F/1 CLASSROOM

Our Foundation students have reached a very exciting milestone. They have now learnt all 26 letters of the alphabet, their names and sounds! But did you know there are still many more sounds to learn? They have now started their journey into digraphs, where two letters work together to make one sound. Ask them what a digraph is and see if they can share some examples with you! Look at how proud they are of themselves!

Both Foundation and Year 1 have been busy learning how to write reports.

Foundation have been exploring rock pool creatures, with a special focus on fish, while Year 1 have had their heads in the clouds, learning all about clouds!

Along the way, the children have been learning that good writing involves much more than getting ideas onto the page. They have been planning and organising facts, choosing interesting vocabulary, writing complete sentences, rereading their work and making changes to improve it.

They are little writing superstars!

In Religion, we have been learning about our role as caretakers of God's creation. We have explored what we can see in nature, how different parts of nature are connected, and how we are connected to God's creation too.

The children have also been thinking about the small things we can do to care for our world and help keep nature alive and healthy. So don't be surprised if you get a reminder to turn off the outside tap or switch off the water while brushing your teeth! Our little caretakers have been taking their responsibilities very seriously!

Mrs Nagy

Foundation/Year 1 Teacher

2/3 CLASSROOM

💛 R U OK? Day – Thursday 10 September 💛

On Thursday 10 September, our Year 2/3 class celebrated R U OK? Day, an Australian initiative that encourages us to check in with the people around us and make sure they are okay.

This year’s message emphasised that checking in shouldn’t just happen on R U OK? Day – it should be an ongoing habit. We discussed how regularly checking in with our friends, family and classmates can help people feel supported, cared for and valued.

The 4 steps to checking in

We learned about four important approaches we can use when we notice that someone might not be themselves:

1. Ask : Choose an appropriate time and ask about the specific change you have noticed.

2. Listen: Give the person space to talk and share their feelings without rushing to fix the problem.

3. Encourage action: If someone needs extra support, encourage them to talk to a trusted adult or seek appropriate help.

4. Check in: Follow up with the person later to show that you genuinely care and haven't forgotten about them.

We discussed how even a simple question such as “Are you OK?” can make a meaningful difference. Research shared through the R U OK? initiative shows that 9 in 10 people who are asked “Are you OK?” feel grateful, cared for and supported, yet around 1 in 4 people hesitate to ask despite noticing that someone may be struggling.

As a follow-on activity, we explored the question: “What makes someone a good friend?”

The students brainstormed all of the qualities they look for in a friend. Our list quickly grew into a whole classroom board filled with wonderful qualities, including:

Kindness
Empathy
Listening
Respect
Caring for others
Noticing when someone isn't themselves
Asking, “Are you OK?”
Including others
Being trustworthy
Helping others
Being encouraging
Being a good sport
Making others feel welcome

We then turned these ideas into a creative “Recipe for a Good Friend”. Students used a recipe template to choose their own “ingredients” for a great friendship and thought carefully about how much of each quality they might need.

This was a wonderful opportunity for students to recognise not only the qualities they value and look for in their own friendships, but also the qualities they can demonstrate themselves to be a kind, caring and supportive friend to others.

It was lovely to see how thoughtful and insightful the students were when discussing what makes a friendship positive and meaningful.

Mrs Stephens

Year 2/3 Teacher

4/5/6 CLASSROOM

Term 3 is coming to a close, and what a term it has been! Our Grade 4/5/6 students have worked incredibly hard across all of our subjects, and we are busy finishing off some amazing work as the term wraps up.

A couple of weeks ago we had a beautiful Father's Day breakfast to celebrate all of the dads, grandpas, uncles and other important men in the lives of our students. The class followed this up with their assembly, which, for the first time this year, was almost entirely created by them. We started with a class brainstorm about what to include, from our learning to a fun dad joke video featuring all of the classes. Everyone joined a group and worked on writing about the things we have been doing across our different subjects, and then the class decided together on a colour scheme, design features and Father's Day ideas, and who would take on each part. Our assemblies are usually on a Friday afternoon, which gives us a bit of time during the day to rehearse, but this one was right at the very start of the day! The students did such a wonderful job rising to these challenges, and it really showed me how hardworking they are and just what they are capable of.

Reading & Writing

Our writing unit has been a huge part of this term in Grade 4/5/6, and as we reach the end of term, students have finished their stories in full and published them! They have worked so incredibly hard on these, planning them in detail, creating their fantasy world in drawing form, writing engaging and exciting stories, writing blurbs, editing, and finally typing them up on the laptops. These finished products are the result of a lot of hard work, and I am so happy the students are able to see them come together as a completed piece. Below are some photos of the finished stories, how amazing do they look?!

Maths

To finish the term in Maths, the class has been working on probability and time. In probability, we have been looking at chance experiments using counters and dice in lots of different ways. We have explored how to tell if an outcome is equally likely, how to write chance outcomes as fractions, and how to compare our theoretical probability (what we expect to happen) with our relative frequency (what actually happened). We have also looked at what makes an experiment fair or unfair, and had a go at designing our own experiments. In time, we have focused on converting between 12 and 24-hour time, reading and understanding timetables that use 24-hour time, and creating our own schedules.

Geography

Our class has loved learning about Geography this term, and this has been so clear in the effort they have put into our final project. After comparing countries based on their population, location, temperature, landscapes and other facts, students have been researching individual countries and creating posters to showcase them. Each poster had to include the continent the country is on, its flag, and some of the things that make it unique, such as its animals, food, natural features or man-made structures.

This term has been a wonderful one in the Grade 4/5/6 classroom, and I can't wait for us to finish the year with a strong Term 4! I hope you all have a lovely school holidays and get some well-earned rest and relaxation.

Miss Meares

Year 4/5/6 Teacher

Catholic Identity

Sacred Heart Parish Wodonga

Sundays Reading At Home