Lower Primary

I know I say this every year but where has the year gone? I can’t believe that this will be the last section newsletter for 2017. As always, at the end of the year Lower Primary will celebrate the achievements of all our students particularly those who are moving to Upper Primary, and of course Christmas! Our special celebrations will include an end of year assembly, Christmas activities and excursions. There will be lots of celebrating to do!

This semester’s integrated unit Sea Life is now coming to an end. This unit of study has been a student and staff favourite as it has created many engaging learning opportunities that have developed students’ knowledge about the sea. The Sea Life books that have been completed are impressive and I am sure your child will enjoy sharing these with you. Every student has a favourite sea creature and has been encouraged to research interesting facts about them through books, incursions, excursions and technology. I have enjoyed listening to students articulate their knowledge about sea creatures and I learnt some interesting new facts from them. Did you know that an octopus has three hearts and nine brains and that they use their tentacles to grab food? Did you know some whales have teeth and other whales have baleen which is like brushes that filter their food? Did you know sting rays have electric sensors and stingers on their tails? Did you know the biggest dolphin is the orca? So much interesting information to learn! Students have also thoroughly enjoyed creating sea life displays in their classrooms. These displays have been added to over the semester with special art works and projects and contain sharks, jelly fish, shells, crabs, seaweed and a host of other sea creatures…… they really are sea life spectaculars! 

The Lower Primary Showcase was another wonderful success and attended by over 250 family, friends and students.  The showcase of student work highlighted all areas of the curriculum – English, Mathematics, Social Competencies, Integrated Studies and Visual Arts and reflected the standard of the programs and activities that are offered to our students. To see student work displayed on mass was exceptional and very impressive. The Physical Education and Performing Arts components of the curriculum were also represented. Over the semester, the Bushwahzee Band came to school to work with students on a range of dance and movement routines.  These dances and routines were then performed on Showcase night reflecting what students had learnt in these programs. Our students always love to perform but what I think they loved more was seeing their parents joining in so readily with the band and having the opportunity to dance and have fun with them. The smiles and laughter said it all. I would especially like to acknowledge Suzanne Bates, Jackie Ellis and Alix Boyton, our fantastic Specialist staff, who organised and coordinated this event. I would also like to thank all other Lower Primary Staff for supporting the specialists to ensure it was an event that enabled each child’s creativity and ability to emerge. It was a mammoth task but one that was truly worthwhile.

The camping program in Lower Primary has been designed to reinforce independent living skills and social skills in a setting which is more appropriate for these skills to be developed. It also gives the students the opportunity to experience time away from their families. This program is built on gradually to allow each student to experience an increased time away from home as their maturity and understanding develops confidence. The PMM, PAL, PKC, PKD & PCS dinner out & sleepover was great fun for all concerned. The PMM & PAL students were involved in the special activity days and dinner out. PKC, PKD & PCS students extended their experience to sleep over at school which occurred at different times. The highlights for PMM, PAL & PKC were a visit to the Aquarium, dinner at the Lower Plenty Hotel and a BBQ at Wombat Bend Park. The highlights for PKD and PCS were a visit to the Zoo, dinner at the Watsonia RSL and Tiny Chef where students made their own pizza lunch. What great little campers! Most importantly everyone had a great time.

The Life Education Van visited the Watsonia Campus recently. Students participated in the Life Education program which was a fun interactive learning experience that helped them to learn how to make safe and healthy choices. PAL, PMM & PKC accessed the module My Body Matters. This module focused on hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, and safety at home, school and in the community. PNC, PKV & PCS accessed the module Harold's Friend Ship. This module explored the qualities of a good friend, feelings and emotions, early warning signs and safe and unsafe situations.

PLA, PRE & PJL accessed the module "Ready, Steady, Go" which focused on the benefits of healthy eating, physical activity, strategies to stay safe and how our body reacts in different situations. All students loved meeting Harold again and participating in these interactive sessions with him.

You can extend your child's learning at home by accessing the website www.lifeeducation.org.au where you can find some informative resources

The Lower Primary Farewell Assembly on the 18th December will be a very special occasion where we recognise and celebrate the many achievements of our students and formally farewell those moving to Upper Primary. These students have worked extremely hard during their time in Lower Primary, and are now ready to meet the challenges that the Upper Primary has to offer. We are extremely proud of Yenuli, Sienna, Madisyn, Joseph, Ekin, Adrian, Ben, Trey, Billy K, Jackson, Owen, Michael, Ali, Billy G, Thai, Oliver, Lucas, Jasper, Callum, Christine, Suhaila. We congratulate these students and wish them success in 2018 and beyond!

Students and their families are always supported during transitional periods of school life. For Lower Primary students the key periods are when entering school at Prep and when moving to Upper Primary.  We aim to ensure that students can make these transitions as smoothly as possible by being prepared for change.  The transition program offers a range of opportunities for our students entering our school in prep, moving to us from other schools and also our students moving onto Upper Primary. We have welcomed 14 new prep students and 4 students from other schools and they have enjoyed spending time in classrooms. Students who are moving on to Upper Primary have also had the opportunity to visit the Bundoora Campus and spend time in those classrooms. How exciting for them all!

2017 has been full of outstanding achievements and special events together with a great deal of hard work and learning. It has been wonderful to watch the development of each of our students as firstly, they have been challenged, and then as they strive to master new skills. I get to see just how much each of them has achieved during my classroom visits or when students come to my office to share some special event that has occurred in their classroom. So ,as the school year comes to an end I would like to thank the Lower Primary students for their hard work, parents for their support, and staff for providing a creative, safe and nurturing environment that enhances each student’s desire to learn.

Have a wonderful holiday break with your families and I look forward to working with many of your wonderful children again next year.

Kath Moore,

Assistant Principal - Watsonia Campus