Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members,
Semester One has now come to a close, and what a wonderful semester it has been.
Our students continue to amaze us with what they can learn, the positive behaviours they demonstrate, and the enthusiasm and joy they bring to school each day.
We have made it to the last week of Term 2. I have seen such growth from all students over the duration of this term, and it’s been lovely to see some students really beginning to form some strong friendships with peers. This past week in Reading we have been reading the Aboriginal Dreamtime story “Why Koala has a stumpy tail”. The students’ predictions about how the story goes have been very accurate, by using their prior understanding about dreaming stories.
In Writing, we have been expanding sentences using the question word ‘where’. Maths this week has involved some hands-on learning to understand and consolidate bundles of 10 and how 10 ones make 1 ten. We are all looking forward to the holidays - Enjoy the break!
The first hour of our Literacy Block in Grade One is always a busy and highly structured time, with students actively engaged in a range of learning activities designed to build strong literacy foundations. We begin each day with Sounds-Write, where students are currently learning the /e/ sound and its different spellings <e, ea, ai> This is followed by Sound Swap activities, where students manipulate, delete, and add phonemes to create new words, strengthening their phonemic awareness skills.
Students then participate in dictation, applying their knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns, before moving on to spelling activities that focus on high-frequency words. The session concludes with fluency practice, where students read with a partner. The texts used during fluency sessions align closely with students’ home reading decodable books, helping to build confidence, reinforce classroom learning, and ensure students experience success at their individual reading level. It is wonderful to see the growth in students’ reading skills as they engage in these daily literacy routines.
And just like that Term 2 is done and dusted! What an amazing end to the term we had, last week attending both the Phoenix performance - The Wizard of Oz and Sovereign Hill. Whilst the weather at Sovereign Hill looked gloomy, the day itself was filled with fun and adventure. Students kicked off the day learning how to put out fires by passing a series of buckets back and forth. Then we went 9 pin bowling. Kids back in the 1800s must've been super strong because some of our bowls didn't even reach the pins! The Grade 1s and 2s watched how raspberry drops were made and we even got some sample to try. In the afternoon Maam Sarah took us around to check out huts, tents and houses people lived in on the goldfields. Students agreed they liked the houses best because there were beds and fires which would keep you warm. Some students were grateful that they didn't live in the 'olden days'. Before heading back to school students had the chance to pan for gold and whilst some specks were found we didn't quite find the gold nugget we were all hoping for!
This is such an important skill which the Grade 2's are able to apply when reading various texts in knowledge. I love seeing when students make connections like "Miss Eustice... The convicts had a master... master has the /ar/ sound in it!"
As the term comes to its conclusion, we reflect on our semester of learning:
In Term One, we spent time learning about government, parliament and the voting system. We delved into what democracy is and discovered its roots, spoke about who sets the rules, how rules are formed and how elections work. We learnt about the three levels of government and what each of these are responsible for. We learnt about the Prime Minister and some aspects of their role and responsibilities. Furthermore, we paid a visit to The Eureka Centre to learn more about the origins of democracy in Australia.
This term, we have been looking at various aspects of aboriginal history before settlement: we know that they were the first ones here and cared for the land, that they lived in different groups in areas referred to as ‘country’ and about how they lived their lives before European settlement. We also learnt about the settlers arriving from Europe – either as convicts or free people who were looking to start a new/better life in a foreign and unknown land. We know that there were challenges for the early settlers on many levels - including misunderstandings with the local inhabitants.
As we move into Term 3, our focus will shift upwards as we learn about ‘space’.
Wishing everyone a restful and enjoyable holiday.
On Friday our Grade 5/6 students visited the Immigration Museum in Melbourne. We met at the Ballarat Train Station and caught an early train into Southern Cross Station. Once we disembarked from the train, we began the walk to the Immigration Museum in Flinders St.
At the Immigration Museum students split into groups of 5 to investigate a person who has immigrated to Australia. The people immigrated from between the 1850’s and 2000’s. We learnt about their story, the struggles they faced and how their lives ended up (for better or worse). All students were highly engaged with this task and loved hearing the stories presented by their peers.
After this activity we explored the 1st floor gallery where we learned about the journeys taken by immigrants as well as more stories of life in Australia.
We then started the trek back to Southern Cross Station where we enjoyed a special treat for afternoon tea before returning to Ballarat.
All of our Grade 5/6 students conducted themselves so well displaying our school values both on the train and within the community. We had multiple people stop us in the street to compliment the behaviour and presentation of our students. Well done, Grade 5/6.
Happy Birthday to all students who will celebrate their birthday in the coming days/ week.
