Preps

Hi families,

The excitement is increasing in Prep as we edge closer to the Peter Pan concert. Our rehearsals are going well and we can’t wait for all the families to see us on stage.

Walk to school in October has been a huge success in Prep with a number of families walking, riding and scootering to school. A big thank you to all families who have supported their child in walking to school and it was fantastic to see so many families meet at the Millhouse Bakery and Penders Park on Tuesday morning.

In Literacy, we have been focussing on reading and writing narratives. In reading we have looked at the structure of fiction stories such as, ‘The Gruffalo’ series and determining what is the beginning, the problem and the solution in these stories. In Writing, we have planned and begun to write our very own narratives. We will be typing up these narratives to create our very own published book.

In Maths we have been learning how to sort out objects based on their size, shape and colour. We have used justification when sorting out pictures from magazines and concrete materials. We have also been learning how to identify 3D shapes in our environment and even went on a 3D shape hunt in the school yard.

In Inquiry, we are in the ‘Personalising’ stage of our unit ‘Walk on the Wild Side.’ We are using the information we have learnt about living things to help us design a new animal species. We have made decisions about where our animal will live, what features it has and what it will eat. We will be presenting our work on ‘Book Creator’ (an ipad app).

In Religion, we have been learning about the parts of Mass. We have talked about how we gather together, listen to those speaking at Mass, as well as prayers and hymns, how the bread and the wine is shared and when we are blessed at the end of Mass. Last Thursday we attended a Mass at the St Mary’s church and answered questions from Father Shabin about how we can follow Jesus and God.

We hope you have a lovely long weekend,

Carla and Emilie

Juniors

The students have been practising well for the Peter Pan school production. Thanks again to all the parents who have donated their time and helped out with the 1-2 costumes - they look fantastic!

In Religion, students have been learning about various celebrations that happen in the Church. Students are currently learning about the different sacraments and what symbols are used to represent them. These have included Baptism and Reconciliation.

In Inquiry, we had our immersion day for our One World, Many Faces unit. Students participated in African drumming, Fijian rugby activities, Vietnamese cooking, and learnt about the different continents. Students have prepared wonderings which will form the basis of our workshops in the building phase of the learning process.

In Mathematics, students have been learning strategies to make a given amount of money using different coins and notes. Students have also been learning how to measure and compare the mass of different objects using informal and formal units. Students have completed their post test on Money and Mass. They have had their pre test in Patterns and Algebra, and Time.

During Literacy, we continue to work in focus groups, learning about different reading and writing strategies. In Reading, we have been learning about different strategies to help identify the Cause and Effect within a text. In Writing, students have been working on drafting and publishing their comic strips.

Well done to the 1/2TA students who participated well at Mass on Thursday morning.

Enjoy your week.

Hayley, Jason, Tania & Amanda

Middles

Wow! Another two weeks have flown by! Can you believe we are almost halfway through the last term of the year? We continue to work hard both in the class room with our studies, and down in the hall practising for Peter Pan. We are looking forward to a great finish to an amazing year together.

Religion

Congratulations to our Year 3 students who prepared for and made their First Reconciliation last Thursday evening. It was a great celebration of our faith. Thank you to our wonderful families for supporting their children on their sacramental and faith journey. All students have been involved in an Inquiry Unit: We are forgiven. We have been learning about the Reconciliation process, and how this can improve our lives. If your child has come home talking about “Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa” it has come from this unit!!

Mathematics

Our focus in Maths has been on the area of measurement. We have just completed a ‘min-unit’ on length where students increased their estimating and measuring knowledge. They have been measuring in mm, cm and m. We have now moved on to working with and measuring mass (weight). Students have worked on converting different units of measurement across all areas. You could ask your child “How many centimetres in a metre?” Or “How many grams in a kilogram?”

Simple machines

The students have been excited to begin the Immersion phase of our new unit “Machines: Keep it Simple”. They were given a variety of materials (tape, skewers, straws, bluetack, marshmallows etc.) to use to solve a range of challenges (build a tower, construct a bridge, create a marble race). Students worked on the dispositions of collaboration and perseverance and well as their design and creativity skills. Throughout the unit we will look at the way simple machines (gears, pulleys, wedges) have been created to make our lives better and easier.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and enjoy the long weekend.

Kind regards,

Naomi, Jarrod, Tracey, Irma, Vicki and Michelle

Seniors

The Senior students have finished the Building phase of our Inquiry unit, Digipreneurs. The students are really excited to jump into personalising, where they will use the design thinking process to develop a solution to a social problem. They will select an element of technology, either sphero’s, littlebits, tinkercad or scratch, to assist them to solve the social problem, that has been used during the building phase.

In Literacy the students have now finished their autobiographies and have started to explore Fables, including reflecting on the moral/ lesson and writing their own fable. We continue to focus on all the elements of the writing process as well as the elements of a good story which entertain the audience.

In Maths students have completed their post test for the correct order of operations (BIDMAS) unit. They will begin the next unit, Location and Transformations, this week. In this unit students will select from a range of success criteria including; looking at symmetrical patterns, drawing enlargements to 2D shapes, and investigating transformations of shapes, including tessellations.

In Religion the students have started to look at some of the categories in the Bible, including Psalms and Proverbs. In the upcoming weeks students will begin to learn about the differences between the gospels, who was the audience for each of the gospels and examine some of the major stories of the 4 gospels.

Have a great week and stay safe over the long weekend,

Stephanie, Anne-Marie, Sally, Stephen and Gae.

St Mary's School

Issue 18 · 01 Nov 2018

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