School News 

Prep

It has been a wonderful two weeks in Prep. We are coming to the end of Phase 1 in our spelling program, meaning we have now learnt the first 6 letters in our phonics sequence. These letters are C, A, T, N, I and P. Next week, we will commence revision of these letters and sounds and will prepare to move into Phase 2 before the end of term. 

We had a lovely afternoon with our buddies on Monday 4th March. We went on a Scavenger hunt to find important landmarks around our school. It was so lovely to see the bond that has developed between our Prep students and their Grade 5 Buddy. They utilised their teamwork and communication skills to quickly complete the hunt. The students were then set a challenge to find landmarks that we had left off the scavenger hunt sheet. A big congratulations to Harper Scott and her buddy Macey Hailes for finding the most amount of extra landmarks with a total of 18. 

We were extremely proud of our Prep students at the Athletics carnival on Wednesday 6th March. It was very clear that all the hard work Mrs. Layton has been doing with our students in PE had paid off. The students modelled excellent behaviour and team work. A highlight was watching the Preps work in teams to complete tunnel ball and the shuttle relay. Everyone was encouraging each other and showing positive sportsmanship, even when their team may not have won. We are so proud of all of our Prep superstars. 

We would like to celebrate our Shining Stars from the past fortnight. These students have shown a commitment to our school values and have worked hard to bring a positive attitude to school each day. Our Shining Stars for week 4 were: Zoe from PAH, Sadie from PKA and Liam from PBM. The Shining Stars for week 5 were: Mason from PAH, Harper from PKH and Elizabeth from PBM. Well done to these students. 

We hope everyone enjoys a well-earnt rest over the long weekend. 

Until next time, 

The Prep Team

Allie Harrison, Kayla Hartrick, Elyce Munnecke and Laina Brebner

Grade 1 & 2

We are over half way through our first term together and what a busy couple of weeks it has been!

In Reading,  the Level 1/2 students have been improving their 'word solving' skills. They have been focusing on blending sounds, chunking sounds and increasing their knowledge of digraphs and trigraphs. 

In Writing, we have been learning about personal recounts and how we can give them sizzling starts. We have thought more about the structure of a recount and how we use time connectives to make them easier to understand. 

In Maths, the students have been improving their ability to give and follow directions. They have enjoyed creating imaginative maps and keys to assist them. They loved using directional words to help them find their way through an obstacle course!

We have had many other school events to celebrate such as School Photo Day, Clean Up Australia Day, a Buddies catch up and of course the Athletics Carnival! The students have represented our school well and it has been awesome to watch them participate so enthusiastically in community events. 

The Level 1/2 students have also been busy completing Learning Tasks in Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry.  The Learning Portfolios will be sent home on Friday. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to share their love of learning with their families.

The Level 1/2 Team

Llinos Poole, Sally Newton, Tim Huntington, Emma Wright and Veronica Paps

Grade 3 & 4

Hi Level 3&4 Families,

We have had a busy couple of weeks in Grade 3/4 with a highlight being the Athletics Day on Wednesday the 6th of March. The 3/4 students were fantastic at giving every activity their best go to earn points for their respective houses! It was wonderful to see our students supporting and cheering each other on throughout the day.

In Reading, we have unpacked persuasive texts, looking at how authors use a variety of techniques and devices to target the reader. This has included looking at speeches from a range of sources including Molly Steer’s ‘Why Straws Suck’ and ‘A Pep Talk From Kid President to You’.

In Writing, we have begun writing a persuasive piece about why all families should or should not have a pet. We have explored using a sizzling start, the TEEL structure and ending with an impact to convince our audience of our opinion. Students have enjoyed being able to identify their own belief on this topic and identifying reasons to support their opinion, as well as being able to research evidence to include in their writing.

In Maths, we have explored different strategies to solve addition questions including using doubles, number lines, the split strategy and partitioning. Students have created their own addition sums and shown their thinking in different ways.

Through our Inquiry unit, we have been looking at European settlement. Students have investigated reasons why people came to Australia. We have focused on the lives of a convict, including their occupation, age and punishment and students discussed if this was fair.

Thankyou to all the families who have sent in resources for Science to build a bug catcher. If you haven’t already, please bring in some recyclable objects for your child’s classroom to use next week.

Next week, our Year 3 students will begin NAPLAN. To help your child prepare for this, please encourage your child to give each one their best go, to have breakfast in the morning before school, to stay hydrated and get a good nights rest.

The Level 3/4 Team

Hayley Peirce, Damien Smith, Sarah Jones, Renée Barnden & Brent Smith

Grade 5 & 6

What a fantastic few weeks of learning we have done. A huge thanks to Mrs. Layton for organising the Summer Round Robin Day. All students had a fantastic day in their chosen sports. They all participated enthusiastically and it was wonderful to see such great respect for each other and the other schools.

We have continued to complete our Learning Tasks; some fantastic stories have emerged from our up and coming authors.

In Maths, we have completed the learning task on place value and the 4 processes. These concepts are foundational to been successful mathematicians. Well done to all the students on their commitment to their learning and efforts in the Learning Task.

It’s been an exciting week in Reading as we focus on comprehension and developing our understanding of texts. It was great to see these skills applied to their Learning Task, identifying key features of articles relating the drink ‘Prime’.

Thanks again to Mrs. Layton for the whole school Athletics Day. All the kids had a ball competing in all things track and field.

On Monday we ‘Cleaned up Australia’, (well the reserve down the road). It was great to see the passion of the students to seek out and pick up as much rubbish as possible. We had a Webinar from the PEO (Parliamentary Education Office), live from Canberra and Parliament House. We learned more about our system of government from a representative who works in the building. So much useful information about politics and the government.

Enjoy the up-and-coming Labour Day long weekend. Rest and have a fantastic day celebrating the 8 x 3 day….8 hours of work, 8 hours of play and 8 hours of sleep.

Keep an eye on Compass, there are lots of things happening in the coming weeks, a very exciting and busy end of Term.

The Level 5/6 Team

Sam Younes, Mykaela Oakley, Megan Pepprell, Brendan Van Haaster, Alarna Creed and Ashleigh Wilson