Week 4 is as busy as ever!

Pre-Kindergarten

The last few weeks have seen the children continue their exploration of cultures around the world. We focused particularly on Australia and the Aboriginal culture, with the children decorating their own flags using a range of materials and techniques. I also brought in some traditional games from Poland which the children really enjoyed playing with me in small groups, with some wonderful sharing and turn-taking occurring. 

The children have also started learning a few songs for the Pre-Kindergarten Christmas Concert.  Mrs Gorton and I have been amazed with how well the children have picked up the songs and we can't wait for you all to join us to see them perform for you. 

Many thanks again to all of the parents who have been making playdough, cutting up fruit and coming in as parent helpers. We have been very lucky to have so much support this year and the children absolutely love having parents come in, they are especially proud when they get to show off their mums and dads to their friends. Finally, a reminder that if you haven't recently checked Parent CONEQT, please do so, as I sent a picture collage during the school holidays of your child's Winter Term memories.  

Mrs Fretwell

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher 

Pre-Primary

The Pre-Primary students have been dabbling with Digraphs. This week the students have learnt to identify and write “sh” and “ch” words. In the collage you will see a chicken with a collection of eggs and Shady the shark.

With a Spring-y step, the Pre-Primary students have been retelling main characters and key events in both Narrative and Gospel stories. Their reflections are becoming quite detailed and they should be commended on their efforts to include correct punctuation such as capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

Number fluency is improving as the students practise recognising numbers to twenty, counting strategies and problem solving when calculating more and less. They are also learning to record and compare the data such as their favourite learning areas and vegetables.

On a final note, our class robin now has babies! We have seen her feeding her little ones outside the doors to our classroom!

Miss Pritchard

Pre-Primary Teacher

Year Two

The students this week presented their assembly item ‘Sunsmart Countdown’ to their parents and friends. This song is an introduction to our Big Ideas investigation. They were really excited and performed admirably. All the students are now beginning an investigation into sun smart playgrounds. 

As a part of our Big Ideas and Literacy learning the students are learning how to create Persuasive Texts. They are discovering connectives, fact and opinion, paragraphing and how to explain their opinion in greater detail. 

The students have written letters to their parents about their favourite meal and why they should have it for dinner, why they believe the Big Bad Wolf is guilty or not guilty and are now creating a text about playground equipment. 

In Mathematics we are discovering coordinates in maps and are continuing to develop our understanding of multiplication and division. The students are working with arrays, repeated addition and materials to model and represent their understanding. The understanding of the links between multiplication and division are also beginning to develop. The students are still enthusiastically exploring word problems and are also beginning to create their own. 

Mrs Ryan

Year Two Teacher

KINDERGARTEN C

We have continued to have so much fun in Kindergarten developing our fine motor and gross motor skills. Building castles by sticking foam blocks together with shaving cream was very messy and lots of fun. We also enjoyed practising monkey walking, kicking goals, balancing, going over and under hurdles and swinging on the ropes.

In Big Ideas, we have been investigating how things work. So far we have pulled apart electronic appliances, played with wind up toys, looked at batteries and enjoyed provocations with magnets. Next week we are going to investigate wind and air to see how they can make things work.

There is never a dull moment in Kindergarten!

Mrs Borg

Kindergarten C Teacher

Other News

The Years 1-3 students will commence swimming lessons on Monday, 9 November. Please remember to pack your child's swimming equipment and label all of their items. Please follow the swimming requirements - Girls: one piece and/or rashie, Boys: jammers or speedos and/or rashie. Board shorts are not to be worn. 

We welcomed new families to the College on Friday, 6 November during the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Orientation sessions. All families who have students commencing at the College for the first time in 2016 are required to attend the Information Session on Tuesday, 10 November either at 1pm or 6pm. Please RSVP to Administration if you have not already done so.

Melissa Croswell

Head of Junior School

6 November 2015