Specialists Updates and Celebrations

Music (Prep)

In the first two lessons in the prep Music Program, we introduced the students to the specialist subject. This “learning to learn” phase covered the music room expectations and routines with the aim of setting students for a successful year.

We have now moved into our first subject specific unit of work, “Beat and Rhythm”. Students have begun to learn about the concept of beat, how to keep a steady beat and how to find the beat in music. Out prep students have learnt songs that they can sing while keeping a steady beat with rhythm sticks, moved with a steady beat to music, played class games with a steady beat focus and learnt basic rhythm patterns on the djembes.

Visual Art (Years 1 and 2)

The Year 1 and 2 students have had a fantastic start to 2026! This week, we began exploring the 7 Elements of Art with a general introduction to each element. Students practised naming all seven elements, activating and building on their prior knowledge.

Our first artworks of the year were self-portraits—artworks created by an artist to represent themselves. At the end of the session, students reflected on which Elements of Art they had used in their beautiful pieces. I absolutely love how their artworks turned out, and the Year 1 and 2 students truly showcased their creativity!

Mandarin (Years 3 and 4)

Across all year levels, students have begun learning about Lunar New Year, with a focus on Chinese New Year in Mandarin lessons. They explored how Lunar New Year is celebrated across different cultures and learned that Chinese New Year is one type of Lunar New Year. Through stories, discussions, and activities, students discovered how Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese communities worldwide and how traditions bring families and communities together.

Year 3–4 students explored Chinese New Year in greater depth through stories, traditions, and symbols. They learned about common symbols such as lanterns, lions, dragons, fireworks, and lucky decorations, and discussed what each represents. Students also made connections between the legend of Nian and modern-day celebrations, helping them understand how stories shape cultural practices and values such as family, good fortune, protection, and new beginnings.

PE (Years 5 and 6)

This week in Year 5 and Year 6, we were learning about netball. The main focus was on pivoting when receiving the ball and using the three-second rule. We started with a fast-paced warm-up whereby children had to run in between two passers and receive the ball before pivoting and passing to the opposite partner. Each child had one minute to see how many passes they could make before changing roles. After, we looked at the three different zones on the netball pitch and played a simplified version of netball. We placed players inside the three zones as defenders, midfielders and attackers, similar to a normal netball game. All the students showed fantastic understanding and knowledge of the simplified rules and enjoyed themselves in PE this week.

Library

This week we began our regular library timetable. Students have been visiting the library with their classes to read and borrow books. On Monday the Year 2 classes had their library session and they borrowed a total of 123 books to take home.