Sustainability Excursion - As part of our current unit on Texture and Farming, students will take part in a Sustainability Day excursion. They will travel by bus to join Inglewood Primary School and participate in a range of hands-on rotations at the Garden for the Future park in White Hills. These sessions will focus on key sustainability themes, including Water, Nature, Transport, Resource Recovery, and food and farming. This experience will enable students to establish meaningful connections between their classroom learning and real-world applications, while fostering awareness of how they can care for their environment in everyday life. Students will need to bring their bag, snacks, lunch, water bottle and hat. Students may wear their PE uniform.

Melbourne Cup - Bridgewater Tuesday 2nd September

As part of our School Improvement Plan to engage St Mary's with community initiatives, students will travel to and from Bridgewater Oval to join the arrival of the Melbourne Cup. During this time, F-2 students will participate in a hobby horse activity, while 3-6 will compete in a running race. This event has been organised by the Bridgewater on Loddon Development Committee and is also open to adults.

Foundation Literacy:

Working alongside the InitaLit program, the Foundation students have been practising how to write sentences, including our sound /sh/. The students were excellent at instructing Miss Fenwick that the start of our sentences requires a capital letter and that we need a full stop at the end. Check out our awesome sentence, 'The shark is swimming in the water.'

Foundation - Grade 2 Inquiry:

"I'll huff and I'll puff"

In the junior room inquiry, we have been observing different materials and how stable they are for building a house. We watched the story about the Three Little Pigs before planning in teams what we wanted to build our house out of. We decided to try using marshmallows and toothpicks, as well as paddlepop sticks and paper. We are excited to see which house will withstand the Big Bad Wolf.

3/4 The Iron Man by Ted Hughes.

The students have finished their novel and spent most of the term learning how to write compound sentences, summary sentences and paragraphs. The Iron Man follows the story of a mysterious and colossal metal robot that appears in a coastal farming village. He forms a special bond with a young boy named Hogarth, who becomes his friend. The story concludes with the Iron Man and the people working together to stop the Space-Bat-Angel and save the planet. Here is what the students thought of the book.

Emmett: I enjoyed the book because it was fiction, but had lots of facts about iron and a lot of intense detail.

GG: I enjoyed the pictures and detail in the story.

Chloie: I enjoyed this book because there was a lot of tension.

5/6 Tom Appleby, Convict Boy by Jackie French.

The students are still reading this compelling historical fiction novel, which is set in 18th-century England and Australia. The story follows the life of a young Tom Appleby, a poor and orphaned boy living in London. When Tom steals some money and a handkerchief, he is caught and sentenced to transportation, as a child convict, to the distant shores of Australia. This captivating story transports the reader to a time and place where a boy’s courage and determination pave the way for an unforgettable adventure. Here is what the students think of the book.

Lucy: I really like the part of the story when Tom was very emotional and filled with a sense of grief and loss.

Braxton: I feel it was easier to listen to the audiobook than trying to remember all the details from the book.

Kiarah: I found it interesting that Tom was a child convict and was aboard a ship with a lot of older people.

Edmund: I am enjoying the book so far because there is so drama.

Jenson: I like how the author, Jackie French, changes the timeline of history, transitioning from England to Australia throughout the book.

Jordy: I like how it has waves of excitement and emotion throughout the book, exploring the different characters and their lives.

Liv: My favourite part of the story is when Tom Appleby is at Newgate prison in England, and finally makes it to Australia.

Fin: My favourite character is Bald Sally, because it is such an interesting and funny name.

Inquiry: Living Off The Land

Why is it important for food and fibre to be produced sustainably?

Yesterday, Mrs Murray brought in cotton seeds that a local dairy farmer combines with oranges, apples and even tortilla wraps! This is all put into a big mixer with hay to feed his cows. It is not only is sustainable farming, but ensures the cattle have a high fibre and protein diet. Check out the photos!

Therapeutic Arts

We have been working so hard on creating our "My Place" dioramas in Therapeutic Arts and they are finally complete! Students really enjoyed the creative freedom they were provided during this activity and appreciated the opportunities to use their imaginations to create their dioramas. We had lots of students noting that places near water are important to them with many beach and river dioramas being developed. After a class reflection discussion at the conclusion of the unit many students noted that their final product was very different to what they initially envisaged, however they enjoyed the process and are very keen for more opportunities to develop their creativity skills in Therapeutic Arts lessons. A discussion around future Therapeutic Arts projects was held, and students are now very keen to begin some collage work, so keep an eye out for updates on how those are going!

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