Curriculum Update

What's Happening in Performing Arts

This term has seen students in all year levels explore performance, expressive skills and projection of voice to assist them with reading and presenting their poetry. Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 classes have been working on combining their singing and dancing skills within their class sings for Matilda the musical, and have assisted in decorating the Performing Arts space, transforming it in to a Wonderland fit for Alice. Foundation and grades 1 & 2 have been exploring storytelling, and creating bookmarks for their reading habits.

Congratulations to all those students who have continued to work on their Musical material and come to rehearsals prepared! 

Year 3 and 4 Team

What an incredible week we've had in the Year Three and Four classrooms! The theme for Book Week 2024, "Reading is Magic," couldn't be more fitting for the celebrations we've enjoyed. Our students have worked together in their classrooms, drawing on inspiration from our favourite shared texts to create a vibrant and eye-catching door display. Take a look at our photos below!

This fun-filled week was packed with exciting activities. We put our detective skills to the test with the Masked Reader mystery, our Year Four students enjoyed special reading sessions with their Year Two Buddy Class, and we explored a variety of 2024’s shortlisted children's books. One of the highlights was a first for us – a much-anticipated Escape Room experience that had everyone buzzing with excitement!

To coincide with this exciting time at Willy North, we’ve been diving headfirst into the enchanting world of poetry writing! From exploring various forms to experimenting with language, our budding poets have wholeheartedly embraced the beauty and excitement that poetry brings.

Our reading journey has introduced us to "Uncle Xbox" – a heart-warming coming-of-age tale that resonates with our young gamers. This story beautifully captures the essence of growing up, navigating family dynamics, and finding one's place in both the digital and real worlds. The students are absolutely loving this book, and it’s sparking some incredible discussions and connections. We’re excited to see where this literary journey will take us next!

For our Year Three students, the countdown is on to our much-anticipated adventure to Phillip Island! We're feeling a mix of emotions – anticipation, excitement, and a few nerves. One thing we know for sure: we’re going to have an unforgettable time!

Warm regards,

The Year Three and Four Team 😃

Literacy Update - Book Week

What a wonderful week we have had celebrating Book Week this year. There have been many amazing events held across the school, and lots of fun, action-packed activities have been enjoyed. 

Book Fair

We have had a really successful Book Fair, with students excitedly exploring new titles during their library sessions. A huge thank you to all the families who visited the Fair throughout the week, and to Sue Smith for organising this great addition to our Book Week celebrations. 

Reading and Writing Together is Magic

Reading and Writing Together is Magic took place on Wednesday evening, with our highest-recorded number of students attending! Well over 500 students participated and shared their poetry in multi-aged classrooms across the school. The night was hosted by our Year 6 students, and I am sure we can all agree that they did an absolutely fantastic job! We are all very proud of them. The quality of poetry presented on the night is a credit to all students and reflects the hard work and effort they have put in this term. A big thank you to the families who attended the night, and a huge congratulations to all students who participated!

Book Week Activities

Across the school this week, many fun activities have been planned and organised for students to participate in and engage with. Each morning, a new ‘Story of the Day’ has been posted, where different teachers have read one of their favourite stories to the whole school. We’ve had a return of our famous ‘Masked Reader’ competition, where each class has worked hard to guess both the teacher and the famous quote the teacher is reading. The answers are being revealed today, and I’m sure the celebrations will be heard all the way up Melbourne Road. 

Our Prep to Year 3 students participated in a silhouette hunt, where they raced around the junior playground searching for the silhouette of famous characters from the stories we all love and adore. They then worked hard in small groups, pairs, or as a whole class to correctly identify each silhouette. Our students in Years 4-6 participated in Literacy-themed Escape Rooms, where they problem-solved in small groups to solve challenging puzzles. These have been hugely popular, with requests for termly escape rooms in the future! 

Each class has enthusiastically designed unique door displays that have added a touch of colour around the school. 

Students engaged in daily lessons focused on celebrating the Children’s Book Council of Australia's short-listed books. Here are a few of the lessons that took place. Our Foundation students have redecorated the pathways in front of their classrooms after reading Bob Graham’s ‘Concrete Garden’. Classes in 1/2 enjoyed creating their own ‘zines’ to publish their narratives, and really enjoyed putting on talent quests inspired by ‘Gymnastica Fantastica’. Our 3/4 students spent time learning about Dav Pilkey, the author and illustrator of Captain Underpants, and the Dog Man series. They learnt where he finds his inspiration, and the process he takes to create a graphic novel. Students in Years 5 and 6 created their own book trailers using Canva. They also enjoyed creating artwork and developing characters inspired by the book, ‘This Bird Has Arms’. There were also many buddy activities that took place, with older and younger students coming together across the school to participate in shared reading or writing activities. 

Finally, today, we had our annual Book Week parade. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of Book Week and the stories we love so much. A big thank you to our parent community for supporting this and sourcing/ making costumes. The teachers also got involved, and it is hard to know who had more fun, the students or the teachers. 

We hope your child had a wonderful week celebrating and came home with lots of tales about the fun they had at school. 

A big thank you to all of the teachers who were involved in the organisation of Book Week and RWTIM, and a final thank you to Dean Pearce for the wonderful update to our Staff Photo Board in the front office. It’s well worth a look/ laugh!

Kaitlyn Hayes

Literacy Learning Specialist