Infants and Primary
Infants
Infants’ students all had a great time joining in with about 2 million other children from all around Australia last Wednesday to read ‘The Speedy Sloth’ by Rebecca Young, as part of National Simultaneous Storytime. A big thank you to Mrs Crockett for organising all the fun of the event and activities.
This week we welcomed parents and children into our school for our Kindergarten 2024 Information Evening. It was wonderful to see ‘new and old’ families coming to find out more about school in preparation for starting the all-important transition to big school. Thank you to all the staff who helped bring this event together. We are all looking forward to our ‘Kindy-Start’ program starting in Term 4.
We have also welcomed several new students into our Infants and Primary classes over the last fortnight. They are all settling in to school life at Boorowa Central School and we are proud of the way our students have helped them do this.
Our staff are busy assessing and writing student reports which will be distributed at the end of this term. Parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet with teachers for Parent-Teacher Interviews early in Term 3 and we encourage all parents to be a part of this. Further information will be available closer to the date but in the meantime, please feel welcome to contact your child’s teacher at any time to ask questions or discuss concerns.
Mem Brougham
Assistant Principal Infants (relieving)
Kindergarten
Kindergarten students have had a great fortnight of learning and playing together. Our focus in English has been on information texts including ‘The Big Book of Bugs’ by Yuval Zommer, and we have read and written facts about various bugs and made our own classroom book of ‘Bug Facts’. Our hallway is now filled with our artworks around this theme – come and check out the awesome caterpillars and butterflies we have been making if you can. We also had fun creating and building bugs during STEM.
In mathematics, we have been exploring sorting and categorising objects and finding out ways to record data. We had fun sorting smarties into colours to discover which colour was the most and least popular in the bag and making a visual representation of this. We have also been busy practicing our counting by counting all sorts of collections of objects and we are able to do this with more speed and accuracy each time. Lots of fun ‘hands on’ maths to help us learn.
Mem Brougham - Teacher
Assistant Principal Infants (relieving)
1/2 Class
Over the last few weeks, 1/ 2 has been extremely busy. In English, we have been exploring the concept of context, considering our different contexts and how the changing time will impact the way we do things. In mathematics, we have just begun exploring data collection, using tally marks and glyphs (symbols) to record information. In our PDH lessons this term, we have been considering healthy foods in the vegetable category and have been trying different vegetables in class. We were lucky enough to have our wonderful cooking teachers on board with this exciting adventure of trying different foods as well. In Week 5, we ventured outside to collect some dirt for lettuce seeds that we will watch grow in the classroom and then can eat as well. Do it for Dolly week has been an important opportunity for students in 1/ 2 to really consider the way they are talking to one another- asking “am I being a bucket filler or dipper?” We have continued this conversation of being kind in everything we do.
On Fridays we have just begun a ‘kindness circle’ where students need to say one kind thing about someone in the class, and that person can thank their peer for noticing. Unfortunately, we have noticed some unkind behaviours lately and are counteracting this with positive strategies to encourage the good feelings that come from being kind. 1/ 2 has had the joy of looking after ‘Cookie’ for the last 3 weeks. Check out what we wrote in Cookie’s book about his adventures with us.
Ms Emily Friend - Class Teacher
National
Simultaneous Storytime
Last Wednesday, Kindergarten and Years 1 and 2 students participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime. We listened to a reading of 'Speedy Sloth' by Lauren Young along with over two million other students and teachers and watched artist Heath McKenzie show us how to draw the main character 'Spike'!
Students enjoyed dressing up as Spike, colouring in sloth finger puppets and eating some of Spike's favourite food: popcorn.
Winners of the colouring competition were Hank, Isabella, Lachlan and Finn. Well done to these students.
Lauren Crokett - Teacher Librarian
Year 6 Extension Mathematics
Throughout this term, some of the Year 6 students tried their hand at being party planners. Over the extension mathematics lessons, students were tasked with creating a budget for a year 6 party that included food, drinks, decorations, and entertainment. The party planners had to determine a shopping list and money allowance before searching through grocery catalogues and writing a total budget.
There were some great discussions and problem-solving strategies used which had the students identifying what was essential, what they didn’t actually need, and what ways they could save the most money. Students learnt to look at the unit price of items to find the best value for money and even managed to save from their original allowance. It looks like we may even have some volunteers to organise the next Year 6 farewell. Well done Year 6.
Since their party planning days, students have been looking into that crazy number Pi,
what it really means, and who can remember the most digits. We’re looking forward to seeing who this Pi memorising champion may be next week.
Mrs White – Extension Mathematics Teacher
Primary
The term continues to fly on at a quick rate, with plenty of activities going on. The Year 5/6 students had their annual Mortimer Shield Gala Day in Young on Wednesday, with two boys tackle teams and one girls league tag team taking part.
All students did their best throughout the day and represented our school proudly. Zac was the leading try scorer with 8 tries. Noah, Skyla and Harrison were given the ‘Best and Fairest’ awards not only due to their great play, but their ability to play the game in a great spirit and manage their emotions during difficult times. Roarke, Dylan and Amali were voted Player’s Player also. A great day out in the local community with a great bunch of other schools. Additional thank-you to Mr Corcoran for driving the big bus and managing the girl’s team – also to Dean Franklin and Belinda Reid for helping out with the boy’s teams.
All of our staff are busy assessing and writing reports at the moment. This is an extremely time-consuming process, because our staff put their best effort into writing individualised student reports that not only show what your child can do, but also gives insights into personalised development. Please take the time to speak to your child’s teacher at our upcoming Parent/Teacher Night early in Term 3.
It has been very pleasing to see the amount of students being active and playing games during breaks this term. We try to encourage active play as much as possible at our school, and we are lucky enough to have great green spaces to use for our playground areas. At times, our students’ resilience is tested when they get ‘out’ of a game or something doesn’t go their way – and this can result is some poor choices and reactions. Please encourage your children to play fair games at home and build up their resilience when things don’t go their way – it’s an important life lesson to learn.
If you require any additional information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: Jason.stuart3@det.nsw.edu.au
Jason Stuart
Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)
4/5 Class
As part of our ongoing narrative unit of work, our students have been developing their skills in literary devices and narrative structure. The results have been remarkable, as their writing has become more exciting and engaging within a short period of time. In addition to their writing skills, we have also been focusing on comprehension strategies. It's wonderful to see how their reading stamina and love for reading continue to grow. The students are becoming more confident and skilled readers, and I hope this translates into a lifelong love of reading.
4/5 are thrilled to announce that our students have been hard at work preparing for their Genius Hour projects! These projects have allowed our students to explore their passions and present their findings on a topic of their choice. I am hugely impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm they have shown throughout this process. 4/5 invite you to witness the culmination of their efforts as they present their Genius Hour projects. The students have been working diligently and are eager to share their knowledge and insights with you. All of the presentations will be in the 4/5 classroom. A note will be sent home early next week with the details of each student’s project. Please look out for it.
Each student will be speaking for 5 to 10 minutes on their chosen topic, highlighting their knowledge and passion. For the students who are not listed above, they are still finalizing their projects and aim to present them by the end of the term.
So far this term in mathematics, our Year 4 students have been immersing themselves in various mathematical topics. They started by exploring into the world of measurement, looking at concepts such as length, mass, capacity, and volume. They then moved on to understanding area and volume, learning how to calculate and compare these measurements for different shapes and objects. The students also had the opportunity to explore 2D shapes, discovering their properties and relationships. Additionally, they gained map-reading skills and learned about symmetry and angles.
In Year 5, our students have been developing their problem-solving abilities. They focused on solving operation problems, sharpening their skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They further expanded their knowledge by working with decimals, exploring concepts such as place value and operations involving decimal numbers. They also explored 3D shapes and their representations using nets. Time and fractions were additional areas of focus, as students learned to read analogue and digital clocks, calculate elapsed time, and worked with equivalent fractions.
Throughout these topics, the class have also been practicing fundamental skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and times tables. These foundational skills are vital for their mathematical development and problem-solving abilities.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement as we support the growth and development of the students. Please feel free to contact me via email if you need any further information matthew.rowley12@det.nsw.edu.au or contact the school to set up an appointment.
Matthew Rowley - Class Teacher
5/6 Class
The Year 5/6 class has been busily working through narrative writing during English lessons, and we have completed a unit of work on narrative recounts about bullying and a ‘change of heart’ towards things that we find challenging or ‘different’. The 5/6 mathematics focus is on fractions, decimals and percentages. We are exploring parts of a whole, mixed numerals and improper fractions. The trickiest concept to understand is the addition and subtraction of fractions – because we need to find ‘like fractions’, once again our old friend ‘the times tables’ are the cornerstone of our understanding of fractions, and most of our students don’t regularly practise their tables.
We have been exploring ‘kindness’ and ‘using manners’ in our social interactions both inside and outside the classroom. I have found that when our emotions get involved, our students lack some ability to manage stress and ‘lash out’ with unkind language and actions. This is something we can learn to control, and you can definitely help at home by unpacking incidents to find out how and why reactions were made. This skill of managing our emotions is essential for success at school, and in the big picture, essential for life as a healthy and happy adult. I look forward to continuing to build on this throughout the year.
As always, please get in touch if you require any further information.
Jason Stuart - Class Teacher
Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)