Argus Community Report

1/2 Argus Report

It has been a bumpy start to the term and we are so proud of how resilient our students have been.  We would like to thank all families for all their efforts and time, helping their child to make remote learning enjoyable and productive learning. We have really enjoyed seeing how happy students are to be back at school; we are also happy to be back teaching in person. ☺

We wish Carla the best of luck as she prepares for her new role as a mum. We welcome Michelle to the Argus team who has taken over teaching the Caterpillars mentor group. 

We also welcome Namarta to the Argus community while Addy is on leave, team teaching with Alex on Mondays and Tuesday. 

Reading

In reading students have been looking at a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. They have learnt about the features of a non fiction text and how they help us as readers. Students have continued to practise their inferential comprehension, answering questions using clues from text and their prior knowledge. Students have been able to practise their fluency during remote learning by reading the same text several times and recording themselves reading. Students have learnt to make comparisons to familiar texts and characters, using a venn diagram. As a community we promote independent reading daily, of ‘just right books’.  

Writing

In Writing, students have learnt how to write an autobiography. Their writing included a description of themselves, their family, hobbies and interests and memorable experiences. Also part of their learning this term was devoted to brainstorming, organising their ideas, adding details to make their sentences more interesting, revising and editing. They have also been learning how to write a persuasive text. They are working on improving their ability to effectively express an idea or their opinion and convince their readers. 

Maths

In Maths this term students have been learning about 2D shapes such as a triangle, hexagon and octogon and 3D shapes such as a cube, sphere and pyramid. Students practised labelling the shapes and identifying how many faces, sides, corners (vertices) each shape has.  

Students have also been learning about fractions including halves, quarters and eighths. Students are learning to find one half, quarter and eighth of a shape, making sure all parts are equal. They then also found one half, quarter and eighth of a collection.  

Students also investigated money; identifying and ordering coins by their value. 

Students will also revise key concepts covered this year in maths including for example counting, addition/ subtraction, multiplication/ division and shape. 

SEL

Our main Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) focus this term has been on Caring for our Others and Our School / Our Environment. The students have been learning about how to show kindness to their teachers and classmates through giving compliments to each other. We have also been focusing on positive and negative mindsets and strategies we can use to turn a negative thought into a more positive one. Since returning to the classroom, students have been continuing to learn about ways to care for our school community - such as cleaning up after themselves, maintaining a tidy work space and putting their rubbish in the bin. Add in Gender friendly classrooms

Inquiry

During Inquiry learning students have been learning about Australian culture. We have discussed what it means to be an Australian, looked at the 3 flags of Australia and the history of each flag. We also have discussed the Australian National Anthem and the meaning behind it. Students have looked at celebrations and activities that are part of Australian culture , such as AFL and AWFL. We also discussed foods and lifestyle activities such as family barbecues, sport, and swimming.

We have been engaging in discussions about many of the cultures of the students in the Argus community and discuss similarities and differences between the cultures.

Victorian Curriculum

Here is the link to the Victorian Curriculum if you would like to take a look at what we cover throughout the year. 

https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/level1 

Reminders

• Doors open at 8:30am
• Dismissal for 1/2 students is at 3:00pm
• If your child has a sibling in Prep, they will be allowed to leave at 2.45pm
• Please bring a hat to school each day in Term 4 (please ensure your child has their name on it)
• Please make sure your child has their name on jumpers, jackets and coats
• Please bring a fully charged iPad to school each day

What you can do with your child at home

• Continue to read to and with your child each night.  
• Encourage your child to develop more independence. (Help pack/unpack their school bag/lunch, or get their uniform ready)
• Encourage your child to take responsibility for their own belongings.
• Establishing a regular routine helps students to develop a positive approach to learning and will benefit them as they progress through their schooling.  
• Encourage your child to practise tying their own shoelaces.
• We continue to promote healthy eating at school. We allow students to have a piece of fruit and vegetable break at 10:15am. We try to discourage highly salty, sugary and processed foods. We talk about these foods as ‘occasional’ or ‘sometimes’ food that can be enjoyed on ‘special occasions’ rather than as part of a child’s daily diet. 
• If you need to speak to your child’s mentor teacher, please contact the office to pass on the message or organise this before or after school.

Kind Regards,

1/2 Argus teaching team

Michelle, Fanny, Alex, Namarta, Elin and Laura