Classroom News
PREP
Week 5 in Prep has been full of FUN, FUN, FUN!
We started our week off by learning a brand new sentence for our stage 2 learning of Little Learners Love Literacy “Sam the dog can dig in the hot pit and can nap.” We explored so many ways of learning this by reading our matching text, cutting up pictures and matching them to sentences and using a THRASS chart.
We were so excited about heading on our very first excursion yesterday and we had such a great time. We walked all the way from school to COPACC and learnt how to get there safely with a big group. The live performance was very engaging and we enjoyed being amongst other schools. We even got to do a Q&A at the end and learnt that some of the bow that is used to play a violin is made up of horse hair.
For our big write this week, we had to have a wild guess about who could be coming to visit us - we had guesses like family, Spider-Man, cousins, new kids. We were very elated when we found out Gemma’s dog Nelly would be coming to see us at school. It also ties in perfectly to 3 of the sounds that we are learning in LLLL “d, o, g”.
We started our learning of subtraction this week in numeracy. We are learning to take away and finding out what is left over. We will continue this learning for the remainder of the learning term.
We are busy getting organised for our prayer gathering. All parts have now been sent home for extra practice.
Our prayer gathering is next Friday at 9am, we would love to see as many people as possible there.
Gemma Blake gblake@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Dani Conheady dconheady@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 1/2
The weeks are flying by and we are having such a great time in Year 1 & 2. The students have all been working so hard and we are thrilled with the progress made by all. We can't wait for the opportunity to meet with all of our parents in the coming weeks at our Learning Conversations to share our amazing progress with you.
The students in Year 1 and 2 have been finishing off their units of work on addition and are both moving into work on subtraction. During this unit they will explore the relationship between addition and subtraction by using a range of strategies such as number lines and number charts. Our knowledge of fact families, doubles and 10s fact has improved across the board.
This week we have been studying the text 'Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge' by Mem Fox. We have enjoyed a range of activities and finished off the unit of work with a visit to COPACC to see the story come to life on the stage! This was a wonderful experience enjoyed by all.
The Year 1 and 2 students will be visiting Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool on Friday 2nd June, 2023. As part of our Inquiry topic in Term 2 titled, Time Machine Adventure, we have been looking at machines and toys that were used in the past, and noted the similarities and difference between the past and today. The children will be involved in making their own toy to bring home, will participate in olden day games and activities as well as having the opportunity to explore the museum’s various exhibits. Please ensure that you have approved this excursion on PAM.
Kascha Popping kpopping@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Miriam Collins mcollins@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Kerryn Williams kwilliams@smcolac.cathlolic.edu.au
GRADE 3/4
This week has been all about ‘sloths.’ We definitely haven’t been sluggish like sloths, we have been very busy.
We have watched education videos and read information reports to learn about the life of a sloth. On Wednesday for National Simultaneous Storytime, we enjoyed listening to the book, ‘The Speedy Sloth,’ by Rebecca Young and Heath McKenzie. We have used all the knowledge we have discovered about sloths to help us write a narrative about a sloth for our Big Write today. It was fabulous to see all the creative writing ideas and to see students using lots of ‘wow words’ to make their writing more entertaining.
On Monday, we were lucky to have the Trinity College Band join us at school and perform for the Year 3/4 students. The children had a wonderful time bopping along to the music and learning about the different instruments.
Congratulations to all the students who participated in the interschool Cross Country on Monday. Best of luck to those students who will move on to the next stage at the Greater Western event next Monday.
In Maths, we are still continuing with our addition and subtraction topic. We have been learning about the steps involved in answering word problems. The steps are, circle the key numbers, underline the question and then draw a box around any math ‘action’ words (e.g. left, more, altogether).
Tomorrow, we look forward to celebrating Catholic Education Week. We will attend Mass at 10:00am before sharing a morning tea with our friends from Sacred Heart and
St. Brendan’s.
Next Thursday, 1st June is Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea and an Open Classroom morning. This is beginning at 9:30am, so if you are free, we would love you to come visit our classroom and then you're welcome to join in the morning tea.
Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Lauren Ryan lryan@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Meg Knight mknight@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Judy Carr jcarr@smcolac.catholic.edu
Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
GRADE 5/6
In the senior unit this week we are celebrating Catholic Education Week and what it means to be part of a Catholic school. We will have Mass on Friday at 10am to celebrate with the other Catholic schools in the district. Some of our girls will be representing the school in the Colac Girls Football Tournament straight after Mass and will need to be prepared to leave from the church.
Back in the classroom, we are working hard on our multiplication and division unit in Numeracy. Students have been given a times table goal and we ask families to practise with them to help them achieve their goals. In Literacy, we have a focus on comprehension and grammar while our writing continues to focus on Narratives. Our inquiry unit on Australian Immigration is almost complete and students will be completing ‘an immigrant's perspective’ written task to highlight the learning they have achieved in this unit.
Well done to all the students who have represented the school recently in Soccer and Cross Country. The students' behaviour and ability to try their best has been a great asset to them and they should be congratulated on their efforts.
Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Paula Parish pparish@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Jade LoRicco jloricco@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Dan Cannon dcannon@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Susie Scott sscott@smcolac.catholic.edu.au
Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au.