Preps

Hi families,

Welcome to Term 4! We are so excited about all this term has to offer.

A big thank you to all families for sending along pyjamas and a teddy bear to school in preparation for the concert. We understand that the pyjamas have been difficult to find and we really appreciate your support with this.

In Literacy, we have been learning to recognise 'doing words'. We have also been focussing on word endings such as 'ing', 'ed' and 's'. The Preps have been locating words with these endings in texts and including these in their writing. The Preps have also been practising writing collaboratively with a partner and using peer to peer feedback to help each other edit their work.

In Maths, the Preps have been learning to read and write numbers as written words. They have worked in groups to locate, match, and order numbers to beyond twenty! The Preps have also enjoyed using the 'Beebots' to help them talk about how objects can move (forwards, backwards, left and right).

In Religion, the Preps have been learning about Baptism. We have talked about the significance of Baptism and what it means to be Baptised. We also reflected upon Jesus' experience of being Baptised and the importance of John the Baptist. Some Preps were given an opportunity to bring in things from their own Baptism. It was great to be able to show the Preps real photos of the Jordan River.

In Inquiry, the Preps have been learning about the features of living things. At the moment we are making 'grass heads' and we have talked about what these ‘grass heads’ will need to grow and survive. Thank you to all parents who sent a tin (or tins) along with their child.

Have a lovely weekend,

Emilie and Carla

Middles

Hello parents, can you believe it’s already Term 4! Where has the year gone?

We are busy, busy, working on our Peter Pan rehearsals, getting ready for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and practising for Twilight Sports.

Reconciliation - a major focus so far this term in the classrooms has been Reconciliation. We have been learning about the reconciliation process; how to acknowledge you’ve made a mistake, seek forgiveness and then go about making amends. We have talked about what a sin is, and are beginning to focus on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We have talked about the signs and symbols of Reconciliation. We are looking forward to celebrating the Sacrament next Thursday night (25th October at 7:15pm).

Peter Pan - our concert items are starting to take shape. Thank you to all the parents who have organised student’s costumes already. Please get in contact with us if you are having any issues. A special thank you to Mrs Naomi and her ‘workers’ who are busy adding flair to our pirate outfits.

Twilight Sports - please keep the date Friday 23rd November free. The students have been practising for the night. We are looking forward to having a great time together, running, jumping and sweating.

Maths - we are currently working on Measurement as well as Fractions and Decimals. In Measurement, our main focus (key learning intentions) has been using a ruler to measure correctly and converting cm into metres. We are beginning a unit of Fractions and Decimals focusing mainly on halves, quarters, fifths and tenths. The students will work on ordering common fractions and challenge themselves further with equivalent fractions.

We are looking to Miss Vicki returning from her holiday. I’m sure she will be well rested … and tanned!

All the best,

Jarrod, Naomi, Tracey, Irma, Vicki and Michelle.

Senior

Welcome back to term 4! It has been a busy start to the term with lots of preparation for the school play ‘Peter Pan’. Thank you to everyone who brought in their completed costume on Monday. For those people who have to finish it off or make changes, please bring in your costume to check by next Monday the 22nd of October. Please note that any child with the incorrect costume will not be allowed on stage.

In Literacy, the students have been busy reading about different inventors and entrepreneurs. They have been practicing taking notes, making connections, researching, generating questions and having deep discussions. This has prompted some discussion about what we want to do when we grow up. The students have also been finishing off their autobiographies and are at the stage of editing and revising their work before publishing it.

In Maths the students have been participating in workshops where the focus has been on revising and sharpening our skills with the four operations. We have also begun exploring the correct order of operations (BIDMAS) and why this is an important rule to follow in maths.

In Religion, the students have been learning about the books of the Bible. They have created a bookshelf display to show the names of the different books, their order and category. They are beginning to look at the different categories in more detail.

In Inquiry the students have been designing and developing digital solutions to different problems. They have explored what a circuit is and what conducts and what insulates electricity. They have also used ‘Little Bits’ and Lego to create a prototype of an invention. These included houses, boats, vans, and airport security systems and you can see your child’s work on Seesaw.

Have a great week,

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

Juniors

Welcome back to Term 4. We have been excited to hear all about the students’ holidays and the holiday adventures have provided us with much information for our writing in Literacy.

In Literacy we have been writing memoirs using the five senses to help us. The memory bag from the holidays has provided much stimulus for writing.

In Reading we are focusing on the main idea of a text and what details support the main idea.

In Maths we have commenced our new units on money and mass/weight. Students have been counting money and learning how to make different amounts of money in different ways. In our unit on mass we are talking about things that are heavy and light and about how to weigh items using grams and kilograms.

In Religion we have been talking about both religious and secular celebrations. We are now focussing on the sacrament of Baptism as a sacrament of initiation. We will be looking at the symbols of baptism and reading the story of Jesus’ Baptism.

Yesterday our excursion to the Preston Market was a great success. Thank you to parents who came along to help out. This excursion commenced our Inquiry unit on multiculturalism. In groups students had to find diverse places around the market which represented different cultures & countries. Students were rewarded with a fruit from Paradise Fruit. In this excursion each group was given $20 to spend on food to taste. This helped us with our money counting skills and great negotiations were had about how to spend the money.

Peter Pan costumes: Many thanks to parents who have come in to help us with costumes.They are looking fantastic. Please ensure you have brought in plain black leggings or tracksuits by the end of the week.

Enjoy your week

Amanda, Hayley, Jason and Tania

St Mary's School

Issue 17 · 18 Oct 2018

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