Wow, here we are heading into Week 10!

We hope you all had a great weekend.

Last Thursday we visited Bright to celebrate our beautiful school and being together, it was a great day and the students were superb!

REMINDER

NO RUNNERS WITH COLOURS ARE TO BE WORN ON NON-SPORT DAYS PLEASE.

4/5/6 have Sport on Tuesday and Friday.

These are the only days they are required to wear their runners. Please ensure students are wearing the correct St Joseph’s uniform.

Reading diaries are due at school:

4 Shaw on Monday
5/6 Butters on Friday

REMINDER

Literacy

Reading continues to be a huge focus throughout the 4/5/6 area and the students practise different forms of reading each day. Reading rotations, Buddy reading and quiet reading happen daily. The students are also enjoying class novels, Mr Butters- Two Wolves and Mrs Shaw- James and the Giant Peach.

Students are continuing to be assessed throughout the term in different areas of reading and put into appropriate groupings to further consolidate their learning.

There is also a daily focus on spelling and different spelling rules.

This week Four Shaw is looking at words ending in ‘er’ and ‘or’.

5/6 Butters - the focus is on distinguishing between when to use -ge and -dge. Whether the vowel sound before is long or short decides whether we use -ge (long) or -dge (short).

We continue the Persuasive writing genre.

We encourage students to use strong, emotive language to get across their point of view or argument.

Numeracy

We continue to focus on solving multiplication equations. Again the students have grouped accordingly to the results of the pre-testing in this area.

At home, it would be invaluable to engage with your child in practising the times' tables as this is imperative to solving multiplication equations quickly and efficiently.

Not forgetting that we practice our times' tables every daytime in our classrooms!

Inquiry

This week the 5/6 students are looking at laws and how they are made. On Tuesday we debated the “No Homework Bill”. All students had a role, whether it be reading to the parliament or supporting a fellow member. Eddie was a formidable “Speaker” who proclaimed “Order” with gusto. Dara was sent from the parliament for a couple of indiscretions which was a highlight!

The Year 4 students are continuing to investigate, 'First Contact '.

During this week’s investigation, we have discovered that different cultures arrived with the First Fleet and brought many different languages, cultures and food.

These cultures are evident in Australia still, thank goodness for that! You might like to discuss your own heritage with your child.

Religion

The 5/6 class has been looking at a different Project Compassion story each week. We are taking a look at their story and the country they live in. We are also completing the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Surveys. This has four parts and is fairly heavy as far as reading goes so we are finishing small parts at a time. The surveys are anonymous and have also been completed by staff. We are also trying to start a new unit on The Risen Christ. A busy time!

Some people choose to give something up during Lent or others may think more about how they can ‘change their heart’ and help others more in their everyday life.

Last week, the Year 4 students started the unit, ‘LENT- Preparing for Easter.’The students have been introduced to this special season in the Church’s liturgical year and will explore how the community prepares for Easter through prayer, penance and good works.

The students recognise that during Lent, we look at how to change our own hearts and help others.

They have articulated their own Lenten promises and written them down and displayed them to look at every day during Lent.

We have also viewed stories about the lives of people in other countries that Project Compassion supports. By watching others and how grateful they are for the support they receive helps the students to understand how fortunate they are.

Hope you have a fantastic week,

Mrs Shaw & Mr Butters

mbutters@sjbeechworth.catholic.edu.au

tshaw@sjbeechworth.catholic.edu.au

Drama Room

Jane Sartori