Merri-bek Mail

Teaching and Learning Areas

Foundation

The Preps are having a fabulous Term 3. 

We loved meeting the fire fighters and hearing all about their work and tools they use.  Seeing inside their firetruck and spraying the hose was a highlight. We had a great time competing for gold, silver and bronze in our Prep Olympics - learning how to compare lengths, add totals and display and analyse data through events and the collection of medals. We loved dressing up for Book Week (well done families for all your efforts with such fabulous costumes!!) and having the Grade 5s and 6s in our classrooms to complete the craft activity. And Essendon Traffic School was loads of fun - students loved zooming around the mini-streets on bikes, obeying the traffic lights, ‘filling up with petrol’ and playing at being crossing guards and tram drivers. 

 

In writing, students have continued to develop their craft as young authors and produced imaginative narratives - learning to add details to create interesting characters and settings who face problems and solutions. In reading, students are enjoying reading a range of texts together and doing a fantastic job of deciding if they are non-fiction or fiction and providing reasons for their choices. In maths, as well as the measurement and data explorations, students are learning about how to share collections equally and loved creating trays of party items and sharing them at little parties.

 

Enjoy looking at the photos of all this fun and learning!

Arwen, Joe and Lexie 

Grade 1/2

It’s been a busy term, full of exciting new learning and collaborative experiences in the 1/2 area!

 

In Writing, students have been creating detailed narratives. They’ve been learning how to bring their ideas to life with rich descriptions and lively characters. The students have also been hard at work revising and editing their drafts, understanding that writing is a process that can always be improved. It has been fantastic to see their creativity shine as they gain confidence in their storytelling skills.

 

In Reading, students have focused on summarising stories and analysing illustrations in texts. They have also learnt about describing character’s personalities. Bob Graham’s stories have been a particular focus, sparking thoughtful discussions in the classroom. 

In Maths, students have been busy learning about time, multiplication and division. These lessons have been enriched with hands-on resources that make learning fun and practical. 

Our Integrated unit has focused on exploring Australian geography. Students have learnt about suburbs, states, and famous landmarks in Melbourne. They have also explored natural famous features in Australia such as The Great Barrier Reef and Uluru. 

 

To top it all off, the students had a blast participating in an AFL incursion! They enjoyed activities such as a jumping castle, a climbing castle, and plenty of footballs to kick around. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to engage in physical activity while working together and having fun.

 

1/2 team 

Grade 3/4

Term 3 has been a packed term full of so much fun and learning. Here are some of the things we got up to:

 

Reading & Writing

This term in Reading, students wrapped up their 'literature circles' by writing book reviews to share with their peers. They are now moving into studying persuasive texts, exploring various formats such as print and television advertisements. In this unit, they will focus on analysing the key features and techniques used to engage and persuade audiences.

 

In Writing, students will be creating their own persuasive texts, including a print advertisement and a video ad, where they can showcase their understanding of film and persuasive techniques.

 

Maths

We have made great progress with our multiplication and division strategies this month, with students consolidating their understanding of mental multiplication strategies, using the inverse to create fact families, and flipping some of their multiplication strategies to efficiently divide numbers. Some students have also worked on written strategies such as grid method, split strategy, and the vertical algorithm for multiplication, and number lines and short division. We have also used some of our multiplication skills in our unit on area, volume, and capacity, and experimented with calculating the volume of objects, the capacity of different containers. We have also been learning about the connection between cubic centimetres and millilitres. 

 

Integrated - War on Waste 

In Integrated Curriculum, students are embarking on an inquiry unit around waste, with a focus on materials like paper, plastic, glass, fabric food and other common waste types. They have been exploring waste generation in both school and the home environment and have used data to create tables, graphs and infographics. Next week, Merri-bek Council will visit to hold an incursion about waste with a focus on being more sustainable.

 

Andy Griffiths IncursionOn Thursday 8th of August, bestselling author Andy Griffiths joined the 3/4s an online webinar to talk about his latest release, Adventures Unlimited: The Land of Lost Things! The students loved getting a preview of his book and drawing an illustration of Lost Thing for the statewide competition. 

 

Thank you,

The Grade 3/4 team

Grade  5/6

In literacy, we have begun an author study on the inimitable Shaun Tan who has written many popular books, adored by children and adults alike.  His distinctly odd and moody style has made him an especially powerful study for the 5/6s. Included in this study is analysing the key elements of a selection of his stories and then using some of those elements to inspire short stories. We have been very pleased with the students’ creativity and imagination and they have produced some exceptional pieces of work.

 

The focus for maths this term has been largely on multiplication and division and how the two operations are related. The students have been practising different strategies to help them solve 2x1, 3x1 and 2x2 multiplication and division problems. Last week, we began exploring Order of Operations so that students know how to solve problems that involve more than one operation.

 

In PBL, the students completed a mini project on The Olympics and they presented their work to the 3/4s last week. Each student had their country who competed in the 2024 Olympic games and with it, presented the mascot they designed, travel brochure, biography on an Olympian from that country, and a Venn diagram to compare their chosen country to Australia. The students had a great time sharing their work.

 

Over the next term and a half, we are working on a project where the central theme is around global citizenship and being a responsible and aware global citizen. To engage the kids in this, we have centred the project around the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We will be exploring the Girls Rising program, looking at girls’ education across the globe, fast fashion and the impact it has on sustainability and ethical consumption, and food poverty and waste.

 

Coming up before the end of term, we have the whole school art show at the end of next week. We look forward to sharing all of the incredible talent and imagination from all the students across the school.

 

5/6 team

 

Athletics

On Wednesday 7th August, 50+ students represented Merri-bek Primary School at the District Athletics Championships. It was a wonderful day, the sun was shining, students were excited and the canteen was full!

 

The day started with the heats for the track events; with the 200m sprint up first, followed by the 100m sprint and then the 4 x 100m relay heat. Congratulations to the following students who qualified for the final in their race.

 

200m sprint heat:

  • Sophia 3rd 
  • Ali 3rd 
  • Veronica 2nd
  • Ana 1st
  • Archie 3rd

100m sprint heat:

  • Mila 3rd
  • Ali 3rd
  • Veronica 2nd
  • Olive 3rd
  • Haruki 2nd

4 x 100m relay heat:

  • Under 12 Girls: Sophia, Sadie, Emily, Mila 2nd 
  • Under 12 Boys: Arlo, Daniel, Ahmad, Ali 2nd
  • Under 11 Girls: Nadine, Dayton, Veronica, Orla 1st
  • Under 11 Boys: Elias, Arthur, Marcel, Tino 3rd
  • Under 10 Girls: Milou, Imogen, Sathya, Olive 1st
  • Under 10 Boys: Davi, Archie, Hume, Haruki 1st

800m run final:

  • Daniel 4th
  • Beth 4th
  • Mae 3rd

The field events then began, it was great to see such positive sportsmanship and encouragement from everyone.

 

 Congratulations to the following students for their placings.

  • Tino 4th in High Jump
  • Declan 4th in High Jump and 4th in Long Jump
  • Hume 2nd in Triple Jump
  • Marcel 4th in Triple Jump
  • Daniel 2nd in Triple Jump
  • Arzan 2nd in Discus
  • Marcel 3rd in Discus
  • Archie 4th in Shot Put
  • Arlo 4th in Shot Put
  • Orla 1st in High Jump and 3rd in Triple Jump
  • Mila 2nd in High Jump
  • Olive 4th in Long Jump
  • Imogen 4th in Triple Jump
  • Sadie 4th in Triple Jump
  • Sathya 2nd in Discus
  • Sonquette 3rd in Discus

The excitement was building in the lead up to the finals of the track events. Well done to the following students for placing in the final for their track events:

 

200m sprint final:

  • Veronica 3rd
  • Ana 3rd

100m sprint final:

  • Veronica 3rd
  • Haruki 4th

4 x 100m relay final:

  • Under 11 Girls: Nadine, Dayton, Veronica, Orla 1st
  • Under 10 Girls: Milou, Imogen, Sathya, Olive 4th

Students who finished 1st and 2nd qualify for the next stage of Athletics to be held on Wednesday 11th September. Congratulations to everyone who competed.