Reception class: Jess

On Monday the 2nd of September the Receptions went on their first School excursion to Nature Play SA at Wittunga Botanic Gardens. We submerged ourselves in nature and had an absolute ball. The students were able to develop connection to nature by exploring local flora and fauna, storytelling, and sensory play. Students used their agency to manage their time to move between activities. Some of the activities were clay making, cubby building, 'poison' making, and block building. We enjoyed a short walk through the botanic gardens where we spotted turtles in the pond and played on the playground. It was an action-packed day full of fun and learning.

Reception class: Kelly

What a wonderful two weeks we have had. We had such a great time on our excursion at Wittunga Botanic Gardens with Nature Play SA. The children had a wonderful time building cubbies, making 'potions' and clay-making.

The children showed great persistence with writing their own recounts. It was wonderful to see them use their sound strategies to attempt to write their sentences. They did such a great job.

We have continued working on our mapping with Stephen's class. This week we had a focus on how Aboriginal people used to map. They would sing important landmarks to help them remember how to get from place to place.

In Health, we focused on kindness. How are we kind to others.

Year 1 class: Jaya

In our Geography HASS inquiry, students have been actively exploring the fascinating world of maps, directions, and locations. We’ve focused on understanding how maps work, including the importance of a key, and have even created our own map of the school! Students learned about the different symbols used to represent places on maps, making connections to the world around them.

This work ties in perfectly with our maths learning, where we’ve been using directional language and examining position. Through fun, interactive games, students are practising giving instructions, matching, and using movement to understand direction and location in a hands-on way.

Year 2 class: Samantha

As a maths stem project this fortnight we modelled and created 3D shapes made from toothpicks and plasticine. Students enjoyed the challenge of creating some elaborate shapes and trying to build upon their existing shapes to create height. During reflection time, students mentioned that they had to make sure their bases were structurally strong and accurate to stop any unfortunate collapse!

During literacy we have looked at narrative structure and analysed this within stories. Students concluded that a story needs to have a problem in order for it to capture an audience. We then highlighted all the problems that arise in fairy tale stories and what resolutions they provide. Following on from this we practised writing our own creative stories incorporating our knowledge of narrative structure.

Year 3 class: Stephen and Troy

This week the year 3s have started exploring how to use similes to bump up their narrative writing. They have explored some of the well-known ones. The goal is to use these in stand-alone sentences first to build confidence before using them independently and consistently in narrative writing.

The year 3s have also transferred their knowledge of persuasive writing to create travel brochures for different parts of Australia. The learning intention when designing travel brochures is to focus on persuasive devices including vocabulary, catchphrases and images.

Year 4/5 class: Alex

This fortnight students have begun their unit on information report writing. Students completed their Brightpath pre-assessment piece on Wombats. They brainstormed categories that they could organise their information into and began their research into this interesting marsupial. They practised their note-taking skills using bullet points and a ‘research map’ to organise their information. They took notes from a range of informative videos and websites about the habitat, physical features and behaviour of wombats. Students put in their best effort to organise their information under subheadings and demonstrate their understanding of how to put together an information report.

Since their assessment piece students have begun researching an animal of their choice that they are interested in finding out more about. They will develop their information report writing skills through this piece, recording the sources they collected their information from and refining the structure and depth of their informative writing.

Year 5/6 class: Sallie

The usual busy fortnight in our class. Assembly - it is great getting to share our work with the school and wider community. The Year 6 jumpers looked great and those involved painted their own designs. The "fish" the Year 5s created look fantastic (and will be part of our display for the Uraidla Show) but it is a real challenge and a problem-solving exercise in getting the sticks to stay together. Eventually, everyone will complete a fish stick art project and a wire art project for the Show. Interesting but challenging. Lightning Carnival yesterday was such a great experience for all students involved. The growth of confidence in all students was evident (thanks coaches) as everyone came together to create teams that were cohesive and inclusive. We have completed our Brightpath assessment piece of writing for Information Reports (we used all our Vietnamese Refugee research to facilitate this. Now we will go back over our writing and set new writing goals, and I will explicitly teach ways to enrich students' information report writing skills. Measurement continues to be our maths focus.

Indonesian: Ibu Susan

In Indonesian the year 5/6 students have completed a tricky listening and translating activity. They did really well. Their Indonesian menus are nearly done and look fabulous!

The younger classes made fun paper monsters, cats and dogs to practise the phrase Saya suka makan….(I like to eat….). The year three students have started writing their own mini books about a pet that eats too much. They are doing a super job!

PE: Troy & Emma

This fortnight in lower primary PE we have been refining our skills in bouncing and catching, focusing on our hand-eye coordination. Students have enjoyed skill development games, including two square bounce and rebound ball. During each activity we have talked about feeling confident in your own abilities and achieving your personal best. - Emma

Science: Philippa

The photo shows a plasticine ladybug with its eggs. This was made by one of the Reception students for our Week 7 lesson about the features of ladybugs. We read the book 'The Bad-Tempered Ladybird' by Eric Carle, watched a video of the ladybug life cycle and made plasticine models. The Week 8 lesson for Receptions was on butterflies.

Years 1 - 6 have been researching animals in preparation for making trioramas.

Year 1 and 2 did whole class research - looking at pictures and videos and discussing them. Students made trioramas to show the features and habitats of either beach or underwater creatures.

Years 3, 4 , 5 and 6 have done individual research about a chosen animal and are still constructing their trioramas. The Year 3 focus is on the characteristics of their animal as a living thing. The Year 4, 5, 6 focus is on the adaptations of their animal.

Upcoming events
Wed 18/9	Festival Choir Concert
Thur 19/9	SRC Casual Day*
Fri 20/9	Assembly - Alex's Class
Mon 23/9 - Fri 27/9	Year 6 Flinders Camp*
Fri 27/9	Last Day of Term 3 Early Dismissal 2:10pm

Important dates