Specialists Updates and Celebrations

Digital Technologies

This week in Digital Technology the Preps have started a new topic exploring data. They learnt how computers take in and then store or use data in the form of numbers, symbols and letters. Students represented data about themselves in the form of a 'data bot' picture. They colour-coded their robot based on answers to questions such as "How do you get to school?" and "What is your favourite subject?" Next week, we will collect class data by going on a gallery work and counting the different data responses on each robot.

Can you decode the pictures below and tell me how many of these students take a car to school each day? 

These robots will be on display around the school so feel free to stop and decipher some data about our wonderful SMPS students.

Music

In the Year 1 and 2 music program, the past 3 weeks have been focussed on developing skills and understanding of the music element “tempo”.  Students have learnt to recognise slow, moderate and fast tempos in music by using specific music language; largo, moderato and presto. 

Most importantly, our Year 1 and 2 students have learnt to control the tempo of the music they sing and play by keeping a steady beat at the three tempos through several fun and engaging class songs.

A particular goal for the past 3 weeks was for students to experience the idea that it is much easier to learn new music at a slow tempo and gradually increase the tempo over time. This is an approach to learning that we hope crosses over to other areas of their learning.

Physical Education

Year 3 and 4's have had a great start to Term 3! We have been dancing our way through the first 3 weeks fostering confidence, creativity and expression. This week we have had the opportunity of Basketball superstars from Melbourne Tigers come in and coach the students as they prepare for their first interschool Basketball Gala Day at MSAC on Monday Wk 8 (28th August). We will need some parent volunteers for this day. If you are available, please reach out to myself or your child’s classroom teacher! Moving forward we will be having health lessons in Week 5 and then straight back to the basketball with the focus around teamwork and game play. 

Have a look at the Year 3's dance moves being captured below! 

Visual Arts

Last term, I went to go visit an experienced Art Teacher at another primary school in the area and found that we plan our Art Program a little bit differently. So, this term the Year 5 and 6 students are trialling out doing one big artwork for the whole term, rather than a different artwork every week. The students are being extremely reflective throughout the process, to help me decide whether or not to plan more like this in the future. The students are making big collages, and their first step was to make oil pastel patterned artworks, then paint over them in watercolour. This week they are tearing up their artworks to then collage them onto an A2 poster board. I am so excited to see how their artworks turn out and I appreciate them helping me develop my own teaching practice!

Library

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award winners will be announced on Friday 18th August – just in time for Book Week!

At SMPS, we have all the shortlisted books in the categories of Younger Readers, Picture Book, Early Childhood, New Illustrator and the Eve Pownall Award (nonfiction). 

In the lead up to Book Week, teachers have been reading the shortlisted books to the students during library sessions.