Specialists Updates and Celebrations

Music

We are off to a great start in the Prep music program for Term 2. Students have been very settled and engaged in their music lessons.

Our current "Element of Music" focus is "pitch". We have been learning what pitch is and how to recognise low and high pitch sounds. In terms of practical skills, the aim is for students to learn how to match a pitch they hear to their voice and to sing songs with two to three pitch variations (notes) with accuracy.

Our focus instrument is the marimba this term. Students are learning new material as we prepare for one of the Prep classes to be selected to perform at the Rockstar Day concert at the end of term.

Physical Education

The Year 1 and 2 students have been practising the skills of catching and throwing. This week we trialled and tested different size balls of all different materials and weight. We came together and discussed which balls where easiest to catch and throw and why.

It was great to have the students back in the gym running around and reconnecting with their classmates. Moving forward we will start to play some teamwork games that incorporate the skill we have been practicing. 

Visual Arts

The Year 3 and 4 students have been learning about Aboriginal Australian Art this week. Having a deep and thorough understanding of Aboriginal culture and how it influences Aboriginal artforms is so important before we create Aboriginal inspired art. This week, the students had the opportunity to share what they know about Aboriginal Australian art, drawing on prior knowledge. They also identified what they're interested to learn about. 

Digital Technologies

In Years 5 and 6 we started an exciting new project aiming to help reduce the impact of technology on the environment. We learnt that each iPhone produces up to 116kg of carbon dioxide in its lifetime and that e-waste is the largest growing type of waste with many people not disposing of electronics responsibly.  

To help use technology to combat climate change, students began designing trash-robots in groups which they will aim to pick up rubbish within the classroom. Next week, they will use Vex Go pieces to create the base of their sustainability robots and practice programming and driving them for the upcoming competition.

Library

Term 1 Library Highlights

During Term 1 we added a total of 695 new books to SMPS! 134 for the school library, 509 for the classroom libraries and 52 teacher resources. 

In Term 1, Year 1 to 6 visited the library every week. During these sessions 1,623 library books were circulated. Classes with the most books borrowed were: 

The top borrowers for each year level:

There were no top borrowers for Grade 1 as borrowing was very even across the year level.

The most popular books were:

A HUGE thank you to the parent volunteers who have helped in the library during Term 1. Together they covered 355 books in contact to protect the new books for use in the library and classroom libraries.