Classroom News
PREP
We’ve reached the halfway mark for Term 4, with only 57 school days left in the year!
The short week last week was just the little rest our Preps needed to recharge their batteries. On Friday, we had an amazing time visiting The Messy Patch! It was a day full of exploring, creating, experimenting, and—of course—lots of messy fun.
It was such a joy to watch the children immerse themselves in deep, authentic play and enjoy interacting with their friends. We also received some wonderful feedback from the staff at the venue, who commented on how well-mannered and polite the St Mary’s Preps were. It was truly a pleasure to take them out for the day—we are so proud of them!
Special Days Ahead!
We have some exciting events to look forward to over the next few weeks. This Friday, 14th November, we will be celebrating Mission Day.
The day will begin with a Prayer Gathering, followed by a friendly game of European Handball on the back oval — Teachers vs. Grade 6 students! After playtime, the student-run stalls will open and run until about 1:30 pm. The Preps are welcome to wear casual clothes and bring along some coins 10c, 20, 50c to spend at the stalls. We recommend placing the coins in a named ziplock bag for safekeeping.
All money raised on the day will be donated to support the work of the Catholic Mission, helping to make a difference in the lives of children and families around the world who are in need.
We have some more special days coming up as we move towards the end of Term 4!
Friday, 21st November – Prep–5 Activity Day
The Preps will walk to Colac West Primary School at 9:00 am for a fun-filled morning of games and activities. We’ll return to St Mary’s just after first break.Preps are asked to please wear their sports uniform for the day.
Friday, 5th December – Prep Prayer Gathering
On this day, the Preps will lead our school Prayer Gathering. Readings can be found in your child’s homework book to help them practise at home.
Tuesday, 10th December – End of Year Liturgy
At 6:00 pm, the Preps will take part in our End of Year Liturgy, where they will help to bless their Year 6 buddies as they prepare to move on to secondary school.
Liza Alexander lalexander@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 1
Our Writing Bag sessions are coming to an end, with only a few more patient Year 1s left to share. We would like to sincerely thank our families for the time, care, and creativity you have poured into the writing books, and for making the effort to come in and share them with us. These moments are truly a highlight of our week, we love hearing about your special adventures and getting to know our families in such a lovely way.
This Friday is Mission Day. Our Year 6 students spent time in our classroom talking with small groups about what to expect and why Mission Day is an important part of our identity as a Catholic school. Families are invited to join us on Friday, please see our Class Dojo post for all the details.
Our Year 1 Prayer Gathering will be held on Friday 28th November. We would greatly appreciate your support in helping your child practise their reading at home in the lead up. It’s hard to believe this will be our final Prayer Gathering for the year, we look forward to sharing this special moment with you all.
Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Rebecca Murray rmurray@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Judy Carr jcarr@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Paula Parish pparish@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 2
Welcome to our Week 6 Newsletter!
We have so many exciting things coming up, so we’ll keep this newsletter short and sweet with some clear dates and times for you to note down!
End of Year Testing
Firstly, wow! Our students have been absolutely amazing during their end-of-year testing. We are so proud of the effort, focus, and progress each and every student has shown. It’s been wonderful to see how far they’ve come in their learning this year, from growing in confidence with reading and writing to tackling new challenges in maths and beyond. Their positive attitude and determination have truly shone through, and we couldn’t be prouder of their achievements!
Mission Day – This Friday
Mission Day is happening TOMORROW! Students can come out of uniform on this day. Please bring along some money (mostly coins) so your child can enjoy the fun stall activities. We had a fantastic time today joining in some Mission Day activities in the lead-up to this special event.
Prayer Gathering – Thursday Next Week
Our Prayer Gathering will be held on Thursday next week at 9:00am. Please note the change of day, this is due to our Activity Day taking place on Friday. We hope you can join us for this special reflection time as we prepare to 'celebrate' the end of the school year together through prayer.
Activity Day – Friday, 21 November
Activity Day is on Friday, 21st November. Students will enjoy a range of sports activities with students from other Coalc schools. Year 2 will be based at St Mary’s for their activities. It’s always a fun and active day that helps students connect and celebrate together!
Ballarat Wildlife Park Excursion – 12 December
Our Ballarat Wildlife Park excursion is coming up on Thursday, 12th of December. Please check PAM for the permission form and details. We’ll be sending home more information soon, but it’s sure to be an exciting day!
Have a wonderful week ahead, we can’t wait to finish the term strong together!
Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Matt O'Dowd modowd@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 3
As we enter the home stretch of Term 4, our Grade 3s have been absolute champions! They’ve shown wonderful patience and focus as we complete the testing needed to prepare for reports and we’re almost there! Before we know it, we’ll be diving into some Christmas fun (hard to believe, isn’t it?).
This Friday is our annual Mission Day, and the students are buzzing with excitement to run the Grade 3 stalls. We also have our Prep- Activity Day coming up soon, which is always a highlight on the calendar.
It’s been a bit of a tough run lately with lots of illness going around. If your child isn’t feeling 100%, it’s best to let them rest and recover at home, we really appreciate your support with this.
Finally, keep an eye out for information about our end-of-year excursion! We’ll be heading to Ballarat to visit a new venue called 'Flip Out' if you Google it, you’ll see why we’re so excited! We’re just waiting for PAM to be back up and running before we send out the permission forms.
14/11- 3DH Prayer Gathering and Mission Day fete
21/11 - P-5 Activity Day
5/12 - Excursion to Ballarat
Jade LoRicco jloricco@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 4
Week 6 already, Year 4! Can you believe how quickly the term is flying by? We’re well and truly in the thick of it now, and it’s been a busy few weeks full of learning, creativity and fun!
In Numeracy, we’ve had a split focus over the past few weeks, with some students working on solving problems related to time, and others exploring fractions. This has allowed everyone to focus on the areas they most need to develop. It’s been great to see the effort and persistence students are showing, and how confidently they’re applying their skills during lessons.
In Literacy, we’ve continued our focus on information reports. We’ve read and discussed lots of examples to see what makes a good report, and this week students are beginning to write their own. Each student will choose an Australian or world environment and explain how it supports people and other living things. There’s lots of research, planning, drafting and publishing happening — and the excitement levels are high!
Our Inquiry unit, Home is Where the Habitat Is, links in perfectly with our Literacy work. Students are busy creating their own triorama scenes that show how environments support people, plants and animals. They’ve been working with partners to share ideas and help each other plan, but everyone is making their own unique scene. It’s been such a fun, hands-on project — the creativity and teamwork have been amazing to see!
A huge well done to Year 4 for being so organised for swimming. Everyone’s doing a great job remembering their gear each week and showing super behaviour at the pool. It’s fantastic to see the students becoming more confident in the water.
In Religion, we’ve been exploring the concept of gift — thinking about the many ways we can give to others and the special talents we each have to share. This idea ties in beautifully with Mission Day, which is coming up this Friday! It’s always such a special day for our school community, as we come together to support the work of Catholic Mission. The students are really looking forward to setting up their activities and stalls, and can’t wait to see what the other classes have planned. It’s sure to be a fun and meaningful day for everyone!
Another big congratulations to Matt and Gemma on the arrival of their little Clementine!
Thank you!
The Grade 4 Team
Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Susie Scott sscott@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 5
Wow, how time flies, Week 6 already! It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through Term 4. The students have been working incredibly hard and have already achieved so much this term.
In Numeracy, we have wrapped up our unit on decimals to thousandths and are so pleased with how much students have learnt. It’s been great to see their growing confidence in reading, writing, and ordering decimals. We are now moving into probability, exploring the likelihood of events happening and learning to use language such as certain, likely, unlikely, and impossible. In Week 7, we will begin working with percentages, looking at how they describe and compare parts of a whole in real-life contexts.
In Literacy, we are nearing the end of our class novel The Last Bear by Hannah Gold. Each chapter leaves us on a cliffhanger as we eagerly await to see whether Bear and April make it safely to land. Students have been applying their knowledge about polar bears and persuasive techniques to write powerful letters about protecting wildlife and the environment. Our Spelling Mastery program is also nearing completion, and we are incredibly proud of the effort and progress students have made with their spelling this year.
In R.E., we have been exploring the bibliodrama of The Prodigal Son. This story has sparked thoughtful discussions about forgiveness, making good choices, and showing compassion towards others. Students have made wonderful connections between this parable and their own lives.
We are also finalising our inquiry unit on consumerism, where students have been investigating how the choices we make as consumers can impact others and the world around us. They are now working on their assessment projects to demonstrate what they have learned about needs, wants, and making informed decisions.
Some key dates to remember:
- Friday 14 November – Mission Day
- Tuesday 19 November – Responsible Pet Owner Incursion: students will learn about being safe around animals and how to be responsible pet owners.
- Friday 24 November – Prep to Year 4 Activity Day
Thank you for your continued support at home. It has been a fantastic term so far, and we look forward to the exciting learning and celebrations still to come.
Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 6
It’s been a busy few weeks in Grade 6, especially with sport! Many students took part in Hot Shots Tennis and T20 Cricket. Our 5/6 girls’ Hot Shots team finished second at Regionals, showing fantastic sportsmanship, while our cricket teams had a great day out - the girls reaching the semi-finals and the boys just missing out on finals.
We also had a visit from Jenaya from The Long Walk, where students entered the Renegades Cricket Bat Design competition with some amazing designs. In class, we’ve started our Health unit, which has been very engaging, and are continuing with our Economics unit, exploring what it takes to run a business. In Maths, we’re extending our learning on decimals and percentages.
We’re looking forward to our Grade 6s vs Teachers European Handball game tomorrow with plenty of healthy competition brewing already! A big thank you to our parents for your support and contributions to Mission Day, we really appreciate it.
Thursdays - Swimming
Friday 14th November - Mission Day
Friday 21st November - P-4 Activity Day
Tuesday 9th December - Move up Day
Wednesday 10th November - Graduation Mass 6pm
Friday 12th December - Adventure Park
Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Katie Monaghan kmonaghan@smcolac.catholic.edu.au