Learning Communities
Foundation - Learning Snapshot
We hope all our Mothers and special friends had a wonderful day last Sunday. The children had a lovely time making your gift and choosing a gift from the Mother’s Day Stall.
It has been another wonderful week of learning in the Foundation community. The children are busy at the moment completing a number of different assessment tasks within class. The Foundation teachers have loved watching the children complete these assessment tasks and have enjoyed celebrating their achievements and growth within each task. Over the next few weeks you will notice on PAM, three new learning tasks that you can view with your child. We ask once again that you take the time to view these tasks and read the feedback. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child’s growth and have a chat about the next step in their learning.
We are loving our new learning spaces and the children have quickly re-adjusted to their new learning environment. Children are beginning to remember their new morning routine which is fabulous to see here is what we’ve discussed in class.
When I get to school I….
1. Walk to my new classroom with my bag.
2. Unpack my school bag.
I put my drink bottle on the drink table outside. I put my fruit on my desk.
I change one reader over each day except for Monday’s when I change three readers.
I put my reading bag on my desk.
I put my bag in its new spot.
3. Go outside and play before the morning bell goes at 8:55 am.
Next Week’s Learning (Week 4)…
SMART Spelling
Next week our word of the week is ‘h-a-n-d’. The new letter and sound we are looking at is h. Our saying to help us remember these letters and sounds is ‘helicopters hovering h,h,h’.
Reading
In Reading, we will continue our Nursery Rhyme Unit. The next two weeks we will focus on the nursery rhymes - ‘Baa Black Sheep’ and ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Children will continue to think about ‘who’ is in the nursery rhyme, ‘what they are doing’ and ‘where’ the nursery rhyme is set. Children will continue to develop their knowledge of rhyme.
Writing
In Writing, we will continue to write complex sentences while being SMART Spellers. Children will continue to be SMART Spellers writing the initial (beginning) sounds in a word and the next two weeks we will be using our reading strategy ‘Chunky Monkey’ to help us become better writers. We will break a work into chunks we know e.g. m at.
Mathematics
In Mathematics, we will continue to explore teen numbers. We look forward to using manipulatives (blocks) and number lines to represent and locate teen numbers.
Religious Eduction
In Religious Education, children will continue to think about what makes them special. We will learn to name our talents and recognise how individual qualities make us special. This would be a great opportunity at home to speak with your child about their talents and gifts you as a family see in them.
Inquiry
In Inquiry, we will gain a deeper understanding of who is in our family and what our cultural background is. We look forward to celebrating and sharing the diverse cultural backgrounds within the Foundation community. Just a friendly reminder for children to return their ‘Family Tree Worksheet’ by Monday 17th May.
Thank you for your continued support at home. We look forward to continuing our learning journey together in our new school building and can’t wait for you all to see it!
Bre Levesque, Sarah Langley & Lijarna Bekirofski (Foundation Teachers)
Junior Learning Community
Our students have had an extremely exciting two weeks with the move into our beautiful and bright new learning space! The Junior Learning Community is lucky enough to have their own wing within the building, offering opportunity for easily accessible paired learning spaces which allow for collaborative learning across all groups!
As to be expected the Junior Learning Community students along with staff are reestablishing and are continuing to develop routines, procedures and rules of our new learning space. We are proud of the resilience, flexibility and patience our students have displayed during this emerging but exciting time.
This week, we were welcomed with new whiteboard walls, built in workbenches, pin boards, new signage and many more exciting things! Between the rooms of 1/2 Mercuri and 1/2 Jondahl, along with 1/2 Monk and 1/2 Moodie, we have a large shared space. These two areas provide an additional learning space for our students, where we keep our take home readers. We also are temporarily keeping our bags in these shared spaces.
Over the past week, we have introduced persuasive texts during our writing sessions. During this time, students have searched for persuasive language when reading our shared books together. They have been introduced to the structure of this text type and began to give reasoning for their opinions. Over the next fortnight we will continue to delve into this concept and students will advocate as to why St. Luke’s is the greatest school! As we complete the writing process students continue to practise the skill of editing their work. They do this by reading their work out loud to hear if it sounds right. The next step is to search for punctuation and spelling.
Next week, we will commence a Guided Reading Rotations program as part of our literacy time. Students will participate in a teacher-led guided reading focus group several times a week. Our Year 2 students will be familiar with this process as we ran a similar program last year. We look forward to commencing this, as last year’s program was a success.
Our Mathematics learning has centred around Addition and different strategies we may use when solving addition problems. Students have used strategies such as counting on, friends of ten, doubles and near doubles. Over the coming fortnight students will have many opportunities to deepen their understanding of addition and practice their mathematical thinking.
Thank you again for sending in the baby photos, that we discussed in Inquiry. Students investigated changes and growth from their baby photo to their current selves.
This week your child brought home some interview questions around our topic question: How Things Have Changed Over Time? They have been looking at the similarities and differences between different generations. Students came up with some questions that they would like to ask a family member about what life was like when they were younger which they will discuss in class next week.
Our Religious Education Unit “Jesus in the Scripture” students have been looking at stories from the Gospels and making connections between the qualities of Jesus Christ and those of their family and friends.
We thank our students for the respect and care they are showing for our beautiful new space. As teachers we feel very blessed and grateful to have such a lovely space to learn and teach in. We look forward to welcoming you in soon!
Thank you
Junior Learning Community Teachers
Middle Learning Community
Term 2 - Week 3
We hope that all Mothers and special loved ones have a wonderful Mothers Day.
Camp is only a few sleeps away, if you haven’t already done so, please check your emails for final details.
Throughout this week, the year three students have completed their NAPLAN Writing, Reading and Language Conventions tests. Even though this is a new experience for them, they have completed each test to the best of their ability while maintaining a positive attitude, which they should be commended on.
In the coming weeks we will focus on the following areas:
Literacy
Throughout this past week, students have been introduced to the reading comprehension strategy ‘text connections’. Students have discovered that there are three ways that a reader can connect to a text - text to self, text to text and text to world.
A text to text connection is when the reader compares characters or events to another text they have read.
A text to self connection is when the reader connects an event or experience from their own life to an event in a novel.
A text to world connection is when a reader compares events from a novel to something they have heard on the news or heard on the radio.
Numeracy
Students have learnt about 3D shapes. They have learnt to categorise 2D and 3D shapes, the properties that make up a 3D shape (faces, edges and vertices) and constructed their own 3D shapes.
Inquiry
Students have eagerly learnt about the members of the Kelly Gang and significant events in their lives. This is in response to this terms Inquiry question “How have Bushrangers Contributed to Australia’s History?” Students have truly taken a deep interest in this topic, as they find out more about Ned and the Kelly Gang in preparation for our up coming camp.
Religious Education
Through our Religious Education lessons, students have developed their knowledge and understanding of what a parable is and its purpose. Students were introduced to the parable of the ‘The Lost Sheep’ (Luke 15) where they unpacked its meaning and explained what lesson Jesus was teaching them. Many students found that Jesus was explaining the love and compassion God has for every person and that Jesus was calling them to show care for others, regardless of how they look or act.
Middle Learning Community Teachers
Senior Learning Community
What a busy and eventful few weeks it has been in the Senior Learning Community. Students have begun settling into our beautiful new learning spaces. It is a joy to see students embracing and discovering the new and exciting features. The circular design feature is certainly a popular place to find students working or reading independently.
Week 2 and 3 Student Recap
Buddies
Last Wednesday the 5/6’s helped the Foundation students make Mother’s Day cards. We were grouped together to help the little ones make a booklet/card and decorate it. We loved hearing the Foundation students talking about their mums and demonstrating a great use of imagination and creativity. My favourite part in helping the preps was when the preps decided to ask for help to write and draw. Also my favourite part of the task was sharing our thoughts with our mum. I loved the experience.
By Lisabel
Ablaze
The year 5/6 went to see Ablaze on Thursday the 5th of May. We got to go by bus. It was lots of fun because we got to sing along with Fr. Rob. My favourite part was when we got to go surfing. The Ablaze was so much fun and I wish we can go again.
By Emily
The Big Move
The new classrooms are great. The first move in was on the 4th of May, most people got to do a tour around the whole place. The new classrooms are an upgrade for everyone. The classrooms are bigger and everyone was excited when Sol Zak cut the ribbon.
By Brodie
Cross Country
Last week on Wednesday the 4th of May, many students at St Luke’s from years 3-6 participated in the Inter School Cross Country event. Our school had participants all over the race card, some were in the red group and some were in the blue group. There were different age groups which meant they had to run different distances. There were many parents and fellow students supporting and cheering on the runners as they came by. At the track it was very good racing conditions, the sun was shining and the track was clear. It was not very hard to run in these conditions if you put your mind to it.
By Cameron Liddell and Ava Girvan
Upcoming
Next Friday the 20th of May students will be attending Inter School Winter Sports, St Luke’s will enter teams in Netball, Soccer, T-ball and Football. Permission slips will be sent out early next week. St Luke’s Open Day will also take place on this day and some student leaders will stay back to take new families on tours. We are very proud of the leadership many of our students are demonstrating.
W.A.L.T
Literacy: Comprehending information texts related to our Inquiry unit. Using the correct Tense - past, present and future in our writing.
Numeracy: Addition and Subtraction
Inquiry: Our big question is “How did the discovery of gold affect Australia?” We are focusing on the discovery of gold and the influx of immigrants to Australia
Religious Education: Sacred Stories - Students will investigate the development of the Bible over time and examine the ways that Scripture is incorporated into personal and communal prayer.
Senior Learning Community Teachers