Classroom Happenings

YEARS 5 AND 6

Term 3 has been a huge term for our 5/6 class, and we have had the chance to do some exciting learning alongside lots of activities, specialist projects, and incursions. This term 5/6 participated in the Parallel Wilds Incursion, where they were able to experience some incredible nature views through VR headsets, and do some research into certain animals that are endangered and needing protection. They also helped to lead Mass for the Feast of Assumption, a celebration of Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, and her ascension to heaven. This Mass truly showed what great leaders these students can be, while also demonstrating their increased confidence speaking in front of a crowd of not only classmates and schoolmates, but members of the public. We also had a very fun book week, with the 5/6 class showing amazing creativity and dedication with some absolutely amazing costumes for the parade!

Literacy and Writing

In Literacy we have been reading the novel 'Waves', a short anthology picture book. This book tells stories from 50,000 years ago to today, written as journal entries from the perspective of people making the journey over the sea to Australia. There are stories about famine, war, being lost at sea, and looking for a better life. These stories helped model the type of narrative that our students have written themselves in the past couple of weeks. These stories have been character reflections, creating stories about young people on a perilous journey. They are short, detailed stories with a focus on emotion and a character's inner thoughts. 

Maths

After completing our unit on decimals, percentages, and fractions, we begun a short unit on probability. Students had the opportunity to conduct experiments using coloured blocks, dice, and coins, and compare their predictions to actual results. We discussed theoretical probability versus relative frequencies, as well as converting decimals, fractions, and percentages. Students worked on multiplying and dividing numbers (both whole and decimals) by 10s, 100s, and 1000s. Following this, we have begun a new unit on location and transformation. We have looked at different ways to transform shapes such as reflecting and translating, and have begun to look at cartesian planes. As this unit progresses, we will look at all four quadrants of the cartesian plane and eventually how to reflect and translate shapes onto these planes.

Inquiry

Our Inquiry focus for this term is History. We have completed our unit on the 1800s in Australia, and have progressed to the 1900-2000s, looking at the federation of our country. This Inquiry topic is perfect this term as it has clear links to our Literacy and Writing topics. This is allowing our 5/6 students to have a rich, deep understanding of our country and its history from many different perspectives and viewpoints.

Religion

We have been exploring Creation and Our Responsibility. This unit focuses on the revelation of God through all of creation. In it students will explore how God’s creative act invites us to shape our lives, relationships and world by reaching out and actively responding to the call to be co-creators. Students have been working on a piece of art to represent the days of creation, using collages as their medium to create this artwork.

Miss Charlotte Meares

Grade 5/6 Teacher

YEARS 2/3/4

2/3/4 have been busy with all of their learning!

Literacy

This fortnight in Literacy, we've been busy building, analysing, and reading words with the suffix -ness. We’ve learned that -ness turns an adjective into a noun and means a state or quality of being. For example, happy becomes happiness – the quality of being happy!

We’ve also been working on writing an information report based on our class text The Iron Man. To support our writing, we’ve been reading another informative text titled “All About Iron”, which gave us great information about:

• The characteristics of iron
• Where iron is found
• The history of iron
• How iron can be recycled

Our information reports are progressing wonderfully and are already full of fascinating facts and amazing detail. We've been following the correct structure of an information text:

1. Title
2. Introduction: What is the report about?
3. Facts and Information: Grouped in paragraphs with subheadings
4. Conclusion: A summary or final thought

We’re very proud of the thoughtful and well-structured writing being produced!

➕Mathematics

In Maths, we've been exploring the world of 3D shapes! We've been learning how to: Recognise and name common 3D shapes (like cubes, spheres, pyramids, and prisms), Spot them in our environment, Construct them using nets and Investigate how these shapes are used in real-world structures

To finish off our unit, we had a fun hands-on challenge: building cubes out of paddle pop sticks and sticky tape! We then tested their strength by stacking as many books on them as possible. We discovered that the cube is one of the most stable and common structures in architecture. What a fun way to connect geometry with real-world design!

🏛History

In History, we've taken a trip around the world exploring celebrations and special days in different cultures. We’ve learned about their significance and how they are traditionally celebrated. Here are just a few we've studied:

• Christmas – Celebrating the birth of Jesus with gifts, decorations, and family gatherings.
• Easter – Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus with church services, eggs, and chocolate treats.
• Diwali – A Hindu festival of lights symbolising the victory of light over darkness.
• Chinese New Year – Marking the beginning of the lunar new year with dragons, red envelopes, and fireworks.
• Moon Festival – Celebrated in China and Vietnam with mooncakes and family reunions to honour the harvest moon.
• May Day – A traditional spring festival in Europe with dancing and flower crowns.
• Hanukkah – A Jewish festival of lights, lasting eight nights, celebrating the miracle of the oil.

Our class loved learning about the diversity and meaning behind these important celebrations!

😄Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

In SEL, we’ve been learning about humanity: how to be kind, caring, and understanding of others. We’ve also been learning to tell whether a problem is a big problem or a small problem, and when we need to ask for help.

We’ve used these helpful questions to guide us:

• Does it hurt or upset anyone?
• Does it break the rules?
• Does it make the school an unfriendly place?
• Does it stop people learning?
• Could it get worse if you did nothing?
• Could it get worse if other people did not help?

By thinking through these questions, we’re learning how to manage conflict, make good choices, and support each other.

✝Religion

In Religion, we’ve started working on a class action plan to take care of God’s creation and protect the environment. We’ve brainstormed ways to help, including: Picking up rubbish, Recycling properly, Keeping our school clean

We’re just at the beginning of a very exciting class project. Stay tuned! We’ll be sharing more about our plan and how we can all make a difference!

Thanks for reading our newsletter!

We are learning, growing, and creating every day in Year 2/3/4!

Mrs Stephens and 2/3/4

FOUNDATION AND YEAR 1

I am so proud of the fantastic progress students have made in reading and writing this term. Foundation students have been practising writing dictated sentences with correct spelling, finger spaces, capital letters and full stops, while Year 1 students have been mastering tricky words and learning about the “bossy e.”

Alongside their hard work in the classroom, students also had the chance to enjoy a special excursion to the Corryong Library where they attended a performance by 'The Flying Bookworm'. This interactive theatre experience brought two much-loved fairytales to life on stage.

First came 'The Little Gingerbread Man'. Ivar and Bethany stepped into the roles of the little old man and woman, while Olivia transformed into a cow and Audrey into a horse. Their voice acting and lively movements had everyone on the edge of their seats as they tried to catch that cheeky runaway gingerbread man.

Next, it was time for 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. Aiden charmed us all with his beautiful “harp” playing, while Freya, small in stature but mighty in performance, brought the giant to life with thunderous expression. Greyson kept the audience giggling as the golden goose, honking happily across the stage.

The highlight was how every student in the audience had a chance to join in with choral responses, cheers and applause. The room was filled with energy as we celebrated not only the stories but also the superb acting efforts of our classmates. It was a magical morning of theatre, imagination and fun - a real a highlight of our term together!

Mrs Marie Nagy

Foundation & Year 1 Teacher