Week 6, Term 1

Each Friday at lunchtime, there’s ‘LEGO Club’ in the library. Recently, one of our keen creators, Magnus, asked if we could organise a competition so, with the help of his friend Finn, Magnus organised the CNPS LEGO Competition.

The competition has been running during lunchtimes over the past few weeks, with students from each grade level competing individually or in teams.

Magnus and Finn judge the creations according to ‘aesthetics’ and the accompanying ‘story’. They take their judging roles very seriously, offering lots of positive feedback to all contestants.

Not everyone can win but everyone is having fun working on their creations.

Hello from the Prep Rooms, 

What a fantastic week it has been for our Preps! Not only did we complete our first full week of school, but we also began take-home reading and enjoyed our first sushi lunch order.

In Literacy, we met Milo’s friends, Ben Bear and Harry Hippo. We practiced being ‘super spellers’ and wrote words containing the sounds we have learned so far. In Maths, we had fun ordering, modelling, and writing numbers from one to ten. We loved playing ‘Flip and Build’, ‘Get out of my House’ and enjoyed ordering numbers using the story Ten Apples on Top. To wrap up our Big Question, The Power of Stories, students showcased their understanding of rhyme by reciting their favourite nursery rhymes. A highlight of the week was a special buddy activity, where our buddies helped us build a model of our favourite nursery rhyme. 

Next week will be a short week. We will meet two new friends of Milo and build our independent reading and writing skills. In Maths, we will continue working on numbers from one to ten. We will begin our new Big Question “How are we connected to other living things?”.

Thank you to families who have already emailed their class teachers to let them know if they will be attending the Prep Literacy Information Session next week on Wednesday 12th March. If you would still like to come, please let your classroom teacher know.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Nicole and Miss Else

Hello from the Golden Wattle building! This week, we’ve enjoyed exploring our new Big Question, ‘How are we connected to other living things?’. We started the ‘Tuning In’ phase of our inquiry by going on a hunt around the school to see what living things we could find. We found some ants, slaters, spiders, pigeons, magpies, cockatoos, our beloved chickens, and of course plenty of plants, flowers, shrubs and trees.

In Literacy we started to incorporate our Big Question by sharing the story Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. We have been learning lots of interesting facts about bats such as their use of echolocation to find their way around caves in the dark. Our writing focus this week was determining the difference between questions and statements.

In Maths we’ve built upon our knowledge of place value using 2-digit numbers, and are now working with 3-digit numbers. We have used base-10 blocks, number bonds and ordered numbers from smallest to largest and largest to smallest! It has been wonderful to see these important concepts being solidified, and students confidently manipulating numbers independently.

We looked at the final Play Is The Way concept of "Have reasons for the things you say and do". We read The Little Red Hen, and thought about the reasons the characters said and did things throughout the story. We also enacted our own version of the play in small groups.

Next week we’ll start our Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships curriculum, with a focus on identifying and understanding emotions. In Maths we'll start to explore addition and subtraction by partitioning numbers into parts, and in Literacy we'll continue to explore our new Big Question with the story Magic Beach by Alison Lester.

We hope you have a wonderful long weekend – some of you may even discover your own ‘magic beach’!

Wendy, Laura, Claire, Sarah and Andrew

Welcome to the Silver Banksia. Despite a wave of absences due to illness, our Grade 5/6 classrooms have had a productive and engaging week. We've been keeping the learning momentum strong, and are proud of the effort students have shown, often having to be flexible with new arrangements.

Our persuasive writing unit centred around The Last Bear is wrapping up, and students have been polishing their letters to the Director of The Arctic Council. The goal of this assignment was to use persuasive techniques to advocate for changes that could help protect polar bears and their habitat. The creativity, research, and passion in their writing have been inspiring, and we are confident that their well-crafted arguments could persuade anyone.

In Maths, we’ve been diving into finding the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) and the Highest Common Factor (HCF). Students have been using a variety of strategies to explore these concepts. We have also been consolidating our knowledge around the rules of divisibility.

Next week, after the Labour Day long weekend, we will be looking into our new Big Question; “How are we connected to other living things?”, so expect our newsletter to take a ‘science-y’ turn!

Goldfields Division Swimming (select team) 

Our team swam with spirit last Friday and many ribbons were awarded to our students. Thank you to Mr Higgins for accompanying the team and to the many parents who helped the students get to the marshalling area on time for their events. We had a great cheer squad present! A special mention to David who collated back up heat times for the entire day! 

Best wishes to the five individual winners and three relay teams who have qualified for the Loddon Mallee Region event in Swan Hill on Tuesday 11th March. 

Bendigo Braves Basketball Home Game Experience for Grade 5/6 

Bendigo Braves player, Cassidy McLean provided clinics for two Grade 5/6 classes this week. Thank you Cassidy for your time and expertise with our students.

We have an opportunity to participate in the Bendigo Braves Basketball Schools Cup at the Bendigo Braves NBL1 match on Sunday 6th April (this is the first weekend of the school holidays). Our school selects 10 students from Grade 5/6 to compete against other schools using the fundamental skills of basketball, rather than a match. Selected students would need their families to arrange their own transport to and supervision at this event. You will also receive a ticket for you and your student to the game. We’ve had eight students sign up so there are a couple of spots still available. If you are interested in this opportunity (and not committed to school holiday plans), please contact carly.mcginniskin@education.vic.gov.au 

Thank you Mikaela, for these beautiful images of students enjoying the garden a couple of weeks ago - how good are the tomatoes!

Prep E

Raeka G -  for bravely sharing your maths to the class when ordering numbers 0-10.
Susanna C - for showing bravery when making new friends.

Prep N

Maggie S - for the gentle and calm way you work to complete classroom tasks.
Leo L - for the confident way you are blending sounds together when reading.

1/2 CS

Elliot D - for the passionate way you shared your knowledge of bats with the class.
Minka D - for the courageous way you eagerly attempt challenging tasks in maths.

1/2 WA

Isaac S - for the thoughtfulness and care you took with your maths thinkmat.
Ewan W - for always making good choices and being a good friend.

3/4 PS

Zaria F - for your courage and dedication during challenging maths activities.
Henry S - for outstanding leadership and modelling routines.

3/4 L

Thea R - for always helping your classmates and being such a positive role model in our class.
Winton H - for always asking clarifying questions and seeking help when you need it.

3/4 S

George C - for the humour you showed in your creative and entertaining cold write.
Theo D - for the thoughtful way you took on feedback when setting out your work in maths.

3/4 H

Pippa W - for putting in extra effort to keep our classroom tidy.
Clancy K - for doing what needs to be done to keep the classroom running well.

5/6 H

Otto C - for taking risks when writing and producing an impressive persuasive paragraph.
Sofia D - for consistently demonstrating a strong work ethic and a growth mindset.

5/6 J

Peyton B - for the way you have applied yourself to a consistently high standard this week.
Flynn M - for your enthusiasm for learning and always being ready.

5/6 BC

Mathilde T - for the way you respectfully challenged during out maths factors lesson.
Clementine N - for your continued perseverance in working with factors and multiples.

Whole Class - for your excellent listening skills, kindness and encouragement of your peers during  our buddies activity and basketball clinic.

5/6 BN

Jessica H - for your quiet kindness when working with your buddy. Such great teamwork!
Poppi W - for the amazing job working with your buddy on the nursery rhyme task. Your teamwork and guidance is valued.

Indonesian

Delaney D - for working hard to adjust and perfect your pronunciation during speaking tasks.

Performing Arts

Alice O -  for the way you eagerly listened and were ready to learn during Performing Arts.
Chris P - for having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. You're going every task your best effort! 

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