Primary School
Long weekends are a much-needed chance for students to rest and recharge, providing a break from the demanding school routine. After a week filled with fun, learning opportunities and extracurricular activities, stepping away from schoolwork helps clear the mind and restore energy. These breaks allow students to return to school feeling refreshed and ready to focus. Whether it is enjoying a quiet day at home or participating in fun activities together, these moments of relaxation are vital for mental wellbeing. By taking the time to disconnect from school pressures, students can regain their motivation and energy, ensuring they are better prepared to tackle upcoming challenges. Long weekends offer the perfect opportunity to reset, helping students stay balanced and motivated throughout the school year.
Dunk for a Cause
On Saturday 8 May, Mrs Hayley Ranger will be doing a shift at the Dunk Tank to raise funds for the Albany Community Hospice. Please feel free to come down to the Albany Marina at 1.00pm for an opportunity to throw some balls and join in the fun. All for a good cause!
Walk to School Day
We have our first Walk to School Day for 2025 on Thursday 20 March (Week Seven). For those who are new to the School, students from Pre-Primary to Year Six are invited to meet at the Coraki Cottages carpark, near the bridge, and enjoy a relaxing walk to school.
A bus will take the students’ backpacks to school and can also take parents back to their cars at the conclusion of the walk.
When: 8.00am, Thursday 20 March arriving at school by 8.30am
Where: Coraki Cottages carpark, near the bridge.
Why: A school community event to chat and enjoy the beautiful land we live on! What a way to start the day.
Classroom News
We hope you enjoy reading the news from our Primary classes.
Kindergarten: In Kindergarten, we have been having lots of fun in our literacy programme. We have really enjoyed learning about syllables and clapping out the different parts of words. We have been painting pre-writing patterns, including tall lines, short lines, sideways lines, and up-and-overs. Jumping words is a new game and is a bit tricky, but we enjoy trying to master new skills.
Pre-Primary: On Tuesday, students celebrated Shrove Tuesday by making and eating pancakes! We read the story Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle, designed a perfect pancake and decorated amazing pancake creations in our small-world play. We also learned the pancake poem:
Mix a pancake,
Stir a pancake,
Pop it in a pan!
Fry a pancake,
Flip a pancake,
Catch it if you can!
Year One: The Year One students have been looking at different family structures through their inquiry and have drawn their own ‘family selfies’. In Science, the features of a variety of native Australian animals have been explored and the class had fun playing ‘Who am I?’ with given features to identify the hidden animal. Continuing skip counting in 2s and 10s (up to 3-digit numbers for some of us) whilst skipping, jumping and balancing has been fun!
Year Two: This week the Year Two class has been reading the text Where’s Stripey, by Wendy Binks. We have been looking at recount writing and decided to use this story as the basis for our Talk for Writing text. As a class, we wrote a recount from the perspective of Crikey, the father emu, when he lost one of his 30 chicks. This involved detailing all the places he visited before he finally found his chick. The students have been getting better at writing their own personal recounts too, especially after the long weekend! We have been adding an introduction as well as using time connectives such as first, next, after that. A big focus has been on adding adjectives to describe their events and using paragraphs for each new idea. The class is becoming fantastic writers!
Year Four: The Year Four class has been reading a historical novel about the journey of Captain Cook on the Endeavour called The Goat Who Sailed the World, by Jackie French. They have been developing their comprehension and critical thinking skills by discussing and writing about the characters and setting and redesigning the cover of the novel. We have some very creative and talented graphic artists in this class!
During Talk for Writing lessons, they have been learning about suspense narratives and have created some very interesting actions to help retell the story of Zelda Claw from the story map. It will be interesting to see if their stories are as suspenseful as they look when they are doing the actions!
Year Five: We are delighted to welcome Krista Hunter to Year Five as an Educational Assistant in training. Her support has already been invaluable as we dive into our learning!
In English, we have been expanding our vocabulary through our class text, The Indian in the Cupboard, exploring rich words like bewildered, marvelled and foreboding. Our Narrative Writing unit saw students incorporating techniques such as fronted adverbials, emotive language and onomatopoeia to bring their narratives to life. Now, we have embarked on Persuasive Writing, kicking off with the thought-provoking topic: Should all schools have a nature garden? Unsurprisingly, the majority of Year Five passionately argued in favour!
Year Six: This week in Design Technologies, Year Six students embarked on a fascinating journey into the world of architecture. They researched the features of Gothic, Baroque and Victorian styles, gaining inspiration for beginning to design their very own facades for the house from Garth Nix’s Mister Monday. With creativity and historical knowledge, students combined dramatic arches and spires to craft imaginative designs that reflect the mysterious and fantastical elements of the story.
Primary Briefing
The following students have received a Value Award in the Primary School.
Year Three: Payton Palmer
Year Four: Mackenzie Maynard
Year Five: Brodie Pyle and Noah Mc Phee
Year Six: Emily Leov and Finn Michael
ECC Briefing
The following superstars have worked beautifully and received a Star Award for their efforts.
Kindergarten H: Tilly Moir
Kindergarten M: Alphonse Wong
Pre-Primary: Oscar Weatherill
Year One: Elleanor-Grace Danso
Year Two: Amaia Scott
Upcoming events
Week Six
Monday 10 March, International Women’s Day Assembly, (Year Three to Twelve)
Monday 10 March, Year Six Try a Sport Day
Wednesday 12 March to Friday 14 March, NAPLAN (Years Three and Five)
Friday 14 March, House Sport Activities (House shirts please)
Week Seven
Monday 17 March to Friday 21 March, Harmony Week
Monday 17 March to Friday 21 March, NAPLAN (Years Three and Five)
Friday 21 March, Primary School Year Four Assembly, 9.00am in the Hall, parents welcome to attend
Friday 21 March, Harmony Day House Activities (House shirts please)
Have a lovely weekend!
Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary and
Mrs Hayley Ranger | Head of Early Childhood