What's New in the ELC?

Junior School Update

The Year Three students shared some of their learning at the Junior School Assembly on Tuesday, 8 June. They showed off their singing talent as they led us in prayer and sang a song relating to their Religious Education unit of work. They have also been busy narrating stories and composing background music for their puppet shows using the app Puppet Pals 2. 

The Parent Class Coordinators have been announced and were introduced at the Assembly. Families received a letter outlining the Coordinator for their child's class and seeking consent to share contact information. Please return the consent forms by Friday, 19 June.

As the Junior School welcomes the addition of Year 4, 5 and 6 students in 2016 families have been invited to attend an Information Evening on Monday, 22 June at 6:30pm in the Learning Resource Centre. Attendance is optional, although we look forward to seeing you there. 

Families are reminded Learning Conversations for Semester 1 will be held over two days: Wednesday, 1 July (12:30pm-7:00pm) and Thursday, 2 July (3:00pm-5:30pm). It is important for your child to attend the Learning Conversation with you to allow them to share and celebrate their learning. Please note the students will finish at 12:05pm on Wednesday, 1 July to accommodate the Learning Conversations. 

Melissa Croswell

Head of Junior School

12 June 2015

Pre-Kindergarten

The last few weeks have seen us welcome more new friends into the Pre-Kindergarten class. The children have warmly embraced their new friends and it has been wonderful to see them using their emerging social skills to try and make friends, play together, share and cooperate. A big focus for this age group is learning how to move through the different stages of play, such as from solitary to parallel play and then eventually cooperative play. I have noticed that the children are engaging in a lot more parallel play now and are starting to talk about their 'friends', which is lovely to see.

This week we commenced learning about the ocean and ocean life and the children were very excited to share all of their prior knowledge. We have already explored wet and dry sand, painted pictures of things we like about the ocean and role-played being at the beach. I can't wait to see what other interests emerge and how the children engage in play relating to this topic. 

We continue to explore colours and counting to 10 as a focus for some of our mat sessions and the children have enjoyed some one-on-one time telling me all of the colours they know and counting as far as they could go. There is so much learning through play happening in Pre-Kindergarten, it's simply wonderful!

Mrs Fretwell

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher 

Pre-Primary

The Pre-Primary had a special visitor, Nurse Clare, in Week Eight. Nurse Clare works for the The Hospital Familiarisation Program (HFP), which is provided by Princess Margaret Hospital. The children began the session with a group discussion about their own hospital experiences and then were shown various items of medical equipment. Nurse Clare asked open-ended questions such as: “Why did you have to go to hospital?” and “Who can tell me what this instrument is used for?” The students then watched a video in which a child was admitted to hospital and taken through the usual procedures of hospitalisation such as anaesthesia and surgery.

The students loved the opportunity to dress up as Doctors and Nurses. They assisted the toy doll Kelly in her surgery, walked on crutches and were pushed around in a wheel chair. The emphasis was on learning through dramatic play, which allows children to learn at an individual pace and direction. Storybooks about hospitalisation, jigsaw puzzles, board games and hospital dolls’ houses were an integral part of this session. After the session, the students wrote a reflection on the experience and created a picture of a nurse or doctor.

In PAThS we have been learning about sharing and caring in the classroom and playground. Sharing is the act of taking turns, or giving a portion of something to others. Twiggle the Turtle teaches us that when you share you feel great inside and it makes other people feel wonderful too. The children have been learning the following sayings “Sharing is Caring” and “Sharing is a win-win situation”.

Miss Pritchard

Pre-Primary Teacher

Year Two

This week in Year Two we have started an scientific investigation of the water cycle. This involved students observing the changes in the water level of two jars. One of the jars had a lid on it and the other had no lid. They observed that the water in the jar with no lid disappeared. They also observed that the jar with the lid became foggy.  After our observations the students developed some questions that will lead our next inquiry project. 

In Mathematics, we are learning to apply a variety of mental strategies to one and two-digit problems. Some of the students are using the counting on strategy and others are beginning to develop an understanding of bridging ten. The students are challenging themselves to try these new strategies. It is wonderful to see. 

Mrs Ryan
Year Two Teacher