Class News: Week 7, Term 1 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
This week the children have been busy sewing and shaping their emerging turtles. Their first piece of finger knitting will be used to make the shell for their turtle. Some of these beautiful, colourful turtles are emerging from the craft baskets, keen to meet the world. I know that the children will be very proud of their efforts and these turtles will be greatly loved.
We have started working on learning the songs and verses for our Autumn Harvest Festival which we will share with the parent community on Wednesday 5 April at 10am, our last day of term. Please bring some delicious home-baked food to share for Morning Tea.
Next Tuesday 21 March will be Harmony Day in the Kindergarten. The children can come to school wearing orange, as a way to connect with the principles of mutual respect for all people and all cultures. Multicultural storyteller Kiran Shah will be visiting bringing her beautiful stories and cultural artefacts.
Have a great weekend.
Francine, Freya and Zenith
Class 1/2
What a wonderful Week 7! Class 1 children started reading proper sentences and questions, which was a very proud moment for me as their teacher. Some children have even started to write their own sentence to go with their story picture. Class 2 wrote their own stories and had a very appreciative audience in the Class 1 children.
On Wednesday afternoon we had our first Crafternoon. Thank you to those parents and grandparents who came in to help our children knit and weave. The classroom was humming like a busy beehive.
Our St. Michael play practice is in full swing and the children are working so hard at remembering their lines, actions and songs! The big day is approaching quickly and in less than a week the whole school will perform the play.
This week marks the start of our third Main Lesson for Term 1. It’s all about numbers. Class 1 looks at the quality of the numbers from 1 to 12. We discover both their inner and outer meanings. We look at what the numbers mean and the feeling within each of them. Feeling is a perception. We also look at Roman numerals, introduce shapes and number factors, and work out how to determine whether a number is odd or even.
Mathemagics is Class 2’s numeracy-based Main Lesson. It brings the magic of maths through number patterns and geometry. The best learning process is when the whole-body approach is used to meaningfully engage with the activity. Class 2 are beaming with eagerness to get into this lesson, and we look forward to sharing our experiences with you.
We have found our groove, the children are working well, and new and old friendships are blossoming. Your children might have come home very tired this week as we have been practicing a lot and that involved waiting turns, listening and concentrating very hard.
Enjoy the nicer weather and have a great weekend,
Isabelle and Amy
Class 3/4
Class 3/4 ended their Area and Perimeter Lesson by designing floor plans for their own houses. Just so you know, if your children have any say in designing your next house, there will have to be ‘Lego’ and ‘Panda’ rooms. They came up with great names for their houses and worked out the perimeter and area of each room. There are a quite a number of budding designers in our class!
We have now begun Norse Creation Stories. They are strong stories, that bring some of the inner thoughts and feelings into the forefront of our minds. They are visceral in their descriptions and, so far, the children are absorbed by the raw fantastical tales of how all things in our world were created, according to the Nordic storytellers of old.
Alongside these stories, we have been weaving traditional Norse-style bracelets. They are easy, fun and satisfying to make.
Swimming Fun Day on Monday was a very busy and fun day. I bet everyone slept well that night, I know I did!
NAPLAN has begun for Class 3 and the children who are participating are taking it in their stride.
The rehearsals for our Autumn St Michael play are going well. It’s on NEXT Tuesday, so not long to go!!
Have a lovely weekend.
Julie and Meredith
Class 5/6
Class 5/6 students have written some beautiful proverbs! We have been looking at the traditional religions and philosophies of Ancient China and, in particular, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. So here is some brand-new world wisdom from the next generation:
‘If you want to grow a garden, start with a single seed’.
‘You cannot fly until you spread your wings.’
‘If you have one foot in the past and one in the future, you are not standing in the present.
‘You are not a drop in the ocean, but an ocean in a drop.’
Next week, we will be starting our Ancient Egypt Main Lesson, and will run our grammar unit The Word Spy during our English practice lessons. NAPLAN has started well and will conclude next Thursday. Please make sure your Class 5 child is at school on time after a fabulous breakfast so that they are in fine form!
The class is really enjoying rehearsing the St Michael Play with the rest of the school, as they work on their speech and drama skills whilst taking part in this authentic story about the turn of the seasons. We have several wonderful musicians from the class working with Prem to produce some fantastic musical accompaniment and interludes – the most exciting of course being reserved for the movement of the dreaded dragon! We will arrange costuming for St Michael, Sophia and the King and Queen, and ask that the ‘Townsfolk’ come in plain, ‘farming/villager’ clothes for their role (no logos, bold prints etc. please – our recently updated Clothing Policy will help with this).
During our Maths Practice lessons we have been revising area and perimeter, as well as doing lots of Maths Mentals to help Class 5 in particular revise their various mathematical strands for next week’s Numeracy NAPLAN paper.
Dates for your diary:
- Wednesday 15 – Friday 24 March Class 5 NAPLAN dates (more information to follow)
- Tuesday 21 March 5.30pm St Michael Play (please arrive 5.15pm)
- From Thursday 23 March Parent Teacher Interviews (Karen has emailed the booking information).
Enjoy your weekend,
Steph and Lee