Week 9, Term 2

There are several students who have overdue library books.  

Please return them to the library as soon as possible.  

MS CHAPMAN - an interview by Codie R

If you had 5 puppies, what would you do with them all day?  Give 3 of them to my sons and keep the rest for myself.

If you had $100, what would you do with it?  Buy coffees for all of the teachers at C.N.P.S.

What’s your favourite colour?  Green.

Where would you go if you could go anywhere?  Italy.

How long have you been principal?  7 years 

Do you have any siblings?  One brother and two sisters.

How many kids do you have?  Three gorgeous sons.

What school did you go to as a kid?  Werrimull P-12.

How long have you been teaching for?  Twenty-five years.

What do you like about being principal?  Beautiful kids and sensational teachers!

Photo taken by Catherine - Prep E

 BUSH DANCE PHOTOS

Hello from the Preps! 

This week in Literacy, we explored when to add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the end of words to make them plural—for example, fox + es = foxes and bat + s = bats. In reading, our focus has been on building fluency by reading words automatically and at a steady pace, rather than sounding out each one. As part of our Speaking and Listening program, two lucky students were chosen to take home our class mascots, Snoozy Sloth (Prep N) and Mr Waddleson (Prep E), for the weekend. On Monday, they proudly shared stories of their exciting adventures with the class.

In Maths, students have been revising concepts taught this term through a variety of engaging games and activities. A highlight was combining both Prep classes, allowing students to team up and collaborate with friends from the other class.

In Wellbeing, students used finger puppets to identify and talk about negative or tricky emotions and discussed helpful strategies they can use when those feelings arise.

Next week in Literacy, we will begin reading and writing four-letter CVCC words. We will also continue to develop our writing skills, with a focus on using capital letters, full stops, and spaces correctly. In Maths, our focus will be on length. Students will explore key vocabulary and use informal strategies to compare the length of different objects through hands-on activities.

For the final two weeks of this term, we welcome Kayleen, who will be teaching Prep N while Nicole takes long service leave.

We hope you all enjoy your weekend. 

Nicole and Miss Else

Hello from the Golden Wattle building!

This week as part of our Big Question, "What do we know about where we live?", we looked at how Castlemaine has changed over time. After researching significant events and changes to our town, we worked together to create a timeline from when the Dja Dja Wurrung people first lived on Country, to present day.

Our STEAM Challenge also connected to our Big Question, as we looked at the Telegraph Station which was built in 1857 during the Gold Rush. We explored at how communication methods have changed over time, and then we made our own string pot telephones!

In Literacy we have started to create more complex sentences by starting our sentences with a subordinating conjunction (a connecting word). We wrote sentences based on the picture book Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake and started them with ‘if’, ‘when’, ‘before’ and ‘after’. We also donned on our actor’s hats and performed Mr Magnolia as a Readers’ Theatre in small groups.

In Maths we’ve continued exploring patterns, this week focusing on number patterns that either increase or decrease by a certain number. We’ve practised by playing games such as ‘Roll a Rule’, ‘Build a Ladder’ and needed to be detectives in order to crack a code based on different number patterns.

Our Wellbeing focus this week has been on problem solving. We had fun exploring this by holding hands and trying to thread a hoop from person to person without unlocking our hands. This lead in to a great discussion about what we can do when we’ve got a problem. We suggested ways to solve problems based on different scenarios and thought about the positives and negatives for each action.

Next week we will explore the Gold Rush in more detail, continue using subordinating conjunctions when writing, consolidate the maths skills we have built this term and continue to think about real-life problem solving strategies in Wellbeing.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

Wendy, Laura, Claire, Sarah and Andrew 

As part of our big question "What do we know about where we live?", we have recognised how Indigenous cultures care for and live in balance with the land. Students practised their note taking skills while watching clips and reading texts about Indigenous weapons and tools.

In Literacy, students have been learning about a SPO (Single Paragraph Outline) through investigating our big question. A SPO is a great technique to make writing organized and sequenced. In particular, students have started learning about topic sentences and supporting details. Students used the notes they had taken throughout the week to write a SPO on Indigenous weapons and tools.

We wrapped up Topic 3, Positive Coping, through our wellbeing program, Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships this week. Students identified coping strategies that they can apply to help them cope with change and challenge. Some of these strategies included deep breathing, read a book, talk to someone, play with a pet, explore nature, give someone a hug and go for a run. You might like to ask your child what coping strategy they identified that works for them.

Students also had the opportunity to meet some AFLW players from the Essendon Football Club. They told us about their journey to become AFL athletes and how they had to overcome challenges to be in the position they are in today. Whether or not you’re an Essendon supporter (Go Saints!), their message to our students was important - to never give up and dream big! Thanks to Carly for organising this for our students.

Next week, students will develop some wonderings related to our big question "What do we know about where we live?", investigate division in Maths and use games to talk about skills for problem-solving in our wellbeing lessons. 

Enjoy the weekend,

Sally, Louise, Mr Scott and Hannah

We have had a week of learning about civics and citizenship, which has been educational for the kids and teachers! Monday started with our incursion about the Parliamentary process. Our students were run through the parliamentary process, particularly the act of introducing a ‘bill’ and how it is passed and made into law. We also learnt a lot about the preferential system of voting. We followed this up by adding to our ‘own country’ presentations. We have created manifestos of our vision for the country and designed our own Coat of Arms.

Our historical recounts are coming along and almost ready to publish. This week, we were learning about World War II and beginning to look at the effects of this on the migration to Australia. More on this next week!

In Maths, we have been continuing with decimals, particularly adding and subtracting them. We played the game “Race to 100” with addition, and then “Race to Zero” with subtraction.

In Wellbeing, we been moving into the topic of Problem Solving and seeking creative and varied responses to the same problem. The students (and teachers!) are starting to feel like it is the end of a long term, but we are very proud of the work they are continuing to produce.

Castlemaine Secondary College Principal Tours

Please be advised that Castlemaine Secondary College are offering Tours for any interested families on the following dates: 

• Monday 28 July, 11:30am – 12:30pm

• Monday 18 August, 11:30am – 12:30pm

• Monday 1 September, 11:30am – 12:30pm

Any families interested are welcome to attend by meeting at the General Office. This could be another chance to familiarise yourself with the campus ahead of high school next year.

Essendon AFLW Player Visit 

Following our visit from AFLW players on Monday, you may access the Essendon FC Clubhouse offers by visiting this webpage.

Goldfields Division Winter Sport (select Gr. 5/6 teams) 

On Monday 23rd June, our football, netball and soccer teams contest the Goldfields Division event. This is a progression from our District, where our students are selected for these teams to play against other schools from Macedon Ranges and Maryborough, as well as our own local Castlemaine area. Please refer to the email sent by Carly on Thursday for a digital copy of the permission note and request for parent helpers.

Prep E

Michael-James M - for the confidence you showed when counting forwards and backwards.
Gene L - for including spaces between your words in your sentences this week.

Prep N

Maggie S - for your impressive organisational skills that help you to be ready to learn each day.
Oliver G - for the brave and confident way you have been approaching writing tasks.

1/2 CS

Hugo C - for the brave and honest way you reflected on your behaviour.
Alice O - for the confident way you used connectives in your writing.

1/2 L

Archie W - your enthusiasm during our number patterns work has been amazing.
Mali L - for your responsible attitude to reading - knowing when you're ready to move to the next text.

1/2 WA

Isaac S - for the passion you put into learning your maths facts.
Ewan W - for the beauty and creativity you put into your sentence and illustration of Mr. Magnolia.

3/4 H

Evie M - for asking clarifying questions during Literacy.
Eddie C - for sharing your knowledge on boomerangs with class.

3/4 L

Vivien R - for the way you have been asking clarifying questions.
William C - for your insightful and honest conversations with your teacher.

3/4 PS

Zaria F - for your courage and hard work when working on worded maths problems.
Maxle P - for outstanding work during gardening.

3/4 S

Darcy B - for the respectful leadership you show in our class every day.
Estelle H - for the confidence you showed when facing challenging problems in Maths.

5/6 BC

Mathilde T - for completing your work on time without losing any of your attention to detail.
Beau W - for the determination you have shown in uplevelling your book during Literacy.

5/6 BN

Nina F - for your thoughtful design of the symbols on your coat of arms.
Johnny H - for the thoughtful way you constructed your symbols on your country's coat of arms.

5/6 H

Emilia E - for your dedication and commitment to completing your writing to a high standard.
Emmett L - for working hard on completing your writing.

5/6 J

Peyton B - for the enthusiasm you have shown for writing about Australia's involvement in wars.
Mary C - for the success you have been having maths thanks to your positive mindset.

Indonesian

Minka D - for the hard work and focus you have demonstrated in Indonesian, especially during our 'Transportasi' unit.

Performing Arts

Agnes J - for the enthusiasm you showed with your ideas for the whole school performance.

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