Preps - Term 3, Week 2

Dear Prep Families,

Welcome back to Term 3. We cannot believe that we are already in the second half of the year! We hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe holiday.

The Preps have come back with a sense of maturity and readiness to learn.

During Literacy, we have begun learning about the difference between Fiction and Non Fiction texts. The Learners have explored the difference between a book that tells us a story and book that gives us information. They have had a go at writing facts about something that they have learnt and labelled a diagram.

In Maths, we have started the term learning about ‘sharing’ and have used the terms equal, non equal, fair and not fair to describe how we are sharing things out. This week we will also begin learning about asking questions to collect data. The students will learn about the difference between a yes and no question and a multiple choice question and begin to put this data on a bar graph.

Our Inquiry learning is focusing on living and nonliving things. We went on a walk to Penders Park and observed various things in the community and categorised them into living and nonliving. As we continue our learning, our focus is moving towards learning about Plants, how they grow, what they look like and what they need to live.

During Religion, we have begun learning about the Bible. Students have learnt that the Bible has two main parts, the Old and New Testaments. We discussed the Jesus is a character in the New Testament only. Students have explored the Creation Story and will continue to learn about stories from the Old Testament.

We look forward to a very productive and fun Term 3.

Have a great week,

Amanda and Hayley

Middles - Term 3, Week 2

Welcome back to the new term. Term 3 is a great term for teaching and learning. Students are in their routines and we are planning on having some fun with our learning. We have a History Expo coming up shortly, a poetry launch and First Eucharist for the Gr 4’s … just to name a few things!

Poetry launch

After assembly on Friday we will have both classes together to ‘launch’ our Poetry books. We have been working on a variety of poetry forms, including Alliteration, Haiku, Limericks and Diamantes. Each student will read one of their pieces. If you are available to come up and share the ‘launch’ please come along. We will start around 9:30am.

Expo for our History Unit

We are coming to the ‘Personalising’ stage of our History unit. Students have attended workshops on Early Explorers, Indigenous Australians and Local Government. They are currently researching a specific area of interest. We will let you know once we lock in a date for the Expo and look forward to sharing the student’s work in enjoyable and creative ways.

Eucharist Life and Faith Night

We look forward to seeing families at tonight’s (Thursday 25/7) Life and Faith Meeting for Eucharist. The meeting begins at 7:15pm and begins our journey towards the important Sacrament of First Eucharist. Thanks in advance for your attendance, we really appreciate it.

Pray for Me Class Masses

This Sunday (28/7) 3/4TM will celebrate our ‘Pray for Me Mass’ at 10:30am. The following Sunday (4/8) it’s 3/4C’s turn. We look forward to seeing all families that are able to make these celebrations. Please return the note sent home last week if your child is able to read a prayer or take up the offeretry.

Thursday Morning Masses

Both classes will come together next Thursday morning (1/8) for 9:15am Mass. Our students will read the Prayers of the Faithful and bring up the Gifts. Please come along and celebrate mass with us if you have the time.

And most importantly, in Maths

We are currently working on two areas of the Maths Curriculum. We have begun a unit on ‘Chance’ and are learning the language and conducting simple experiments. In the area of Number and Algebra we are focusing on Multiplication and Division. If you have a spare moment, challenge your child/ren to a game of ‘Land Grab’ (they’ll be able to explain the rules to you).

Thanks for your ongoing support,

Jarrod, Tania, Carla, Vicki and Sophia

Italian News

Years 3-6 have begun immersing themselves in ‘la bella lingua’- Italian. Students have been looking at the pronunciation of the alphabet, how to greet someone and how to construct three sentences about themselves. Ask your child to tell you in Italian how old they are or a hobby they enjoy.

A presto

Signora Delia

Juniors

Hello Families,

Welcome to Week Two of Term Three!

Just a reminder that all 1/2 students have three specialist classes on Tuesdays: Library, Physical Education and Performing Art/Music. All students should wear their sports uniform on this day.

Whilst the students had a great time learning Italian during Semester One, they have enjoyed the beginning of the Mandarin program. These lessons occur each Wednesday.

There has been a lot of positive feedback on the start of the 'Triskills' program. Whilst one group is engaged in this program, the other two groups participate in Visual Art and Social Emotional Learning Activities. These activities take place on Thursdays.

In English, we have been using animal texts, both fiction and non-fiction, with a focus on our reading goals. The students have written recounts about their Term Two holidays. It has been great reading what the students got up to during their break from school. We are now beginning to focus on writing information reports.

In Maths, the students have completed their post testing on Addition and Subtraction. It has been pleasing to see the improvements made in these areas. The students have now completed their pre testing in Multiplication, Division, Chance and Data. These will be the next units studied in Maths.

In Religion, the students have learnt about the Beatitudes with a focus on the choices we make and how we should treat others. We have just started our new unit on The Story of Creation.

In Inquiry, the students found their Immersion workshops on different animal habitats very exciting and engaging. They have developed wonderings about what they are curious about. These wonderings will drive the Building stage of our unit ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. The students are looking forward to our excursion to the Melbourne Zoo on Monday the 5th of August. Please return permission forms as soon as possible. Thank you to those who have already returned them.

1/2TL and 1/2C will be leading the assembly this Friday. We would love to see as many of you there as possible!

Have a great week,

Bethany, Renee, Tania, Naomi, Tracey and Jason

Seniors

Welcome back to term 3! The senior students are off to a busy start with preparations for confirmation, inquiry personalising research and new and exciting books to read.

In Literacy the students have begun book club studies, which involve students reading a novel together as a group. Students are engaged in group reading, discussion and thinking deeply about the text to achieve their reading goals. You may like to ask your child what novel their group is reading or what goals they are working towards.

In Inquiry the students have been researching their famous Australian person, focusing on taking notes using their own words and accurately recording their sources in a bibliography. They have begun writing their information reports and working on their backdrops for our expo. The expo will be held in the hall on Monday 5th of August, 2.30pm - 3.20pm. If your child has not organised their costume for the expo, please help them to do this before this date.

Have a lovely week,

The Senior Team,

Anne-Marie, Louise, Stephen and Sally

St Mary's School

Issue 11 · 25 Jul 2019

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