Primary News
After a strange start to our prep year and spending a few terms in remote learning, the Preps are so happy to be back at school!
We are having so much fun learning new things with our friends. We enjoyed farewelling the year 12’s, learning about measurement, reading, writing, and just being around our friends again!
We are looking forward to the rest of the year
MS Levy - Class Teacher
Prep PE
Our preps are busy improving their fitness in their PE classes this term. We are also learning the importance of living an active lifestyle.
Mrs Peters - P.E Teacher.
What an unusual school year this has been!
Remote learning was challenging for all of us, but we achieved so much during this time. Using Microsoft Teams was something that we had to quickly learn about and get our heads around. Our students have never ceased to amaze me with their ICT skills. They are so resilient and quick with picking up on new things via Microsoft Teams like uploading work, accessing Files, joining meetings, and chatting with their peers and me.
It was so good to see our students during our 2 hours of online lessons every day. They kept up with their learning in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Our students certainly worked hard during this time and showed how responsible they are for their own learning. The highlight of remote learning for me was meeting with our students every week for a half-hour private conference. It was a special time for us when we personalised the learning needs of our students.
We’re really excited to be back at school. Our first day back was a real celebration! We got rid of all our stress and anxiety of remote learning and we are getting back into the routine of being at school. Our STOMP dance lessons have started and our students are showing lots of excitement and enthusiasm for our dance. They’re eager to show off their talent and skills at our ‘virtual’ concert. More details about this to follow.
Thank you parents for all your support during our remote learning. We couldn’t have done it without you. We really appreciate all you’ve done!
Mrs Abraham - Class Teacher
What a crazy year it’s been!
During remote learning, 1/2L students and I learned a lot about how to navigate through Microsoft Teams to access their literacy and numeracy lessons. Many parents were also involved in uploading their child’s work to files including into the Art and STEM Teams. Students were also able to continue to learn Mandarin Chinese words and phrases with their teacher, on live Zoom lessons.
Weekly thirty minute private one-on-one conferences that 1/2L students received enabled them to ask me about anything that they didn’t understand as well as being able to complete assessment of reading and spelling levels.
I think the favourite day in remote learning was the last day when the students voted for a video. They set themselves up with snacks and some had their brothers or sisters join them.
While some students were looking forward to returning to school, they also felt a little unsure about how it would be after such a long time away from friends. However, all fears disappeared when they first entered the gates to see everyone dressed in their pyjamas. It was a relaxed and fun day with no formal lessons but by 3:00 pm, everyone seemed very tired.
Now we’ve been back for a few weeks, the end of the year is coming up too quickly and our weeks are packed with Literacy, Numeracy, Chinese, Art, P.E, STEM as well as STOMP lessons in preparation for the concert.
Mrs Lilburne - Class Teacher.
What a relief it is to be back at school!!! 2/3N have been loving being back in the classroom, back in the playground, and being back with all their friends and teachers.
The highlights so far this term have been researching, designing, and preparing to build a model treehouse in Integrated Studies as well as STOMP! Students are very excited to be preparing for the end of year concert which will have a new look this year.
It has been fantastic to watch children reconnect with their classmates and bring all their new knowledge from remote learning back into the classroom.
Madison – “The best thing about being back at school is STOMP because it’s exciting to get ready for our performance”
Kierra – “I love being back at school because you get to learn more”
Evelyn – “I love lunch eating time because we do 2/3N’s Got Talent!”
Belma – “I like being back and doing PE and STEM.”
Shevi – “I am happy to be back at school because I get to see my friends and I get to do some Art.”
Sophie – “I am happy to play on the monkey bars again.”
Chan – “I love being back at school because I can run around and use up all my energy.”
Xander – “I love jumping around outside with Riley.”
Riley – “I love playing on our new playground.”
Sahman – “I love playing with my friends on the playground.”
Ivanna – “I love playing on the playground!”
RJ – “I like the library.”
Chelsea – “I get to see my friends again!”
Justin – “I love doing specialists like Art.”
Abigail – “I love playing with my friends and designing my treehouse.”
Aya – “I love doing fun study! I like playing in the sandpit and I like sport.”
Ms Naylor - Class Teacher.
An Exciting Welcome Back to Term 4
Wow, what a year it has been! 4B has shown resilience and dedication throughout the 2020 journey and what a celebration we had on the first day back. Pyjama parties, Instagram photos, and a whole lot of social interactions were all highlights. It didn’t take long for students to settle back into classroom routines and they are making the most of their learning time.
Term 4 is always an exciting time and this year we are once again putting on a STOMP concert at the end of the year. Students have been practising their funky dance moves ready to show them off in our online presentation.
Our Integrated topic this term is Design and Technology and students will be constructing their own model tree houses. They have researched examples and created their own designs. They are currently in the stage of collecting materials ready to build, so if you have any cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, or any other natural products at home, please send them along so that they will have an assortment of materials to choose from. They can also go for a nature walk and collect sticks, leaves, bark, and other items to build with.
The specifications of the design brief require that they use at least 3 natural products.
I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support during our remote learning program and hope you are enjoying a little bit of freedom now some of the restrictions have lifted.
This is what some of our students had to say about finally returning to school:
Gabi ‘Coming back to school has been an exhilarating experience, I’m loving being with my friends and running around again!’
Nathan ‘It’s been amazing coming back to school and seeing my friends after such a long time!’
Jo ‘It’s been much better being at school to help with my learning and we can do CFC again.’
Siena ‘It feels great coming back to school because I get to see all of my classmates and friends.’
Aida ‘Coming back has been exciting and made me happy because I get to see all of my friends and get to play with them.’
Ms Bishop - Class Teacher
It has been a challenging few months, but we have made it through!
Online learning was easy for some and not so easy for others. We had glitches to deal with, connection failures, volume issues and we were all learning to use Microsoft Teams together. 5M (class of 2020) has certainly grown together, we helped each other negotiate a new platform. We are all more resilient and persistent. We have all achieved successes and we all need to be congratulated!
We all worked through online reading sessions focussing on developing comprehension skills, we wrote some excellent poetry and practised our multiplication and division skills, just to name a few activities. We also researched different countries around the world and presented the information to each other online. I am extremely impressed with all the hard work we have accomplished throughout term 3.
Then we returned to the classroom, it was a noisy couple of days, with everyone loving the interaction and catching up on news. Everyone particularly enjoyed attending P.E, STEM, SPORT, and ART classes.
Here are some comments about online learning and returning to the classroom:
Jonah and Sethmi liked eating at any time of the day during online learning and using spell check. They both enjoyed coming back to school to see their friends.
Rush said, “I enjoyed playing with my friends in person instead of playing through a screen and I love learning new things.
Soubin enjoyed all subjects during online learning but she was happy to see her friends in person instead of on a computer screen.
Jayde said, “This year has been tough for our class and others. I enjoyed coming back to school to see all my friends and teachers.”
Isabella liked online learning so she could sleep in but she prefers the classroom learning environment.
Madhulika missed her friends and teachers, but enjoyed working on the laptop every day.
Din said, “I loved learning online so I could sleep in, eat all day and sit in my comfortable clothes.”
Jaylee enjoyed seeing her friends when she returned to school.
Many did not like online learning because she could not play with her friends and attend P.E and Art classes.
Maya enjoyed learning at home so she could spend more time with her pets.
Christella and Natalie had many computer issues and found it difficult to follow the timetable, they are very happy to be back at school!
Here is some of the poetry that was produced during online learning:
Weather always cold
I’ve always loved it
Never warm
Tasty coco to drink
Easily the best season
Really cold
My best friend
Always by my side
Delightful to be around
Here when I need her the most
Understanding of me
Laughs with me, not at me
Is so nice to me
Kind and caring friend
Awesome friend
I am Dozer (My dog)
I am cute and adorable
I wonder when I will get fed
I hear my mum talking
I see huge people walking around
I want to go to the park
I am cute and adorable
I pretend I am sad, so I get cuddles
I feel my mums loving hands
I touch the hard ground with my paws
I worry my mum will leave me
I cry for my mum when she is not here with me
I am cute and adorable
I understand my mum needs to leave
I say woof to my mum for pats
I dream of me chasing butterflies in grassy meadows
I try to jump on the couch
I hope my mum will let me on her heated blanket
I am cute and adorable
Wonderland of cold
In the freezing air
Nothing is ever warm or hot
Tea and soup keep us warm
Everyone is warm and safe
Rug up next to the fireplace
Holiday
Having fun
Outside enjoying the fresh air
Lounging around, playing video games
Inventing new Lego models to play with
Delicious scones that I make with my mum when
Away from school
Yet learning new and different things.
Being invisible
I think being invisible would be great.
Nobody could see what I really ate.
I could sneak around like a Ninja,
Only I would be able to see ya.
It would be like I was a superhero,
Saving the day, but you would see zero.
Being Brave and Fast,
My skills will always last.
Being invisible would be great!
I am kind and loving
I wonder if we can ever come back to school
I hear the faith, that we can fight this virus
I see me hugging my friends
I want to end the Corona Virus
I am kind and loving
Second Stanza
I pretend to hug and hold my friend's hands
I feel my friend's hugs
I touch my friend's soft hands
I worry that I will never go back to school
I cry when I see my friend’s faces
I am kind and loving
Third Stanza
I understand that we must stay at home
I say, I believe we can fight this virus
I dream about hugging and holding hands with my friends
I try to always do online schooling the easiest way possible
I hope we can go back to school soon
I am kind and loving
The above ‘I am Poem’ sums up our term perfectly! We all missed each other and wanted to be back in the classroom.
From 5M and Mrs McPhie - Class Teacher
What a whirlwind Term 2 and 3 was for 5/6C!
Who would have thought we would spend the majority of this year learning through computer screens? Definitely not myself or my wonderful students in 5/6C!
Although it was definitely tough going through Remote Learning, they have proven to be resilient, determined, and motivated to continue to create lifelong friendships, high-quality work, and many memorable moments throughout the terms. All of the students in 5/6C attended live lessons for literacy and numeracy and created artworks, digital projects both independently and collaboratively.
Term 4 started with our final week of Remote Learning! Woohoo! Both the students and I were extremely excited to get back into the classroom and see everyone again without the need for a computer screen. We celebrated this occasion by having a PJ and Crazy Hair Day filled with fun, collaborative and wellbeing focused activities. Conversations and laughter were endless which was music to my ears, I am so glad to have us all back together again to get through this crazy term together.
Now that we are back at school, we are lucky enough to be learning our end of year concert dances with the lovely Maddie from STOMP. We have all been practising really hard to perfect our moves in anticipation for the big day, even though it will be a little different this year due to Covid-19.
Here are some of the highlights the students experienced in Remote Learning and being back in the classroom this term:
Remote Learning:
Eliza: “eating while learning things at home…”
Cooper: “seeing Miss Cox’s face pop up on my screen…”
Mano: “that I finished early most of the time…”
Eleni: “I could finish school early if I finished all of my work…”
Back in the classroom:
All students in 5/6C “seeing my friends again in real life...”
Favourite memories from this year so far included:
- STOMP lessons
- Swimming carnival
- Meeting new friends
- Meeting my new teacher
- Baby siblings being born
- Playing games with our class
- Playing video games with friends
5/6C are extremely excited about Term 4 and being so close to the end of the year. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the term holds for our class, I know it will be memorable!
Miss Cox - Classroom Teacher
Both the students and I were very excited to return to school and we have been very busy in the few weeks we have been back. I asked the students to share what we have been doing lately and here is what they had to share:
Returning to School:
The first day back was nerve-wracking but overall it was calm and relaxing – Calvin.
We partnered up with someone and made yummy sherbet – Sean.
We have been doing Mindfulness and Well-being tasks. They have helped keep me happy and sane - Alex
Maths:
In Maths we have been learning about Mass, for example, we weighed some of the things in Mrs Mc Phie’s classroom – Valentina.
We did Naplan trials to see what we need to work on – Shayyan.
We learned about Mass and the kinds of measurements we use for measuring Volume – Ozkan.
I really loved the Escape Room for students doing the SEE program in 2021 because it was fun and a bit challenging – Riley-Kate.
Reading:
We have been using all sorts of strategies to help us understand texts better. I really enjoyed reading the texts we used – Angie.
We learned about how to make meaningful predictions about texts – Leonid.
I have been doing lots of reading with Mrs Clarke – Frank.
Writing:
We have been writing persuasive pieces – Sierra.
We have learned about the structure of persuasive pieces of writing – Deepti.
We have been learning how to write a rebuttal for a persuasive piece – Eva.
I have written rebuttals and used ARMS and CUPS to edit and revise my writing - Bhargav
STOMP
In STOMP we have learned our dance and the finale dance – Zeena.
I love doing STOMP because I love dancing – Rawah.
Sport Afternoon
On Friday 30th October we had a fun sports afternoon. The grade 6 students enjoyed Frisbee throws, goal kicking, sack racing, and chicken tossing. Their favourite activity though was playing “Duck, Duck, Goose.”
The next few weeks will be very hectic as we begin preparing for the school concert and the Grade 6 Graduation. In amongst all of that, we will be continuing to learn and to find out what the students have learned in this VERY challenging year.
Mrs Elias - Class Teacher.
These few months have been so challenging but we have made it back to school!
During online learning, it was so difficult to say connected with each other but we all pulled through. The videos I created for science experiments and fun little activities that I shared with the students kept me busy and they seemed to enjoy the videos on YouTube. You have achieved so much from Prep all the way to 6 and you should all be proud!
Online there were so many amazing engineering and science experiments that were completed and the amazing videos and pictures that I saw were absolutely amazing. As well as this the science competition was in full swing from prep all the way to year 12. The level of entries and the number of our students completing science experiments and finding the amazing art in science which was wonderful to see.
As we returned to normal class it has been awesome to see all the happy faces in class. It has been good to see students participating, collaborating, and enjoying the work in STEM; from the research to the end product.
I cannot wait to see how crazy the rest of the year will be!
Mr Jogaratnam - STEM Class Teacher
Grade Prep - Spotty Monsters
Prep students showed great control of their paint brushes to fill a page with multicoloured circles. When the paint dried, they cut out a ‘blobby’ shape, drew, cut and pasted eyes, mouth and teeth. Finally, they learnt how to concertina fold arms and legs.
Grade 1A and 1/2L
Grade 1 and 2 students have studied the work of James Rizzi – His abstract cityscapes are filled with vibrant youthful graphics. Students are in the process of drawing their own abstract cityscapes, focusing on the foreground, middle ground, and background.
Grade 2/3 - Symmetrical Emus
Grade 2/3N students learned how to create a symmetrically balanced drawing of an emu. They used oil pastels to create abstract coloured feathers. Pressing firmly with the oil pastel in one direction, resulting in vivid colours. Experimenting with layering and blending of colours. Finishing off their work with a liquid watercolour background. Resulting in a very quirky and unique ‘mob’ of emus!
Grade 4B
Grade 4 students have studied the work of Karla Gerard – a self taught, American folk artist. Looking at her use of 2D and 3D shapes and unique patterns and designs. Students are in the process of drawing their own quirky houses, each with unique features.
Grade 5M – Mythical Creatures
Grade 5 students have been asked to put their creative hats on to design and create a mythical creature. Using watercolour pencils to create different textures and forms. Thinking about skin coverings and environments for their creatures to live. Skills in blending colours and shading to create highlights and shaddows. Using different pencil techniques to create different textures. Here is a progress image of some of their work.
Mrs McAleer - Art Teacher