Week 6, Term 3

Hello from the Preps!

Even though we have had a wet week this week, we have still been busy in the Prep rooms. This week in Literacy we learnt a new two letter sound ‘sh’ we call ‘shed shop’ and created our own shop. It was fun to see book shops, lego shops and even everything shops! Now that we are becoming confident with writing in dotted thirds, we got new Writing books. We are learning to use the lines to help us make our letters the right size. For our Big Write this week, our topic was ‘Winter’. We enjoyed having a go at writing two or more sentences to share reasons why we like Winter; these included drinking hot chocolate, making cubbies inside and spending time at the snow. In Mathematics, we began exploring division, using counters to share evenly between groups. 

We also introduced our new Big Question: "What is it made of and why?". Over the rest of the Term, we will be looking at different materials and learning about where they come from and why we use them. This week, we learned about wool and how it goes from being on a sheep to becoming a piece of clothing! We also learned about how plastic is made and what we use it for. For our STEAM Friday challenge, we worked with a partner to build different things out of Lego, including an animal and vehicle. 

In R.R.R.R, we started our new topic of Help Seeking. This week, we read a book and looked at ways that we can ‘help’ others through filling up their bucket. We thought of kind ways including asking someone to play, using nice words, waiting our turn, using manners and listening when others are talking. 

Next week, in Literacy, we will learn a new two letter sound. We will continue practising using ‘because’ and ‘but’ in our sentences and becoming more confident with our dotted thirds lines. We will write our ‘Cold Write’ where we can show how amazing we are at writing independently. In Maths, we will continue exploring division.  

We also said goodbye to Pinar today who has been working in Prep N. We hope that you have had a valuable experience with us as you continue your journey of becoming a teacher.  

Just a couple of reminders:

• If you haven’t already, please book in and come to one of the sessions of our Student Led Learning Expo next Wednesday after school. We would love to see everyone! If you are having trouble booking in, please contact your classroom teacher who can help.

• Our Whole School Performance is not far away. Please make sure to get your tickets if you are wanting to come and see. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Miss Else and Nicole

Hello from the Golden Wattle building!  

This week we have started looking at our new Big Question, "What can we learn from those who have come before us?". We braved the rain and visited the Market Building to see the Boorp Boorp Bundyil exhibition which means ‘passing knowledge on to our children’. We learned more about the Dja Dja Wurrung people and their special connection to Country. Back at school we learned about story totems which tell the story of a person’s life and their connection to Country. We made our own story totems telling our personal stories and how we feel connected to the land we are lucky to call home.

As part of our Literacy sessions, we shared The Dreaming story Tiddalik and unpacked the different parts of the story including the introduction, the problem, the solution, and the bigger message. We know that the Aboriginal people have cared for and looked after Country for thousands of years, and an important message that is passed down through the generations relates to not being greedy and only taking what you need, as was the message in Tiddalik.

In Maths, we have continued to explore multiplication by looking at the connection between multiplication and repeated addition. We read part of the poem, The Butterfly’s Ball by William Roscoe, and drew a picture of what we imagined the ball to be like. We then wrote matching number sentences about the different creatures that attended the ball.

Our Wellbeing focus this week was on gender norms and stereotypes. We read the story My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart and discussed how gender labels such as ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ or ‘gender diverse’ don’t really give us enough information to truly know a person. We talked about the fact that we are all individuals and have different strengths and like different things regardless of our gender. There were some great discussions which led in nicely to ‘Wear It Purple’ day which happened on Friday.

Next week, we are looking forward to sharing some of our learning at our student-led expo on Wednesday. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have trouble booking a time to visit. In Literacy, we will start expanding our sentences by using the connectives ‘but, ‘so’ and ‘because’ and in Maths we’ll start exploring time.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Wendy, Laura, Claire, Sarah and Andrew

Hello from the Grade 3/4s!

It’s been another great week for the Grade 3/4s filled with lots of learning.

In Literacy, we have started exploring matter through our big question, "What is it made of and why?". We have learned how to define matter, name the three states of matter, give examples of each state, and group items into solids, liquids or gases based on their properties. When writing about solids, liquids and gases we have been focusing on including adjectives to describe nouns. Students completed a Cold Write based on a picture prompt; it was an absolute pleasure to read their work!

In Maths, we have continued to explore angles by identifying, measuring and making right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles using ropes, clock faces and protractors. We have also practised calculating complementary and supplementary angles. Students finished the week with an open task that enabled students to show their knowledge of angles in a creative way. They created a piece of art using geometric shapes and identified all the different angles they had used.

As part of our wellbeing program, students completed the topic of Help Seeking in our Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships lessons. Students worked in small groups to practise ways to seek help through 'Can You Help Me?' role plays based on age-appropriate scenarios. We discussed the importance of drawing on our personal strengths such as courage and kindness and that sometimes we may need to help-seek more than once to get the help we need.

We ended the week in a purple haze, as we celebrated Wear It Purple Day by wearing purple to demonstrate our support, respect and celebration of young people from the LGBTQIA+ community. To acknowledge the day, we shared the story, Neither, which tells the story about diversity and embracing our unique beauty. The story focuses on the importance of creating an inclusive environment and promoting a sense of belonging where everyone fits in in the Land of All.

Next week, we will continue exploring what things are made of in Literacy and will revisit telling time in Maths. We also have the chance to participate in the District Cricket, Basketball and Tennis clinics on Friday. Please return the permission note and $5.00 payment if you haven’t already done so. We also look forward to students sharing their learning with their families at their student led expos next Wednesday. And finally, another reminder to please make sure students have their hats at school now that the weather will be warming up.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mr Scott, Hannah, Carly, Louise and Sally

All week, the rain poured down, but our Grade 5/6 students have been busy with their learning.  

In Maths, we have been working on adding and subtracting fractions with related denominators. We have also finalised our data task and are looking forward to sharing these with families at the Learning Expos next week.  

We have completed reading our focus text, Us Mob, Walawurru, and we have been using planning tools such as SPO (single paragraph outlines) to plan an analysis of the main character. Here is the start of Orlando’s character analysis of Ruby: 

“Ruby is a curious kind-hearted girl with funny and smart sayings. She is a main character from an Aboriginal book about how Indigenous people survive the 1960s and teach us how the life was back then. Some examples of her being true to her country when Tjilpi, a respected elder in their mob, asked her to bring country with them on a bus ride. She thought of an idea within a millisecond and decided to play tag so all the dust goes all over the bus. As well as being smart, Ruby is also curious asking questions 24/7 however some questions come with tears such as Neena’s story were her beloved family gets hunted by a ruthless police force called the native police.” 

We had our final session of P4P and Esmart this week. Consent was the topic this week and students were introduced to the acronym FRIES. FRIES stands for Freely, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic and Specific. Bron emphasised that if students can remember this and practise this (Bron suggested practicing FRIES when someone tries to steal your chips!), it will lead to happy and healthy relationships. We also discussed gender diversity and the factors that affect positive body image, and how complex this can be for our young people.  

Wear it Purple day was celebrated in style on Friday with a bright array of colours and purple. Thank you to our 5/6 students who helped make this special day possible! Students have also been practising and getting costumes organised for our Journey through the Realms performance in a few weeks.

District Basketball, Cricket and Tennis – 5 September

During Grade 3-6 P.E. lessons this term, we have been practising cricket and tennis in preparation for the District event on Friday 5th September. Grade 5/6 students have selected their preferred sport to participate in match play against students from other schools. The Grade 3/4 classes will participate in skill rotations in both cricket and tennis (having already had their basketball experience in Term 1).

Please have your permission form returned by next Monday. We will require the support from parents/carers to help supervise groups of students. Please indicate your availability on the form or to your class teacher.

Prep E

Michael-James M - for the kind way you look for ways to help in the classroom.
Hugo B - for the kind way you worked with a new partner in our STEAM Lego challenge.

Prep N

Oliver G - for the brave way you have followed your new morning routine with confidence and a big smile.
Maggie S - for the wonderful effort you have shown in practising writing on dotted thirds at school and at home.

1/2 CS

Nash E - for the beautiful way you supported a classmate during out excursion.
Pranavi K - for the focus and effort you put into your multiplication thinkboards.

1/2 L

Monty G - for your brilliant acting out of Tiddalick.
Elio H - for the responsible way you spoke with a friend to explore a playground problem.

1/2 WA

Isla P - for the beautiful and confident way you presented your Star of the Week journal.
Bon J - for the thought and care you put into your story totem during our Inquiry work.

3/4 H

Pippa W - for always putting your best effort in to your writing.
Stella O - for always being ready and enthusiastic and thoughtful in your learning.

3/4 S

Darcy B + Aidan S - for the impressive way you collaborated with each other to write your help seeking story.

5/6 BH

Archer M - for being willing to work hard and focus even when you didn't want to.
Emilia H - for your thoughtful sharing and probing questions during RRRR.

5/6 BN

Eliza M - for the determined and careful way you approach our learning about fractions.
Orlando F - for the way you crafted your character analysis for Us Mob Wallawuru.

5/6H

Edan L - for teaching others how to find the lowest common multiple using prime factorisation.
Gulliver W - for your outstanding eSmart reflection.

5/6J

Ava M - for working hard to achieve success when adding and subtracting fractions.
Louis H - for helping the class to stay across all the characters in our novel.

Indonesian

Bella C - for your impressive reading and comprehension of our story 'Di Mana Harinau?'.

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