Classroom News
Foundation
Literacy
This fortnight, the Foundation students have started Buddy Reading! Buddy reading is where two students work together reading a decodable text, one student points to the sounds and the other segments the sounds then blends the word. Students read one page at a time and then swap roles. It has been fantastic listening to partners reading decodable texts and trying their best with sounds such as /s/ /a/ /t/ /p/ /i/ /n/ /m/ /d/ as well as our new sounds /h/ /e/ /r/! We love watching our Foundation students use the skills they are learning at school and home. Keep up the hard work!
In-school Cross Country
On Friday, the Junior School had their own cross country around the school. Foundation students walked a lap of the course and then had their own turn to run it. All students took part on the day and really enjoyed being able to run with their friends and being cheered on by the older students!
Premiers’ Reading Challenge
Foundation classes have started adding books to the Premiers Reading Challenge! Some of our favourites in the last week have been, Diary of a Wombat, Are We there Yet?, Sam’s Bush Journey and Back on Country. See the Teaching and Learning page of the newsletter for more details about the challenge.
Junior School News
In content knowledge and text construction students have been learning about ancient China. They have been furthering their knowledge through reading and answering questions. They have also been developing recounts on their knowledge of China by recapping on the Great Wall of China.
In numeracy students have been practising their skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's. This has help them count large collections.
Middle School News
This term in literacy, students have been learning about Dynasties of China. They have read about the dynasties from the first Emperor who united China, through to what caused the end of 2000 years or rule by the Emperors. They have also learnt about the many things that are used today that the Chinese invented such as paper, silk and fireworks.
Remember to read each night, record your reading in your diary and hand your diary into the teacher each morning. Classroom libraries are available in each classroom to provide books for students to read in class and at home.
This term we have had a focus on addition in numeracy. We have been learning how to add larger numbers using vertical addition and the importance of knowing facts such as doubles to help us with efficient calculations.
Visual Art
In the last week of Term 1 we had three educators come to our school from ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art). Lauren, Minna and Edwina taught the students about contemporary art. Our students learnt about the current installation at the gallery. Data relations was on display from December 2022 to March 2023. Artist, Mini Onuoha used cable, cloth, and rituals to highlight the need to reflect on how our interactions affect others when using technology. The students added their own statements to the cable sculpture, and it will be displayed in the Art room in the coming weeks. Artist Winnie Soon explored the concept of censorship, and hidden messages on the internet. During the session the students created their own piece of censored artwork, by removing or covering up sections of the text/images. The middle and senior students have learnt the terms and techniques used when working with clay, they have made a rhinoceros and will work towards making a dragon eye as their final piece. Juniors have learnt about Chinese Art, and they will complete their dragon hand puppets next week. Well done on a great start to Term 2, and a big thanks to Minna, Lauren, and Edwina for sharing their knowledge with our students.
