The term has started off with great momentum. This term, there are again many things for the students to look forward to. These include the upcoming Book Week Parade, a visit from Healthy Harold (Life Education Van), Footy Colours Day, the Grenfell Show, Catholic Schools Week, and the Junior School Excursion to Wagga Wagga, to name just a few. Furthermore, the students are starting some exciting learning in their new units of work, which cover a range of themes and topic areas.

In Religious Education, the students will recognise creation as an expression of God’s love in the world. During the term, they will learn about God’s presence in the world, God’s gifts of creation and places that express the creative power of God. The students will learn to name the ways God is present in the world, creatively represent God’s gifts of creation and identify the wonder of all of God’s creation through the senses. Overall, they will be encouraged to care for all of God’s creation.

In English, in the first half of the term, the students will listen to and respond to the stories “Tashi” and “Tashi and the Giants” by Anna and Barbara Fienberg. They will create a character profile of Tashi, complete a cloze passage, discuss how the illustrations contribute to the meaning in the text, and create a story map. They will compare the characters, plot and settings in the different stories. The students will make a dragon and write a description. They will also jointly construct and independently write a new Tashi adventure. In the second half of the term, the students will focus on theme of dinosaurs. They will listen to literary and factual texts read to them about dinosaurs, including “There’s a Dinosaur in the Park” by Rodney Martin and “My Dearest Dinosaur” by Margaret Wild, and they will respond to these in ways that develop their reading and writing skills. The students will respond to the literary texts by identifying adjectives used to describe dinosaurs, drawing and labelling a dinosaur and writing a diary entry from a character’s point of view. They will jointly construct information reports and write information reports about dinosaurs independently. During the term, the students will also take part in many theme-based speaking and listening tasks.

In Mathematics, the students have been learning about ‘addition’ and ‘subtraction’. The Kindergarten students have been learning to model addition, record addition informally, count forwards by ones to add and create combinations for numbers to at least 10. They have also been learning to model subtraction and count backwards by ones to subtract. The Year One students have been learning to create, record and recognise combinations of two numbers, model addition and subtraction problems involving one- and two-digit numbers, as well as to use and record a range of strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems. They have also been learning to identify, sort, order and count money using appropriate language. The Year Two students have been learning to use related addition and subtraction number facts to at least 20, use and record a range of strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems involving two-digit numbers, such as the jump and split strategies, and solve problems involving addition and subtraction using number sentences. They have also been learning to perform calculations with money, and to sort, order and count notes and coins. In the coming weeks, the students will focus more on ‘number’ and ‘two-dimensional shapes’.

In Science this term, the students will learn about how sound is produced through vibrations of objects, and creating different sounds, as well as investigating how the volume, pitch and types of sounds can be changed based on the action used to produce them. They will be set a challenge to create a range of musical instruments including shakers, matchbox guitars and harmonicas. The students will learn about notating musical patterns using symbols. They will also design a pattern to play. They will explore 3D shapes when designing a paper amplifier for their instruments/ speakers.

We have only just begun the term, and subsequently our new units of work, and are eager to learn! We look forward to keeping you up-to-date with all of our latest endeavours as the term progresses.