What's happening in our learning spaces? 

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

FOUNDATION NEWS

It has been another busy week in Foundation and we are excited to share all of our wonderful learning with you!

This week, as people of faith,  we began to tune in to the Sacrament of Eucharist, and our whole school Scripture, ‘The Road to Emmaus’. We had time and opportunity to engage in the thinking routine, Zoom In, where we looked closely at a small part of an image, and shared our observations, thoughts, ideas, perspectives and wonderings, until the final image was revealed. As thinkers, we looked at two different artworks that represented a scene from The Road to Emmaus, and noticed that one of the men was Jesus and that they were all going somewhere. Some of us wondered if this was before or after Jesus died and was resurrected. We then began learning about some of the symbols connected to Eucharist, such as the bread, wine, chalice, and ciborium. As researchers, we will continue exploring this special Sacrament and revisit our scripture to make connections. Check out some of our learning below!

As inquirers, we viewed a provocation with various photos, books, and artefacts connected to different cultures and parts of history, and we shared some of our first thoughts and our wonderings. We began to unpack what the word ‘Culture’ means and practised being communicators, so that we can interview our families. As researchers, we will begin finding out about our own family’s stories, where they came from and some of the significant traditions, artefacts, games, celebrations and foods from their culture. We will share this with each other, and begin sorting out our new discoveries. We will also be exploring specific cultures we are curious about, in small groups. 

We ended the week with an exciting morning, as staff, students and families participated in National Walk Safely to School Day. Some of us began at Shore Reserve, while others joined in along Reynard St, as we walked together to school. We entered into Hawthorn Yard and were welcomed with a delicious breakfast of cereal and fresh fruit. We sat with our families, friends and teachers to eat. It was a wonderful morning promoting health, exercise and road safety. An extra big thank you to the Joson family for providing all of the yummy fruit, and to TheirCare for donating all of the cereal and milk! 

This week, we will be learning about…

• Numeracy: Part-Part-Whole—continuing to partition small collections of numbers in multiple ways and represent this with illustrations, concrete materials, and number sentences, e.g., 8 can be 4 and 4, 6 and 2, 5 and 3, or 7 and 1.  
• Reading: Revision of sounds, stretching out words, using learnt sounds to build, read and spell words (Letters and Sounds-m,s,t,a,p,i,f,r,)
• Writing: Writing about our experiences and responding to different texts- recording different sounds we can hear in words, and using spaces and full stops in our writing 
• Inquiry: Finding out about the different cultures in our community and where our families come from 
• Religion: Exploring the significance of the Sacrament of Eucharist 
• The Resilience Project: Emotional Literacy and Mindfulness 

We can’t wait for the week ahead and look forward to Hot Food Day! Have a wonderful week. 

Foundation Team, 

Alycia Marsico, Leanne Wenckowski and Olivia Sargent 

YEAR 1/2 NEWS

We've had another fantastic week of learning in Year 1/2! We have been building on our spelling skills, deepening our understanding of reading and writing information texts, and exploring the concept of length through hands-on measurement activities. A highlight of the week was participating in National Walk Safely to School Day, where we enjoyed a refreshing walk and a healthy breakfast together.

As writers, we have been practising our reading and research skills by creating our information reports. After listening to a non-fiction text, we collected key facts and organised them using a graphic organiser. This helped us to clearly structure our ideas before beginning our writing. Using the knowledge we have gained during reading sessions, we focused on applying the correct structure and language features of information reports. 

This week we were introduced to a new spelling activity, the spelling grid. This grid helped us recognise how many sounds are in our spelling words, and supported us to segment the different sounds into boxes. We were able to use and apply our prior knowledge of ‘sound circles’ to better understand how to complete this task. We love our new spelling activity! 

As mathematicians, we have been investigating the concept of length. Through hands-on activities, we have explored how to measure items using informal units such as unifix blocks, square counters, and popsicle sticks. We have been learning to choose appropriate tools depending on the size and shape of the object we are measuring. A big focus has been on comparing and ordering the lengths of different items, helping us to develop our understanding of measurement in meaningful ways. Throughout these activities, we have also been encouraged to explain our thinking and strategies with our peers, supporting the development of mathematical language and reasoning.

On Friday, we participated in  National Walk to School Day! This was an exciting and fun initiative that raised awareness around the importance of being active. When we arrived at school, we had a delicious bowl of cereal and some fresh fruit. This was a memorable experience! 

We appreciate your support as you have recommenced the home learning routine. We are very impressed with the effort that has already been put into reading, spelling and mathematics. 

Vania Sparano, Nadia Ascenzo, Chloe Wang & Olivia Bovolato 

1/2 Team

YEAR 3/4 NEWS

As readers and writers, our smart spelling focus this week is the digraph /wr/ making the sound “r” as in wrist. We are continuing to use different spelling strategies to practice our selected words.

As members of a Catholic community, our Year 4 students have been learning all about the Sacrament of Communion and will engage in the Eucharist retreat day on Friday, 23rd of May. Year 4 students are to wear casual clothes on this day. Please note, lunch will not be provided by the school as it is our Lunch Order day. The Eucharist celebration will be held on Saturday, 24th of May at 6pm at St Fidelis Church. We ask that families be seated by 5:45 pm.

All Year 3/4 children will be attending Mass on Tuesday at 9:15am to commence the Eucharist celebrations. All parents are welcome to attend. 

As a school community, we participated in National Walk Safely to School Day. The initiative raises awareness of the health, road safety, transport, and environmental benefits of regular walking and active transport, encouraging children to walk not just on May 16 but every day. It was great to see many families join us and enjoy some breakfast together. 

As inquirers, we are learning how the sharing of our stories helps us understand each other and the cultural identities of the many diverse communities in Australia. To help the students engage further into our Inquiry question this term, we kindly request that all students bring to school one artefact (the more the better!) that tells their family’s story. It will remain at school until the end of Term 2.

The artefacts must tell a story about your family background, culture or history that students can then share to the class and during our Celebration of Learning. 

Artefacts could include objects like: 

• Photographs, documents or letters
• Food or recipe books
• Coins, certificates or medals
• Clothing, homewares or older technologies
• Books
• Religious items, icons
• Costumes or items from cultural celebrations

The artefact/s must be brought to school by Monday 26th of May. 

Year 3/4 Teachers

Belinda Panzarino & Sarah Hogan 

YEAR 5/6 NEWS

We have had a week of great learning and fun!

As a way of finding out about factual recounts, we explored the features of various articles. Working in small groups, we analysed and unpacked different examples in preparation for writing our own texts.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the student engineers from Melbourne University, who led the Engineers Without Borders incursion. Together, we explored the concept of safe structures, and using limited resources and a set budget, the children worked collaboratively to design and build shelters capable of withstanding various natural disasters.

REMINDER: CAMP NEXT WEEK

On Monday, we will embark on our adventure to Camp Weekaway Benloch. We will leave St Fidelis at 8:30, to mark attendance and organisation. We will leave St Fidelis at 9:30 sharp.

Return this week before camp: Regular Medication & Forms

Reminder that your child will need to pack Morning Tea & Lunch for Day 1

Packing Reminders:

• Sleeping Bag, fitted sheet (single bed), pillow and pillow case
• Pyjamas or tracksuit
• Slippers or shoes for wearing inside
• Waterproof jacket (raincoat or parker)
• Underwear
• Socks (at least six pairs)
• Shorts, jeans and tracksuits-extra for canoeing
• Jumpers, windcheaters, shirts (at least one long sleeve shirt), t-shirts, hats, scarf & gloves
• Shoes, boots & runners that can get wet (at least two pairs – old ones are best) Spare for canoeing
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, comb, brush, shampoo etc)
• Bath towel & Beach Towel
• Torch
• Garbage bag for dirty clothes
• Drink Bottle

Year 5/6 Team

Bianka Zorzut, Vicky Karalis, Maddie Comrie and Nick Tresize