What's happening?
Foundation
Welcome back! Foundation students have enjoyed sharing about their holidays with their teachers and peers. It is lovely to have them back refreshed and ready for a big Term 3! Our Term 3 newsletter went home on Tuesday with information regarding upcoming events and what Maths Group your child is in for their Place Value topic. Please also take note of the new ‘Show and Tell’ roster as we are now moving to a fortnightly timetable.
Each Wednesday after lunch (even weeks) we will be seeing our ‘Buddies’. In the alternate weeks we have started our ‘Foundation Developmental Play Rotations’. Each Foundation classroom will have a different play focus and students can freely choose which activities they would like to explore. Currently, the five rooms are: Construction, Mindfulness, Dress Ups/shop play and Fine Motor. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to engage in activities that they are interested in, as well interact with students from different classes.
On Wednesday the 24th of July, we will celebrate our ‘100 days of School’. A detailed notice was sent home last term, please note we will be making fairy bread on this day, if your child has any allergies please provide an alternative snack for them to eat during this time. We also have begun our new Inquiry topic; ‘Community Helpers’. We are looking forward to the Fire Brigade visiting on Wednesday the 7th and Thursday the 15th of August. We are also very excited about our first excursion to Parkdale Library on the 21st of August, where we will join a storytime session. Please stay tuned for more information regarding this excursion.
Again, in Term 3, we would love assistance with Monday writing 9:15-10, as well as Corridor Reading 8:50-9:15. Sign-up sheets are located outside of each classroom.
Now the weather is wet and cold we encourage you to pack spare pants and socks, and a warm (named) navy jacket. It is also a good idea to keep a spare change of underwear, pants, and socks in your child's bag at all times as accidents can occur at school.
We know this will be a great term and cannot wait to see what the kids achieve!
Grade 1
Welcome back to Term three. The students have eased into the term smoothly despite the rainy conditions on Monday. This week we have been working hard to show our school value of Respect, where all classes have been challenged to practise simple acts of Respect in and out of the classroom in an effort to kick start the term in a positive way and create a happy, safe environment for us to learn in.
This week in Literacy, students are learning that the sound “ol” at the end of a word is written as “all”. We are also reviewing two of our Red Flag Words from last term; does and goes, along with our individual focus words.
To introduce our Inquiry topic the students will be looking at different Australian animals and using adjectives to describe them. As part of this unit, we will also be sending home a homework task for students to prepare a Show and Tell presentation about some of the places they have visited in Australia! Please check inside your child’s homework folder for information about the task, and to find their allocated Show and Tell day.
In Maths groups, we will be revisiting Place Value, and continuing to strengthen the student’s knowledge of numbers to 100 and beyond. Key focus’ for all groups will be positioning numbers on a 120 chart, quick recall of 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, 1 less facts and partitioning numbers into ‘(hundreds,) tens and ones’. (Eg. 46 is 40/4 tens and 6 ones).
Grade 2
Our Grade 2 students have made a terrific start to Term 3, looking refreshed and full of enthusiasm.
In Writing, students are learning about the structure and features of ‘Explanation’ texts. Students are also learning to apply their knowledge from our ‘Grammar Project’ lessons by identifying and using subject and object pronouns within a sentence. As part of our ‘Word Study’, we are focusing on the phoneme/grapheme correspondence for ‘igh’, representing a long vowel sound in a word, usually followed by ‘t’. Our reading focus for the next fortnight is on developing students' fluency by reading with a partner, as well as comprehension skills.
In Maths, we have begun our ‘Fractions’ topic. Students are investigating the fraction concepts of equal parts, fractions of whole objects and groups/collections, reading and writing fractions and what the symbols represent, and comparing fractions. As always, opportunities to explore and use fraction language in everyday situations at home will be a great way to consolidate and build on your child’s knowledge.
We have introduced our new Inquiry topic for this term, ‘Earth’s Precious Resources’, with some guiding questions including: What are some of the precious things we get from our planet Earth? Where does the water we use and the food we eat come from?
As part of our wellbeing program this term, we begin with a focus on how we can show respect at school, as well as re-establishing expectations for behaviour and learning inside and outside of the classroom.
Homework expectations for the term: Regular reading aloud, sound pack practise and ‘Red Flag Word’ spelling. Optional extras: ‘Nessy Reading and Spelling’ and ‘Sunset/Jetpack Maths’ (Essential Assessment).
Grade 3
Core Knowledge: Our inquiry unit this term is all about ‘Forces and Motion’. This week, students investigated forces as a push or a pull, forces in relation to motion, direction, and strength, balanced and unbalanced forces, and gravity.
Writing: We begin the term with a focus on the structure and features of procedural texts. This week, students made a ‘Pom-pom Launcher’ and then had a go at writing a procedure instructing someone on how to make one. This first piece will help guide the direction for their learning over the coming weeks.
In our grammar and syntax lessons, we are revising and building on students’ understanding of complex sentences, identifying dependent and independent clauses, and subordinating conjunctions. In our spelling lessons, we revised previously taught prefixes, suffixes and red flag words, and then focused on when to change the ‘y to i’ when adding a suffix to a base word ending in ‘y’.
Maths: We started our multiplication topic this week, revising multiplication as repeated addition, arrays, multiplication facts with 2s, 5s, 10s (and beyond) and strategies for problem-solving. As always, opportunities to explore these concepts in everyday situations at home, and practise times tables, will be a great way to consolidate and build on your child’s knowledge.
Wellbeing: As part of a whole school approach this week, we are revisiting our ‘Super Six’ values with a focus on respect – what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like in our day-to-day lives at school.
Homework: Will be assigned this Friday and we will remind students to ask a grown-up to check their homework with them and fix errors or make changes as needed, before submitting. Also, to continue regular home reading, record in diary, get it signed by a grown up, and bring it to school every Friday. Thanks for your ongoing support with this :)
Grade 4
Welcome back to Term 3! We hope everyone had a fantastic break and is ready for another exciting term.
Literacy
In Literacy, we've embarked on an exciting journey with our study of the book War Horse. The students have been actively responding to questions about the text and have discovered a plethora of interesting new vocabulary along the way. Additionally, we've been enhancing our writing skills by learning about and using appositives, which has added depth and clarity to our sentences.
Numeracy
In Numeracy, we have started our unit on division. The students have been introduced to key vocabulary such as divisor, dividend, and quotient, which are essential for understanding this topic. We encourage all students to keep practicing their times tables at home, as this will greatly support their progress in mastering division.
Inquiry
Our Inquiry topic this term is "May the Best Party Win," which focuses on the Australian government. Students have been learning about the different levels and responsibilities of government and have gained a deeper insight into how our country is run. A friendly reminder that our much-anticipated camp is scheduled for the final week of the term. If your child is unable to attend, please inform your classroom teacher as soon as possible.
Grade 5
Reading
We have begun reading our new mentor text for the term, ‘A Single Shard’ by Linda Sue Park. Students have been exploring the themes of Korean society in the 12th century. Homework tasks this term will link to this novel and what the students are learning during the reading sessions at school.
Maths
We begin the term with our new topic ‘Fractions’. Students have been allocated their new groups and have begun revising the important mathematical terminology for this topic. We will continue this topic over the next few weeks.
Writing
Students have been introduced to our next writing genre ‘Explanation Texts’. They completed a pre assessment on ‘How the Digestive System Works’, and individually conferenced with their classroom teacher to set a personal writing goal for this unit of work. In word study, we looked at the root word <struct> and homophones ‘to, too, and two’.
Inquiry
This week we also started our inquiry topic ‘Venture into Vitality’ which is learning all about the human body. This week we have investigated heartbeats and breathing, and the impacts of exercise. We hope that our students will be able to translate this newly learnt information as they watch the amazing athletes compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the coming weeks!
Wellbeing
A big focus across the entire school this term is ‘Respect’. We are revisiting this super 6 value with our cohort and looking out for those students who regularly and consistently demonstrate this value to themselves, their peers, and their teachers. We are also reminding students of the high expectations we have of them with their effort and behaviour, to complete another wonderful and final semester in Grade 5.
Reminder:
- Please ensure your child starts collecting sponsors for the Parkdale Primary School Mini Olympics on Friday 2nd August (end of week 3). Flyers went home with students at the end of Term 2, if you need a new one please speak to your classroom teacher.
- Please check Compass for the ‘Parkdale Secondary College High School Taster’ event which will take place later in the term. Please submit your consent for your child ASAP.
- Homework continues as normal this term - literacy, maths, and minimum 20 minutes of reading each night recorded in diaries.
Grade 6
We are very excited to welcome the Grade 6 students back for Semester 2!
Literacy
This week we have started our novel study of ‘The Magicians Nephew’, focusing on how a narrator connects with their audience and the links between reality and fantasy used in a text! This has been accompanied by some new vocabulary and background knowledge, assisting us in understanding some complexities of the story. In writing, we have begun brainstorming for our memory books, while discussing the expectations of the students for this project.
Mathematics
Students have been working hard already learning about Angles. Estimating and measuring angles using a protractor, as well as finding unknown and supplementary angles.
Memory Books
Please check Compass for information sent home about memory books. Students have been asked to bring in a project book that can be used as their memory book for our upcoming projects. If you have any questions please contact your child’s teacher for clarification.
Term 3 Dates
Please keep up to date with Compass and Focus, for any announcements regarding important Term 3 dates relating to Grade 6 students.