Specialist Term 1 Curriculum News, 2023

Physical Education News
Welcome back everyone. Hope you had a great holiday and kept active. I am excited about the New Year and looking forward to Lara Lake students achieving their best, being healthy through sport and getting active both at school and at home. Once again, the PE program will be asking, at different stages of the year, for parent helpers to support the extra curriculum activities that are provided by the school throughout the year. These include cross country, basketball, athletics, interschool sport, swimming and many different incursions of sporting organisations. Please read Compass posts regularly for this information.

Please help your child to dress appropriately (sun hat, runners, shorts, and shirt) on the day they have their Physical Education class. Your child’s classroom teacher or I will be able to tell you when this is.

PE Program Term 1:
Preps have been introduced to small games and learning about the space and how to move around the gym and the oval during these first few weeks. The Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) will be run in their PE classes this term which focusses on basic motor skills and learning to work in small groups.

Grade 1 and 2s have been working on some familiar games and focussing on working together and displaying appropriate sportsmanship. The PMP program will also be delivered with activities modified for different ability levels. Students will also participate in the beep test this term which will be focusing on personal best effort and their fitness. Grade 1 and 2 students will be participating in an AFL clinic later in March which is as an extra physical activity session outside their PE time.

Grade 3-6 will be focusing on athletics so they are prepared for their House Athletics Day which will be happening in Week 8 on Wednesday March 8th. They will also be trained in some Cross-Country training, in preparation for The House Cross Country which will be happening on Thursday March 30th. The Grade 3 students have already participated in a hockey clinic this term, as an extra activity run by Hockey Victoria. The feedback which was given from the hockey coaches was that the students were so enthusiastic and their behaviour was perfect. Over the coming weeks Grade 6 students will be involved in the house captain leadership selection process. The Grade 4 students will be involved in an Ultimate Frisbee clinic this term which is run by a professional coach and is as an extra session outside their PE time. The students and teachers are very excited about participating in the four- week frisbee clinic.

Mr Turner and Miss Lamont will also be teaching the PE program to some classes.

Please don’t hesitate, to contact any of the PE teachers if you have any concerns or questions throughout the year in regard to your child and the Physical Education Program.

KEY DATES:

• Beginning Tuesday February 28^th, the Grade 4 students will be participating in a 4-week Ultimate Frisbee Clinic

• Wednesday 8^th March - Grade 3-6 House Athletics at Goldsworthy Reserve Corio

• Monday 20^th March - Grade 2 AFL Football Clinic

• Tuesday 21^st March - Grade 1 AFL Football Clinic

• Thursday 30^th March - Grade 3-6 House Cross Country at Lake Lands

COMPASS POSTS
Over the next few weeks, there will be Compass posts about the upcoming events which will be happening in PE and also the need for parent volunteers. If you are able to assist with the House Athletics or The House Cross Country, please let your classroom teacher or myself know. Parent assistance is always greatly appreciated.
Cathy Dowling
PE Co-ordinator

ART
This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

Take your marks…set…GO…and we’re off! Welcome to Visual Arts. The 2023 school year is officially underway and it has been great seeing so many familiar and new faces over the past fortnight. We are certainly looking forward to seeing everyone back in the art room. For our new students and families, this is the beginning of an exciting art journey. We sincerely welcome you and your child.

Please, it is imperative your child has an art smock at school (everyone from Grade 1 to Grade 6, Preps have one inside their stationary packs). We use different art materials throughout the year that could get the uniform dirty or stained. Make sure it is named and has a grade on it and it gets to your child’s teacher ASAP.

In the Art room, we are looking forward to a great year of art exhibitions, participation in Geelong Art competitions and seeing some amazing creativity happening in the art room.
This term, our new Preps are beginning their art journey learning about lines, colours, shape and mark-making.
Grades 1 & 2 will express themselves through self-portraits, meet a variety of artists from around the world, explore ideas through drawing, lines as a pattern, texture and movement, and arrange and collage shapes to create art.
Grades 3 & 4 – will continue their learning and discovery of Art Elements and Principles to create artwork inspired by artists from around the world and students will express themselves in a self-portrait.
Grades 5 & 6 will begin creating a number of art pieces based on their interests and identity. They will learn about Australian and international artists and create designs showing line, pattern balance and unity.

Our colourful display of artwork will be in the main corridor in time. Please plan a visit and talk with your child about their artwork and the work of other students. I will let you know when artwork is up in the gallery via Compass. The Art teaching team this year includes Ms Susan Torriero, Mr Robert Turner, Mr Randall Hill and Mrs Jess Amedroz. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Art teacher if you have any concerns or questions regarding your child.
Kind regards
Ms Susan Torriero

Music
This term in Music promises to be an exciting one, with students learning a variety of skills and growing in confidence as they play, sing and move in their weekly classes. Music will be heard in different areas of the school, with many junior and prep classes to be held in classrooms. This will allow us to spread out and make classes even more active and “hands on”! Senior instrumental, singing and band work will happen in the music room. As we have in the past there will be lots of learning to read and write music as well as creating digital music on devices. The Arts leaders will also be involved in organising lunchtime concerts, assembly sing-alongs, and whole school events. There will even be a grade 6 rock band. It is going to be a busy term and the students have started with lots of enthusiasm.

For Term 1 this year, Mrs McKenzie has taken leave and has been replaced by Pat Sullivan. Pat has been a wonderful addition to the program as he is a fantastic drummer in his own right and offers an extra level of experience that the students have loved.

Every two weeks students will be performing at whole school assemblies with their class. Students have input into what songs they play or sing. This has been a very popular activity and entertains the school every time. Parents and Carers will be notified when their children perform.

Students will be playing a range of instruments from guitar, piano, marimbas and chimes to singing and even playing the drums. Our dedicated music teachers have skills covering all styles and levels of music.
Best regards, Rob Turner

STEM
We are so excited to be trialling STEM Education at Lara Lake Primary School for the beginning of the year.
STEM education covers the knowledge and skills found in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. It also covers the interrelationship between these areas, which allows learning to occur in an integrated way, this results in a deeper engagement in the four areas of STEM.

At Lara Lake, students will collaborate with their peers on ongoing projects and construction-based activities that allow them to develop key STEM skills such as; problem solving, creativity, critical analysis, digital literacy, coding, independent thinking and initiative.

Our Students in Years Prep- 2 will be developing their understanding of structures and how they vary in strength and stability depending on their functions. Students will use MAKEDO equipment to construct their own cardboard city. Then we will test the strength of the cities by exposing them to the elements. This will involve testing the stability by applying wind forces to them. This will give students an understanding about the strength of different shapes and how building design impacts strength.

This term our students in years 3-6 are using MAKEDO equipment and cardboard to construct bridges and roads. The MAKEDO equipment allows students to safely cut, fold and screw cardboard together. Once the structures are built, students will learn how to code with the Spheros. The Spheros are programmable robots that are used for a variety of different functions. The students will program the Spheros to move using coding programs accessible on iPads. This will link well with the mathematical content covered in years 3-6 in their classrooms.

STEM teachers for this semester are Ben Joustra, Randall Hill, Michelle Lamont and Jess Amezdroz.