Prep and Year 1 Visual Art

Our Prep and Year 1 students have enjoyed a wonderful start to Visual Art this year! Over the past two weeks, students have participated in engaging art experiences inspired by Chinese New Year, providing opportunities to learn about and celebrate the diverse cultures within our school community.

As part of this inquiry, students created a horse to represent the Year of the Horse. Through painting, cutting and gluing, students explored their creativity while also developing important fine motor skills in a fun and meaningful way.

To further foster a sense of belonging, each student traced their hand to form part of the horse’s body, using colours that represent their school house. This collaborative artwork allowed students to see how individual contributions come together to create something special, reinforcing their connection to one another and to the wider school community.

It has been a joy to see the enthusiasm, creativity and pride our students have brought to Visual Art, and we look forward to many more exciting learning experiences throughout the year.

Year 2 & 3 Art

What a joyful and colourful term it has continued to be in the Art Room! Our Year 2 and 3 students have absolutely embraced their creativity while exploring the inspiring works of Henri Matisse and

Romero Britto.

Year 2 students created stunning Year of the Horse collages inspired by Matisse’s bold cut-out style. They experimented confidently with shape, composition and vibrant colour, showing wonderful imagination and growing independence in their artistic choices.

Our Year 3 students designed eye-catching horse silhouettes in the bold, joyful style of Romero Britto. Their artworks burst with colour, pattern and personality, and it has been fantastic to see their confidence shine through in every piece.

Across both year levels, we have continued embedding our focus on Belonging and our Learner Profiles. Students demonstrated creativity, resilience and collaboration, celebrating each other’s ideas and taking pride in their unique artistic voices. The Art Room has truly been a place where every student’s contribution matters.

I am so proud of the enthusiasm, effort and courage our young artists have shown this term! Ms Ancona

Year 4 ART

In weeks 3 and 4, Year 4 and 5B students, began to learn about identity and what makes each of us unique. To start this exciting unit, we started to create name tags that represented who we are.

We explored different lettering styles, including bubble writing, block writing, and fancy writing, and practised how letters can be shaped and styled in creative ways. Some students also began decorating their name tags with patterns using Sharpie markers, adding detail and personality to their designs.

It has been wonderful to see students experimenting, taking creative risks, and expressing themselves through their names. We look forward to continuing this learning as we explore more ways art can tell a story about who we are.

Grade 5 and 6 Art

In Weeks 3 and 4, Grade 5 and 6 students have been focusing on building strong foundations for the year. We have spent time getting to know one another, establishing clear routines and expectations, and setting the tone for a respectful and creative studio environment.

Students have also worked on fostering a sense of belonging in the art room through a collaborative artwork featuring every student’s name, celebrating our shared creative space. In addition, they have personalised their art journals with custom-designed covers that reflect their individuality, helping to create ownership and pride in their learning for the year ahead.

MEDIA

Welcome to Week Four of our Media Unit.

Students in each cohort have begun their units centred around our Media Arts curriculum, either through exploring, creating, or developing media practices.

Prep

Our Prep students are using music and photography to explore our different emotions. We are learning to understand what emotions look, sound, and feel like for ourselves and our peers.

One

In our unit exploring how cultural stories have been shared over time we spent this week looking at Lunar New Year and the stories behind the twelve animals of the lunar zodiac.

Two

Year Two students are beginning to understand different shot-types, learning how we can put more attention to detail on how we take photos.

Three

Using our devices, Year Three students are developing their ability to present and share information using PowerPoint.

Four

In our Media Analysis Unit, the students are viewing the TV show and making text-to-world connections with Indigenous Australian History.

Five

Our Year Five students have begun their unit on how media has evolved over time. Our first lesson explored the history of animation and how to develop our own flip books.

Six

Making connections to the literacy curriculum, Year Six students are exploring how choices around character design can communicated information to an audience.

Spanish at Our School – ¡Aprendemos Español!

Spanish learning is in full swing across the school, with students developing confidence in speaking, listening, reading, and interacting in another language.

In Prep to Year 2, students are learning how to greet others in Spanish. They can say hola (hello), adiós (goodbye), and introduce themselves using me llamo… (my name is…). They are practising simple exchanges such as ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) and responding with bien, mal, or así, así. Through songs, movement, visuals, and repetition, students are building early communication skills. Within the PYP framework, this connects to the concept of Communication, as students learn that language helps us express ideas and connect with others.

In Years 3 and 4, students are expanding their vocabulary by naming numbers, colours, and shapes in Spanish. They continue practising short conversations and introductions, now adding simple descriptive sentences about themselves. Students are learning to use one of the most common and important verbs in Spanish, ser (to be), to say who they are and describe characteristics. This links to the PYP concept of Identity, as students explore how language helps us express who we are.

Across all year levels, students are encouraged to be risk-takers and communicators, key attributes of the PYP Learner Profile. It is wonderful to see their enthusiasm and growing confidence as they use Spanish in meaningful and authentic ways. ¡Excelente trabajo!

The Spanish team.

Science

It has been an exciting start to science this term. Students in each cohort have been focusing on laboratory safety and developing a clear understanding of how to stay safe while working in the science lab. Establishing strong safety routines has been an important first step in building confidence and responsibility as young scientists.

As our unit gets underway, students are strengthening their scientific knowledge through careful observations, thoughtful questioning, and meaningful discussions. They are learning to think critically, make predictions, and reflect on their findings. Hands-on learning experiences are playing a key role in deepening their understanding and helping them apply new concepts in practical ways.

DANCE.

VSSS

Two weeks of dance auditions have come to an end, and the response by everyone for all programs have been amazing! This year saw over 70 students audition for the 2026 Victorian State School Spectacular Mass Dance Crew, and also the dance extension programs for our Secondary School Campus! The double dance studio was packed out, and the energy in the room was on another level, absolutely amazing! Congratulations to the 16 chosen dancers from Years 7 and 8 who have been selected to represent our Saltwater school and community for this years VSSS. The journey you’re about to embark on will be an exciting one, and definitely one to remember!

We would also like to acknowledge and send out a massive congratulations to our Year 7 student Pranav Karmacharya who has been selected to perform on the main stage as a Principal Dancer for this years VSSS! Pranav is our first boy, and our 3rd student ever to represent Saltwater as a principal dancer on the main stage! We are so excited to see him and our new dancers in this huge show in August! Well done and congratulations again!

This week also saw the beginning our 2026 dance extension and enrichment program for our secondary students. This year has seen the biggest group of students audition and join the dance program from secondary, which has started off with amazing energy and enthusiasm already! The group is hungry and eager to start building their skills and knowledge not only for dance, but also for all the important life elements and lessons dance teaches also.

Dance Extension and Wakakirri...(Dance)

The dance extension and Wakakirri program has seen over 170 students audition over a 3 day period in the past week. The program and interest from students has been well received, making it even harder for the audition and selection process once again. Everyone danced their hearts out giving it their absolute best as they showcased their amazing skills and talent that’s growing here at Saltwater College. In the end 40 students were chosen to represent Saltwater for this years Wakakirri journey as they work towards bringing this years theme of “Guardians Of US” to life. Rehearsals will be beginning soon as we start to plan and prepare for the big show held at the Clocktower Centre in August. Congratulations to all of the successful students who have joined the dance extension program this year, and to everyone who auditioned over the three days also! Amazing work by all and well done!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

During the past 2 weeks, Prep–Year 2 students have been enthusiastically developing their fundamental motor skills through a variety of engaging and energetic games during Physical Education lessons. These activities have focused on building confidence and coordination while encouraging teamwork, participation and fun. Through selected games, students have practised running with control and awareness of space, learning how to change speed and direction safely. These games also encourage students to work cooperatively, follow rules and demonstrate good sportsmanship.

Our Years 3–6 students have been showing fantastic dedication and enthusiasm as they prepare for the upcoming athletics carnival in early Term 2. Students have been developing their techniques in high jump, discus and shot put, focusing on safe practices, correct form and skill refinement. During practical lessons, students have embraced the opportunity to challenge themselves, practise new techniques and build confidence in each event. It has been wonderful to see students encouraging one another, being risk takers and demonstrating persistence as they work to improve their performances.

Our district Swim Team has been participating in before school swim training at BlueFit pool Point Cook twice a week in preparation for our district swim carnival on 25th February, which will be held at Werribee Outdoor Pool. We wish these students all the best as they continue their preparation over the next couple of weeks!

The PE Team

WELLBEING

In Wellbeing we are beginning with the units of Emotional Literacy and Personal Strengths to complement what students are studying in their classrooms for their first Unit of Inquiry, titled Who We Are. Students are building their Belonging Tree by identifying emotions that can be difficult to control and adding strategies they can use to self-regulate or de-escalate their feelings.

Foundation Years are learning how to use the Zones of Regulations and extend their emotion vocabulary, while adding their strengths to better use stagiest to manage with tricky emotions.

In Year One the focus has been on developing better awareness of how to express emotions and think of strategies to bounce back, while emphasising their personal strengths.

In Year Two, students are identifying their strengths and how these strengths can be useful at school to manage everyday life. They are learning and practicing the qualities of a good listener, such as working in a group, sharing ideas, collaborating and interacting so that they can participate in class and develop skills to use in their lives.

Students in Years Three are learning to better predict likely emotions by interpreting body language and to manage the social and emotional change while using strategies to self-regulate.

In Year Four, students are exploring how friendships change as they get older. They are identifying and practicing strategies to navigate and manage that change.

Our Year Five students are learning to evaluate their personal experiences at school and at home and build on their personal strengths focusing on resilience. They are becoming more comfortable understanding the links between their emotions and behaviours to develop a greater sense of belong in classroom and school community.

In Year Six, students are examining and analysing situations in which the emotional responses can influence decision-making in peer groups at school or within family so that they can recognise that sometime emotional responses can be unpredictable.

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