What's happening in our learning spaces? 

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Foundation News

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of Term 2! By the end of this week, we will have reached 87 days of learning in Foundation. The semester has gone by so quickly, and we are so proud of all the learning that has occurred in Foundation AM and Foundation LW.  Whilst there were many challenges along the way, there was a lot to celebrate, particularly during the recent parent teacher conversations. The Foundation students have come so far, and there is still plenty more learning to come. 

This week, as mathematicians, we continued to consolidate and extend our understanding of two digit numbers as we engaged in small, targeted focus groups. Some of us made numbers to 15 using tens frames, and some of us used them to make larger two digit numbers. As thinkers, we applied our number sense and place value knowledge as we practised reading, writing, ordering and making different two digit numbers. As researchers, we continued to explore the days of the week through the text ‘I Had a Favourite Dress’.  As thinkers, we identified the different items of clothing the little girl’s mother made for her to wear each day and recorded our thinking in words and pictures.

As readers, we are continuing to engage in lots of read alouds and shared reading, as well as guided reading groups. We are learning to monitor meaning when reading, and identify when what we read doesn’t make sense. As researchers, we are finding out about new strategies for reading, such as flipping vowel sounds from the short sound to the long sound.  Some of us are continuing to identify the initial sounds of words, and cross check this with the visual, and some of us are beginning to explore the digraphs or blends at the beginning of words, such as sh, ch, th, bl and st, and common word endings such as ing, s and ed. As thinkers, we are using these strategies to help us solve unknown words when reading. We are focusing on the /z/ and /j/ sounds this week, while continuing to consolidate all of the sight words we have learnt this term. Please continue to assist your child with their letter sounds, digraphs and sight words over the school holidays.  

This week in our Discovery Time Workshops, we were very busy collaborating with each other to build, design, create, write and explore. As builders, we continued to work together in small groups, with a focus on sharing, taking turns and listening respectfully, as we constructed mansions, racetracks and cities with blocks, swimming pools and houses with lego, cakes and aeroplanes with boxes and different sized towers with cups. As communicators, we made sure to talk with our peers and come up with a plan first, because that’s what good collaborators do. We were authors and illustrators at the writing station, where we made books for our mums, books about the alphabet and even a fun number game! 

Thank you for all of your support this term. We hope you all have a safe and happy break, and look forward to seeing you back at school for Term 3 on Monday, 12th July. 

Leanne Wenckowski and Alycia Marsico

Foundation Team

Year 1/2

It was great to have the opportunity to meet with you all last week at the parent teacher conversations. They are such a valuable part of your children’s development and an effective way to flag areas of need and to further support their learning.  We thank you for the positivity and respectful manner in which they were conducted!

As we approach the downhill run, we reflect on the concerted efforts that our students have demonstrated this term, particularly, how they adapted to remote learning. They have continued to develop skills, attitudes and dispositions through Inquiry and were able to self-reflect on their learning assets as communicators and collaborators.  Well done Year 1 and Year 2 students! You were also fantastic self-managers and e Learners too!

As readers, we have been exploring the wonderful world of Fairy Tales.  We shared our favourite fairy tale and communicated our thinking about the characters, setting and main events.  We had so much fun performing a Readers’ Theatre for ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. As writers, we focused on words that described the Troll and drew some very scary pictures of him. 

Revision of the following concepts has been the main focus in Mathematics:

• ordering numbers on number lines
• identifying and continuing number patterns
• measuring length by informal and formal units
• subitising using dominoes

We have been scientists in our Shared Inquiry ‘Mix It Up’ and predicted what would happen if cream in a container is shaken vigorously.

I think that the cream will have bubbles – Nefeli

I think that the cream will become watery – Samuel

I think that the cream will become harder – Louis

I think that the cream will explode – Julius

I think that the cream will rise – Jasmine

Year 1/2 students in their STEM lesson

A.C.U. student Miss Saffy will be completing her placement on Wednesday.  We thank her for her professionalism, care and support of our Year 1/2 students and wish her all the very best for her future teaching.

Wishing all of our families a safe, restful and enjoyable holiday.

Kindest regards,

Stefanie Carriera, Belinda Filippone and Maria Delaney

Year 3/4

The Year 3/4  students have continued to work hard in class since their return to school after their remote learning stint at home due to COVID restrictions. They have had the opportunity to reflect on the positives of home learning and indicate the things they would like to participate in, if we were to repeat this experience. Hopefully this will not need to happen.

In Science, the students have participated in a variety of activities this last week. They have completed an experiment where they have tested the insulation of materials in keeping water warm, they have learnt the correct way to record the experiment process and how to reflect and record what they found at the end of the experiment phase.

In Literacy, the students have continued to work on using the comprehension strategies to understand the texts they have read. They have looked at the scientific structure of writing up an experiment and the different types of sentence structures.

In Mathematics, the students have continued to collect data and then use it to present different types of graphs. They have looked at the requirements of a graph such as titles, labels and the use of the x and y axis to accurately present data on a graph.

In Religion, the students have inquired about the different types of crucifixes and crosses that are used. The students have explored the difference between a cross and a crucifix. They have researched the origins of the cross and the history behind such crosses as the Celtic, Papal and Altar Cross.

In PE, the students have participated in the third netball clinic run by Ricky from Netball Victoria. The students have been very enthusiastic during these sessions. It has been wonderful to see their skills improve during this program.

We thank the students for their effort this term and parents/carers for their continued support of us teachers and your children. We wish you a safe and restful holiday.

Mark MacGregor, Katarina Davidson and Graham Troy.

Year 5/6

What an exciting and busy term it has been for our Year 5/6 students! We have seen it all, from excursions to remote learning and now camp! The 5/6 teachers are so proud of our students this term and would like to thank them for all their hard work and determination. 

In Literacy, the students have been making inferences from different picture books and interpreting what the stories are about. They have also been working hard on developing their paraphrasing skills and writing paragraphs and articles in their own words.

In Numeracy, the students have been developing strategies they can use when faced with challenging multiplication problems. The students should be very proud of their efforts throughout numeracy this term. They have consistently tried their best in all they have done. 

In Inquiry, the students have been sharing and presenting the projects they created over remote learning. Each of the students created a persuasive piece that convinced the audience to use more sustainable and renewable sources of energy. The 5/6 teachers were so impressed with the creativity of the students presentations. 

This week sees us off to camp “Weekaway” for three fun filled days. We are eager to see the students participate in the range of outdoor activities provided by the campsite and get to know them even better. The students will have the chance to challenge themselves in a maze and initiatives course, try their hand at some canoeing and archery and then take a leap across the pond on a flying fox!

The students and teachers are also farewelling Ms Tania this week. We are going to miss her sense of humour and fun at school and her dedication to her students. She has been an amazing teacher at St Fidelis for over 7 years and will be dearly missed by us all. We wish her all the best for her future and hope that she pops in for a visit!

Thank you to all the students for their amazing work this term and to the parents for their continued support. We hope you have a restful and enjoyable holiday break.  We look forward to a fantastic end of the year ahead. 

5/6 Teachers,

Viviana Clarke, Olivia Sargent, Tania Fragopoulos, Michelle Casamento