Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members,
Another busy fortnight has passed, and it is hard to believe we are already stepping into Week 7 of Term 4.
Last week, Mr Goodson and I proudly accompanied our Grade 6 students to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to honour the members of the 2nd/8th Battalion from WW2.
This week in Foundation we have commenced formal assessment tasks. We are completing tasks across all subject areas and using this time to allow students to formally demonstrate their understanding. Some of the tasks we have been completing are, naming as many letter names as we can in 1 minute, listening and repeating back the sounds we hear in words, and as many reading nonsense words and high frequency words as we can in 1 minute. In Maths, we have been counting on and identifying missing numbers in a sequence, sharing equally into groups, writing a fact from a number bond and reading and writing ‘ty’ and ‘teen’ numbers.
Over the next week we will continue and complete assessments in other numeracy areas, and complete various writing pieces. Students have shown some excellent behaviour towards their work this week, and I am excited for students to recognise the hard work they have put in this year!
As assessments continue over the next two weeks, our learning is still going strong. This week, we launched our new class novel, Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.
The students are incredibly excited, as we have already enjoyed several Roald Dahl favourites this year, including The Twits, The Magic Finger, and James and the Giant Peach. We look forward to exploring the adventures of Mr Fox together!
This week is the commencement of Assessment week across the school. Grade 2's have been working hard completing Spelling tests, Maths tests and Reading tests this week.
We have also started reading our first class novel - Fantastic Mr Fox. After each chapter students have discussed what they have read and made some predictions about what they think might happen in the next chapter based on the heading or clues from the text. The Grade 2's are then completing follow up activities. The photo shows an example of Ruby's Wanted Poster.
Over the past couple of weeks, the 3/4 class has been undertaking our end of year assessments. This gives each student an opportunity to show off what they know and display the growth they’ve achieved over the course of the semester and the year. These assessments, in addition to the work from throughout the semester, help to form the end of semester reports.
Students undertake independent work whilst these assessments are taking place, including comprehension activities, maths work booklets and maths operations, amongst other things. The students have worked well during these independent times and have performed well during the assessments.
So far in our class book, Taj and the Great Camel Trek, it has been about an Afghan boy named Taj. He lives in Australia in 1875 with his Padar, or father. Padar owns camels and is about to go on an expedition with a man called Mr Ernest Giles. A camel race is run to see which camels are the best. Taj comes second to an Indigenous boy called Tommy, who was riding a bad-tempered camel called Salmah. Taj rides his camel, Mustara. Mustara is a young camel.
The next day the explorers choose camels. Mustara is not picked. Taj is disappointed and takes Mustara for a ride with his friend Emmeline. They get lost in a dust storm, but Mustara finds his way home. The explorers are now impressed with Mustara, so he is allowed to come.
Last Friday, six of our Grade 6 students – Abi, Bella, Lilah, Makayla, Gerard and Ajan - visited the Shrine of Remembrance to hold a commemorative ceremony for Remembrance Day.
We caught the train from Ballarat Station to Southern Cross Station, a train from there to Flinders Street Station, and then a tram from there to the Shrine. Upon arrival, we had a quick bite and took in the sights and sounds of the area around the front steps
We then had the opportunity to partake in a Remembrance Day ceremony held in the Sanctuary - the most sacred place at the Shrine of Remembrance. The service was run by the students, staff from the Shrine and an armed guard. The students were all very respectful and did a great job during the ceremony. It was an extremely special occasion to partake in the ceremony in this beautiful part of the building.
Happy Birthday to the students who have celebrated their birthday in the last week or will celebrate their birthday in the coming week.
