9th October
Inquiry Unit
Our unit on the history of transport is going really well. The kids are really enjoying the topic and are fascinated in the changes that have occurred over time. If you (or any grandparents etc) have anything you could share with the class about transport from the past, we would love to hear from you! This week, children will be devising a question and they will be exploring the answers themselves.
Maths
In maths we are currently learning about multiplication and division. At this level, these topics consist of building a strong understanding of the concepts of equal groups. We don’t teach times tables. We look at groups of, sharing equally, arrays, skip counting etc. Our aim is to give students a range of experiences to give them a solid understanding of multiplication and division before moving onto times tables and algorithms.
Our year 1/2s have been using the following websites that they could also look at at home:
http://splash.abc.net.au/res/i/L2056/index.html
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=multiplication
You could support our learning by talking about sharing/halves/quarters/equal groups/fair amounts etc when everyday situations arise at home involving these things.
Writing
The children have begun writing their own stories! We have been learning about the different features of narratives (and reading many wonderful narratives too) and we are bringing some of our wonderful and imaginative ideas to life. We are looking forward to publishing our work and sharing our books with you later this term.
Chinese excursion
On Monday 21/11 junior school classes will be heading into the city to visit the Chinese museum. A note will be sent out about the excursion this week.
Movie night
Don’t forget to lock in the date for our school movie night on Friday 25th November! More details to follow.
Thanks everyone,
18th October
This week has been all about SWIMMING! The students have been great at remembering to wear their bathers and slip on thongs/crocs. Students have settled into their swimming groups and are enjoying learning about torpedoes, dolphin dives and chicken, aeroplane, soldier (survival backstroke).
There are two excursions coming up this term so keep an eye out for notices coming home in the next couple of weeks.
The first excursion will be to the Newport Railway Museum on either 7th or 8th November. The second excursion is to Chinatown on either the 21st or 25th November.
Just another reminder that all students need to bring and wear their hats to school every day.
Welcome to Term 4
While we are heading towards the end of the year, we are still very busy learning! In Maths we have started to look at fractions and we will be revisiting multiplication and addition a little later, as well as money. Our author study for the term is Alison Lester, so please feel free to bring in any of her books that the children might like to share (named pleased!). We are looking at narrative writing, so expect to read lots of fantastic stories! Our Inquiry unit is about changes over time, with a focus on transport. We will be looking at how people have traveled by different modes of transport over history. We have an excursion to the Newport railway museum planned in week 6. Notes will be sent home soon.
Weeks 3 and 4 will be busy with swimming each day. Our class will be going in session 1, which means leaving promptly at 9am and returning by 10:40. Please ensure students are at school between 8:45-8:55, so they have time to get organised. As we are the first group it might even help if students come to school wearing thongs or crocs, with their normal shoes in their bag for when they return. Otherwise please ensure they have a pair of slip on shoes to put on before we leave, as shoes can be the one thing that holds up the whole group!
We also have a very exciting Chinese excursion planned for later in the term. The students have done such a fantastic job learning Chinese this year that we thought a celebration of sorts was in order. Yiquong and Jacqui have planned a fun day at the Chinese museum, learning to write Chinese characters, followed by a tour of Chinatown and lunchbox lunch from a local Chinese restaurant! Notes for this excursion will also be sent home in the next few weeks.
Parent Update August 19th
Hi everyone,
A small update on the busy happenings in our class next week! This information (and future teacher updates) will be put up on our digital learning journal page. There is a section on the page called ‘Teacher Updates’
Monday: Book Week Costume
Next week is book week. We are asking children to dress up as a book character on Monday. There will be a parade at school assembly! We are also asking that they bring a book by an Australian author to share with their buddies.
Tuesday: Inquiry Unit material AND class party
– The final part of our inquiry unit on materials is re-purposing an old material into something new. We would like children to bring along one item from home that they can make it into a new invention (eg plastic bottle, cardboard box, etc). They will bring home a note about this on Monday and it would be great if they could bring their item in on Tuesday.
– Sadly, Bella and Oliver are leaving us! Bella’s family will return to Chili permanently and Oliver is heading over to go to school in Italy for 10 months. We are going to have a class party on Tuesday for them both so if children would like to bring a small plate of food to share that would be nice.
Wednesday: Excursion
Next Wednesday is our excursion to see the Elizabeth Honey play ‘That’s Not a Daffodil’. Please send your child in good walking shoes.
JSA performance
Hi parents,
Just a reminder about our assembly performance this coming Monday 8/8. We hope you can make it to see us perform our centipede song! The kids have costumes to put on before assembly so if everyone can aim to be one time, that would be helpful.
Hopefully, you will have seen in the newsletter that our Digital Learning Journals are now open for comments to be published! We would love to hear what you think about our posts and what we have been doing in the classroom. We often look at our page in the mornings with the class, I am sure the kids would love your feedback!
Excursion Notice – That’s not a Daffodil Performance at Metanoia Theatre