What's happening in our learning spaces? 

Students of the Week   

Foundation

Our week in Foundation began with a visit from our buddies, who joined us outside for some games and sports activities. We played basketball, soccer and tag, and some of us played with the hula hoops and skipping ropes. It was exciting to catch up with them after all this time and we can’t wait to see them again soon. 

As writers, we tuned in to Letter Writing by reading the book ‘Pen Pal Club’. As researchers, we looked and listened for all the things to include in a letter, and

collaborated to write one together. As thinkers, we applied our new knowledge by independently writing a letter to a fictional new student. We included the date, a greeting, some information about our school, some questions for the new student and a closing. We will have time and opportunity in the coming weeks to write letters to our friends, our new teachers and even to Santa. 

This week, as readers, we focused on the skill of inferring. Throughout our shared reading sessions and guided reading groups, we used clues from the text and our prior knowledge to identify how characters are feeling, what they are thinking and what is happening in the story. 

As mathematicians, we tuned in to the concept of Division. We listened to the story ‘The Doorbell Rang’ and shared cookies equally between different people. As thinkers, we represented real life division stories by sharing concrete materials into equal groups by ones. We used our counting skills to identify how many we had to begin with, how many groups they were shared into and how many in each group. We also counted them to check that each group had the same amount. 

As people of faith, we began exploring the Sacrament of Baptism. As researchers, we looked at different symbols that represent Baptism, such as the white garment, the baptismal candle, the baptismal font and the water,  and their meaning, and looked closely at photos. As thinkers, we made connections to our own experiences and shared stories about Baptisms we have been to and what we noticed. 

We ended our week in STEM, as we began filming our Fairytale productions. We all did a wonderful job taking on the role of our characters and confidently and courageously reading our lines. We demonstrated our skills as collaborators and communicators by working together, following directions, listening to each other and helping and supporting one another. We have one more play to finish, and hopefully we can share our amazing acting skills with you all soon. 

At the end of this week we say goodbye to our wonderful student teacher, Mr Max. We thank him for all that he has done for both FAM and FLW during his time with us and hope that he has learnt a lot. We wish him all the best on his journey to becoming a teacher. 

We are excited for the week ahead and look forward to Italian day, Sports day and lots of wonderful learning and experiences. Don’t forget to wear Italian colours or costumes on Tuesday and your sports colour on Thursday! 

Foundation Team, 

Leanne Wenckowski and Alycia Marsico.

Year 1/2

This week in Year 1/2, we have been thinkers, communicators and collaborators as we engaged in another week of learning. 

As inquiries, we continued to unpack our understanding of ‘What makes a good garden design?’.  As thinkers, we continue to create plans and collaborate with our groups to design the Hawthorn Yard, SLA and front of our school gardens. We went for a wander around our school to collect natural materials to use to build our 3D model for our gardens. We made some amazing discoveries, take a look!

As mathematicians, we are investigating how to tell the time. We constructed a big clock using a hula hoop. We noticed that we can divide our clock into halves and quarters. At home, encourage your children to read digital and analog clocks, and have conversations about what time you share your favourite meals or attend after school activities. We look forward to learning more about Time. 

On Thursday, we went on an exciting excursion to ACMI at Federation Square. Thank you Mr Frazzetto for organising such a fun day for us.  We attended a Light and Shadow workshop, and had a wander around the exhibition. In the workshop, we designed and constructed silhouettes, then used different forms of light to make our own shadow boxes. Here are some photos from our day out!

We look forward to our Italian Day and Sports Day next week!

Year 1/2 Team,

Stefanie Carriera, Maria Delaney & Belinda Filippone

Year 3/4

During literacy this week, students will continue exploring explanation text in order to write an explanation on their own topic. They have explored the language features found in explanation such as the use of conjunctions to show order and cause and effect.  The students are reading short texts to use clues found within to infer from a character's perspective and to use different strategies to comprehend the text.  

In maths we are examining the concepts of fractions including their connection to division. We are embedding the understanding of fractions as an equal part of a whole connecting the fraction name (size) to the fraction symbol. Students are continuing to explore the fraction wall as a tool for ordering fractions and identifying the equivalence of fractions. 

In Inquiry, the students are at the design phase of their playground space. They have worked hard at looking into how a space is planned and how the collection of data assists with that planning. 

In Religion, the students have begun to learn more about the Season of Advent. The students will use a resource from Caritas Australia to see how Advent is celebrated all around the world. The students have continued with preparations for school sports day in PE as well as our lessons for tee ball on Fridays.

This Saturday, the Year 3 students will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We look forward to celebrating this special time with the students and their family.

Have a great week,

Graham Troy, Katarina Davidson and Mark MacGregor.

Year 5/6

In Religion, we are focussing on various Bible stories and creating a Jesse Tree. A Jesse Tree is a decorative tree that each day during Advent has an ornament hung on it that symbolises the story of how God prepared for Jesus to be born. The Jesse Tree is divided into 3 main parts.

• A tree
• Symbolic ornaments
• Scripture readings that go with the ornaments 

Some of the stories include: Adam and Eve; Johan; Moses and the burning bush; Mary the mother of Jesus; Ruth; King David, just to name a few.

In Literacy, the students focussed on the text ‘Mirror’ by Jeanne Baker.  They are continuing to learn about the author’s craft and visual literacy in texts.  The students are completing, editing and publishing their narratives.  Over the year, the students have learnt to write various texts using the 7 Step Process.

In Numeracy, the students are learning to add, subtract and multiply fractions.  In the last few weeks of term, we will be revising multiplication, division and other areas of the mathematics curriculum where students are needing further consolidation.

In Inquiry, the students enjoyed a day to build their prototypes using their design brief.  As collaborators, they have written a pitch to sell their product/service.  Some of the questions they included were: What is the name of your company?; What problems are you solving?; Who are you selling to?; Who are your competitors?; Is your product/service ethical and sustainable? They will be presenting their pitch to their peers in the coming weeks.

The students from 5/6CA enjoyed their excursion to ACMI. They discovered how inventors, innovators and artists have used light and shadow, time and movement, colour and sound over time to tell stories and celebrate the wonder of the moving image. The exhibition acknowledged First Peoples’ ongoing contribution to culture and storytelling, while also foregrounding new perspectives and Australian creativity and innovation.

Every student received a “disk Lens”, a free take-home device that lets them collect artworks and objects as well as their interactive experiences. Once back at home or at school, students were able to view the exhibitions they ‘collected’ via the scan and lens, to delve deeper into the stories and ideas behind the things they have collected.  Students were lucky enough to have the weather hold up and enjoy lunch at Fed Square followed by a Stop motion workshop, where students created a variety of stop motion pieces using lego. The day was full of excitement and learning and was worth the long lockdown wait.

In STEM, the students had a wonderful time building and programming a Robobike to move efficiently and quickly.  After designing their bike, they had the opportunity to compete against each other to see who's Robobike travelled the furthest.

We look forward to another great week of learning ahead and the excitement that Term 4 brings. 

Viviana Clarke, Cherrie Arnold, Olivia Sargent, and Michelle Casamento