Junior School
Since the start of the school year, I have been inspired by and proud of our Junior School team time and time again. From Swimming events to classroom activities and playground supervision, their enthusiasm and expertise have created memorable moments of learning and joy for the students. Our teachers and learning support staff also care for and support each other, making it a wonderful team to work with. Thank you, friends and families, for the positive feedback that I have received about the team’s excellent communication and care for students. Here’s to the Junior School staff at King's College who foster a positive, nurturing and enriching environment where every student can thrive!
Alex Burgess
Head of Junior School
Prep
The Preps have been doing some outstanding work in our literacy sessions. We have been working hard to learn our letters through board games, playdough and lots of practice. Here was some of the work they did on one of the days this week!
Eden Romero
Prep Teacher
Year 1
We are extremely proud of the Year 1 students who have taken the spelling program in their stride, to learn weekly spelling patterns and apply them to their weekly dictation passage.
As part of the Health unit, the children brainstormed how they could stay safe and prepare for different emergency situations. Year 1 were very keen to put into practice all they had learned during our Evacuation Drill this week and demonstrated how responsible and helpful they are.
In class, some of the children had the opportunity to be the first to construct something, using recycled cardboard and the Makedo construction kit. They relished the hands on activity and shared their thoughts with their peers:
“We are building a house with a roof, a tunnel, a door and lots of windows. I’m having so much fun adding all the details and screws" - George
"We’re working together to build an amazing house" - Isaac
Kerry Snook
Year 1 Teacher
Year 2
It has been so much fun in Year 2 over the past two weeks! In Science, the Year 2's are currently conducting an experiment on mealworms to see how they grow and change overtime when kept at two different temperatures. Half of the class is observing and recording the changes to mealworms at room temperature, and the other half is observing and recording the changes to mealworms kept in a fridge. So far, we haven't noticed too many changes yet, but we will keep you updated!
As we have begun exploring our Humanities topic 'Connecting to Places', the Year 2's went on a scavenger hunt around the school last week to identify either a natural, managed, or constructed feature/place. We're very much looking forward to our upcoming excursion to the Warrnambool Art Gallery on Monday where we will look further into how people have connections to different places.
We have also been looking at place value in Maths. Students have put their creative minds into action and made some 'place value animals', then broke it up to see how many hundreds, tens and ones they used when making their animal.
I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of the parents/carers who have been so wonderful in supporting the Year 2's with their spelling and reading homework! They have been doing an amazing job with it!
Alissa Griffin
Year 2 Teacher
Year 3
We’ve had a great fortnight in Year 3 and had some great fun while we have been learning. In Maths, we have been playing some great games, including racing fidget spinners as we learn our times tables. We also used our comprehension skills to try out some different maths games in pairs to practise adding and subtracting using different strategies. We had to read the instructions and work out what we had to do before playing the game together.As we start to focus on place value, we made our names with MAB blocks and added up the value to see how much our names were worth!
Ang Hales
Year 3 Teacher
Year 4
Life in the Year 4 classroom continues to be busy and full of opportunities for great learning. Last week, students experimented with more hands on activities in Maths focusing on place value. Students were given a list of challenges to complete and build using MAB blocks, such as create your name, design a house, make a tower, create your last name etc. They then had to count and record the total of their creation making sure they had done any trading needed and used the correct place value column. One student in particular worked SO hard for SO long on making their name (it was a long name!) only to discover at the end that they'd forgotten one letter...whoops!
Emily Hunter
Year 4 Teacher
Year 5
Year 5 have been working very hard this week. We are enjoying learning about our solar system for Science and beginning to get an understanding of consumer choices and refunds in Humanities. We have all enjoyed getting into our class novel of Blueback by Tim Winton, and started to learn how to compose informative writing. Maths has been a real hit this week as we have been learning about 3D shapes and their nets. Here are some of the nets we have folded and made into 3D shapes out of paper. Great work Year 5, you are a truly amazing bunch of learners.
Naomi O'Brien
Year 5 Teacher
Year 6
On Monday all through to Thursday we had surf awareness. From 10 am to 11:30 we went to the surf club and learned about the waves and rips and lots more. After we learned about the ocean we had a swim in the beach for half an hour. We had lots of fun swimming and body surfing. On the first day we learned the basics of safety. Like putting your hand up if you're in trouble. Jason Lamb took us from the splash factory and taught us some water safety. Today we learned about creatures in the beach like stingrays,seals,jellyfish and lots more. We learned about if we got bitten by a creatures what we would do. I had an amazing time learning and swimming in the beach.
Nellie M
This week grade sixes learnt a little about the ocean. We start the day with homeroom for the first part of the day, then we all get dressed into our bathers and towels to put over top. Once we were done all of us piled onto Jimmy's bus and drove to the beach. The teachers got off the bus first then us. Then we learnt about the ocean rips, waves and creatures for 30 mins and then had fun in the water for 30 mins then we went back to school and got changed back into our school uniform and had recess.
Niah P
The first day you have to go in between the red and yellow flags. Be careful about the big waves. The second day there are surging waves, spilling waves and plunging waves. The third day the waves go in a spiral underwater and then when it touches the ground it goes out of the water and creates a wave.
Max P
This week Year 6 had surf awareness. It was spectacular to learn about the ocean and the area around it. We learned about rips and the sand banks that formed in different weather. We learnt about currents and different winds and waves. And finally we learned about beach animals and sea creatures. After every lesson we would have a swim and test out our new found knowledge. It was amazing. Now we can all be safe around the surf and the turf. I loved Surf Awareness.
Scarlett B
Coral Robertson
Year 6 Teacher
Gideon Program
In the Junior Gideon class, students have made Grass-heads or Grass-guys as some have creatively been named. Students have been learning that Grass-heads need a little bit of care at first: good soil, some regular water and a safe, sunny place to be on the classroom windowsill. It doesn’t take long before the grass starts to sprout, grow and thrive!
As students are growing their ‘grass-hair’ they have also been thinking about their own individual journey and how they too are already growing and learning so much each week! This experience will now lead on to further exploration in our maths and writing sessions and possibly an upcoming appointment to the hairdresser for some of our little friends. Keep up the amazing attitude and effort Junior Gideon Class!
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Philippians 4:6
Stephanie Kosh
Junior School Gideon Teacher