Scotsburn News 

Important Dates

Wonderful Yard Play

We have absolutely loved the imaginative and cooperative play that has been happening in the yard lately. All students are displaying wonderful school values, playing games and activities that promote inclusion, kindness and fair play. Well done everyone, let’s keep it up!

Japan Day - Friday 3rd May

Japan Day is this Friday 3rd May! This is always a highlight on the calendar, with lots of cultural fun to be had throughout the day. A reminder that this day will be a drop off and pick up at Buninyong, with a whole school assembly in the morning. 

Please have a look at the Japan Day section of this newsletter for more details. We look forward to seeing everyone in Japan-themed attire ready for an awesome day of fun. 

Promoting Learner Agency

Last Friday’s curriculum day for students was a great opportunity for Buninyong Primary School staff to participate in some Professional Development around Promoting Learner Agency. Learner Agency can have varied definitions, however the focus of the day could be best described by the following statement:

“To empower students in their wellbeing and learning by strengthening teacher knowledge and practice in Learner Agency,  so that students can act in partnership with teachers in improving their learning outcomes.”

In the coming weeks at Scotsburn, we look forward to incorporating many aspects of our Agency learning into our daily classroom programs. 

SAVE THE DATE - Parent Social Event

Lock in the date - Tuesday 4th June! After such a successful event last year, we are again going to organise a Scotsburn parent social evening. This was one of the highlights of the year on the parent calendar in 2023, so let's get as many there as we can this year to make it another wonderful event!

Mothers’ Day Breakfast and Mothers’ Day Stall - Thursday 9th May

This year we are planning to celebrate all of our wonderful mothers’ in the community with a Mothers’ Day Breakfast. This special occasion will take place on Thursday 9th May, between 8:15am and 9:30am in the old building. No need to bring anything, we will have all food and drink sorted, celebrating all of the wonderful contributions our Mothers’ and special friends play in our lives. 

On this day, we will also be holding our Mothers’ Day stall, where students are able to purchase a gift or two for their Mother or special friend. All gifts will be $5, with students being able to buy one or two gifts. 

Our Grade 5s and 6s will also be on their VSSEC excursion on this day. This conflict of dates was unfortunately unavoidable, however we will make sure our 5s and 6s can access the Mothers’ Day stall on Friday 10th May.

SC2 VSSEC EXCURSION

As part of this term’s SC2 inquiry theme of “To Buninyong and Beyond”, all students in SC2 will be participating in an excursion to the Victorian Space Science Education Centre in Melbourne. The  program delivers a scenario-based learning environment that engages the students in a wide range of science activities, uses computer and communications technology and strongly encourages collaborative learning and teamwork. It offers a rich experience in science and builds core skills. As a virtual learning experience, students get the chance to work in Mission Control and at the M.A.R.S. Base.

Scotsburn students in SC2 will be joining Buninyong students for the excursion, with the following arrangements:

Grade 5s and Grade 6s: Thursday 9th May

Grade 3s and Grade 4s: Friday 10th May

Our students have been split across 2 days due to student number limits on both the bus and at the venue. 

All SC2 families please refer to the Compass event in the coming days for permission only, as there is no cost for the event. Please also see Jarrod for any questions. We will include more specific information in next week’s newsletter.

School Wide Positive Behaviour and Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

Every Monday afternoon, students from SC1 and SC2 come together to explore our school values, and wellbeing through RRRR. Students have been thoroughly enjoying this time together as we work as a campus to explore these lessons and outcomes. During this week's session, we explored the reason for having ‘boundaries’ and promoting positive behaviour at school. Next, we looked at the word ‘pride’ and students worked in groups to brainstorm ways we feel ‘proud at school and feel pride’. These were some of their wonderful thoughts and ideas…

“We feel pride at school when we…”

• take care of ourselves and others 
• use kind words
• play together and include everyone
• are brave and have a go 
•  help others when they need it

SC1 Learning Snapshot

Even with the short week and several different teachers in SC1 last week, students were still able to sink their teeth into some solid learning. In Reading, we continued  ‘Buddy Reading’ where students have the opportunity to practise their fluency skills with a partner. In Buddy Reading students:

• Sit elbow to elbow, knee to knee
• Share the same book/passage
• One person is the reader and the other person is the coach
• Students track together and help each other (we don’t tell them the word we say “Let's try that again.”

This is something students have really enjoyed and we have loved seeing their confidence grow when reading aloud. This is something you can also try at home with your child. 

In Writing, we have been learning about story writing, using the ‘Story Hill’ to make sure we include all elements in our stories, such as characters, a problem and a solution. Students have started creating different characters and different settings. Students have also looked at adding adjectives to their sentences.  

In Maths, students moved from using informal units to using formal units of measurement to measure length, capacity and weight. 

Have a fabulous week. 

Thanks,

Ana & Kirsty 

SC2 Learning Snapshot

Over the last week in SC2, we have been busy working our way through some ongoing projects, ready for completion this week. In Writing students have been completing their “Mission to Mars” information report booklets, ready for the VSSEC excursion next week. The students have done a great job with these and are very excited. 

In Maths, we are coming to the completion of our Volume and Capacity unit, with students having a go at estimating and calculating the volume of cubes, as well as creating their area and volume city in Minecraft Education. Students have been able to demonstrate some wonderful learning with these practical experiences.

In Reading, we have continued to look at Inferring emotions and deeper meaning, as well as working on our individual reading goals. These will be really valuable for students in SC2 to work on, to continue to develop their wonderful reading comprehension.

To commemorate Anzac Day, students also created silhouette displays whilst discussing the events and significance of the day in our country’s history.

Have a fantastic week everyone,

Jarrod and Liz

Staff Contacts

Mr Morgan: jarrod.morgan@education.vic.gov.au

Mrs Anderson: anastasia.anderson@education.vic.gov.au

Mrs Robinson: kirsty.bull@education.vic.gov.au

Mrs Morgan: elizabeth.morgan2@education.vic.gov.au

Ms Middlin: rachel.middlin@education.vic.gov.au

The Scotsburn Team