Junior School News
Prep 1 & 2
Athletics Day 2023
We had such a wonderful time at Athletics day last week. We were so pleased to see and hear the students being supportive of each other and cheering each other on. Thanks to Zena for taking wonderful photos.
Book Week 2023
The Junior school had an amazing week celebrating book week. We participated in many wonderful for the following books.
This beautiful book Students explored how in every country around the world are grandmas short and tall and though they go by different names, we love them all. Students createdused watercolours to paint a portrait of their grandma/nan. They then researched how to say ‘grandma’ in five different languages..
This is a warm and uplifting story that encourages young readers to celebrate their individuality, and shows how no-one should ever have to shrink themselves down to fit in. Students shrunk a picture of themselves and wrote words that they associate with themselves, e.g. sporty, inclusive, patient.
Students participated in some wonderful discussion about this picture book that shows children all the interesting things that happen inside a hospital, helping them feel safe and secure, and ready for their first visit. They made a get well soon card for someone that they love and care for who might need it.
This is a powerful and entertaining story about the environment. Students created a whale using recycled materials from the makerspace .
Prep News
Literacy
We have been looking at describing words. We described our book week characters and sequenced some stories. During our MSL lessons we are continuing to consolidate closed syllables and are now practising the 'th' digraph.
During small group work Preps have been creating their own decodable sentences and playing tricky word games.
Mathematics
We have been learning about odd and even numbers and looking at the 10 facts.
1/2 News
During Respectful Relationships we have just started learning about gender and identity. Research shows that children become aware of gender at an early age, being well aware of gender norms, and making efforts to fit within gendered expectations by the time they are in kindergarten. As young children learn about gender, they may also begin to enact sexist values, or stereotypical beliefs and attitudes. They may for example insist that some games are for boys and others for girls, and actively reject peers from certain games. This means that it is important to commence work on building positive gender relationships within these early years.
Literacy
Multisensory Literacy
We are continuing to progress nicely with our MSL lessons. This week students built upon the knowledge they have of syllables and looked a 2 syllable words when one syllable is open and the other is closed for example, co-vid, hu-mid and relax.
Have a listen to this funny parody to find out more about 2 syllable words.
Writing
We have ramped up our handwriting practise over the past fortnight in 1/2.
Brain research shows why handwriting should be taught in the computer age.
‘…handwriting experience plays a crucial role in the formation of the brain network that underlines reading.’
Karin James & Virginia Berninger
Mathematics
The 1/2s have been exploring fractions. A fraction is a way of splitting a whole into equal, smaller parts. Students explored halves, quarters, and eighths of shapes and collections. Some students even investigated how the bottom number (the denominator) tells us the size of the part and how many parts it takes to make a whole. There were lots of fun activities for students to explore this tricky concept in a practical way. We used play dough, mandarins and even made pizza!!
Inquiry
Our inquiry unit 'Our differences and our Privileges' continued this week by exploring the language of East Timor knownas Tetum. We looked at key words such as:
Hello- Elo
Thank you- Obrigada
Good Morning- Bondia
Good afternoon- Boatarde
Welcome- Bemvindu
I’m sorry- Deskulpa
How are you?- Diak ka lae?
We brainstormed ways in which we can help students from Remexio. More information to follow soon.
Reminders
- 1st September- Prep Story time (5pm drop children off, 6pm Pizza & 6.30 pick up).
- 31st August/1st September - Father's Day stall
- 2nd September - Father's Day Assembly
- 3rd September - Dad’s Footy Day
- 16th September - End of Term
The Junior team.
Classroom Contacts
Should you wish to get in touch with your child’s teacher for any reason or you wish to make an appointment to speak with them, please contact them through Seesaw directly. If you prefer you can also use email. You can reach us on these addresses:
sprosser@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
srafferty@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
jbrown@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
kharper@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au