Primary School

As we draw Term Two to a close, we reflect on a season filled with joy, connection and achievement. It has been a wonderful term with many moments worth celebrating. 

Our students embraced a wide range of experiences with enthusiasm, from the excitement and independence of school camps to the heartwarming connections made on Grandparents’ Day. 

The Interhouse Athletics Carnival and Cross Country event showcased impressive displays of sportsmanship and determination. At the same time, Mother’s Day morning provided a special opportunity to honour and celebrate the women in our lives. House activities, Mokare Day and Wilson Day, provided further opportunities for students to deepen friendships and strengthen their sense of belonging. 

Excursions across year levels enriched learning beyond the classroom, and Walk to School Day reminded us of the importance of healthy habits and environmental awareness. We also recognised the vital role of our residential students during National Boarding Week, celebrating the unique contributions they bring to our school community.

Each event has highlighted the vibrant spirit and shared values that make our school such a special place to grow and learn. Thank you to all students, staff and families who have contributed to making Term Two such a meaningful and memorable one.

My favourite moment in Term Two…

I have loved building a fairy garden in our classroom and making our large flowers in Art.

- Julian Dowell, Pre-Primary

I have loved making caravans as part of our inquiry.

- Saakhi Mann, Year Three

It would have to be when we made ice cream in Science with Mr Davison.

- Grace Burrows, Year Five

I loved designing and building our boats as part of Grandparents' Day.

- Samuel Forgus, Year Six

Classroom News

We hope you enjoy reading the news from our Early Childhood and Primary classes. 

Kindergarten

The Kindergarten classes have had a wonderful term learning all about farming and produce. The children particularly enjoyed focusing on The Little Red Hen story. They all learnt to do a fabulous retelling using Talk for Writing. This term also provided great learning opportunities, such as making butter and using buttermilk to create delicious pancakes. Grinding wheat into flour and making damper on our fire pit was certainly a highlight. The students also enjoyed planting and growing herbs in our garden. It had been a wonderful term of discovery! 

Pre-Primary

Pre-Primary took their Science inquiry to the Wild Space last week to test the waterproof properties of materials. We used water from the Harbour in buckets and then added samples of various materials, including paper, wood, plastic, fabric and cotton wool. Using our observation skills, we sorted the materials into those suitable for wet weather and those better suited to sunny days. Our most interesting observation was the impact of water on cotton wool; it almost disappeared!

Year One

The Year One students evaluated their playgrounds and have enjoyed showing them off to any interested visitors or students. The children looked fantastic on Friday’s ‘Wear Your Colours’ day and were happy to share their writing, ‘My colours are… because…,’ with Mrs Emma Franklin and the Year Eleven students who visited us.

Although the end of term draws near, this has not stopped the pace of learning as the class has begun exploring procedures through their re-readings of The Gruffalo story. Squeals of laughter and excitement filled the room when the ‘Gruffalo Crumble’ (our Talk for Writing hook) magically transformed from a scary and disgusting mixture into a Gruffalo head – complete with 24 edible purple prickles (aka Cadbury Twirls!). This made writing our procedures so much more memorable!

Year Two

The Year Two class has been busy learning about contractions this week and writing about our school holiday plans. In Health, we have been focusing on diversity and how we are respectful of each other's differences. We have also revisited the Zones of Regulation, particularly exploring ways to help ourselves manage when we are in the red, blue, or yellow zone. In maths, we have been measuring length and mass and have enjoyed many hands-on tasks to finish off the term.

Year Four

On Friday, we completed our work on Design Technologies by participating in an “Ultimate Smoothie Off.” Students researched an ultimate smoothie recipe to showcase their learning of food and fibres this term. Mrs Hayley Ranger and Mr Jordan Owenell were enlisted to judge our winners. Before this, students researched where their ingredients were grown in Australia and annotated this information on a map, as well as the technology required to get them from paddock to plate. Dragon fruit, berries, mangoes, bananas and ice cream were popular ingredient choices with Mr Jordan Owenell bestowing the 'Boys’ Smoothie’ (Xavier, Beau and Mason) his winner and Mrs Hayley Ranger awarding her crown to 'The Ultimate Smoothie Delight' (Haydee, Rose, Katrien and Mackenzie) — a big thank you to Ms Julie Dwyer-Adams, who supported us throughout the cooking process. The fibres part of our unit of work was wrapped up with the help of Ms Angela Diletti, who helped turn our foraged leaves from the school grounds into recycled paper! We mapped the journey of commercially grown paper vs our home-made paper with a lot of help in Art. 

Year Five

Year Five has been busy as the term comes to a close. We have constructed cotton ball launchers in STEM, focusing on the concept of stored energy to create our cardboard cannons. We then measured their effectiveness on our makeshift shooting range. The winner, with an impressive launch of nearly three meters, was Amity.  In other news, we have been making three-dimensional shapes from matchsticks and plasticine. The ultimate challenge was to create an Eiffel Tower-style model in under 20 minutes. All the students faced the frustrations of their models failing at one point or another, but the resilience on show was remarkable to see. 

Finally, both classes have been engaged in a mini-inquiry of sorts in maths. With the holidays approaching, students have been designing their epic vacations. These require children to use maps with scales, research travel routes with planned stops and calculate the cost of a whole trip, including food, fuel and accommodation. Children are given varying budgets, which has emphasised maths involving larger place values. Perhaps a future travel agent or two is among us. 

Class 5F has been performing their persuasive texts as speeches. They have all shown incredible courage and support by making comments about the things they liked, learned and thought each other could do to improve next time they get the opportunity. I was impressed with the way the class gave and received their feedback. 

ECC Briefing 

The following superstars have worked exceptionally well and received a Star Award for their outstanding efforts. 

Kindergarten H: Madison Edwards

Kindergarten M: Luka Moon

Pre-Primary: Julian Dowell

Year One: Georgia Gent

Year Two: Alex Schaefer

The following students have stood out for their ability to show Integrity.

Kindergarten H: Kudrat Kaur

Kindergarten M: Alby Sedunary

Pre-Primary: Alfie Owenell

Year One: Joey Sapstead

Year Two: Lucie McCutcheon

Our Years Three to Six briefing was super special last week, held in the Hall so we could see our Rock Band shine with an encore performance of Jimmy Eat World’s 'The Middle.' Dancing should become a regular way to start our day! 

Thank you, Ms Kaila Thomas, for all your work with the Rock Band. Thank you, Ms Emma Luxton and Mr Joel Fowler, for the support on the day. Many were inspired to pursue and audition when they get to Year Five. 

We ended the day with our capable Year Six students running pastoral care rotations for us. We are blessed with their leadership and the students enjoyed coming together in their House groups to end the week. 

The following students have stood out for their ability to show Respect.

Year Three: Harry Vesey

Year Four: Stephanie Forgus

Year Five: Lillian Taylor and Brodie Pyle

Year Six: Oliver Schaefer and Esther Jamieson 

Upcoming events

Week Ten

• Friday 4 July, Year Three Assembly, Hall, 9.00 am, all welcome to attend
• Friday 4 July, ECC Pre-Primary to Year Two Disco (House shirts)

Term Three

Week One

• Monday 21 July, Pupil Free Day, Parent Teacher Interviews
• Tuesday 22 July, Term Three commences 
• Tuesday 22 July, Years Two to Twelve NAIDOC Assembly, Gym 
• Friday 25 July, NAIDOC House Activities (House shirts)

Week Two

• Wednesday 30 July, Kindy Storytime presented by Albany Public Library, Kindergarten, 11.30am to 12.00pm
• Wednesday 30 July, Camfield Day - Socks and Sneakers
• Wednesday 30 July to Thursday 31 July, Years Four to Six, SWPS Interschool Cross Country Event, Bunbury Cathedral Grammar, Depart 9.30 am | Return 7.00 pm
• Thursday 31 July, Term Three Tour Morning, 9.00am to 11.00am

Have a wonderful holiday!

Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary and

Mrs Hayley Ranger | Head of Early Childhood