Learning and Teaching
The Parliament Prize
Each year, the Parliament of Victoria invites students from Grade 5 to Year 12 across the state to share what they would say if they were a Member of Parliament. This is a great opportunity to speak about issues that matter to you and your community. This would be a wonderful opportunity for our Year 5/6 students to get involved in. The Victorian Parliament runs the competition, and if you are interested, please click here. This activity is a choice that families can make to do at home.
Good luck!
Premiers Reading Challenge Update!
Wow! What a start we have made to our 2026 Premier's Reading Challenge journey. As a school we have already read 39 books in 4 weeks. That is an amazing start. Congratulations to John V in 5/6 for leading the way with 10 books already read. Do you think we can get to fifty books by the end of Week 6? That is only 11 more books in a week. If you haven’t already registered and begun your challenge, please do so, as we would like to share this amazing journey of reading and discovery together as a school community.
Year Level Spotlight!
This term in 3/4, we are delving into the life cycles of living things and have had several new classmates join us.
What’s crawling around 3/4?
Across 3/4 we now have 12 stick insects — some Goliaths and some Spinys! We are extremely invested in watching them grow from nymphs, shed their skin and progress into adults.
You may have seen them going on journeys around the school at different times, especially after school. We are responsible for making sure their leaves are changed regularly, they are sprayed every day and their cages are cleaned out.
If you would like to visit our stick insects, please come and do so after school, or keep an eye out as they are sometimes taken outside for a walk!
Egg-citing Things Are Happening!
The Year 3/4s were delighted and surprised with special visitors on Monday…Eggs!!! This is part of their science unit on Living and Non Living.
10 Silkie Chicken eggs were delivered and we have been lucky enough to have 6 hatch so far. We even got to see two of these hatchlings use their egg tooth to crack their egg and make an appearance on Wednesday.
We have been making regular observations that are factual, measurable and observable, and recording these in our science journals.
We have learnt that there are five stages in the life cycle of a chicken, with the first three stages already being observed — the egg, the embryo and the hatchling.
Please come and visit us anytime and join in this exciting journey with us. We kindly ask that when observing the eggs and chicks, you maintain a safe distance from the table and incubator and keep noise levels low to ensure we are providing the best possible environment for our embryos and baby chicks.
The chicks will be with us until the end of Week 6.
Parents have the opportunity to purchase these chickens for $10 each. However it is important that the chicks have access to a heat lamp for at least the next few weeks, especially during these cold nights. Unfortunately we can not guarantee that the chicks purchased will not be roosters, due to this only be discernible after they are approximately 18 weeks old. If you purchase the Silkies, you will be responsible for rehoming any rosters. So if you are interested in purchasing any of our chicks please contact Suzie Ripp (sripp@sbmord.catholic.edu.au) for further information.
With thanks
Cassie Dirckze (Maths and Science Leader) and Suzie Ripp (Literacy and Humanities Leader)
