Specialist classes

Here is an overview of the exciting and varied lessons and activities that our students will be participating in this term:

ART - Mrs Andrea Garwood & Mrs Lainie Owen

Preps will start the term participating in a whole school collaborative activity creating a Lego figure.  They will look at the artist Alexander Calder to create an abstract line drawing. Students will create rainbow collages after reading the book How the Crayons saved the Rainbow.  They will use magiclay to create 3D art. 

Year 1 & 2 will participate in a whole school collaborative activity involving Lego figures.  They will look at the artist Alexander Calder to create an abstract drawing with lines. They will learn about perspective and use magiclay in an artwork inspired by Deb McNaughton.  They will learn about the resist technique by painting water colour over oil pastel.

Year 3 & 4 started the term participating in a whole school collaborative activity creating a Lego figure.  Students will learn about perspectives in a step-by-step city picture. They will create a sculpture of a flower using magiclay and wire. Inspired by the artist Vexx, they will learn about and create a doodle-style artwork.

Year 5 & 6 participated in a whole school collaborative activity involving Lego figures.  They will discuss complementary and contrasting colours and create lava lamp pictures using oil pastel.  Students will look at the artist Vexx and create doodle-style pictures.  Using magiclay, students will design and sculpture dragon eyes. 

PERFORMING ARTS - Mrs Carmen Collins

All classes spent week 1 learning and viewing about multicultural dances and performing arts from all around the world. We enjoyed the Chinese Lion Dance, a Maori Haka, watched an Aboriginal welcome ceremony and dances from other countries and cultures. Students looked at similarities and differences between the cultures and costumes of different countries.

For the rest of the term,

Preps are learning how to create scene and voices using wooden toys and the words and actions to nursery rhymes.

Year 1 students are exploring improvisation, making superhero masks and how mime and movement can tell a story.

Year 2 students make puppets from newspapers and are exploring fairy tales and how to extend our comfort zone in improvised situations.

Year 3 are completing a unit of reader’s theatre where they prepare, practise and perform a play to the class and then finish the term looking at how literacy enhances drama.

Year 4 are completing a unit of reader’s theatre where they prepare, practise and perform a play to the class and then finish the term exploring puppetry and masks on stage.

Year 5 students are learning the features of a script and experimenting with writing their own drama, then move onto exploring how mime and movement can enhance a story on stage.

Year 6 students will begin writing a script of their own creation to practise and perform to their class then move on to exploring digital drama and how ICT can enhance performances.

It’s going to be an awesome term in Performing Arts!

MUSIC - Mrs Lisa Scott (PLT Leader)

Below is a brief outline of what we will be covering in Music this term: 

 Prep students will continue to develop their musical skills through the topics of ‘The Jungle’ and ‘The Sea’ and will experience using percussion instruments, scarves, the parachute and rhythmic ribbons to accompany a variety of music and songs.

Year 1 – students will explore creating and using body percussion to accompany songs.  They will also experience music and dance from different countries and will use scarves, ribbons and the parachute in listening and movement-based activities.

Year 2 – Students will be creating and performing soundscapes and will develop their improvisation skills using body percussion and instruments. They will also experience music and dance from different countries. 

Year 3 - students will be challenged to develop their singing skills by learning and performing a variety of rounds and canon. They will also compose their own music using the pentatonic scale and will be learning about the Instruments in an Orchestra.

Year 4 - students will be learning techniques to play in a drum circle and to perform African style music.  They will also use a range of ‘Orff’ instruments to play music in unison and in several parts. 

Year 5 – students will experience playing the guitar.  They will be learning to play chords and riffs to accompany a variety of songs in whole class music making.  They will also write and perform a piece of rap music. 

 Year 6 - students will experience playing the bass guitar and further develop their individual skills in instrumental playing using either guitar/keyboard/ukulele or marimba.   They will use their knowledge to play and perform various popular songs.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - Mr Jeff McGann & Miss Tabatha Carter

Term 2 is another busy term with several sporting and athletic events for our students to experience.  At the end of this term students from years 4 to 6 will participate in the Hillsmeade Athletics event at Casey Fields. The results gathered during this event will determine who makes it into the Hillsmeade Athletics squad that will then compete in the District Athletics in August. 

The school’s interschool cricket, soccer, badminton, netball and T-Ball teams will participate in several interschool games this term against other primary schools in our district. These teams will also participate in the Lightning Premiership event in week 5 of this term. This is a fun day where the students will compete in their sporting teams against other schools for the entire day.

Students in Years 3 to 4 will have the opportunity to participate in Hoop Time this term. This is a basketball event that caters for all skill levels. The students who sign up for Hoop Time will be training with a team based on their individual skill level in preparation to compete against students from other schools in the area. The Year 5 and 6 students will get to participate in Hoop Time in Term 3.

The focus for the physical education lessons this term for the students in Years 3 to 6 will be lacrosse, soccer, basketball, T-Ball and games. The students in Years Prep to 2 will be continuing their unit on gymnastics where they are practising their balancing, rolling and yoga skills. These year levels will also be learning about lawn bowls as well as building on their throwing and catching skills. 

DIGITECH - Mr Hardev Singh & Mrs Janelle Struth

Prep, 1 and 2: Students have been learning how to use google maps to find different locations such as Hillsmeade Primary and different landmarks around the world. Students were introduced how to research using a kid- friendly search engine called ‘ Kiddle’. Further into the term, we will be learning how to code and the importance of problem-solving using technology, to do this we will be using an app called “SpriteBox” to help us. 

Year 3 and 4: This term, students in Years 3 and 4 at Hillsmeade Primary School will dive into the world of Digital Technology, guided by the Victorian Curriculum. Their journey will include exploring the fundamentals of digital systems and data representation while developing skills to manage and create digital projects. A highlight of this term will be the use of Minecraft Education. On this platform, students will engage in activities designed to enhance their understanding of cyber safety and responsible online behaviour.

Additionally, students will unleash their creativity in storytelling by creating stop-motion animations using Lego and clay. This hands-on approach will help them grasp the basics of visual communication and narrative development. Furthermore, the curriculum will incorporate the use of powerful digital tools like Canva, iMovie, and Sketchbook. Here, students will learn to design eye-catching posters, craft compelling advertisements, and produce various digital content, fostering a blend of artistic and technological proficiency.

Year 5 and 6: Students in Years 5 and 6 at Hillsmeade Primary School will advance their digital technology skills this term, aligning with the Victorian Curriculum's key components for this age group. Their learning will encompass the creation and manipulation of digital data, where they will be introduced to Excel for constructing simple tables and graphs. This skill will aid in their understanding of data interpretation and presentation.

Furthermore, the students will delve into environmental science by researching recycling practices from credible sources. Using their findings, they will design informative posters to advocate for recycling, combining digital literacy with ecological awareness. Additionally, the curriculum includes a creative project where students create their games using Scratch, focusing on promoting recycling to peers.

To round off the term, the students will explore the basics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), learning about how AI technologies function and their applications in the modern world, thus preparing them for future technological advancements.

STEM - Miss Jemma Dunstan

This term Years 1, 3 and 5 will have a focus on Earth & Space Science. 

Years 2, 4 and 6 will have a focus on Biological Science.

Year 1’s will be exploring weather and seasons and the changes our environment goes through during each season. They will explore earths resources, including water, and ways we can conserve earths resources for future use.

Year 2’s will be looking at habitats and ecosystems and the role they play in keeping plants and animals safe. They will explore the life cycle of plants and animals and work in groups to solve complex STEM challenges.

Year 3’s will be identifying our place in the solar system through exploration of planets, the sun and the moon. They will identify how our earth has changed over time and what human and natural activities make these changes. They will participate in a range of inquiry based STEM challenges.

Year 4’s will be looking at how plants make their own food by conducting self-led experiments. They will explore animal life cycles and make comparisons and connections between different animals. They will participate in a range of inquiry based tasks, led by their own curiosity and questions.

Year 5’s will be completing self-directed projects around the exploration of space. They will model and present solar system models, explore geological events that affect our earth and identify the various moon phases.

Year 6’s will be conducting self-directed inquiry experiments around the topic of animal adaptations – how animals have adapted to their environment. They will participate in both guided and self-led experiments around mould, acidic oceans and PH levels – this links with a focus on the physical environment and how these things contribute to the living things that can survive there.

If you have any questions about the STEM program, please reach out to Miss Jemma Dunstan – jemma.dunstan@education.vic.gov.au

MANDARIN - Miss Wei Wang

In Term 2, we will continue to strengthen our speaking skills, expand our vocabulary, learn about Chinese characters, and explore some cultural aspects. Different year levels will engage in specific units of work -

Prep students are learning to say basic colours and will be officially introduced to the Chinese writing system. They will learn to use a writing grid to practise handwriting Mandarin numbers in both characters and Pinyin (the Romanised pronunciation)

Year 1 students are learning to name a group of body parts through the Mandarin version Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. They will be revisiting numbers 0-10 and learn to count to twenty. They will take part in calligraphy activities to learn to write basic Chinese characters 人 (human), 口 (mouth), 大 (big) and 小 (small) , and learn to identify basic simple characters components in compound characters.

Year 2 students are extending their vocabulary of colours and learn to use the adjective forms of colours to describe objects. They will learn to express preferences to describe their likes and dislikes in full sentences, and to substitute the subject ‘wo’ (I) with other nouns (for example, family, pets and animals)

Year 3 students have been participated in peaking activities to practise scripted mini dialogues including asking each other names and age. They will explore the story behind the Blue Willow porcelain design and apply oriental patterns when designing a paper plate or vase.

Year 4 students started the term with a unit of work on Australian states and territories. They learned to use two sentence starters to say places they have been and places they want to go to around Australia. Students are currently extending their feeling and emotion vocabulary and learning to express how they feel during roll time. In the next unit of work, students will learn to name places at a school and apply these words in a sentence stem when making a request to go somewhere.

Year 5 students are wrapping up our unit of work on nationalities. They each wrote a sentence to describe their own nationality or ethnic background, and copied a sentence to say they live in Australia. In the coming weeks, students will focus on sports, hobbies and other interests. They will learn to say a selection of common verbs and apply them when exchanging information about activities they do for fun.

Year 6 students will focus on their self-introduction this term. They will revisit all contents covered in previous years and practise giving a mini speech about themselves with a template. Each week, they will focus on one to three aspects and practise delivering this mini speech to a small audience. Their self-introduction will include their English and Chinese names, their gender, age, birthday, nationality or cultural background, family and sports they like or hobbies.