From the classroom

News from 5/6 Unit

Hello families,

This week, the Year Fives are working hard on completing their NAPLAN tests. They have been trying their Personal Best and we continue to be very proud of them. 

Students continue to have Performing Arts and Digital Technology lessons fortnightly. In Performing Arts, student learning will focus on Drama and in Digital Technology students will focus on using databases to answer questions about the people in their First Fleet.

In Reading, students will continue to use the text, See you in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng, as a mentor text. We have been using this text to develop a deep understanding of various peoples' connection to space. This text enables students to apply and develop comprehension in relation to our Inquiry unit this term.

In Writing, we continue to focus on persuasive techniques in writing and debate. Students have been constructing their own texts, developing arguments with emotive phrases to persuade an audience. Students will participate in mock debates, learning about the structure and skills of individual and team debating.

In Numeracy, we will continue to focus on fractions. Students will participate in a range of hands-on learning tasks, encouraging them to apply skills and solve problems involving fractions.  They will then apply these skills to solve more complex problems involving fractions and the 4 operations. 

The Year Six students received the transition to high school application forms last week. Please remember that the forms need to be brought back filled in as soon as possible. If you have any questions about this process, please refer to the FAQ section in the pack. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher with any further questions.

The Marlborough PS Open Night is coming up on Wednesday, May 25th. The open night will run from 5:30pm until 7pm. The theme of the night is Wellbeing, so we will be incorporating the Friendology program. In the 5/6 unit, we will be running activities based around “Trust and Respect are the two most important qualities in a friendship.” We hope to see you there!

Kind Regards,

Pippa Davis and Nathan Baxter

What’s Happening in 3/4?

Firstly, we would like to congratulate the Year 3s on completing their first ever NAPLAN! What an outstanding effort and achievement. Congratulations are also in order for the Year 4 students who spent the week completing a range of special challenge tasks.

In Numeracy, we have finished up on multiplication and spent this week learning about division. Students were quick to identify that division and multiplication are opposites - or what we call ‘inverse’ - and made connections between the two processes to solve problems. Next week we are starting our learning on Statistics and Probability, with a focus on graphing and interpreting data.

In Writing, we have been working hard on developing arguments for our persuasive writing - linking our writing to our inquiry topic around sustainability. We have followed the persuasive structure and developed initial position statements, arguments, rebuttals and learned how to wrap up a persuasive piece. We look forward to sharing these in the coming weeks - once they are revised, edited and published of course.

In Reading, we have developed our understanding of reciprocal reading roles and participated in group explorations of texts. We have been amazed with the effort and dedication of students and how they are slowly building their independence in leading these circle discussions. We have also been developing our fluency and phonological awareness, using common phonemes to decode unknown words.

A reminder that Homework is due on Friday, we are all looking forward to seeing what the students have done - and whether they think cats are better, or dogs are better.

Have a fantastic week,

Alec, Anna, Lisa and Pete

The Adventures of the 1/2's

Hello families,

It has been wonderful watching our amazing Year 1 and Year 2 students settle back into school routine. It is wonderful to see the students enjoying school and the positive interactions they are having with peers and teachers alike.

Students are keen participants in our phonics program, and are enjoying the challenge that graphemes, diagraphs and trigraphs present. Moving forward we will continue to extend their phonics knowledge and be including work on reading fluently. In Reading, we are currently learning and using new vocabulary, comprehension strategies and practising our decoding and fluency through partner reading. Please remember to fill out your students' reading diary for their nightly reading as they finish a book, which certainly adds to their sense of accomplishment.

In Numeracy, we are currently studying probability and in the coming weeks will be studying addition and subtraction, with the introduction of skills such as number lines and double facts. As always a focus on number formation and place value form a part of our number talks and daily practice to create strong foundations students can build upon.

Our students are currently enjoying our Inquiry unit, ‘Why is my place so important’ and their connection to places. Listening to students share why a place within the community is special and important to them has been a definite highlight. Moving forward for Term 2, students will begin to explore Indigenous connections to sacred sites and how to care for places.

Kind Regards,

The 1/2 teaching team

Helen Edwards, Anies Davidson & Adam Jarvis

Exciting times in Foundation

We’ve had a great start to Term 2 and we are so pleased with how well the students have resettled into our routines and learning expectations. Our Inquiry topic this term is called “Who’s in Our Community” and we will explore family diversity, people and places in our community, and the First Nations people of this area. The class have absolutely loved using some costumes to dress up and enjoy role playing different characters. 

Over the next fortnight we will

• Begin using decodable books and start reading simple words
• Continue understanding and recalling the letters and sounds of the alphabet, especially when shown out-of-order
• Writing labels to recount our weekends at home
• Begin learning about addition – at this stage we will be talking about ‘adding more’ or ‘and 3 more makes…’
• Continue sorting and collecting data to yes or no questions
• Exploring the beat of music and playing instruments to match slow, medium and fast beats

Indonesian

 Selamat Datang Term 2, 2022! 

This term we will be participating in Sayembara Lisan, a state-wide Indonesian Speaking Competition. This is run by Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers Association (VILTA), and the final will be held at University of Melbourne on Saturday 23rd of July. The first round will be held at school and Bu Devathas, from Heathmont College, will visit to judge our students as part of the Maroondah region. The competition includes simple questions and the students will either sing a song, recite a poem or respond to a prompt in Indonesian. We will be covering the material in class and there is no cost involved. Interested students will have the opportunity to be part of a lunchtime club to practise for the competition. I wish all of our students "Semoga sukses!" and look forward to informing the school community of our finalists.

The main themes for the whole school this term are days of the week/months of the year. The students in Prep –Grade 2 are learning new vocabulary through games and songs. Students from Grade 3-6 will also learn to tell the time in Indonesian. Students in the middle and upper school are focusing on refining basic questions and responses in spoken Indonesian. The students will also develop their language skills through role playing, online activities and putting their language skills into practice.

Words to practise at home:

If students have access to the internet at home, they might like to explore or revise their vocabulary at the Indonesian section of Languages Online at: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/indonesian/indonesian.htm

Terima kasih (Thank- you),

(Bu) Mary-Ellen DowlingSelamat Datang Term 2, 2022!