On Tuesday of next week we welcome the new Kinders for 2021. We have sent a welcome video home so the new Kinders can see what goes on in our classroom.

In Religion we enjoyed viewing video clips from the Bible. Our first clip was ‘Noah’s Ark’ and we learnt that God looked after Noah and his family when the flood came. We also learnt about “Joseph” who had a coat of many colours and got to create a multi coloured coat for Joseph out of coloured paper squares. We learnt that the Bible is a very special book. It is God’s book and it teaches us how to love God and other people.

In English we have been using the text ‘A Year on Our Farm” by Penny Matthews to learn about the seasons of the year and the jobs that need to be done on a sheep farm each season. In Literacy groups we take turns to build a farm, help the farmer do his jobs and play with the farm animals. We use our writing skills to write sentences about the animals and the food they produce.

We are focusing on using adjectives, conjunctions and pronouns in our writing.

Maths is challenging as we are learning about Australian notes and coins. Please talk to your children about the value of coins. Simple adding of coins will help them develop an understanding that the same amount of money can be made using different coins eg. Twenty cents is also two ten cents or four five cents. 

In Visual Arts we created an artwork based on the organic shapes Henri Matisse used in his art. Matisse painted with bright and expressive colours. He developed a new art form called Cut Outs. Matisse called it painting with scissors. He created “The Sheaf” in 1953.

Matisse used shapes from nature so we picked some leaves from our passionfruit vine and used them to make our artwork.

We celebrated Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday with lots of crazy hats. Check out our photos.

Year 1

In Religion we have been learning about the Hebrew Scriptures. We looked at who is in the stories, and a map of Israel. We made a list of some of the Old Testament stories that we were already familiar with, and over the last fortnight we have been looking at other stories such as The Tower of Babel, The Escape from Egypt and The Fall of Jericho. These Scripture passages teach us about God and about His relationship with the Hebrew people. 

In English we have continued our study of persuasive texts through reading and writing. We have read 'I Wanna Iguana' by Karen Kaufman Orloff and 'Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type' by Doreen Cronin. These stories feature language and ideas that we can incorporate into our own exposition writing. We are using time connectives (firstly...secondly...finally) and strong sentence starters to structure persuasive texts, and some of the topics we have written about so far include 'The Best Pet' and 'Children Should Eat Healthy Food'. 

In Maths we have been learning about Patterns and Algebra. We learnt how to make 2, 3 and 4 patterns and how we can make patterns of both odd and even numbers. We also revised our quick strategies for solving Addition and Subtraction. We used these to balance equations that have different addition sums on both sides of the equals sign, understanding that equals can also mean 'is the same as'.

In Science we have been learning about the observable features of living things. We first looked at the features we can observe in animals i.e. some are furry, some have skin or scales or feathers, others have four legs. We also looked at the features of flowers and plants. We used a magnifying glass to look closely at our flower and draw detailed, labelled pictures of the features of them. We are now looking at how we can classify animals based on their observable features. We are working in small groups to create our own zoos, where we can show which animals will live together, based on their observable features. Miss Payton is really looking forward to her tours of Year 1's zoos! Keep an eye out for some pictures! In Health we are learning about making healthy choices, and in Sport we are developing our cricket skills through playing different cricket-based games.

We have completed some watercolour paintings depicting an Australian desert scene at sunset, incorporating Visual Arts into our study of natural and human features in Geography. Our paintings look beautiful on display in our classroom!

 

 Year 2

In Maths, Year 2 have been revising our addition, subtraction, multiplication and division strategies. We looked at the split strategy and the jump strategy for addition and subtraction in week 2. In week 3, we looked at using the jump strategy on a number line to solve multiplication and division questions. This week we are looking at fractions.

 

In Dance, we have been learning all about composition and how we can create movement based  on a given stimulus. We looked at how we can make shapes as an element of dance and then change the levels and directions of our shapes to create movement. We are now moving on to learning choreography, and we will get the chance to add our own choreographic ideas to the sequence.

Year 5 and 6 have been focussing on writing persuasive texts, focussing on powerful word choices and strong, clear reasons. Here are 5 examples of the great work we are all doing.

• A reason I believe that students should wear a school uniform is because it makes it easier to decide what to wear in the mornings. If you wear a uniform, you wouldn’t get judged for what you are wearing because you won’t be the only one wearing it. (Georgina)
• I absolutely believe that all school children should wear school uniforms! School uniforms don’t take a long time to decide what to wear because it’s already there. It’s efficient and saves time. If you don’t wear school uniforms, your clothes will get dirty and eventually you won’t have a lot of things to wear. That is why you should definitely wear a school uniform! (Maria)
• Have you felt eyes peering at you while you’re walking down the street, thinking that someone is judging your clothing as too stingy or poor? You most definitely don’t have to worry about these things when it comes to wearing a school uniform. (Olivia)
• I am certain schools must have uniforms! Have you ever been judged or criticised for the clothes you wear? Many children are part of poor families and being bullied for something they can’t change is cruel. How would you feel? This is why I firmly believe schools should have uniforms. (Ewan)
• I firmly agree that wearing uniforms is very uncomfortable at times. The tight fabric and harshly sewn points irritate the skin. All uniforms are tight in certain areas. Whereas if you wear your own clothes it fits you and leaves room to move around. Uniforms don’t. Wouldn’t you want to feel comfortable for the day? (El)

Year 5 are looking forward to the new buddies arriving next week. They made videos last week, which arrived in their mum and dad’s inbox throughout the week. Year 6 were wonderful mentors and videographers. They have passed on their wisdom, the tips and tricks to having a buddy and I am sure their advice will come in handy.

Miss Gallagher and I are both very impressed with the enthusiasm displayed during our Maths sessions this term with the children working on tasks to complete an assignment. For these, the students need to use their maths knowledge and skills in real life situations. If they haven’t told you about these yet, ask them.

 

Term 3 Fees are now due and payable.  Thank you to all families who are up to date with their fees.  We understand a lot of families usually come into the office to pay school fees but, during covid, you can pay via BPAY, Direct Debit or call the office and pay via eftpos.  

We are still accepting Kindergarten enrolments.  If you are looking to enrol your child or you know a friend or neighbour, please have them contact Leanne in the office and ask for an enrolment pack.

A purple Family Discount Form was sent home in Week 3 for parents to complete in preparation for 2021 school fees. This is an important form that we then use to calculate the fees for the coming year. It is vital that all parents complete this form and indicate if we need to apply a family discount (including siblings across both primary and high schools within the Catholic system), Health Care Card discount and the optional contribution to the Diocesan Pastoral Care program. 

This form must be completed for all families including if only one child is in the Catholic Diocease.

Please ensure this form is returned to the office by Friday 20^th November, 2020. This form helps our billing process for 2021. Thank you to all the families who have already returned their form.