Classroom News
Foundation
Decoding
In Decoding, students have been learning about the /z/ phoneme and the flossy rule (zz, ff, ll, ss). We explored the letter names, the sound each letter makes, and how students can use their mouths to produce these sounds accurately. They discovered that you can use a flossy letter after a short vowel. Students learnt that all these letters are most commonly found at the end of a syllable or word. Students enjoyed investigating this during their fluent reading passages, identifying words with their focus phonemes whilst also improving fluency and expression whilst reading.
Text Construction
Students have enjoyed exploring the fairy tales Snow White and Cinderella this term while developing their understanding of how events in a story are sequenced. Through discussing important moments from each tale, students learned to identify what happened first, next, and last, helping them build a clearer understanding of narrative structure. In Text Construction, students focused on using the subordinating conjunctions before and after to connect ideas and show the order of events. They practised combining simple sentences to explain what happened in each story. For example,
students wrote sentences such as, Before Cinderella went to the ball, her fairy godmother transformed her dress, and After Snow White bit the poisoned apple, she fell into a deep sleep. Learning to use before and after helps students show relationships between events, making their writing more cohesive and easier for the reader to follow. It has been wonderful to see students confidently applying this new sentence structure in their independent writing and using their knowledge of familiar fairy tales to support their learning.
Maths
In Maths, students have been exploring measurement through engaging, hands-on activities focusing on length and mass. They have compared objects, made predictions, and used mathematical language to describe their observations. Students practised measuring and comparing lengths, identifying which objects were longer or shorter. They also investigated mass by determining which objects were heavier or lighter using hefting and balance scales. It has been wonderful to see students confidently use measurement vocabulary and explain their mathematical thinking.
Discoveries
In Design and Technology and Performing Arts students have been developing their creativity and performance skills through puppet making and storytelling. As part of their learning, students created paper bag and cup puppets to retell Little Red Riding Hood and designed sock puppets for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students explored how puppets can be used to bring stories to life, practising how to move their puppets, use different character voices, and perform scenes for an audience. It has been wonderful to see students engage enthusiastically in the creative process while building their confidence in speaking, collaboration, and dramatic play.
Middle School
It has been another busy and engaging fortnight in Middle School! Students have continued to build their knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum, with lots of opportunities to explore new ideas, develop their independence and challenge themselves in their learning.
Content Knowledge
We have continued our learning about the Middle Ages, with a particular focus on some of the important figures from this period, including William the Conqueror, Henry II, Thomas Becket and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Alongside building our historical knowledge, we have been developing our ability to decode multisyllabic words. Students have been learning how knowledge of morphology, including prefixes, suffixes and base words, can help us break unfamiliar words into meaningful parts and decode them more accurately.
Text Construction
In Text Construction, we have continued to investigate the narrative genre. We have taken a closer look at how authors use description in the orientation to create a clear picture of the setting for the reader. Students have been using the five senses to add detail and help their readers visualise where and when a story takes place. We have also explored dialogue, considering its purpose within a narrative and learning how to use correct grammar and punctuation when including dialogue to help develop characters and move the plot forward.
Numeracy
Our Numeracy focus has been time. Students have reviewed reading times such as quarter past and quarter to, explored the connection between digital and analogue clocks, and developed their skills in telling the time to the minute on an analogue clock. We have also been applying our understanding of time to calculate elapsed time between events, providing plenty of opportunities to solve practical and real-world problems.
Discoveries
There has been plenty happening across our Discoveries subjects! In Performing Arts, students have been learning about dance from the Middle Ages and exploring how movement and performance have changed over time. During House Sports, students have been learning about the Commonwealth Games and have begun a research project on a chosen sport featured at the Games. In Design Technologies, students have been trialling their carefully designed Rube Goldberg machines. While getting the machines to work has certainly been challenging, students have shown persistence and have been highly engaged in testing, problem-solving and making improvements. In Indigenous Studies, students have been learning about Indigenous seasonal calendars and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples use observations of nature, plants, animals and the environment to identify changes in seasons.
Friendly Reminders
As we move into Week 6, students will be relocating to different classrooms for the remainder of the term while the Middle School building works begin. Our temporary classroom locations will be:
· MSA: Mudbrick Building
· MSB: Science Room
· MSC: Art Room
· MSD: Performing Arts
We appreciate everyone's flexibility and understanding as we navigate these changes and look forward to making the most of our temporary learning spaces!
Kryal Castle Excursion
A Sentral notice was sent this week regarding our upcoming Kryal Castle excursion on Thursday 10 September. Please remember to provide permission and
make payment as soon as possible. We are very excited about the opportunity to bring our learning about the Middle Ages to life with this exciting experience!
Thank you for your continued support of Middle School learning. It has been wonderful to see students embracing new challenges, asking questions and developing their skills across the past two weeks. We hope everyone has a happy and relaxing weekend, and we look forward to another fantastic fortnight of learning in Week 6!
Senior School
Content Knowledge and Text Construction:
In Content Knowledge and Text Construction, students have finished their unit on the Renaissance. This week, they researched a famous figure from the Renaissance and used their research to write an information report. Students then published their reports in a presentation, showcasing their learning and developing their skills in researching, organising and presenting information.
Mathematics:
In Mathematics, students have been learning to add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals. They have been developing their understanding of place value and applying their skills to solve a range of problems. We are now beginning to explore converting between different units of measurement.
Kitchen Garden
A fun time was had making pizzas last week. We made our own dough, and the toppings included our garden herbs and some passata from our end-of-the-season tomatoes. We are busily preparing our beds for planting, pruning our fruit trees and creating some tiny new garden spaces... let's hope the rabbits allow that.