Class News: Week 2, Term 2 2023
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/Boronia Room
The month of May has arrived and so has the feeling that Autumn is all around, preparing us for the cold days and months ahead. You can support your child to look for the changes that are occurring around them in the environment, as you walk, ride and drive through the mountains. Putting on singlets under clothes and slippers for the classroom are great ways to mark the onset of colder days ahead.
This week the children have been enjoying the introduction of the “Three Little Pigs” morning circle. This circle is one of my favourites and with a little more time, I am sure it will be one of the children’s favourites too! Next week we will be venturing further into the whole story, which will complete the circle. You may be lucky enough to hear some of the favourite verses or songs played out at home.
The wind, the changing colours of the leaves and the cool mornings, have all helped to bring the story of the “Autumn Blanket” into the classroom this week. Mother Earth is weaving the Autumn blanket with the “pink and brown grasses, the golden corn sheaths, the white woolly clouds and the red tipped leaves”. She is making this blanket to cover the earth during the cold winter days and months ahead.
Have a cosy weekend together as a cold snap is on its way.
Francine, Freya, and Zenith
Class 1/2
What an amazing Autumnal week we have had in Class 1/2!
We began the week with gymnastics, where the children moved through different stations with opportunities to balance, roll, hop, skip, and build their muscle strength. It was super fun, and we are looking forward to our next lesson on Monday.
Tuesday was Bushwalking Day as we ventured down into the Pine Forest, we found some fantastic fungi and built some fabulous forts. The children enjoyed playing imaginary games, making leaf baskets and fairy gardens, and climbing trees.
In Morning Circle, we are continuing to build our skills using the bean bags, the activities provide an opportunity for the children to balance, stand strong on their feet and cross all the mid lines before sitting down to work at our desks. It has been wonderful to watch their skills develop and the willpower being put into mastering the movements.
Our Main Lesson this week continues with World Stories, as Yuze and Aolani ventured across the ocean to Aotearoa hearing stories of demigods and the Matariki star constellations. They have now landed in Indonesia and have had a laugh at the funny stories of the Mouse Deer who tricks many animals who would like to have him for their dinner. Class 1 have continued learning the letters of the alphabet and are drawing some beautiful pictures from the story. Class 2 have been working on writing their own sentences from the story with a focus on punctuation and page organisation.
We currently have a Hat Shortage in our classroom with many students who have not returned their hat from being washed over the holidays. Could we please make sure our hats are sent back ASAP, so children are not missing out on playing in the glorious Autumn sunshine.
A reminder that Crafternoon will be continuing this term on Wednesdays from 2pm-2.30pm. Any parent or grandparent helpers are most welcome to join us.
Another friendly reminder to send in bags for your child to bring home their work from Term 1, we still have lots of books and paintings to send home.
Warm wishes,
Amy and Soumya
Class 3/4
We began this week with our first gymnastics class with coach Nicole. It was great! The class had a fun lesson. Our building Main Lesson has taken us from caves to lean-to shelters and now we have arrived in Africa via our characters, ‘Bricks’ and ‘Mortar.’
We have been looking at how the thick earthen walls provide insulation and how our environment dictates the types of shelters that are needed and what they are made from.
The class have been diligently practicing their cursive writing. Class 4 received their ink pen licences after successfully completing: ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!’, as well as the whole alphabet in cursive. The Class 3 children are looking forward to their turn… We have been practicing the multiplication tables, 6s, 7s and 12s.
Our sushi stall today was a great success! It is for a good cause. We are going to donate all the earnings from our stalls to a charity (not decided yet). Possible sharks or Orangutans.
Have a lovely weekend,
Julie and Meredith
Class 5/6
As you read this, Class 5/6 will be playing their hearts out at the Futsal Gala Day at the Katoomba Aquatic Centre against many other Blue Mountains schools. They have been training hard not only in basic drills, strategy, and the rules of the game, but also in etiquette and sportsmanship, and Lee and I are so proud of them already. It has been such a worthwhile endeavour that has really brought not just fitness but the class community together. We will keep you posted how we go!
Class 5 have been making amazing progress getting their cajons started this term! They are busily sanding and designing their artworks and deciding the shape of the sound hole on the back – which will give the best sound whilst remaining structurally sound? Class 6 have finally finished the exacting process of sanding and re-varnishing their cajons until they are happy with the finish – photos to come next week!
We have been hearing the story of the trap set for Paris by Hera, wife of Zeus as he was made to decide who was the most beautiful – herself, Pallas Athene, or Aphrodite! From the story recount we created a mind-map to help us write a draft of the story. Now we can delve into the epic tale of Helen of Troy ahead of our class play later in the year!
During our Maths Practice lessons we have been revising our multiplication tables and begun our ‘number of the day’ work where we ‘keep hot’ our knowledge on maths vocabulary and concepts.
Next Wednesday there will be Fair Trade items for sale for Mother’s Day, a note will follow with more information.
Below are some dates for your diary
- Wednesday 10 May Mother’s Day Stall
- Wednesday 17 May Jenolan Caves (long-day excursion).
- Friday 25 May Cultural Immersion Incursion with Chris Tobin
Steph and Lee