Primary Specialists
Visual Arts
Prep Art
Over the past two weeks, students have enjoyed exploring the work of the Pop Art artist, Andy Warhol. They’ve learned the fundamentals of Pop Art, identified its key characteristics, and discovered how everyday objects can become art. Our Preps had a blast creating pictures of living things—such as pets or plants—using bold colours and simple shapes inspired by Pop Art.
Prep NADIOC Week 2024 Indigenous Experience
To celebrate and honour NAIDOC Week 2024, our Prep students recently took part in a powerful learning opportunity during Art, collaborating with Tamay Beam, a highly skilled Indigenous artist and one of our Saltwater mums. During the first week of Term 3, Tamay worked closely with around 250 Prep students to create a stunning piece of artwork that embodies the essence of NAIDOC Week, Indigenous culture, and the unique spirit of our Prep students at Saltwater P-9 College, placing our children at the heart of the project.
Aligning with our Prep’s unit of inquiry on ‘Understanding the needs and wants of living things,’ the project blended individual creativity with collaborative effort, fostering curiosity and deepening their thinking. Each child added their fingerprint to the communal artwork and took part in dot painting to create the border, which features the iconic rainbow serpent. We also reached out to the wider Saltwater community to collect fingerprints from everyone who has impacted our Prep students’ journey at Saltwater, including classroom teachers, specialist teachers, canteen staff, our cleaner, Big Childcare, and the principal team.
Whilst this masterpiece was happening, each Prep class engaged in their own artistic projects, using symbolism to create their own stories through art on native animal and boomerang stencils. This enriching experience provided our students with an opportunity to explore both symbolism and personal expression.
On Thursday, August 22nd, we proudly unveiled the Prep Indigenous artwork.
We are deeply thankful for this transformative learning experience and extend a huge thank you to Tamay Beam for her remarkable contributions. Your dedication and artistry have made a significant impact on our students and their educational journey.
Year 1 Art
Students in Year 1 have been integrating their art classes with their unit of inquiry topic of living and non living things. Year 1 students have been actively discussing features of living and non living things and creating t charts with drawings of both categories. They have recently finished their living thing oil pastel drawing of a teddy bear and are now creating a drawing and painting of a cat and other living creatures.
Year 2 Art
Students in year two have been learning about the indigenous art of New Zealand and have learned about the national symbol of the Koru and its significance to Maori culture. They have created bright and colourful Koru paintings and drawings inspired by the New Zealand artist Raewyn Harris. They have also celebrated Science week by learning about colour diffusion and colour mixing as they created tie dye inspired butterflies.
Year 3 Art
Students in year 3 have been learning about printing and creating block and bubble font letters. They will then use these letters to create their own print of a 3 -5 letter word of their choice. This week they created the background for their project and used other printing and stenciling techniques to create colourful textured effects.
Year 4 Art
Students in year for have experimented with various pop art designs and have used benday dots to create interesting effects in products. Recently they have researched a product of their choice and have begun sketching and designing what they will like to produce for their final piece. This week they have created bright and colourful backgrounds for their product using stencils, water coloured spray and printing tools.
Year 5 Art
Students in year 5 have completed their watercolour buildings with geometric shapes inspired by Paul Klee, and have shown contrasting colours between warm and cool colours. This will lead into developing their drawing skills for a cityscape inspired by lopsided houses from Amsterdam.
Year 6 Art
Students have been working meticulously on their Mechanica inspired drawings in visual arts. They have created A4 sketches in their books and outlined in fineliner. This week they have now created A3 scaled drawings of their mechanical animal which they will paint and later embellish with their cogs. During the art lesson, students discussed the Science week theme of species and survival and how it is related to their mechanica project.
Physical Education
Dear Student and Families,
In P.E students from P-2 have been learning the fundamental motor skill of 'one-handed strike'. As they have previously focused on the two-handed strike technique, students were able to use their prior knowledge to make connections between the skills. This allowed them to be successful when rotating the hips, standing side on to the target and keeping the eyes focused on the ball. Students have also started to identify the difference between the two skills including the types of sports, the equipment and why some sports require one hand and others two.
Students from 3-6 displayed a courageous attitude in P.E during week 4 as they participated in the beep test. The beep test is a physical fitness test used to measure individual cardiovascular fitness level. It involves running back and forth between two points in time with the audio beep. All the P.E teachers were so proud of the effort the students displayed when discovering their fitness score.
Next week, we are lucky to have a Softball Clinic visit our school for the week. Students will be participating in minor games allowing them to put their skills learnt in P.E into real game situations.
Media, with Mr. Brendan Howarth
It is time for our final week of our Media Unit! Classes are wrapping up, publishing and celebrating their learning.
Year One:
After an eye-opening lesson about how things like the planets, shoe brands and even jewellery are named after the Greek and Roman gods, we concluded the unit by watching Hercules.
Year Two:
Students were creative and engaging learners, using their photography and literacy skills to publish print advertisements for cans of tomatoes, complete with catchy slogans.
Year Three:
Having extended their knowledge of framing shots for still-image photography, the Year Three students are experimented with basic shot types for filming. This includes camera movements, such as pan, tilt, dolly, etc.
Year Four:
Students concluded the unit by wrapping up their viewing and analysis of Indigenous Australian kids show, Thalu. This has been an engaging unit, with students developing their understanding of Australia's history.
Year Five:
In our final Media lesson, students presented their short films to the class, showing their creativity and editing skills.
Year Six:
For our final session in Year Six, students presented their art pieces based on a personal, societal, or school value.
Bienvenidos a la clase de Español
A Journey of Language and Culture.
Our Spanish classes continue to be a vibrant part of the weekly curriculum for all students from Prep to Grade 6, with each group building on their language skills and cultural knowledge. Students are engaged in learning Spanish for one hour each week, where they practice key language elements in fun and interactive ways.
In the lower grades, students have been focusing on reinforcing basic Spanish greetings, ensuring they can confidently greet their peers and teachers. They are also becoming more familiar with colours, numbers, and simple conversational phrases. Over the past few weeks, they have expanded their vocabulary by learning about animals names in Spanish, fruits and vegetables, including words like "fresa" (strawberry), "uva" (grape), "lechuga" (lettuce), and "brócoli" (broccoli). Additionally, they have been working on counting numbers up to 50, helping them gain confidence in their numerical skills in Spanish.
Our upper-grade students have taken their learning to the next level by practicing short sentences and engaging in more complex conversations. They have been learning to describe people, places, and things, as well as clothing items, all in Spanish. These activities help them develop the ability to communicate more effectively and describe their world in another language.
We are excited about the progress our students have made and look forward to the coming weeks, where they will continue to expand their language abilities and deepen their understanding of Spanish-speaking cultures.
Adios!
The Spanish Team
DANCE.
Dance has welcomed in the Preps and other Year 1 students to begin their journey for the second half of Term 3. We have covered our essential agreements for dance and all we’d like to achieve throughout the next few weeks. Students learnt about our warm ups, our way of stretching and the various body parts we were working on. Through this we worked on identifying our right sides from our left side, and different directions highlighting this also. Different exercises saw us learning about the difference in levels from highs to lows, as well as big movements to small.
WAKAKIRRI...(Dance)
Dance extension students have been rehearsing and working on their Wakakirri performance over the last couple of weeks, eagerly awaiting any news of hopefully performing at the upcoming Wakakirri Awards night in mid Septemeber. We haven’t heard any news back as yet as to who or if we will be attending, but we all have our fingers crossed we are invited to perform and present Saltwaters beautiful story of “Under The Australian Sun” on the big stage again soon!Keep an eye out for upcoming news regarding this, and if all goes well we will hopefully see you all there! :)
VSSS...(Dance)
Our Victorian State School Spectacular dancers have been working hard ironing out the finer details to the choreography in rehearsals. This has opened up our students eyes to the amount of effort and attention to detail that goes in to every step, combination and dance for the big show in September! Patience, discipline and consistency are key factors in delivering these routines to the highest standard, and our dancers have opened their minds and focussed on the challenges and obstacles needed to overcome, bin order to reach the next level and showcase their best performance on the night! They are working very hard and look forward to representing our Saltwater Community for VSSS 2024!
Mandarin With Miss Xiong
Year 1-2
Our class is beginning an exciting journey into the Chinese language, focusing on exploring Chinese through the five senses. This approach provides a great opportunity for students to learn the names of key body and facial parts in Chinese. To enhance their understanding, students are encouraged to engage in video lessons, classroom discussions, and art activities, allowing them to express their imagination and emotions while reinforcing their grasp of Chinese vocabulary and expressions.
Year 3-4
Our class is currently diving into the fascinating world of Chinese language learning with a focus on Chinese fruits. We're using interactive online platforms like Wordwall and Kahoot! to make learning about Chinese fruits engaging and enjoyable. Students are practicing writing the names of these fruits in both Pinyin and characters, which helps strengthen their connection with Chinese writing and pronunciation.
Year 5-6
Our class is having an enriching experience as we explore the rich world of Chinese traditional culture. We are learning about the different Chinese dynasties, traditional clothing, and the inspiring story of Mulan, one of China's most iconic heroines. A highlight of our journey includes watching Disney's Mulan, followed by discussions and worksheet activities that allow students to reflect on Mulan's character and the cultural themes depicted in the Chinese community.
Music
Dear Students and Families of Saltwater P-9 College,
Our current group of Music learners are at the end of their rotation with only another 1 week left. Our 3rd Unit Creating and Composing is all but complete with a variety of music composition experiences.
Grade Prep
As Grade Prep are on a longer rotation for music, we have more time to explore than the older children. This week and next we are listening to, and finding out about, the instruments associated with the story ‘Peter and The Wolf’ by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The story is a wonderful vehicle for honing listening skills and building familiarity with the instruments of the orchestra. It also allows us to connect sounds with emotions, provides a narrative that is engaging for small children, and they use their language and prediction skills as they learn about music.
Grade One
In Grade One we experimented with crafting our own rhythmic pieces using traditional musical notation and challenging each other to perform the rhythms by reading each other’s notation.
Grade Two
In Grade Two we have created simple melodies by drawing notes on a music staff and trying to articulate the correct pitch of the notes as we read each other’s creations. Additionally, we have experimented with small glockenspiels and Boom whackers exploring the concepts of pitch and melody.
Grade Three
In Grade Three we have focused on learning the recorder and playing simple songs. These last two weeks have included learning to recreate the pitch of notes played on the recorder to sing simple songs which become songs sung as rounds eg Frere Jacques and Row row row your boat.
Grade Four
Our Grade Four students have almost completed their journey in music composition, using Noteflight to create their own original melodies. Over the past few weeks, they have explored fundamental music theory concepts, learning about melody, harmony, and rhythm. Through hands-on experimentation, they've developed skills in crafting their own musical phrases and arranging them into cohesive pieces. Many students have shown remarkable creativity in how they combine notes and patterns, resulting in truly unique works that reflect their personal style. Several of these compositions have been proudly shared on the School's Grade 4 page, allowing their peers to listen, appreciate, and provide feedback. This experience not only nurtures their understanding of music but also enhances their confidence as young composers.
Grade Five & Six
In Grades 5 and 6, students have been diving deeper into the world of digital music production, focusing on creating soundtracks for short video clips using GarageBand. This project allows them to experiment with sound loops, layering different instruments, and sound effects to match the mood and timing of the video. They’ve been learning how to manipulate dynamics, tempo, and transitions to create soundscapes that enhance the narrative of the videos they’re working on. By exploring the connection between audio and visual elements, students are gaining an understanding of how music can evoke emotions and add depth to storytelling. Their soundtracks display an impressive mix of technical skill and artistic expression, with some students even experimenting with custom loops and samples to bring a personal touch to their compositions. The experience has fostered collaboration, as students often share tips, ideas, and feedback with each other during the creative process.
As we approach the end of this rotation, we take a moment to celebrate the outstanding achievements and personal growth of our students across all grades. The dedication and passion they’ve shown for music, whether through composition or production, have been truly inspiring.
Let’s continue to nurture this love for music and learning as we transition into the next set of projects and creative challenges!