Prep

Dear Prep Families,

We have had a fantastic fortnight in Prep celebrating Book Week and Multicultural Day!

We hope all of the Prep Dads and families had a lovely Fathers Day. In Literacy, the Preps did a wonderful job writing their ‘My Dad’ books for Fathers Day. The Prep’s have been focusing on using strategies to slowly stretch each letter to make the word (for example ship = sh - i - p). The Prep’s enjoyed looking at the texts My Dad by Anthony Browne and My Dads The Coolest by Rosie Smith and using these as inspiration to write their own books.

In Maths, we have begun learning about Money and looking at the different value of notes and coins. We set up a classroom shop where the preps had a go at using money to buy goods. It was great to see the Preps collaborating and using their oral language skills in the classroom shop to buy and exchange goods.

In Religion, the Preps have continued learning about stories from the Old Testament. This week the Prep’s participated in the Godly Play of Jonah and The Whale. We had some great discussions about God’s message in the story and how we can continue to care for our earth.

In Inquiry, we have been learning to classify animals into land, sea and air groups. We are beginning to look at the features of different animals, such as their skin coverings and we have talked about why animals have different features to others.

Have a lovely week!

Hayley, Amanda and Jane

Middles

Spring is here, the days are getting longer and a little warmer and we continue to enjoy a productive Term 3 together in the Middle school. Students have really enjoyed Multicultural Day and watching the Book Week performance called Big Dreams.

We hope all Dads had a wonderful and enjoyable Father’s Day on Sunday.

Our Life and Faith topic “Home Sweet Home” where our focus is on animal habitats and adaptations is continuing in the ‘Building’ phase. Students are learning about different animals, how they have changed over the years to survive and thrive in their environments and where they fit in the food chain.

In Maths we are finishing up a unit on Length which the students will ‘post test’ later this week. We will move on to Volume and Capacity. If you’ve got any spare measuring cups lying around the house, bring them out for the next couple of weeks and have your children work with them.

In Religious Education we have been learning about the parts of the mass, so quiz your child on this (Introductory Rite, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist and Concluding Rite). We have also been linking the Last Supper with the Eucharist.

We wish all the Grade 4’s Make their First Holy Eucharist the very best this weekend and next!!

In Literacy we will be looking at Information reports and the structure and features of them. In Reading we are furthering our understanding of the text by using inferential questioning.

We congratulate all the students who represented our school at District Athletics.

Thanks again for your ongoing support,

Tania, Jarrod, Carla, Sophia, Vickia and Molly

Senior News

Well done to the students that competed in the District athletics, you all did such a great job and represented St Mary’s with pride. Congratulations to those students who are moving onto the next stage. We would also like to thank the senior students for their participation and the enthusiasm they showed during our multicultural day. It was lovely to see a school dressed in such a diverse range of cultural backgrounds.

During reading students have been engaged in reading books that link in with sustainability and science. We are exploring what themes and messages are found in the fiction texts that we have been reading and how it connects with the world around them. We will continue to make connections between what we are reading and how it links in with our science and sustainability inquiry unit.

In maths students are finishing off a unit around fractions and decimals. They have been working on identifying fractions and decimals as well as comparing and ordering them. Students engaged in hands on learning experiences to develop and practise skills and strategies to help achieve their personal maths learning goals. We are now moving into our next unit of money, beginning with students setting new learning goals to focus on throughout the unit.

We would like to ask families if they have any newspaper that they no longer need if they could please donate it to the school to be used for Art lessons.

Have a lovely week,

The Senior Team,

Anne-Marie, Louise, Stephen and Sally

Juniors

Hello Families,

What a busy week it has been!

We hope all the fathers, grandfathers and special people in the lives of the students had a great Father’s Day and enjoyed the special gifts the students prepared.

The students enjoyed watching the ‘Big Dreams’ performance as part of the Book Week activities and reflecting on this.

Multicultural Day was a huge success which began with a very funny Italian performance with laughter heard throughout. After recess the 1/2s were engaged in a variety of Mandarin activities, including making a mask, a Chinese Dragon boat and folding cutouts.

In English, we have finished studying four texts by the author Giles Andreae - Rumble in the Jungle, The Lion Who Wanted to Love, Be Brave Little Penguin and Giraffes Can’t Dance. The students have compared the texts and are looking at alternative endings. Our writing has been focussed on writing Information Reports using the correct structure, with such areas as a classification, appearance, habitat, diet, behaviour and concluding statement.

In Maths, we have completed our units on Division and Data, with students being post tested. It has been great to see the improvements made. The students began their new units on Fractions and Length with a pre test and have begun to develop their understanding in these areas.

In Religion, the students have completed their Creation Story Booklets and they look amazing. It has been pleasing to see and hear how their knowledge of the Creation Story has improved so much.

In our Inquiry unit on Habitats, the students have been involved in workshops on the Desert, Ocean, Arctic/Snow and Rainforest to build their knowledge. They have developed wonderings and are beginning the personalising stage of what they would like to know more about.

We also wish Miss Bethany a happy birthday! She celebrated her special day on Wednesday.

Have a great week,

Naomi, Tracey, Bethany, Renee, Tania, Poppy, Michelle and Jason

St Mary's School

Issue 14 · 05 Sep 2019

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