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
This week the children have been enjoying a story given to us by Paul Glass called “The Tree and the Rock”. Inspired by this story, we have purchased two Lilly Pilly trees for the playground that the children will plant together, water and care for. With a bit of luck and good fortune, we hope that these plants will grow into healthy and strong trees.
We have been counting using glass crystals and shells this week. It would be a great extension to this work, if the children could set the table for dinner and work out how many knives and forks are needed for the family meal.
We are telling the story of the “Shoemaker and the Elves”, during morning circle time. The children are sharing taking on the different characters in the story and enjoying dressing up for the part. Sometimes we have three elves in our story, we find ways to accommodate such enthusiasm, so everyone can feel included.
We are sewing mice in our craft time, and very soon we will have a gang of lively, frisky mice on the run in our room, so beware!
Cheers
Francine, Zenith, and Alannah
Class 1/2
What a fun week of music and movement we have had. Class 1/2 have been soaking up the sun this week with bushwalks, basketball and some outside learning.
We continued our Waratah song and dance lessons with Jo Clancy, the children enjoyed learning the dance and are excited to come together with the whole school next week for a K-6 practice.
There were many smiles, and some tears, at the Cultural Presentation and Farewell to our beloved Japanese exchange students. The children were amazed at the origami skills and had fun giving it a go too. We enjoyed getting to know them and learning more about Japanese culture.
This week’s Crafternoon was lots of fun! Class 1 are powering through their craft and Class 2 are wilfully working on their knitted scarves. Thank you to the parents and grandparents who joined us, the children so appreciative of the parent energy in the room.
Our Maths Main Lessons continue this week as Class 1 develops their addition and subtraction skills with the help of Molly Minus and Farmer Plus. Whilst Class 2 are learning about the inverse relationship between multiplication and division with lots of help from Tatiana Times and General Divide.
Please be reminded that many children are missing their own hat from the hat basket. Please make sure your child has their own hat with their name on it to be kept at school. School hats, the best hats, are available from the office.
We would also like to remind everyone that Book Week is fast approaching – it may be time to start supporting your child in picking a character and starting on a home-created costume.
Many thanks
Soumya and Amy
Class 3/4
This week has flown by. The class have been so busy. I would like to welcome Lukas and Agatha and their families to our class. Both children are in Class 3.
We have been hearing the story of ‘Josh’ or ‘Burrigan’ (echidna), as he is known by his family. Josh is taking us on a journey along Bedford Creek and other parts of the mid- mountains. He has lived in Sydney all his life but has visited the mountains many many times. The story brings in the local topography, river systems, compass directions, and elements of how to be in the bush from a more indigenous perspective.
Josh holds knowledge inside him that he has learnt from his family. He is worried about sleeping for nights in the bush and takes a compass, a map, some toilet paper, and some matches with him. Aunty Alice says he will not need these things, so she sets a challenge for Josh that he can do it without those things. Will he get through the two days and nights, using just the skills and knowledge? Ask your child what he did…
Our excursion to The Gully in Katoomba is next Tuesday. Josh knows a lot about that place and the children will hear about it before we go there.
In other news, our music piece with Mare is sounding terrific!
Have a lovely weekend.
Julie and Meredith
Class 5/6
The Class 5/6 students have really enjoyed spending time with our Japanese visitors, and thoroughly enjoyed their games afternoon on Friday and learning origami, a spinning tops game and a dance on Monday. There were some sad farewells on Tuesday morning, and we were gifted some beautiful origami cranes and some spinning toys. May the mutual cultural appreciation and memories last a lifetime!
This week during our Maths practice lessons we worked with Roman numerals, and also revisited decimal numbers as we learnt topics from the chance/probability strand.
In Main Lesson, students have been working with facial features to render a drawing of Aeneas, an ancestor of ancient Rome and these look wonderful! We have included some in this newsletter. Students have also created a storyboard of scenes with summaries of the story of the bravery of Horatius and his two comrades holding the bridge before Rome, and created another mind map from the stories of Hannibal so that we can write a biography piece.
A biography mini project will go home next week, like the one Class 6 did last year as it is an important part of the Stage 3 Steiner curriculum to regularly review who we hold in high regard and why, and how this might influence our goal setting for our own futures.
Class 5 have begun making friendship bracelets for the Term 4 Greek Olympics – these are given out as prizes for events and made by the attending students to put together to be awarded for Strength and Speed (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) which are red; Beauty and Grace (yellow); and Olympic Spirit (blue). It is a bit involved, and our first attempts look great!
Below are some dates for your diary:
Thursday 24 August: Book Week Parade 9am
Wednesday 30 August: Father’s Day Stall
Wednesday 20 September: Spring Festival 11.30am – all welcome!
Term 4 important dates to be aware of:
Canberra camp: Monday 6 to Thursday 9 November (Week 5)
Class 6 Farewell will be on Saturday December 9 from 4.30pm
Have a lovely weekend!
Steph and Lee