Keep up-to-date with your child’s learning with these short weekly updates from their teachers. Click on the buttons below to go straight to your child’s class, or find out what others are up to!
Kindergarten
This week the children enjoyed the story of “The Littlest Gnome” who went to see if the seed babies and seed children were ready to come to bed for the Winter. However, neither the seed babies or the seed children were willing to listen or ready to come down to bed just yet.
The children enjoyed a beautiful play in the gentle morning sunshine on Wednesday after the many grey days of cloud and rain. They became deeply involved in digging and moulding shapes and cakes with the damp sand, finding the outside play so stimulating and satisfying.
Our “Three Little Pigs” Morning Circle will finish this week. Next week we will move onto a series of movement exercises and verses involving the use of copper rods that I know the children will find challenging and different.
The full time Kindergarten children have been making excellent progress with their drink bottle holders. It won’t be long before they will be using their water bottle holders to go bush walking.
I look forward to seeing everyone at our Autumn Fair on Saturday. Please drop into the Kindergarten with family and friends to say hello and enjoy the puppet story.
Cheers,
Francine and Isabella
Class 1/2
We began our new mathematics based Main Lesson “The Four Helpers”. This week my mini mathematicians heard some funny stories about General Divide, King Counting and Queen Equals that helped us to focus on division and opportunities to practice the concepts of sharing fairly, even numbers and groups.
As the processes continue to be practiced the faculty of counting and using memorised number facts is extended and the child is not so dependent on the story context and drawing for each sum although concrete work continues. The child experiences more the inner representation of the number process. The beginnings of mental arithmetic arise with these facts. The four processes are continued through demonstration of the grouping and regrouping of the whole.
Thank you to Kindergarten for joining us on our bush walk to Wentworth Falls on Thursday. Well done Martin for leading us in our walk and driving the bus (the bus ride is always an excursion highlight). The children used their will and strength to climb rocks and navigate the track. We picnicked and played by the waterfall, crawled across fallen logs and observed our local flora and fauna. We marvelled at our sparkling local bush and felt grateful for the gorgeous Autumn weather.
Looking forward to seeing everyone this Saturday 23 May at our Annual Harvest Fair. The children will be sharing a performance at 11 am!
Kath
Class 3/4
The trip to the Everglades in Leura was otherworldly. The children seemed smaller and timeless in the midst of the arching trees, winding gravel paths and stone walls of the misty gardens. We explored with a chorus of delightful gasps of wonderment. We played in the glades, racing leaf boats, clambering over bush rocks, balancing and leaping over the creek with triumph. After a toilet stop and clothes change from one expedition party member who “accidentally” fell in, we entered Everglades house.
We moved about the house imagining we were back in time at a sophisticated party in our finest suits, and dresses. This illusion and magic worked well, though I could sense it had a short timeframe of use. We glided from room to room like we were there for a good time, sure, but with enough decorum to make the ten minutes party, up and down the spiral staircase, through the bedrooms and in and out of the large bathtub and shower, a memorable success, before we burst free onto the lawn for a wild romp.
Only Meredith and I saw some of the dives onto the bed. And sheets were straightened fast. Phew.
There were a few “Picnic at Hanging Rock moments”, as Class 4’s pretended not to hear me calling their names as they sought misty freedom as far from the adult humans as possible.
We left the gardens in a bit of a dream. Tired and satisfied but not quite returning to our everyday life in the same way. Some were planning to go back soon with family, others saying they would buy that house if they had the money. I was staring out the bus window thinking about the dark brown carpet. Swoon. Even those who had been to Everglades “heaps of times before” knew something had been magical and memorable about this visit on a wet, autumn morning in May.
Back at school – fire cider-making has reigned supreme, Main Lessons on the albatross, birds of prey, Hebrew songs practised for the fair, subtraction and long chats about having the same behaviour for all teachers (or at least recognisable behaviour…), because that is being true to yourself.
Warm regards
Jeneva
Class 5/6
Harvest Fair tomorrow! Our class presentations start at 11am in front of the 5/6 classroom.
Rome projects due next week. Please talk to me if your child needs more time or extra support.
The Grand Canyon bushwalk is on next Tuesday 26th. Please make sure your child has walking shoes, food for the day and water.
Our science lesson is going well.
Have a lovely weekend,
Julie
