Foundation & One

Happy Mother's Day for last Sunday. We hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather as well.

We loved the Monday afternoon weather where we got to spend part of the afternoon outside building bark shelters as part of our Inquiry unit on 'My Place'. We have also worked in small groups building a variety of things using our construction toys. We continue to build our knowledge of letters/sounds: homework helps consolidate this. In maths, we are getting quicker at adding one, two and even ten more to a number. In library on Thursday, we listened to the start of some picture story books and voted on which ones started with a sizzle, i.e. grabbed our attention and made us curious. Later on in the week, we got to watch the start of some of our favourite movies and work out what it was that the filmmaker used to make us want to keep watching. We think starting with action is a good technique. We came up with our own 'Sizzling Starts' when using the puppets. Look out Hollywood here we come!

Mrs Chalmers, Classroom Teacher.

Years 1 & 2

During Inquiry we are getting better at knowing our states, territories and capital cities. This week we are looking at atlas’ and learning how to use a grid reference and key, to locate places. We should all be good navigators for our next family excursion or holiday!

In Maths we have been using lots of hands-on games to help us learn, and quickly recall, our number facts to 10 and 20. These have included ice hockey, basketball, dominoes and scoring AFL goals!

Our reading is showing lots of improvement so keep up the good work at home. We are excited that a lot of the students are starting to read chapter books. We are learning the strategy of “Making Connections” to help us understand what we are reading. These included Text-to self, Text-to-text, and Text-to-world connections.

Have a great week.

Mrs McKenzie and Ms Martin, Classroom Teachers.

Year 3

Mrs Torney, Classroom Teacher.

Year 4

Another busy time in our Year 4 learning community!

In Inquiry we have been learning about forces and functions. Students explored and experimented with different forces, whilst making connections to when they have seen the same force in action!

This week we have started looking at wind power and how wind turbines are used in some towns. We discussed why Wedderburn should/shouldn’t have a wind turbine built and created pinwheels that we tested outside.

We look forward to continuing our exploration into forces and functions and will be continuing to develop our understanding of how important forces are in everyday life.

During Literacy time we have been discovering the ways that readers think when reading. We have continued our Travelling Bookshop series by completing book #1 and starting book #2 – The Travelling Bookshop – Mim and the Woeful Wedding! We can’t wait to see what adventures Mim and her family get up to in this book!

Students in Year 4 are reminded of the importance of

reading at home and logging this reading in their weekly reading log,
bringing their diaries to school each day,
completing their SMART Spelling and Mathematics homework

By doing this, students are helping to support the learning we are doing in class.

Miss Anderson, Classroom Teacher.

Years 5/6 A & B

We have hit the ground running in our 5/6 unit in all curriculum areas including:

Maths Groups: Efficient addition and subtraction strategies, both mental and written

Applied Maths: Area and Perimeter, Chance and Data

Reading: Reader’s Notebook activities focused on Author’s Purpose and Summarising

Inquiry: Social Skills and Interacting with others, identifying our own social skills and what we need to work on

Writing: Seven Steps of writing with a focus on Sizzling Starts and Tightening the tension.

Grade 5/6 students have shown an open mindset towards homework which has been really positive to see. Miss Douglas and Mrs T are available to help all students, with doors to the classrooms open during Wednesday lunchtimes for small group work/time for questions. Please encourage your child to use this time if required!

These are the homework expectations:

4-5 nights of 10mins of reading, recorded in student diaries (title of book, pages read, signed by adult if possible/quick summary of what was read: optional)
Spelling words practised and returned on Fridays
1-2 Numeracy worksheets of content covered in class the previous week

Homework is due back to classroom teachers on Fridays. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Miss Douglas and Mrs Turnbull, Classroom Teachers.

School Assembly and Most Valuable Person Awards

Held on Tuesday 9th May

Year 10

Term two is well underway and the Year 10s are keeping very busy. Preparations for work experience are continuing and students are excited about getting out and experiencing the world of work. Some of the workplaces’ students have secured include a primary school, a health service, an engineering firm, a gym, and Melbourne University’s science gallery. Year 10s will also get an opportunity to practice revision skills and to demonstrate their understanding with exams in all subjects at the end of the term.

This week in Huddle, students competed to build bridges using pipe cleaners, icypole sticks, straws, and other materials. Some fantastic teamwork and creativity was on display. Well done to all involved.

Please also note that COVID has reared its head and is starting to impact our school community. Along with wishing a speedy recovery to those affected, we’d like to remind everyone to ensure we’re washing our hands regularly and to test if you’re feeling unwell. If you need COVID tests, please speak to homeroom teachers.

Mr Iser, Mr Merritt and Mrs Barker, Year 10 Homeroom Teachers.

Year 11 & 12

VCE Newsletter

Cross Country

One of the best opportunities available to VCE students in an F-12 College is to provide leadership to younger students. The two fabulous role models pictured left (Eliza Turnbull and Neve Nisbet) did a tremendous job at the Interhouse Cross Country on 1st May, inspiring the younger students to have fun and do their best. It was great to see the senior students all competing in good spirit!

VCE Year 12 English

At the moment, students are analysing arguments made about a whole range of issues explored in the media. They are conscientiously preparing for a SAC and on Tuesdays have 3 periods of English in a row (a big ask for anyone!) Pictured right is Yindi, providing moral support for the Year 12s as they plough through the morning’s tasks.

VCE Year 12 History-Revolutions

The History students have just finished studying the Russian Revolution and have completed their SAC on this topic. Zen has apparently been so inspired by the subject that he wants to become a dictator! Their next topic is the Chinese Revolution so who knows what Zen will be inspired to do then! Great to see students enjoying this very important subject.

VM Literacy

On Friday 12th May 2023, the VM Literacy students of Wedderburn College, went on an excursion to the Inglewood District Aged Care Home. We were there to form a bond with some of the elderly people and to get them physically active with some of the activities that we had designed. The students were pushed to their limits to be more involved and come out of their comfort zone.

The students were placed into small groups with residents and needed to go around and do physical activities. The activities we completed were a backyard treasure hunt, table golf and table hockey. The treasure hunt involved students and residents moving around the outdoor gardens to find all the treasure items. In table golf, the players are given two tennis balls and must try their best to accurately roll the balls into the holes. We created holes using cardboard and painted them funky colors. Table hockey is an easy game to play. All you need is to form a flat surface barrier (we used books) along the side of your table and have a milk carton lid/jar lid to use as the puck. and then you can use plastic containers as sticks to hit the puck back and forth just like in air hockey.

You could tell on the face of some of the old people that they were really having a blast. When all the students came in to visit them, it was as if a bit of sunshine arose upon their faces. The VM Literacy students of Wedderburn College are going to make the visits to the Aged Care home regularly throughout term 2.

Written by Maikia Punguika. Edited by Ciara Rose Sims.

Mrs Ritchie, Mrs Woodman and Mr Gretgrix, Year 11 & 12 Homerooms Teachers

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also receive regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.

Yindi's Yarn