Primary Years
National Science Week | 17-21 August
This week, our students celebrated Science Week with a hands-on exploration of seeds, plants, soil and the world around us!
During lunchtime, students took part in a range of fun and fascinating experiments and activities, including making salty snowflakes and seed paper, exploring seeds under magnifying lenses and microscopes, investigating which liquids and soils help plants grow, creating dust cloud patterns, making sandstone and even growing plants from food scraps.
The week wrapped up with students planting their own plants, collecting their Science Week creations and discovering the entrants in our poster competition. It has been a fantastic week of curiosity, creativity and hands-on learning, with plenty of opportunities for our students to ask questions, investigate and discover!
Year 5 Camp
In week 5, Year 5 students had an unforgettable few days at Sovereign Hill, stepping back in time to experience life during Ballarat’s gold rush era.
Across the three days, students explored the historic streets, discovered traditional trades and shops, experienced school life in the 1800s, and even tried their hand at searching for gold. They also enjoyed the spectacular Aura Sound & Light Show, bringing the story of the Gold Rush to life after dark.
Throughout the camp, students embraced every experience with curiosity, enthusiasm and respect. From learning about the past to sharing plenty of laughs and making memories together, it was a wonderful few days of adventure and learning.
Premiers' Reading Challenge – 15 Days to Go!
There are just 15 days left to add your books to the Premiers' Reading Challenge! We’re excited to celebrate that 125 students have already met the challenge. What an incredible achievement! There’s still time to join them.
Keep reading, keep discovering and remember to log into your portal add all your completed books to your reading log. Don’t forget: all books need to be entered by Thursday 3 September. Let’s see how many more students can reach the challenge!
Year 6 PYPX Save The Date
Our students have made a fantastic start to their PYP Exhibition journey, and we are excited to see their inquiries continue to develop. We would love to hear from our parent community and get you involved as experts who may be able to support and enrich our students' learning along the way.
We greatly appreciate your time, knowledge and support in helping make Exhibition an amazing opportunity for our students to explore, grow and proudly showcase their learning. Thank you for being part of the journey!
Grandparents and Special Friends Day
Week 4 was a wonderful opportunity for our students to welcome grandparents and special friends into their classrooms and share their learning with them.
Our Prep students began their morning in the Chapel, where they sang a special song before returning to their classrooms while their guests enjoyed morning tea. Once grandparents and special friends joined the students, they shared writing they had created about their special person and enjoyed reading together. The morning continued with board games and, in Prep A, a special ‘Thank You’ song to finish the visit.
In Year 1, students proudly shared the biographies they had written about their grandparents before spending quality time together making bracelets and completing special craft activities.
Year 2 students enjoyed interviewing their grandparents and special friends, as well as completing a Grandparents Day word search, word mat and mindfulness colouring activity.
It was a wonderful morning of sharing, learning and connection, and a lovely reminder of the important role grandparents and special people play in the lives of our students.
Year 4 Design Showcase
On Tuesday 11 August, the Grade 4 students had their design process showcase as part of their How The World Works Unit of Inquiry. This allowed parents and other year levels to view the various inventions created by the Grade 4s to solve some issues within the Good News Lutheran College community.
Problems needing solving included:
- Mrs. Moore - Protecting the plovers, their eggs and students from being swooped.
- Ms. May - Fidget toys to help neurodiverse student focus during class.
- Mrs. Hussein - The litter problem around the school and classrooms.
- Miss Thao - Needing more measurement tools for students because we don't have enough.
- Mr. Sack - The cubby organisation problem, students not being prepared or organised to class.
- Mr. Cusack (on behalf of the I.T department) - the broken headphones that either broke at the headphone hinges OR the socket kept breaking.
The students demonstrated themselves to be strong communicators, thinkers and risk-takers throughout the entire process and reception of the event was overwhelmingly positive. This was a real triumph for the Grade 4 students and well-deserved for all their resilience and hard work throughout the unit. Well done Grade 4!
Nils Cusack
Year 4 Teacher
Year 5 How The World Works Showcase
In Week 4, our Year 5 students recently welcomed families into their classrooms for our How the World Works Showcase. Throughout this Unit of Inquiry, students explored different organisms and how they survive and adapt to their environments. They then used their learning to take action by advocating for the protection of their chosen organism.
The showcase was a wonderful opportunity for students to proudly share their research, learning and advocacy with their families. It was great to see them confidently explaining their work and showing how much they had learned throughout the unit!
Chanel Boshoff
Year 5 Teacher
Year 2 Leigh Hobbs Incursion
The Year 2's are starting their new Inquiry unit, How we express ourselves. On Wednesday the 18th of August they had renowned author, Leigh Hobbs visit the students. Hobbs is an Australian author and artist who is best known for his book series Mr Chicken, Horrible Harriet and Old Tom, which has also been made into a TV series.
In the workshop he explained and demonstrated character development, leading students through the stages of drawing Old Tom, Horrible Harriet and Mr Chicken to gain confidence; then, onto creating their own characters. The incursion has helped the students in understanding our Line of Inquiry, 'Why people create and share stories'. In the coming weeks students will start to plan and draft their own narratives.
Emily Chommanivong
Year 2 Teacher
Year 3 Excursion to the Jewish Museum
In Week 3, our Year 3 learners had a memorable day at the Jewish Museum, where they immersed themselves in learning about Jewish traditions, customs and history. They explored a timeline of Jewish history and saw many significant artefacts, including the shofar and the Torah, before visiting the Synagogue. One of the highlights of our excursion was sharing in the Shabbat tradition by tasting challah bread and grape juice. This hands-on experience brought our learning to life and encouraged our learners to appreciate and respect the beliefs and traditions of others.
Angela Moore
Year 3 Teacher
PY District Athletics
A huge congratulations to all of our students who competed at District Athletics! Everyone did a wonderful job representing our school and should be very proud of their efforts.
A special congratulations to our Year 6 girls’ relay team, who achieved an amazing third place. What a fantastic achievement and a wonderful display of teamwork and determination. Well done, girls!
Ingrid Araujo Fernandes Ribeiro
Teacher
Our IB Evaluation Site Visit
Last week, we were delighted to welcome four IB visitors from around the world to our College as part of our IB Evaluation. Over the course of the visit, our visitors engaged with all members of our school community, including our Governing Board, College leadership, staff, students and families.
Across the week, there were many rich conversations, deep discussions, meetings, classroom visits and tours of our College. We then had the opportunity to sit together with our visitors to celebrate our successes, reflect on our journey and consider the next steps in our continued growth.
One of the key messages that stood out was the strength of our **diverse yet harmonious culture**, where relationships are valued and learning is thriving. We are incredibly fortunate to have such an enthusiastic, dynamic and committed team of teachers who genuinely care for the students they teach and are dedicated to helping them flourish.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to making the IB Evaluation such a successful experience. From our students and families to our teachers, support staff, leadership and Governing Board, every contribution helped showcase the wonderful community we have built together.
What could have been a very formal process became something much more meaningful. It was an opportunity to celebrate who we are, learn from one another and look forward to where we can go next. We are incredibly proud of our community and grateful to everyone who made the week not only successful, but enriching and enjoyable for all.
Rebecca Moore
PYP Coordinator
