Primary School

Classroom News

We hope you enjoy reading what our classes have been up to this week.

Djinda 

We have been lucky enough to slide into our gumboots and head to the Wild Space or visit Nugget (GSG’s very friendly rooster) in the magnificent tended edible garden. The most exciting part, however, is spying big friends (Secondary School students) as we go on adventures and beaming with our whole bodies when they wave back! Just a reminder, if you see us out and about in our red hats, we love nothing more than a friendly wave or being greeted with a smile. In the Djinda room we have been role-playing in the kitchen: sharing the load of making dinner, feeding the baby, doing the dishes and cleaning up after a day of play. During mat time we have been reading new stories, discussing feelings, playing shape bingo and exploring with magnets; our little minds have been incredibly busy.

Kindergarten

The classes have been busily learning more letter sounds. This week we focused on the letter ‘c’ and made colourful caterpillars. We are getting clever at recognising a range of letter sounds now and are beginning to blend and segment words. We have also been busily preparing amazing art pieces for the upcoming school exhibition. We have incorporated this into our Wild Space adventures and the students are really enjoying bringing nature and art together to create masterpieces. 

Pre-Primary

In Pre-Primary A we have been exploring the living things that we can find in our school environment. First, we theorised that there are animals and plants that can be found in our playground. Next, we ventured into the outdoors to observe the playground environment; we recorded our observations using diagrams, labels and lists − just like scientists do. From this we have developed some new theories about living things, including what they need to survive. At the Wild Space we noticed that the crabs we found are moving slowly. We also noticed that seagulls come to our playground at different times. This led us to wonder if the weather and temperature affect the way animals and plants behave. We are very excited to continue our research and formulate and test our theories.

Year One

The brand-new Year One inquiry delved into ‘How and why toys and games have changed over time’. First, the children brainstormed ‘What is a toy?’ and, once they had learnt that the Science unit will investigate push and pull forces, the class discussion developed into a rich range of questions that will form the basis of the inquiry. Questions ranged from: ‘Who was the first person to make toys and teddies’ to ‘Why do toys today have so much detail?’ and ‘How do wind-up toys work?’ Parents and grandparents have been questioned about the toys they had and much work has evolved around the similarities and differences of toys from the past (their parent and grandparents’ toys) and toys from the present (their own toys).

Year Two

In Science, we had a wonderful time investigating the planets in our solar system. We enjoyed getting outside with sports balls to represent the planets and demonstrate how they orbit the Sun.

In Health, we have begun learning about two topics. Firstly, with Mrs Street, we are learning about ways we can live a healthy lifestyle, including choosing foods that fuel our bodies, getting plenty of sleep, limiting screen time, exercising and relaxing.

With Ms Diletti, we are learning about what makes an incident an emergency. This involves ensuring we know the full names and phone numbers of our parents and learning when to use the 000 numbers.

Each class will cover these two topics over the course of the term. We have also enjoyed reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books about space as a whole class and have loved learning so many new things!

Year Three 

We have been busy exploring primary and secondary sources to help us create a timeline of the Great Southern Grammar community from 1996 to today. It has been an exciting journey learning about the school’s history and discovering how it has grown and changed over the years. We looked at photographs, documents and other sources to gather information about important events. 

In Health, we learned about the importance of rest and sleep for our bodies. We discovered how getting enough sleep helps us stay healthy, concentrate better in class, have more energy, and support our physical and mental wellbeing every day. 

In Technologies, we are learning about the enormous process that is undertaken to get products from the farm to shops and to our homes. Last week we learned about the journey of a wheat seed to a loaf of bread and even got to taste some fresh bread. This week we learned about the amount of technology required to farm eggs. We even pretended to be engineers and began to design a piece of technology to improve egg farming. Some chickens got slides, while others got a more comfortable area to lay eggs. We are excited to hear about wool production on Kade’s farm next week. Ms Field and Mrs Wegner have promised that Health, Science and Technologies will cross over soon with some cooking.

Year Four

After experimenting with making our own crystals out of salt, stevia, borax, Epsom salts and raw caster sugar, we found that not all crystals form at the same rate. In the case of raw sugar, some crystals do not form at all. We wanted to learn about how the different minerals in rocks form into smaller and larger crystals. After we had something resembling rocks, we then wanted to see if we could perform some weathering of our own. Our own crystals were too pretty, so we used rock candy and a Tupperware container to see if we could make some rounded pebbles of sugar. The brave Mr Hardey tested to see if the sugar was responsive to chemical weathering in his mouth and we were able to see that mechanical weathering produces smooth pebbles, sand and silt.

Year Five

What do Caleb’s red velvet birthday cupcakes and puffer fish have in common? Is it flavour?… thankfully no. It is, in fact, the use of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. You see, we used these two reactive chemicals this week to prove the existence of gas. In our pufferfish, we combined our chemicals together and watched the reaction inflate the fish before our very eyes. In the cake, the very same reaction is responsible for the light and aerated texture in the sponge. In our inquiry learning sessions, we have begun to trawl through the archives as we look for significant moments in the lives of our chosen bush rangers. The digitisation of primary sources such as old newspapers and marriage, birth and death certificates has really allowed us to build a skeleton timeline of our chosen Aussie bad boy/girl.

Year Six

We have started to wrap up our whole-class investigation on mould. We are beginning to see some wonderful growth on the bread, and the different environments they are growing in are certainly having an effect. We have finalised the findings and analysed the results, which we will share with you next week. 

In Mathematics, we have started exploring angles on a straight line and how to calculate these. The students enjoyed the hands-on activities and have just begun applying these to their learning.

Enrichment

ICAS testing is underway for those students doing great things in English, Writing, Technologies, Science and Maths. Congratulations to those who earned a spot for this testing and we look forward to seeing how well you do. Under Miss Lanaux-Neale’s guidance, our Tournament of Minds team is prepping their long-term project, ready to present in Week Six and practising hard for the spontaneous challenge. We cannot wait to see the final presentation. Wednesdays during lunchtime are all about Spelling for the Interhouse spelling league. Thanks to Mr Hardey for championing this each year. We are two rounds away from the big final; may the best House win. 

Goodluck to our boys’ AFL team competing on Tuesday, and our hockey team is busy preparing for the upcoming tournament in Perth. Thanks, Mr Berryman, for championing these extension opportunities in Physical Education. 

ECC Briefing

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

Kindergarten A: Noah Marsh

Kindergarten B: Nikita Saharov 

Pre-Primary A: Aleeza Asad

Pre-Primary B: Addison Jordan

Year One: Ermen Carter

Year Two A: Elleanor-Grace Danso

Year Two B: Soraya Leslie

Students have been focusing on the value of Compassion this last week. Well done to the following students who stood out within their classrooms:

Kindergarten A: Anika Donaldson

Kindergarten B: Gabriel Chen

Pre-Primary A: Harper Thorn 

Pre-Primary B: Elyana-Margo Danso

Year One: Hugh Johnstone

Year Two A: Ralph Bennett

Year Two B: Harry Bolitho

Primary School Briefing

Students have been focusing on the value of Compassion this past week. Well done to the following students who stood out within their classrooms:

Year Three: Ava Smart

Year Four: Rose Sawicki and Dane Pyle

Year Five: Evie Ford and Ruby Taylor

Year Six: Bonnie Jenkins and Evie MacNeil

Brag Award – Tidy Lunch Areas

Congratulations to Year Six for a tidy lunch area all week.

Congratulations to Faolan Williams, Chloe Vesey and Ava Palmer for making the 120 Club for August!

We also awarded many students with new PBs for August. We are so proud of you all; multiplicative thinking is a tricky but vital skill. 

Reminders

Tomorrow the Primary School Chapel hosted by Year Four and special guest Year Two dancers, is in the Hall, starting at 9.00am and finishing at approximately 9.35am; all are welcome.

A reminder that Ooshies, sensory toys and other fun objects that are not prescribed for learning are to stay at home, please. 

Have a wonderful weekend.  

Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary and

Mrs Hayley Ranger | Head of Early Childhood