLAN, I joined the Grade 6s for their Spanish reading session. The students were doing partner reading before answering questions to demonstrate their Spanish understanding. I asked the Grade 6s about the best thing about their week:

Lenny: "In Visual Arts, we were sketching totem animals that represent our personalities."
Freddie: "Interschool Sports, even though we haven’t played yet." (He asked if he could say that—I said yes!)
Marco: "It’s been great just hanging out with the Grade 6s while the others suffer doing NAPLAN."
Mia: "Art Club was fun because I got to teach people how to paint blossoms on faces."
Charlie: "State Spectacular Rehearsal—I just love dancing!"
Abigail: "STEAM has been fun—we’re learning about whether there’s life on Mars."
Nelly: "I can now put my Spanish words into sentences confidently."
Paxton: "The kids playing against the students in basketball."

A huge thanks to Raul for organizing a fantastic bike parade next Friday at 9:00 am in conjunction with Ride 2 School Day. We hope families can help students beautify their bikes. For more information about the morning, please head to the Bike Parade page in this week’s newsletter.

We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Thanks,

Luke

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