Class News: Week 8, Term 4
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 Kindergarten Summer festival is on Wednesday 14th December at 10am, the last day of term. The children come to school at the later time of 10am in the company of their parents. They will present their summer circle work and together we will share a morning tea to farewell their Kindergarten year. Please bring a delicious plate of food to share. The Kindergarten celebrations will conclude by 11.30am.
The seat covers for Class 1 are almost finished. All the children have finished their finger knitted straps and many of the children have started to fill their cushions with fleece. This project will remain at school for safe keeping for children going up to Class 1 at our school. The seat covers will be given to each child as part of their transition to Class 1 on the first day of school next year. The children’s first day at school begins in the Kindergarten on Wednesday 1st February 2023 at 9am.
Our year together is rapidly drawing to its end. Next week is our last full week of school, so let’s make the most of these days together.
Warm regards,
Francine and Maya
Class 1/2
We have been listening to stories of people who have lived courageously; sometimes quietly, and sometimes with bells and whistles…!
This is traditionally taught as a Saints lesson in many Steiner schools. I like to bring people into our stories that come from various walks of life. We heard the story of Saint Francis and of Elizabeth of the Roses. We’ve also heard the story of Vincent Lingiari, a Gurindji man who stood up for his people and whose actions were the start of the land rights movement in Australia. The children made beeswax roses and painted St Francis.
We have made some old-fashioned Xmas craft; the children cut up oranges and they were dried in the sun and in the oven, then threaded to hang on your Xmas trees or on a window (they still need a bit more drying time). I told the children that oranges were a very sought-after fruit in the European countries during the cold months of Christmas. Receiving an orange was seen as incredibly special.
The children have been loving our newly painted ball court. We welcome Nicholas Howells to Class 2. He has slipped into our class ever so seamlessly!
Please send a bag with your child to start bringing their work home.
Have a great weekend,
Julie, Amy and Meredith
Class 3/4
Thursday this week was the big day we have been working towards for three weeks: the day of our class play performance.
The children have worked so hard in the days and weeks leading up to this day. Be it by studying for and practicing their role, designing costumes, making props, bringing in props, giving feedback to others’ performances, helping with moving stage equipment, practicing our songs – singing and on the piano – and many more.
It was amazing to see the play come together and for the children it was an eye-opener how much work goes into producing such a play. Not every scene was easy or perfect right from the start and some needed to be practiced and practiced and practiced.
Some of the children were quite nervous on Thursday morning but once we started performing in front of the school they did a fantastic job – not batting an eyelid when it started raining. The feedback from the other classes was positive with some improvements and ideas for us.
We then performed the play in front of families on Thursday night. Even though most children thought that this was going to be much easier than playing in front of the school community this proved to be the harder show. The audience looked so much bigger than in the morning even though there were less people present. When we started the play there was a bit of nervous giggling going on to steady the nerves but once the children got going properly, they worked together very well, making sure no one missed their cues, giving each other a helping hand by moving props, prompting other children if they had forgotten a line etc.
It was a long play with lots of lines to remember and lots of props to move and put into place at the right moment. So much depended on children knowing when to do and say what and where to be during the play. Everyone can be so proud of themselves for being brave enough to stand in front of such a big audience, giving it their best, working hard on learning their roles and being a kind and beautiful member of our Class 3/4 group.
A very big thank you to Arya’s grandparents who so generously lent us many of their costumes and props!
Have a great weekend,
Isabelle and Holly
Class 5/6
On Monday, Class 6 will again be working with Sayoko to create more stunning paper craft for their Japanese-themed Class 6 Farewell, as well as hear and write their own stories around the themes of moving on to the next chapter, from the Japanese culture. We are also so blessed to have Aki join us for the morning of each of these days, and the students will also be cooking with Aki and Sayoko. Thank you both!
We have been reviewing spelling and grammar during our English practice lessons, and during the week had a mini-Main Lesson on Algebra – the students really enjoyed this ‘detective’-style coding strand of Mathematics! We also began reviewing negative numbers.
The class has done a wonderful job rendering their versions of an archetypal mother and child artwork, first with wet-on-wet painting and then using chalk on black card. They can’t wait to bring their art folders home soon with all the work reflecting their various Main Lessons and the seasons. They are also working on creating Christmas cards for all the staff and volunteers who have contributed to their school year, as part of a gratitude focus, and are undertaking this task with gusto!
Important dates for your diary:
9th December (Friday): Class 6 Excursion to Raging Waters
10th December (Saturday): 5pm Class 6 Farewell Please note: All Class 5 parents/carers and students are needed to help on the day and through the evening please!
12th December (Monday) Whole-school bushwalk/picnic.
14th December (Wednesday) 11.45am Summer Assembly (and final day of term).
Wishing our whole school community a meaningful, safe and restful holiday season. We wish Class 6 a smooth and exciting transition to high school, and look forward to having Class 4 join our beautiful Class 5 students next year as the new senior class!
Steph and Lee