Prep

Teddy Bear's Picnic & Pyjama Day

Friday 16 June was a very special day for our Prep students at school. A few weeks ago we wrote letters to our teddies, addressed envelopes and posted letters. The letters arrived and teddies and students came into school in their pyjama’s for a day of fun filled learning activities. We talked and wrote about why we loved our teddies, we decorated teddy bear biscuits and ate them (yum!) and we even had a teddy disco in the Hall. Here are some photos of us enjoying our day:

Year 1

Minibeast Day

Butterflies, ladybugs, flies OH MY!!! Did you see some rather large and colourful minibeasts flying around Essex Heights on Monday 19 June? Because if you did, they were heading to the YEAR 1 MINIBEAST DAY!!!!

It was a wonderful way to wrap up our learning about Minibeasts, which we have been investigating this term as part of our integrated unit. It was a day of CELEBRATION! We started our morning in the school hall with a catwalk, where we got to see all the FABULOUS costumes on full display. Then we had our very own Bug Disco. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!

During the day the children also made and ate their own bug biscuits and created a beautiful 3D insect artwork.

We ended the day with the whole school assembly, where there were lot’s of Year 1 families in the crowd. It was so lovely to see so many familiar faces there to end our special day!

NAIDOC Week 2023 🖤💛❤️

Did you see the display at the front of the school this week? It was created by the Years 1 and 6 in their buddy session on Thursday.

Taking place between the 2nd and 9th July, NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to participate in celebrations and learn about First Nations culture. The 2023 theme is ‘For Our Elders’ to highlight the important role that cultural knowledge holders and leaders bring to their communities.

Year 5

Year 5 Camp

Year 5 have been on camp this week, from Monday 19 to Wednesday 21 June, at Cave Hill Creek Camp at Raglan in western Victoria, about 45 minutes from Ballarat.

I think camp was really fun. I really liked crate stacking. I got the highest in the group and I thought it was a great teamwork activity. Caitlin 5R

The food was really nice on camp. I really liked the burgers. Also we got to do canoeing. It was really hard but fun. We played lots of games like emperor and we paddled up the lake. I was really happy to meet up with all my school friends out of school on camp. Nao 5R

The camp activities were very challenging and exciting and included a lot of teamwork and inclusiveness. I really enjoyed the crate stacking. Crate stacking is where you stack crates, but you’re climbing the stack of crates at the same time. So you are building and climbing a tower of crates. There was a disco and a movie night too. Irene 5L

The activities at the camp were extremely fun. My favourite activity was archery. It was really fun for me to do and I had a lot of turns, so it was a nice opportunity. I am also really happy about my cabin, because I had all of my friends in there with me. The food at the venue was absolutely delicious. I really enjoyed it. The camp staff were very nice and helpful. They served us food and arranged our activities. I really enjoyed camp. Ethan 5RL

Year 5 Camp was a really great experience because it’s a great chance for kids to get out of their comfort zone and try new things. Tilly 5R

Cave Hill Creek was a generally good camp. They have a lot of good and fun activities. My favourite activity was canoeing because I loved paddling. The set up and timetable was really good as well because they had seven groups. Jonathan 5R

I love Cave Hill Creek! The activities are really fun, especially the Giant’s ladder because it was really fun and my team cheered on for each other. Most of us got to the top. Raelynn 5RL

I really liked the experience at Cave Hill Creek. The staff were really nice. They were alswyas helping everytime they could. They played games with us. I liked the Giant’s Ladder the most! Richard 5L

It was a really fun experience at Cave Hill Creek. My favourite activity was archery because it’s rewarding when you hit the board and the bull’s eye! I’m also really grateful for my dad coming and all the parent helpers. We had a lot of fun all together. Zerrin 5RL

My favourite activity was the Giant’s Ladder. We all showed great team work and it was fun to try our best. Georgia 5RL

Cave Hill Creek is awesome! I think it really helped us work on our team building. We did hut building and on the Giant’s Ladder we encouraged each other. It made you feel like you can do it when everyone’s supporting you. It was all challenging but not so hard that you thought you couldn’t do this. Zach 5RL

Camp was really fun and I got to experience a lot of different things that I never would have tried. I had a big chance to hang out with my peers. I like being with my friends because its fun tic gat with them. Ivy 5L

Year 6

Buddies

On Thursday 8 June, the Year 6s excitedly met with their Year 1 buddies! We enjoyed visiting the Year 1 classrooms, reading books together and completing an ‘All About Me’ activity. It was a wonderful afternoon and we look forward to more buddy sessions in the future!

Mr Tang’s Last Day

Friday 9 June was Mr Tang’s last day with the Year 6s. The cohort reminisced with Mr Tang about their school years since Year 2, when Mr Tang first started teaching some of the students. We will miss Mr Tang’s love of Maths and learning, and we wish him all the best in his next adventure.

Cybersafety Incursion

On Tuesday 13 June, Senior Constable Heath Williams from Victoria Police came to visit the Year 6s to discuss the importance of safe internet use. It was a very informative and engaging session that reminded the students to be alert and responsible when they are online. Students were encouraged to speak to trusted adults when and if they had concerns. We thank Senior Constable Heath for taking the time to speak to our students on this important issue.

Health & P.E.

Senior School Inter-School Sport

Years 5 and 6 students participated in the Senior School Inter-School Sport Winter program on Fridays from 9am to 11am, from 28 April to 16 June. Students competed in AFL, Soccer, Teeball, Netball, Ultimate Frisbee, Bootball and Lawn Bowls in the Winter competition.

Lawn Bowling is a sport that is played with a jack, which is a small white ball. A bowl is a round shape with flat sides and a weight on one side. There is a small sticker that shows you which side the weight is on. This makes the bowl curve to what side you choose. The goal is to get your bowl closest to the jack, the small white ball.

We got a chance to bowl in the Mount Waverley Lawn Bowling Club and learn how to bowl and skills to help us play. They played with us games that help our skills. It was enjoyable and hard. We did warm ups such as two laps of the court.

Thank you to the volunteers of the Mount Waverly Lawn Bowling Club for teaching us and thank you to Mrs Cheuk and Mrs Easdale, who sadly left the school.

Momin M and Jonathan K

Over the past six weeks all Year 5 and 6 students had the opportunity to compete in the Winter Sport program. I participated in the AFL 9s team and we only lost one of our matches. We now made it into the final against Mt Scopus on Friday 23rd June. We are so excited!

I want to thank our wonderful teacher Mrs Hocking, Zerrin’s Dad and Zach’s Mum for helping with the matches. I also want to congratulate our whole team for their efforts in getting us to where we are now. We are going to try our best and hopefully the results go our way. Edrich

We have been competing in Winter Sports. Our AFL 9s team have won every game except against Mount Scopus. We tried really hard and it has paid off because we have made it into the Grand Final this Friday 23rd June. Talie

Monique Hocking

Years 3 to 6 House Athletics

Years 3 to 6 students competed in their House at the House Athletics on Tuesday 6 June at the Bill Sewart Athletics Track in Burwood East.

The results were:

1st - Boyd – 362 points

2nd - Lindsay – 332 points

3rd - Nolan – 276 points

4th - Drysdale – 256 points

Qualifying students will compete at the Mulgrave District Athletics Carnival on Monday 31 July.

Music

Students in Year 4 have been practising the recorder and learning to play songs and rhythmic patterns containing the notes C, A and D.

If you do not already have a recorder and wish to purchase a recorder for your child to practise with at home, a Yamaha soprano recorder is recommended https://www.musicjunction.com.au/products/yamaha-yrs24b-soprano-recorder

Use the ‘Ask Me’ sheet to reinforce your child’s musical understanding at home. You can use these questions to prompt your child to show you what they have been learning in their music lessons.

Jessica Wynne

Indonesian

Animal Projects

In Term 2, Year 1 students have learned the names of animals in Indonesian. Students have worked hard on their Indonesian Animal Diorama/Paper Triarama!

Sayembara Lisan Indonesian Speaking Competition

On Friday 26 May, 29 students participated in the annual Indonesian Speaking Competition, Sayembara Lisan. The competition was conducted online this year, and was a chance for our students to showcase their Indonesian speaking skills. Students were required to answer questions in Indonesian, and either recite a poem, song or talk about an image, depending on their year level.

Congratulations to the 18 students who will participate in the next round at Melbourne High School on Saturday 22 July:

Years 1 & 2: Evelyn A, Chloe L, Jasmine L, Mia F, Jason W, Anita D

Years 3 & 4: Madhav K, Nika D, Josephine L, Yilin Z, Jacki C

Years 5 & 6: Isabelle L, Ethan F, Alice D, Eva H, Olivia L, Irene G, Joshua W

Grace John & Amanda Tait

ArtSEL

Prep to Years 2 students have undertaken ArtSEL (Art through Social Emotional Learning) lessons each week in Semester 1. Following are our focus in Weeks 7 (commencing 5 June) and 9 (commencing 19 June); there was no ArtSEL lesson in week 8 (commencing 12 June) due to year level planning.

Prep

Week 7: Managing Anger

Feeling angry is natural. Hurtful behavours are not okay.
Your body lets you know when you are angry.
Learning to relax calms you down.

Week 9: Solving Problems

You need to calm down before you solve a problem.
The first step in solving problems is to use words to describe the problem.
The second step in solving problems is to think of lots of solutions.

Year 1

Week 7: Inviting to Join In

It is important to notice and have empathy for children who are left out of play.
Inviting others to play is the right thing to do.
Playing with others is a way to get to know them better.

Week 9: Handling Name-Calling

It is not okay to call people names that hurt their feelings.
If someone calls you a name, you can ignore the person or speak assertively.
If the person doesn’t stop calling you names, you should tell a grown-up.

Year 2

Week 7: Responding to Playground Exclusion

Following steps can help you solve problems.
Being left out is a problem.
Inviting someone who is being left out to play is the respectful, compassionate thing to do.

Week 9: Playing Fairly on the Playground

Calming down helps you think so you can solve problems.
Following steps can help you solve problems.
When you can’t agree on rules for a game, it’s a problem.
Finding a respectful way to agree on rules helps you get along better with others.

Nikki Olsen

ArtSEL Coordinator

Policy Updates